AN: Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been writing - just writing, not going on here - for a while now and I've actually finished Chapter 30. I'll start uploading (not all at once, because that's pretty weird and I'll get yelled at) now. :)
Robin showed up with a glass of water, leaning against the doorframe as she stood, watching Barney.
"Hey, I watched the news just now and apparently there'll be some kind of storm tonight." She frowned.
"Are you kidding? I mean, it's like, April."
"I know." She sighed. "And no, I'm not kidding. I watched it on the news just now." Without breaking their gaze, she threw her arm around and pointed down the hallway to her bedroom, indicating she had indeed watched it on her portable television.
He gave her a smug smile.
"Yeah, because the news is just so reliable and accurate all the time."
Noting yet ignoring his sarcasm, she went on.
"Whatever. All I meant to ask was if you wanted to sleep in my room tonight."
"And where will you sleep?" He queried.
"Um, in my room?"
He paused and repeated his string of thought.
"But I'm sleeping in your room."
"I know."
"Oh no. We are not sleeping together. We are not sharing a bed." Barney huffed, which startled her.
"I didn't say we were. I can pull a mattress out from under my bed and you can sleep there. That was what I meant."
"And why would I? Sleep there, I mean."
"Because there are blinds on my window and there'll be thunder?" She commented, raising an eyebrow.
"Robin," he mused. "I'm not a girl. I'm a grown man. I don't need blinds to shield me from thunder."
And with that, she shrugged, looking a bit hurt. "Fine, I was just suggesting."
Sat at the dining table, he gave her a casual shrug in return, his mind somewhere else, somewhere far along in that little Universe of his own.
Barney Stinson.
You cannot be in love with someone else's girlfriend. You may be a womaniser, you may degrade women, you may have no decency at all, but there is one thing you do not do.
You do not be in love with someone else's girlfriend.
Inner Barney paused.
But now that you really are, I suppose, you make sure you do not sleep with them. You do not even share a room with them.
That's just bad. Wrong. Even in your standards. Because if you're in love with someone else and share a room with them… Something is bound to happen. And you will get punched in the face by her super tall, buff and pretty handsome boyfriend. Which is something you do not want to happen to you.
"No… What I meant was, as much as I would probably love to, you know, I honestly don't think that's a good idea. You have a boyfriend! Letting me stay was already the equivalent of stepping on the line. We should have boundaries or something…"
He hesitated.
Did that just make him sound like the kind of guy who was in love and afraid to admit it?
Yes.
Oh god. Um, think. Think fast.
"Boundaries, like me not sleeping in your room, because personally, I'm worried you will fall in love with me and hold me as an unwilling participant, filling the night with your sexual, lusty activities I wish for no part in." He quickly added, tilting his head and giving her a professional knowing look, a look he had mastered at his years at GNB.
"Yeah… Right. Like that's going to happen. And… Boundaries? Since when did Barney Stinson talk about – or had – boundaries?" She questioned teasingly, accepting his hidden apology on unintentionally hurting her.
Barney pursed his lips.
"Seriously though."
He sounded keen, and she didn't persuade him further, having heard the firmess in his voice.
"Alright then. It's your choice anyway. But how are you going to sleep?"
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me."
"It's going to be bright. Like, I've tried that and it was terrifying. It'll be like Times Square at night."
"No, it won't. Robin, I've lived in New York for more than half of my life. Nothing beats Times Square at night. Definitely not a thunderstorm here."
"Yes, it will, actually. You need to save yourself before it's too late." She jutted her chin, swirling the glass of water she had been holding.
"Gee, what are you, my mum or something? I'll be fine. Honestly." He replied in earnest.
"You sure?" She asked, dropping her witty tone. "You can still change your mind."
"Why are you so obsessed with the idea of sleeping with me?" He chuckled nervously. "It's not like you are in love with me… Or are you? Come on. 'Fess up."
"No I'm not! I was just saying. These windows are huge and you're going to have a bad time. I can guarantee you will die from exhaustion because you will not able to sleep. I don't want to have to move your frozen corpse the next morning to the garbage collection dump outside because that's a long way and you're heavy."
"Whoa, slow down with those personal attacks." Barney laughed, giving her a reassuring smile. "I was just saying too. I'll be fine."
"You promise?" asked a concerned Robin.
He snorted. "It's not like you to be this petty. I mean, I suppose I can't guarantee I will stay alive, but for one thing, I pretty much know I won't be a heavy corpse, so you can go to bed and sleep soundly now knowing the process of the dragging of my corpse will be much easier."
Ignoring his remarks, she repeated herself.
"You promise?"
"Yeah, yeah, I do." He nodded, rolling his eyes and waving his arms, gesturing for her to leave him along and to go to bed.
And she gave in at long last.
"All right. Just don't come to me in the middle of the night asking for a share in the bed because you're not going to get any. And I'll be too tired to get the mattress sorted. You know how you are."
With that, the two seemed to be contented with their little arrangement and the conclusion that had formed.
"I'll go to bed then." She smiled, walking back into her bedroom. "Good night. Wake me if you need anything."
"Night, pretty." Barney muttered, as he stood up and straightened his shirt.
"What?" she asked, having not heard him properly.
His head shot up. "Nothing. I didn't say anything. Go to bed."
"Okay…" She mumbled and did as she was told, her shadow disappearing down the hallway.
Two more days, he thought. Plenty of time for the mistakes that are about to happen.