Disclaimer: I don't own How I Met Your Mother but the characters and storylines are my own

A/N: Fourteenth chapter here, and I love writing this story – hope you enjoy reading it!

Episode 14 – Secrets

"Now if there is one bit of advice that I can give you about relationships – it is to not keep secrets," I said calmly, knowing exactly what I meant and remembering that both me and their father had originally kept secrets at one point or another in the early days of our relationship. But we got around it together. I began to wonder how secrets could cause so many problems.

"It's the best around." Ashleigh smiled. "And it's Dad's advice too." She looked back and forth between me and her siblings. "I remember the first time Dad told me it… We were sitting down in Central Park, by the lake one summer-"

"Wait!" snapped Sydney. "We can hear your story another time. I still want to know how my mom met my dad."

"Our mom met our dad," corrected Blake, asserting his linguistic ability.

"Mom – what's the secret?"

"I'll start with the first one I kept from Kate…"

Flashback

Kaitlyn was staring at me from across the table as my spoon went down to the bowl of granola and yogurt and back up to my mouth. Having her watch me eat was really off-putting. It made me incredibly uneasy. Even when Nic had his toast and tried to talk to her, she still stared at me. When her boyfriend kissed her goodbye, it was only on the cheek because of the blank face that's gaze was fixed on me.

"You okay, Kate?" I asked as Nic shut the door behind him.

"Yeah…" She seemed so unenthusiastic and genuinely sounded quite false. Because of this, I could tell hands down that she was lying.

"Oh – okay then," I sighed.

"What happened with your boyfriend from university?" Kate folded her arms and flicked back a lone strand of blond hair. "It's just that it came up a while ago and I never asked exactly what happened between you and him. I don't even know his name…" Her fair eyebrows raised a little, begging me to answer and tell her, but I was unsure as to whether I could really tell her the truth.

"Um- well, it's a long story, and I promised Scotty I'd grab a bite for lunch. He's keen on getting an early lunch and I don't want to disappoint him. You know how he feels about being on time, right?" I leant through the kitchen hatch and put my bowl down on the counter.

"Pippa – are you trying to hide something?"

"No, why? What's made you say that?" I asked, keeping calm so that I wouldn't let her be any more suspicious than she was.

"Then why are you dodging the question?" Kate asked, laughing gently. "Well, I better be going to work now. I've got to give a patient an examination that gets Nurse Kacey a little more of an eyeful than she expects…"

"Is he cute?" I asked playfully. "And does Nic know?"

"He's cute, but he's not my type so Nic has nothing to worry about." Kate grabbed her jacket off the coatstand. "I'll see you later tonight, right? I think Nic's staying over and he's going to make a spaghetti carbonara. I did tell him that you really like noodles and he suggested that he would make a carbonara so make sure that you're home on time."

I nodded. "Yeah – you can count on me."

Nic was making carbonara for a reason. That dish was the meal that we cooked together for his parents and that ended up making a complete mess of the whole kitchen. I vaguely remember getting the white cheese sauce on the freshly painted white ceiling where there was still a slightly creamy stain last time I was there. Admittedly that was one of the best moments I had shared with Nic, and thinking about it, there were more arguments between us in the last two weeks of us dating than there was laughter.

Glancing over at the clock on the wall, I realized I should really be getting a move on if I wanted to meet Scotty for lunch.

On the way over the Brooklyn bridge out of Manhattan, I smiled at the locks that had littered the rails alongside the walkway and wondered whether I would ever put a lock alongside the numerous others that couples had fastened to the rails and lamp posts.

When I got to Scotty's workplace – Rosemont High, he was just walking out of the main gates which had been recently painted a dark moss green. I knew this because the angry sounding message on a sign from the janitor made it abundantly clear. Scotty had his suit jacket slung over his shoulder as he turned towards me.

There was a girl going into the school who must have been in the upper years of the school just casually walking in through the gates.

"Hi Mr Rogers," she said in a somewhat sexual and alluring tone that made my mouth hang open in disbelief – I would never have spoken to any of my teachers like that. I mean, Scotty may only be a counsellor, but he still worked at the school.

"Hey," he replied calmly, watching her walk up to the school building. "Pippa, what's that look for?"

"Never mind," I mumbled quickly. "So where are we going for lunch?"

