Patrick sensed the danger before he even walked into his studio. He had gone to her loft, to Mac's, to Audrey's, to Kelly's, to Jake's, back to the Metro Court, so it made sense for him to find her here. She had to stop hiding from him or he might never find her. He had no way of knowing if she was aware of how the dinner had ended. He didn't know why he hadn't checked here in his list of places to look, but he had spent the better part of the night and the first few hours of the morning trying to find her. He hadn't slept in twenty-four hours and the roads were slick and unforgivable.

Patrick had gritted his teeth when Lucky had come back to the table to announce that he was leaving. Neither Cruz nor Bobbie had thought it a good idea to stay in such turbulent weather so they had called it an early night. How he had made it here, he did not know. It had to be adrenaline and stubborn will, because nothing else could have gotten him so far. His body was starting to drag now that his brain could confirm Robin was safe and sound.

She sat in his favorite chair, her legs thrown over the left side if only to frustrate him and her hands folded in her lap. Glancing from left to right, he noticed that she had lost her shoes and coat on the way to chair and not bothered to pick them up. She didn't look upset, but he had learned not to trust appearances, especially when it came to Robin. "I've been looking everywhere for you." Patrick informed her, peeling off his gloves and blowing a hot breath against his chilled fingertips. He wanted to fall over, but passing out in her presence when he wasn't sure how she currently felt about it could end very badly for him. He had no way of knowing if she would resuscitate him or not.

"Good for you." Robin answered noncommittally. He had seen her when she was crying, yelling, quiet to the point of discomfort, but he wasn't sure how to gauge her mood right this second. She wasn't crying and she wasn't biting into her bottom lip or fidgeting. She wasn't drilling a hole in his forehead with a piercing stare. Her eyes were decorated in black shadows and new lines proving that she hadn't gotten in a wink of sleep either. God, he wished he had just come here first but that had felt like giving up and he hadn't thought that the best solution at the time.

Patrick started to take a step toward her, but she held out a finger to keep him back. It was a warning, a beacon, the last thing he would get from her if he was reading her eyes right. "Are you alright?" Patrick asked timidly. He could handle screaming or even crying, but he had only seen this stare one other time and it had been a pretty miserable and embarrassing time. His body was starting to give out so he had two options: pass out or consider losing his head by closing the space between them. She might take pity on him and let him curl up next to her, but he somehow doubted it.

"Why did you tell Lucky and Elizabeth that I was pregnant?" There was no shrill underlying in her voice, but the soft emotion creeping in was almost enough to bring him to his knees. "Did you, even once, consider asking me to verify it?" So she was embarrassed then? And who could blame her? He had taken the idiot's approach to pregnancy and now he bet she could care less about how he was currently feeling.

Patrick visibly gulped. This wasn't how it should have gone, but then he'd thought that all night long. He had screwed up Elizabeth's news by making it all about him and his own insecurities. He had had so little to go on; his current behavior was positively barbaric. Without asking her, he had started to think of sharing a life with her, Morgan, and their child. Without asking her, he had gone apartment hunting and decided on one. Thank God he hadn't signed the contract before talking to Robin first. If she could possibly give him a free pass, he would tell her all about it. His biggest concern was that, when he told her, she would get up and run. She wouldn't just stop at locking herself away in the loft, she would move out of state, out of the country, or even to another planet just to keep him from pulling her into a life she didn't want. He knew she would react this way, because it had been his immediate thought when Courtney had mentioned the mere possibility that he had gotten Robin pregnant.

"I guess I let my fear get the best of me." He admitted grudgingly. There was so much more he wanted to say, but the words weren't coming. He had been on his own too long, so much so that the very idea of asking another person to analyze it was unthinkable!

"Your fear? You're afraid of getting me pregnant?" Robin inquired, surprised. Obviously she hadn't put much thought into it, not even when the doctor had confirmed her best friend pregnant. Large, gaping hole for one. She knew he was holding something back but, thank God, she wasn't intuitive enough to figure out what it was. He was at the stage where he had started thinking about the future whether he meant to or not, whether they were ready or not. He had to assume that's what had propelled him to find a place for them to live before even asking her if she wanted to share a space with him.

"Terrified, actually." Patrick had been on this side of the argument enough to know that honesty was truly the best policy even if it ended up costing him greatly in the end. "But it's my issue, not one I have about you." It was as if he could hear the anvil loosening from the rope that currently held it but couldn't determine where it actually was so he had no way out of dodging it.

Robin pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't understand. Getting me pregnant isn't my issue, just yours?" He was fucking this up! He needed to take a giant step backwards and better assess the situation, but he felt like he was already drowning. He had taken in too much without being aware of it and, now, even a lifesaver wouldn't save him from an impending crash and burn.

"Wait, that's not what I mean." Patrick tried to salvage what he could, but he realized he had already said too much. "Between the two of us, you're by far the better parent. What I mean is, I have no doubt that, if you were pregnant—which you're not (he gave her a questioning look to which she shook her head)—you could handle it. I, on the other hand, am no one's idea of father material."

"You've made an awful lot of assumptions based on nothing! You don't even ask me if I am, but think it's great dinner conversation." She grumbled, shaking her head in dismay. "And what better way than to show you are in control than degrade me at the table?"

"I was worried about you, that's all. That's it." He insisted, taking a few cautious steps toward her.

