Hey everyone.

I know I haven't updated in a while, but here it is.

I am hoping to squeeze some TedXTalia (Tedalia) in this chapter.

I hope you like this chapter.

Enjoy!


Talia's POV

Since I've been staying here with Barney, he's been eating at the table in his kitchen for breakfast, which is not something he usually does, Lily told me.

Ever since last night Barney and I are pretending it never happened, I dont think it has ever been this awkward between us since he first found out about me hurting myself.


-FLASHBACK- (Barney and Talia are 15)


Talia is playing video games with Barney and she is beating him.

"Yes! I won!" she screams when she wins, pumping her fist in the air, not noticing her sleeve has fallen down a bit, exposing her scars and cuts.

When she does she pulls down her sleeve, but it's too late, Barney has seen.

"Tally" he says, using his nickname for her, "please tell me those are not what I think they are" Barney says, his eyes focusing on Talia's arm.

She is silent for a few tense minutes before speaking up.

"I can't, I'm sorry" Talia says looking down at her hands, not wanting to look Barney in the eyes.

"Talia, you know what it did to me" Barney says to her.

"You almost died" she mutters, the memory etched into her brain, making her heart ache just thinking about it, and making her feel guilty about putting him through the same pain she went through when she found out about his scars.

"Yes, because I cut to deep, I dont want that to ever happen to you, promise me you won't do this again, please" Barney asks her, begging, not wanting her to go through what he went through,

"You know I can't do that" Talia tells him, tears rolling down her porcelain cheeks.

"I know, but I am never leaving your side, we can get through this together" he promises her, putting his arms around her, holding her tightly while she cries into his chest.

Talia stays over at Barneys house that night, she falls asleep in his arms and his mother doesn't have the heart to wake them up, so she calls Talia's mother, telling her that Talia is staying over.

In the morning Barney wakes up first and just watches Talia sleep for a while because he doesn't want to wake her up, she's always cranky when woken up.

After an hour of Talia snoring she finally wakes up.

"Morning Tally" Barney says to her.

"Morning" she says, still leaning on his chest.

She looks up at him and the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife, bad choice of words...

She feels like crying, but she's done enough of that already.

Her eyes burn from unshed tears that she is willing away, she doesn't know what to say to him, she wants to apologise a million times, but she knows that will never be enough.


-End of flashback-


"I'm sorry" I say, I dont know what else I can say.

He just looks at me for a few seconds and it feels like them many years ago when they were 15.

"Dont, you have nothing to be sorry for" he says.

"I should have talked to you when I started to feel like this again, and I should have told you that I had started hurting myself again, like I promises I would" I tell him, getting angry, not at him, but at myself.

"Yeah, and I should have told you too, but I didn't and I'm sorry" he says, his voice cracking.

I grab his shaking hand and hold it tightly, rubbing my thumb over the back of his hand, when we were younger I used to do that when got upset.

"How is your hand?" he asks, changing the subject, but not pulling his hand away.

"Its sore, but it'll live" I say, moving the fingers on my injured hand, regretting it as soon as I do because it hurts like hell.

"You know what'll make it better?" he asks me.

"Scotch" I guess.

"Exactly" he says, smiling.

"Let's go to MacLaren's then" I say, standing up and grabbing my coat, I got dressed already so I dont need to worry about that.


I'm wearing a black jumper, black jeans, black converse and I have tied my hair back in a pony tail.

We decide to walk, so we have time to talk.

"Maybe we'll see your friends there" I say to Barney.

"They're your friends to, you know" he tells me.

"I've only known them for like a week" I say, not believing Barney.

"And they already like you, and for good reason, your funny, kind, creative, awesome, the list goes on forever" he says, smiling sweetly.

"You are so sweet, I dont know what I'd do without you" I tell him honestly.

"Well without you, I'd probably be dead right now" he says.

"Dont say that" I say stubbornly, surprised my voice stayed sounding so strong, the thought making my blood run cold and my heart stop.

"it's true, you were the one that found me bleeding to death and without you I dont think I would have had the will to go on" he tells me, bringing back more memories, memories of finding him lying on his bedroom floor, dark, crimson blood pooling around his arms.

