Barney Stinson swirled the alcohol around in the bottom of the glass and sighed loudly. Lily and Marshall's wedding ceremony had been nice and all, but now it was the reception and things were getting boring. Barney had struck out with two bridesmaids, and the only one left was Robin, and she was dancing happily away with Ted. Even though they'd broken up, the two had decided to keep the ruse up for the night, and Barney, alone at his table, was bored and working his way through too many shot glasses. He got up and went over to the bar. "Two more, please." He said, a pretty blond in a low-cut pink dress catching his eye.

He picked up the two glasses and made his way over to the blond. "Hey baby. Drink?" He held out the second glass.

The blond raised an eyebrow. "Sure. But I do have a boyfriend."

Barney snatched the glass back before she could take it, spun on his heels, and looked around for another girl to share a drink with. But all the decent girls were either dancing with a guy, had a wedding ring on, or had already rejected him. Sighing, Barney took the two glasses of scotch and walked towards the back doors. "Hey, Barney." Marshall said, intercepting him. "Where you going?"

"I'm bored." Barney scoffed. "I'm bored, drunk, and not going home with some hot chick. So, I'm going home to watch TV and chalk this up as a night wasted." Marshall made an offended face, but Barney just pushed past him and continued towards the door.

The blond pushed through the backdoor and almost tripped over a man in a tan suit, who was sitting on the steps with his head in his hands. "Watch where you're going!" The man snapped.

He looked up at Barney, and the grey-suited man instantly recognized him. "Scooter?"

"It's Bill. I've said that I don't know how many times. My name's Bill." The brunette huffed and went back to staring at the alley.

"OK then, 'Bill'." Barney said sarcastically, then walked down the steps and started to make his way to the mouth of the alley. But a large sigh made him turn back. Bill looked upset as he stared at the wall across from him, so Barney went back and sat down on the steps next to him. "Scotch?" He said, giving the other man the second glass.

Bill took it and they both knocked their glass back in one drink. "This was supposed to be my wedding." Bill sighed. "Lilly and I were supposed to be together forever, and we were supposed to get married in a big indoor chapel with all of our umpire friends." He sniffed.

"Dude." Barney said, rolling his eyes. "You need to get over this. Lilly has moved on, and you should be glad! You don't have anyone tying you down. You're free to go wherever, do whatever. You're your own man. If you wanted to, you could sleep with any single woman in New York. Tonight!"

"Really?"

"Seriously! You're single and at the top of your game. Just find a chick and bang her. Any will do really. Just, no one fat. You don't want that on your conscience." Barney shivered.

"Huh. I guess I never thought of that…" Bill shrugged. "I mean, I never tried life without thinking about getting Lilly back."

"Try it. It's wonderful." Barney said, setting his empty glass down on the steps behind him. "Have you even kissed anyone besides Lilly?" Bill shook his head. "Duuude. Seriously! What have you been doing all these years?"

"Trying to get Lilly back."

Barney shook his head. It was almost pathetic. "Get it together, man! You're not getting Lilly back, so get up, find someone attractive, and just take charge!" The next thing Barney knew, Bill had grabbed the front of his grey suit and smashed their lips together. Whether it was the alcohol or all the talk of kissing, but Barney didn't pull away. Not right away, that is. Eventually, the events registered in his intoxicated mind and he fell backwards off the step. "What the….?" Bill just blushed a deep crimson and took off running through the streets of New York. Barney sat up a bit and looked around. "What the hell was that?" He said, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. He needed sleep. And another glass of scotch…