"There's this burger bar I want to try out; it's just around the corner." Scotty jerked his head backwards, indicating the other direction. "The science teachers always go on about how amazing it is so I thought maybe it's worth checking out."

"Sounds like a plan!" I agreed. "So how was your day?"

"It's been…well, tricky to say the least. I feel like I'm caught at a crossroads."

"Well, we are standing at a crossroad and the light is green, but I've no idea where we're going – so you want to lead the way?" I laughed, linking my arm with his, thinking nothing of it. "Left or right, and tell me what has gotten to you?"

"Okay, so this girl came to me this morning."

"Are you sure you're allowed to tell me this?" I asked, thinking about all the soap operas I had seen where the counsellor was sworn to secrecy.

"Well I can because I know you won't tell. In here."

We were standing outside a small burger bar with a green, white and red striped canopy overhead keeping some tables outside in the shade. Inside, I could see a large number of booths lining either side of the restaurant. At the back of the place, I could see the cooking stations where one guy was flipping burgers high into the air with great skill using a metal spatula. As Scotty opened the door, the fresh aroma of burger meat wafted into the air.

"That smells good!" I exclaimed, rushing past Scotty and into the burger bar. My eyes speedily tried to read the series of different flavors, only for Scotty to order something for me, before dragging me down into one of the booths.

"So this girl, she came to me this morning. She's a good kid with good grades. She's on the cheerleading squad despite some of the girls being better than her. That's what the coach told me about her anyway, but when she came to me this morning, she told me something in secrecy. Well I don't really know what to do because I have been bound to secrecy, but I really think she needs to tell her parents."

I had a feeling what it could be, but I wanted to be sure. "Go on – what was it? Bullying, blackmail, drugs, or what?" I purposefully avoided what I thought it would be.

"She thinks she might be pregnant."

"I thought so," I replied. "If I can give you my advice, I think you should get her to tell her parents. Her parents deserve to know – as does the baby's father."

"You're probably right. Maybe I should talk to her again and tell her what I think she should do."

"Sorry about the delay peeps." The waiter came to our table and I barely looked up. "I've got a honey roasted, caramelized onion burger – my own recipe. And one chargrilled chicken."

The honey roasted burger was placed in front of me and made my mouth water. I could see the honey dripping off the meat. I didn't even bother trying to look up.

"Enjoy, and let me know if you need anything at all."

The first bite was of soft bread, down through the crunchy meat exterior and the tantalisingly juicy onions – caramelized for sweetness. Part of me didn't care about the possibly cannibalistic approach that I took to eating the burger.

"So good!" I panted.

"Um, yeah. I can tell…" Scotty whispered, pointing at the corner of my mouth.

Grabbing the plain red napkin off the table, I scrubbed both corner of my mouth, hoping to get the sticky honey off my face. "Did I get it?"

"You got it…"

Then, we heard yelling and shouting from behind the counter – it sounded like our waiter to me.

"No way! Not a chance, I am not giving you the honey roasted pork recipe. Not one chance. I gave you the spiced steak burger recipe and got no credit whatsoever so you can forget it!"

"Is- is that so? I only took you on as a favor to your father and that's a favor I can easily revoke."

"Oh yeah? Then go ahead, see if I care. You know what – I'll make it easy for you." The waiter appeared from the back room and started walking around the counter. He threw his apron onto it, declaring, "I quit."

Everyone's heads turned to watch the man as he stormed out of the burger bar.

Present day

"That sounds like one of Dad's signature burgers – like one of the ones he would do on Saturdays. Then again, Saturday was burger day." Ashleigh tilted her head reminiscently. "I'd love one right now."

"Yeah," I replied, about to continue when Sydney blurted out,

"That was Dad!"

"No- no- no," I said, trying to throw them off the right path, because it was their dad I saw quit and storm out of the burger bar, but from the expression on Blake and Ashleigh's faces, I wasn't fooling anyone. "Yes, yes it was, but I didn't get an introduction to him until later – years later at The Fishbowl."

"Well it means Scotty's not!" Blake laughed. "Oh come on, I was joking- but I make a good point, don't you think? Mom could have just called Dad any other name to throw us when we finally met him in the story."