"I'm just glad I found you before it was too late" I say, thankful that the doctors had managed to save him, I never told him, neither did his mum or his brother, but when he was in the hospital he flat lined twice and I really thought he was going to die and that I was going to lose my best friend.


I look in through the MacLaren's window, I see Ted and Lilly sitting in the usual both.

"I see Ted and Lilly, but not Marshall or Robin" I tell him, wondering where they are.

We walk in and it's like they have super hearing or something because they immediately turn their heads to look at us.

Me and Barney sit in the seat opposite Lilly and Ted.

"Hey" I say, forcing a small smile.

"Hey, I need to speak to Barney" Lilly says, dragging Barney off to the bar.


"So, how are you?" Ted asks me, looking like he wants to say more.

"I'm fine" I say, them to words have been drilled into my head since I was a teenager, it pure instinct to say those words when asked.

"Are you sure?" he asks, looking worried about something.

I nod, not trusting my voice not to betray me, I feel like I'm going burst any second now.

"How's your hand?" he asks.

"Its feeling better" I lie, faking a smile.

"You're lying" he says, how the hell did he know that? What is he, a lie detector?

"No I'm not" I say stubbornly.

"Fine, clench your hand into a fist then" he says, smiling rather smugly when I dont.

"Ok, fine, it hurts like hell, but I've been through worse" I say honestly.

"You dont have to lie, you know, if you're hurting I'm there for you, really, I am" he says, looking sincere.

"Ted-" I start to say, but he cuts me off.

"I'm serious, if you ever need me, any time, day or night, call me and I'll be there" he says, making me feel secure and cared about, something that I usually only really feel with Barney and occasionally my mum.

"I dont want to be a nuisance" I tell him, I dont like to come off needy, I've always been independent, sometimes too independent for my own good.

"You wouldn't be a nuisance, I hardly do anything most days anyway, ask Barney, he's usually the one to drag me out to crazy places" he says.

"well that's only because he likes you, apart from me you're his best friend and he thinks very highly of you, although he may not say it a lot, or at all, but he is very loyal, he'd go to the end of the Earth for someone he cares about, dont tell Barney I said this because he would probably kill me if he knew I was telling you all of this and I know for a fact that he thinks more of you then he does of himself" I tell him, I've done some observing over the past few days, I see the way Barney interacts with Ted and the others.

"I dont say this enough, but he is a good friend, he is one of my best friends, there was this one time, a few years ago me and Barney got into a huge fight and I was ignoring him, I was angry at the time because he had slept with Robin, though now I think about it, it seems very petty" he says, in deep thought.

"Is this going somewhere?" I ask, I'm not that patient, scratch that, I'm not patient at all, not in the slightest.

"yeah, I was in a car crash a couple of weeks after the argument started, I wasn't hurt that bad, just had a mild concussion, and Lilly called Barney telling him that I had been in a car accident, he hung up and I thought it was because he didn't care, which kind of hurt, but it turns out he ran all the way to the hospital, I was talking to Marshall, Lilly and Robin, and I got a call from a nurse because I was listed as Barney's emergency contact, when Barney was crossing the road to get to the hospital he got hit by a bus, he broke nearly every bone in his body" Ted explains.

"He never told me he got hit by a bus" I say, feeling hurt and slightly pissed off.

"Maybe he didn't want you to worry" Ted suggests, making me feel a bit better.

"Yeah, maybe" I say quietly.

"What is Lilly talking to Barney about?" I ask curiously, they've been gone for a while.

"I dont know, Lilly's been fidgety all day, she won't tell me anything" he replies.

"Oh" I say, I start to feel worried and paranoid that she knows something.

"I've been meaning to ask you something" Ted suddenly says.

"What?" I ask.

"Why did you punch the mirror and dont lie, the mirror in my bathroom is broken and there is no way you got those cuts by accident" Ted asks, stubbornly refusing to accept my previous lie.

"Honestly I dont know, I guess I was having a bad day and it was one little thing that made me snap, it was silly" I tell him, it's not a complete lie, I was having a bad day and I snapped, but I'm not about to tell him I was worried and angry because I thought he had my scissors and somehow connected the dots.

