#~Friday

"So, what're we doing tonight?"

Barney blinks and pulls his cell phone from his ear, checking the name on the screen. Then he grunts and rubs his eyes. He's still in bed. "Ted?"

"Uh, yeah! I was thinking of a Fourth of July movie marathon. Independence day, Die Hard 4 and, hmmm, Jaws?"

It's way too early to deal with this. The bedroom is a mess and stinks of stale whiskey. In fact, Barney is pretty sure he's still drunk. Or at least in that horrible place where you start to feel hungover while, unaccountably, still being drunk. Which is kind of unfair, if you think about it.

"Ted, call me later. I'm busy."

There's a snort down the line. "Barney, you're never too busy for Friday night. Unless you've got a girl in your office. Dude! Are you banging your secretary again? Not cool."

Digging the heel of his palm into one eye socket, Barney groans and tries to focus on the digital display of his bedside clock.

Ten o'clock? Crap. He's slept through the sunrise, the sounds of the waking city and his alarm. That's bad.

The events of the previous night come back to him, suddenly and in sharp focus.

"Sorry man, gotta go," he croaks, and throws his cell across the bed. He's been drinking way too much lately, steadily eroding both his liver and his soul. Ted's voice still echoes in his ears, amiable and enthusiastic. He had sounded so innocent, so normal. Of course, Ted doesn't know.

Or is it that Ted doesn't know that he knows?

That is, Ted doesn't know that he knows about Ted and Robin's almost-kiss.

Or, come to think of it, Ted doesn't know that he kissed Robin. Or did she kiss him? There was definitely some kissing going on last night. Robin had snuck up on him with stealth kissage and, against all odds, he'd retreated instead of launching a counter-strike. What the hell?

Ted doesn't know about that kiss and he's never going to. There's a lot Ted doesn't know about kisses, it seems.

Heading for the shower, Barney's stomach turns over. He swallows down a mouth full of bile and twists the faucet all the way across to "cold". Then he forces himself stand under the water until the force of it drills into his skull, until he hurts as much on the outside as he's starting to inside.

Thing is, he can't deal with these emotions. His thoughts are too sluggish, his heart feels weird and heavy. He can't deal with weirdness, be it from Ted, or Robin, or anyone. Work feels like a chore, because Marshall will be there, his great big face split into his usual "thank god it's Friday" grin and expecting Barney to provide his usual weekend awesomeness.

Awesometude?

For some reason he doesn't really understand, even ounce of awesome has drained right out of him. Stepping out of the shower, Barney catches his reflection in the mirror. He looks red raw and beaten down. He throws a towel round his waist and heads to kitchen for some Red Bull.

On automatic he checks his cell. There are a couple of missed calls and a few messages.

None are from her.

#~- #~-

"I need to think about this," Robin says out loud.

Lily starts in her seat, knocking Robin's coffee cup and spilling a little of the steaming liquid over the table, only to hurriedly mop it up again with a napkin. If there was ever a chick ready to be a mom, Robin muses, it's Lily.

"What's that sweetie?" Lily asks her.

Robin feels a pang of guilt for taking advantage of Lily's passion for retail therapy today. She'd swung by Lily's kindergarten class at the end of the day and dragged her out shopping. Although, come to think of it, they haven't done so much shopping as they have people-watching.

It's not that Robin doesn't want to be alone, exactly. She just doesn't want to have to think too much. Her head still aches.

"I think I've done something stupid," Robin blurts, then covers her mouth with her hand. This is so not like her. She's Robin Scherbatsky and she doesn't get flustered or confused. She's cool in the face of emotional distress. She's an ice queen.

Or something…

Lily gives her a weak, encouraging grin. Her best friend knows better than to push her for answers. That's the one sure-fire way to get Robin to clam up faster than a… clam? God that's lame.

Robin feels so disjointed today.

She tells herself that last night was too fuzzy to remember much. She knows there were vague images, tastes, sounds and a whole lot of red wine. She remembers some angry ranting, and Barney.

And… Barney.

"I kissed Barney," Robin says, with quiet horror. And she told Barney about her thing with Ted. The near-kiss. She's so wrapped up in the memory that it takes her a few seconds to register the reaction from Lily across the table.

Lily's grinning - her cherubic face beaming like it's Christmas and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. "You kissed Barney? Really? Oh Robin! I knew you two would get back together again! I was just saying to Marshall last night..."

Robin groans and shakes her head while the juggernaut of Lily's enthusiasm rattles along. And she thinks it might be a good idea if she stopped confiding in people.

To be continued…