Ashleigh shuffled about on the sofa. "Come on Blake. Mom would never have been that crafty. Maybe I'm wrong, but I still want to know about Nic and you. What I mean is that Kate seems to sniff a fish if you catch my drift."

"Hmm, dinner was interesting to say the least," I replied, continuing my story.

Flashback

Katelyn, Nic and I were heading towards The Fishbowl after having two helpings of Nic's dinner. The conversation was a little bland and lacked much interest. Nic told us all about the horrible client who showed up at the end of his meeting and claimed it was Nic's fault for getting the times wrong. Then again, Kate divulged a totally unfunny story about a new actress playing a nurse who spilled coffee all over her script, making her unable to read it, or memorize her lines for the day's filming.

"Oh, look, there's Scotty," Kate smiled as we carried our drinks over to the booth. "And that's a new girl I see him chatting up."

The girl that Scotty was chatting to looked slightly older than he was and had the straightest blonde hair that fell effortlessly past her shoulders.

"She is one hot piece of-" Nic started to say, but neither me or Kate were having any of it and silenced him with a single word. He started to laugh, I too was beginning to laugh, making Scotty and the mystery blond turn around and look our way.

"Maggie?!" Kate exclaimed, standing up from her seat. "What are you doing here?"

I realized that she was squealing at the blond Scotty was talking to.

"Kate? Oh my- Is that you? I didn't know you came to The Fishbowl!" 'Maggie' squealed, flapping her arms at Kate, beckoning her close for a hug.

Then it hit me; this was Maggie Bond – she had been in a few films and advertisements, but now she was in the same show as Kate. Maggie played a doctor who was married to a neurologist in the hospital, but was secretly seeing a male nurse at the beginning until the neurologist found out, but forgave his wife. I think in the last episode I watched, the doctor and the neurologist were searching for their long lost daughter. (If you ask me, they'll probably make it be Kate's character… The intricacies of soaps always surprise me!)

"Sorry guys." Kate turned back to me and Nic. "This is Maggie. Maggie is my number one gal at work. She is the reason I got the job I have now. She gave me the last minute advice that totally saved the day for my audition." Kate couldn't stop smiling, her hands occasionally flapped in excitement. "Maggie, this is my boyfriend, Nic, and this is both my roommate and close friend, Pippa."

"Oh, lovely to meet you both. This is Scotty – he was just telling me about this – well I shouldn't tell, but he helped out a kid that was in need. It is so admirable. He really is a great guy."

"We all know Scotty, Maggie!" Kate replied excitedly. "But he's single, so dig your claws in!"

"Maybe I will when we're alone…" Maggie said so suggestively, running her fingers across Scotty's shoulders.

We chatted the night away and when Nic, Kate and I struggled up the numerous flights of stairs, we found even the smallest things funny. I vaguely remember that Kate dropped her key down the stairs. Down the centre, straight down to the lobby – a long way down.

"Okay Nic," Kate slurred, taking a hold of him as I closed the door to our apartment. "You're going to tell me the truth. I want to know. I want to-" She paused for a long time before turning to me. "Pippa, Pippa the Forest – you'll tell me the truth…." Kate fell back, leaning against the sofa and nearly rolling head over heels over it. "Pippa- do you like Nic or something?"

I froze; if she was tipsy, she would probably remember my answer, but what was I so afraid of suddenly? Yes, Nic and I dated, but that was nearly a year ago – I've moved on and so has he. Well, I didn't know if he had one hundred per cent, but I told myself he had because it meant that I wouldn't worry about it.

"Kate-"

"Pippa?" Kate whispered in two definitive syllables.

"To be honest, Nic and I dated whilst we were studying at Columbia University, but we broke up when- before he took the job in Florida. The reason you got to date him was because you went to Florida where he was working."

Nic's eyes grew wide as if I had told Kate I was pregnant and it was his, which wasn't the case at all.

"Is that true – Nic?" Kate asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"Oh well, no big." Kate smiled, returning to her usual self – like she was playing drunk.

Present day

"No big? Is that really what she said, or have you softened it a bit for us?" Sydney asked.

"Honestly, she really said no big." I nodded.

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = so the truth is out! True, I agree that it isn't that big a deal but I thought it should come out! And I liked introducing Maggie too! Make sure to review