January!

It's been a week since returning to school and three days since Barney had talked to Robin. She has been hanging around her cheerleader friends and with her boyfriend so when he finally saw her yesterday for the first time since they last talked something wasn't right. She kept rambling on about how he's just a high school nerd and she doesn't want anything to do with him. So, then she left without another word from either one of them. Barney didn't know why she said that to him but he thought maybe her friends had something to do with it so he let it slide. He understands that Robin is popular now and that hanging around him would make her look bad with her popular friends and her boyfriend.

Flashback:

Early in December Robin started dating this football jock and ever since then she hadn't been herself. But, there has been a reason why Robin has been acting distant towards Barney. There is a secret she's been hiding ever since that cold December day.

"I told you to never talk to that loser again and you didn't listen to me." Tony's grip around Robin's arm got tighter as he pulled her into the locker room which is empty.

"I just wanted to say high to my friend that's all." Robin said in a low tone trying to not have anybody hear them as Tony yelled she stayed calm trying to not burst into tears.

"I told you two weeks ago to stop talking to that loser if you wanted to keep dating me." Tony yelled, he is not happy with Robin and the more she tries to run away from him, he just pulls her back harder and more forceful than the last pull.

"Fine, I won't talk to him are you happy?" Robin said annoyed trying to pull her arm away from Tony's grip.

"Good, and if you do talk to him again you don't want to know what I'll do to you if I ever catch you even looking at him." Tony yelled again pulling his hand away from Robin's arm and walking out of the locker room.

Robin stood there with tears rolling down her cheek. She thought that Tony was a good guy but after a week of dating him he turned on her and it wasn't pretty.

Early that November, Robin had become a star of the school she was on the cheer leading squad, was popular, has many friends but one night at a party she met Tony. At first sight, he was handsome, smart (but not smarter than her), nice and he treated her nicely for the better half of that week. But, something changed with him in the weeks that followed after he asked her out.

"Should I take you home now?" Tony asked and Robin nodded yes, they walked out of the club that held the party and walked towards his car.

When Robin and Tony got outside and they were alone he had asked her out on a date the following weekend. She, said okay and he picked her up on that following Saturday. He had taken her to a remote part of town where he had stopped to car. He sounded sweet when he told her that she is beautiful and said that he has been admiring her since the first day of school when she helped that skinny geeky kid not get beat up. But, that evening wasn't the most romantic evening of her life, far from it.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked pushing Tony away from her after he kissed her.

"I-I'm kissing you what does it look like?" Tony asked back in a not so happy tone.

"I thought you just wanted to talk and get to know each other, this isn't talking it's making out." Robin said in a even not so happy tone.

"No, I wanted you. You look so hot in that outfit." Tony gestured to Robin's outfit she is wearing. She is wearing a short skirt with a low cut top. "You have been giving me all kinds of signals since we met and then last week you were flirting with me at that party. What gives?" Tony said annoyed, not happy with what Robin had been showing him since they became friends.

"I-I was just trying to talk to you Tony I wasn't flirting I was trying to be a friend but obviously you took that as flirting." Robin, didn't realize that she was giving off any signals towards Tony but obviously that wasn't true to his point of view.

"Yeah, Robin you were definitely flirting with me. Those looks you gave me, the touching, the way you shacked you ass when you were walking away from me. That was all flirting Robin." Tony was angry, he didn't like what Robin was doing to him it was not at all a good look for him at all.

"I did not give off those signs and when I talked to you I was just being a friend I wasn't attracted to you to be flirting with you anyway." Robin said truthfully, she was getting more and more annoyed with this conversation and Tony he was just beyond furious with her.

Tony sighed after calming down but decided to end the night and took Robin back home. That next Monday, Robin apologized to Tony and asked him out again and he said yes. That Friday, Robin and Tony went to the movies and out to dinner on a true date. He was a perfect gentleman, pulling out her chair for her to sit down, ordering food and paying for it, buying the tickets for the movie and kissing her goodnight after he took her home. It was a lovely evening and after that they started dating.

End of flashback!

Barney wondered what was going on with Robin but didn't want to get in the middle of whatever it was that was keeping her from talking to him. So, he went without talking to her for the rest of the school year. Prom came, Barney didn't go. Robin however did go with Tony and that's when they had sex for the first time. It wasn't at all a romantic first time for Robin but it was nice. Later that week before summer break came Tony had broken up with Robin without any warning. Robin cried that first night wondering why Tony was such an ass but the next day she woke up without another thought of Tony. She went to school, she was still popular, still a cheerleader, but didn't have a boyfriend. She, didn't care she was just happy to be around her friends. She didn't tell anyone about her break up with Tony until she ran into Barney after school that day.

"Hi, Barney how are you?" Robin asked standing by Barney's open locker.

"Good." Barney simply said smiling lightly then closing his locker door.

"I want to talk to you, are you free tonight or tomorrow?" Robin asked, she had been missing talking to Barney. Since Tony banned her from talking to him she had been miserable, she told herself that she was happy with Tony and that Barney is just a good friend but really he's more than just a friend to her.

"Um, I'm free tomorrow morning." Barney answered turning to Robin who moved from one spot to the other side to stand in front of her.

"Good, I need to talk to you so can we meet for breakfast or something?" Robin asked hoping that he would say yes to this.

"Sure." Barney replied nicely wondering why Robin is suddenly talking to him again.

"How's 10am?" Robin asked and Barney replied with an okay before they headed off in different directions of the school.

The next day Barney and Robin sat down in a cafe near her house and talked. She told him that she was sorry for not talking to him for this long and that it was Tony who banned her from talking or seeing him and Barney understood. He knew that that was the reason why Robin stopped talking to him but he didn't want to bother her while she was with Tony. Robin told Barney that she never stopped thinking about Barney and always had something to talk to him about even after Tony had forbid her from seeing or talking to Barney. Barney told her that he has been lonely since they last talked because without talking to her is just no good and seeing her everyday is always the best thing of each day, she is the best thing that has come into his life and they are both grateful to have each other as friends.