"Do you consider me an idiot? Is that why you weren't going to let me drink?" Robin challenged.

"What? No, of course not. I know you're very capable, very brilliant." Patrick assured her, crouching down in front of her.

"Then why would you act this way? You couldn't have honestly thought I would find out about an impending pregnancy and not tell you! If that were ever to happen, it wouldn't just be my life affected: I'd have to consider your health—" Her nervous ramble was only cut short by Patrick's fingers pressed lightly across her lips.

"I didn't doubt your concern for me, babe." He promised, cupping her chin. "I just wanted you to know that you could tell me. All I know is that, when you picked up that drink, I kept waiting for you to tell me, but you didn't. I understand why now, but I didn't at the time."

"Obviously, it's a good thing I'm not pregnant." Robin deduced, pushing his hand away. "Especially if this is the way you would react."

"That's not fair!" Patrick countered angrily.

"No, I guess it's not, but it's logical isn't it?" Robin shot back, turning her back on him.

"The hell it is! If anything, this whole experience should show you that, if it comes down to it, if we end up in this situation for real—" Patrick argued, twirling her around.

"Situation?" Robin repeated. "Is that what you call a baby? A situation?"

"You know that's not what I meant! I meant situation as far as circumstance, not the baby itself." Patrick told her.

"I don't know what you mean! Why don't you tell me?" She dared him, tucking her finger under his chin and tilting it up.

"I just did. God, why are you making this so hard? There is no child to speak of."

"But there could be." Robin snapped.

"So we're fighting over a hypothetical?" Patrick realized.

"We're not fighting!" Robin shook her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I must have misunderstood the yelling." Patrick replied condescendingly.

Robin huffed at him and squeezed her eyes shut, probably counting to ten. "We've never even talked about anything like this." Her voice was barely stronger than a whisper. "So you'll have to forgive me if I'm not reacting the right way."

"Bullshit." Patrick regarded her with suspicion. "This isn't about my expectations; this is about your fear."

"My fear?" Robin balked at him. "Didn't you just say that this was all about you and has nothing to do with me?"

"That's not what I said and you know it." Patrick stared down into her eyes. "This is obviously something we need to talk about."

"Now, I have to disagree. There's no reason discussing something that's not true. If you'd like to witness baby drama, maybe you should go visit Lucky and Elizabeth, though I have to say he handled it a lot better than you."

"I'd be offended by that, except that I'm sure he was a regular William Powell. Don't ask. Aunt Laura. Just don't ask."

"You know I would never try to trap you into a life you don't want." Robin informed him, taking his hands in hers.

"I do know that. Nothing I've thought over the last forty-eight hours has been in reference to your intentions for me. However, that's not to say I haven't thought about things."

"Things? What kinds of things?" Robin asked apprehensively.

"Things in terms of the future." Patrick answered vaguely.

"You're scaring me." Robin admitted, glancing down at their intertwined hands.

"That's the very last thing I want to do." Patrick promised, reaching into his back pocket and extracting something. She couldn't immediately tell what it was because he had his hand closed around it.

"What's that?" Robin pointed at his closed fist. Her heart was in her throat as she asked this. He had to be careful about how he did this, because the idea of her running away from him was too devastating a prospect.

"You mean this?" As he said it, he started to drop the item in his hand but caught it in time with his thumb and index finger.

Robin stared at the shiny silver key as if it would unlock the Plague. When she didn't speak at all, he began to worry he had made the wrong decision. This was too fast for her, his mind told him. He was pushing too hard. But he couldn't go on pretending that this was all he wanted from their relationship. He didn't want her to have to sneak over here in the middle of the night when she got lonely or to have to schedule "meetings" at her loft for right after Morgan fell asleep. It was way past ridiculous and this made the most sense. So why wasn't she saying anything?

"Robin?" Patrick squeezed her hands softly, but still received no response. "It's okay. If you're not ready, I'll just keep it for you when you are." He hurried to assure her. She finally met his eyes and he couldn't ignore the confusion he found there.

"You're not breaking up with me?" Her question caught him so completely unaware he almost lost his hold on the key, this time for more than a dramatic response.

"Break up with you? Of course I'm not doing that." He brought each of her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles gingerly.

"I'm confused." Her eyes said that was the understatement of the century.

"You honestly thought I wanted to end us?" He emphasized the last word, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Well…yeah." She managed weakly. "I can't handle this right now. I just…I can't even begin to fathom what would make you want to go through something like this."

"I'm asking you to move in with me, not join the Olympics." He teased, touching the tip of her nose and drawing his finger down it.

"Move in with you?" She echoed blankly.

"Can you think of a better reason for me to give you your own key?"

Robin took a quick glance around the living room even though she knew what it looked like, how big it was, and every intimate detail about it. She had thought suggesting throw pillows would be extreme, but what he was asking her…he couldn't be serious. But his eyes said he was serious and that frightened her. He didn't know what he was getting himself into. She'd give him twenty-four hours before he changed his mind. Of course, by then, she and Morgan would be completely moved in…if she said yes. She wasn't sure that she should. They weren't playing house and this wasn't just about them. "You want me to live here?"

"Not exactly." Patrick searched her eyes for some semblance of acceptance, but it was a bottomless pit of confusion and agitation. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Robin nodded.

"Then will you go somewhere with me?"