1.
"Lily, you are far too sober, so... I never kissed Marshal!" Robin's smirk quickly fell off her face when she saw Barney drink. "Do I want to know how this happened?"
Barney scoffed. "No big; I was just showing Ted there is no such thing as the signal, so don't wait for it and just kiss the girl. Marshall was a necessary casualty."
"Where was I -?"
"This was when you and I met and had our first date," Ted explained.
"What? Ted, I totally gave you the signal back then. Way to Ted out," Robin snarked as everyone laughed.
2.
Many drinks later, Marshall and Lily had gone into the kitchen and Ted was in his room looking for a CD he suddenly needed to have. Barney was attempting to explain to Robin the event that required him to drink the most recently in their "I Never" game.
"… And then this awesome nineties ballad started playing, and – mmphrm!" Robin put her hand over his mouth.
"Barney, you need to take your own advice. You've literally been giving me the signal for months but never acted on it. So man up and kiss me!"
Barney leaned in toward Robin and…
3.
Barney awoke, grimacing and groaning as he felt the double effects of a hangover and stiff back. He rolled off the couch he had apparently slept on the night before – it certainly wasn't an improvement over the futon. Robin staggered out of the kitchen, sipping some coffee.
"Hey Barrrney! You're awake! I was kinda worried when you passed out instead of kissin' me, but you've been workin' so hard lately, we let you sleep. Don't worry – we kept on drinkin' without you. Five bucks says I won't remember anything – woo!"
As Robin shimmied and stumbled into her bedroom, Barney sighed.