"If it made you upset then it's not silly Talia, if something's bothering you like that again you know you can talk to us right? I dont want you to get hurt again" he says, looking me in the eye, either he is a really good liar or he really does care about me.

"I'm really surprised you dont have a wife yet" I tell him, and I am very surprised, Ted is so kind hearted and reliable, he reminds me of Barney that way, the Barney I know anyway, the real Barney.

"That was random" he says.

"Sorry, it's just that you are so sweet and interesting, and Barney told me you want to settle down, have children, a family, I just find it hard to believe a great guy like you hasn't got anyone" I say, remembering what Barney said to me via email one time, about how Ted's been desperately searching for a wife.

"Sometimes I just think that there is no one out there for me, whenever I get even close to happiness it gets torn away like that" he says, clicking his fingers.

"Dont give up, I'm sure there is a woman out there for you, for all you know, 'the one' could be in this bar right now" I say, making speech mark gestures when I say 'the one'.

"I would love to believe that" he says, looking directly at me when he says that.

"What about you, you ever thought about settling down, starting a family?" he asks me.

"sometimes, I guess, but I've never really been interested in having kids, they can be so annoying, you know, and I really want to focus on my career, which by the way isn't going anywhere, sorry I'm rambling, aren't I?" I say, not stopping to take a breath until I have finished speaking, laughing nervously.

"I've never asked, what is it you want to do?" he asks me and I can't believe I haven't told him yet, I am usually talking nonstop about what I want to do.

"I want to be a famous actress and singer, I know it's stupid, it's just something I've always loved" I say, expecting laughter coming from Ted, but it never comes.

"It's not stupid, I've wanted to be an actor before, and I think you're a good singer" he says, I never knew Ted wanted to be an actor before, he was probably not really thinking about what he's saying at all because the last bit he said makes no sense at all, he's never heard me sing.

"You've never heard me sing before" I point out.

"I know, but, I.. You look like you, I have no idea where I am going with this" he admits, and his nervousness makes me laugh, he looks so cute when he's nervous.

"Hey! What's so funny?" he asks looking confused.

"I wasn't laughing at you, it's funny 'cuz you look so cute when you're nervous" I tell him, freezing when I realise what I just said, I can't believe I just said that.

"You think I'm cute" he says smiling.

"I never said that" I deny, even though I know its futile.

"Yes you did, you think I'm cute" he says, once again with that smug look on his face.

"Maybe I do, what are you gonna do about it?" I ask.

We just look at each other for what feels like forever, but was most likely just a couple of seconds, then Ted leans in a kisses me.

At first I'm a little surprised, in a good way of course, but then I relax into it, it only last for a few more seconds, but it was legend- wait for it -dary!

"That was nice" I say, still in shock.

"Very" Ted says.


Barney's POV

Lilly pulls me out of my seat so fast, I dont have time to think.

"Ow, Lilly, you didn't have to pull my arm so hard, jeeez!" I say, over reacting just a bit.

"Shut up, I'm worried about Talia, you know something, spill" Lilly says, demanding answers.

"I dont know what you are talking about Lilly" I tell her, even though I know Lilly isn't going to drop this that easily.

"Dont give me that bull, I saw how much you paled when you saw those scissors and she must have told you something about what happened to her hand, why did she punch the mirror?" Lilly asks, getting fustrated.

"I dont know what you think you saw, but I dont know why she had those scissors in her bag and she didn't tell me why she punched the mirror" I tell her, just another huge lie.

"You're hiding something, I know it" she says, but I dont reply.

"Fine, dont tell me, but I will find out" Lilly says with that look on her face that says 'I am not stopping until I find out what you're not telling me'.

"look, if you want to know so bad, why dont you just ask Talia herself, then she can clear it all up for you, you're probably just worrying for no reason" I say, lying through my teeth.

"Ok, I'll ask her once she's finished sucking face with Ted" she says, pointing towards the now making out Ted and Talia.

"Oh my god" is all I can manage to say, I am completely shocked.


That's it for now.

I hope you liked this chapter, I tried to make it as long as possible.

Dont forget to review.

Bye everyone.