"Shouldn't you be checking on how Barney is doing? He should have landed by now," Luke said, as the smell of fresh made pancakes floated from the kitchen to the couch in the living room, where Robin was seated, waiting for breakfast to be ready and served.
Interrupted by his sudden suggestion, she jumped a little. She had been staring into thin air for a moment now, and truth to be told; she did not know what she was thinking about either. It had just been some sort of daydream, the kind that takes a person far into an entirely different world.
Forgetting to respond, she remained quiet, playing with the hem of her blouse.
"Robin?" He prodded, sticking his head out from the doorway, holding a plate of pancakes in one hand and a small jar of maple syrup in the other.
The same one she had used to attack Barney when they had that dramatic food fight only days ago.
"Um… Yeah?" She replied, still staring blankly, but this time her vision directed towards him. "You were saying?"
Looking at her in doubt, he shook his head gently.
"I was just wondering about Barney. You should probably drop him a message or two…" He paused, checking the time and doing a quick mental calculation of the hours. "He definitely would have landed by now."
"Oh… Right." Knocked back into reality, she agreed. "I'll do that in a moment. Thanks."
"Hey, don't mention it… Are you feeling all right? It's a bit odd of you to be acting like this."
"No… I'm fine. I am," she decided, despite her voice sounding frail and faint. She put a hand to her neck forgetfully, and when she noticed the look of uncertainty on his face, she cleared her throat. "Really."
Seemingly satisfied with her response, Luke flashed a quick smile at her and headed back to his work in the kitchen, adding on the final touches to the pancakes.
Robin, having left alone on her own devices once again, picked up her phone with a frown on her face, indecisive of what to do next.
What exactly is wrong with me today? If Luke had been so cool with it… Why haven't I? I mean I'm the one in the wrong right now. If I'm the one at fault, and he's the one being forgiving… Shouldn't I be acting more like him now? Knowing that the kiss had not meant a single thing?
Barney's probably cool with it as well… It seems as though everyone has gotten over it and moved on, and why am I the one thinking about it still?
No, wait.
Speaking of Barney… Why hasn't he texted first? He could've sent an email or something, but he didn't.
Or did he?
He could have. You haven't even checked your phone yet, you idiot.
Oh, right. Okay.
Robin checked her emails, refreshing the page over and over again, hoping for an email from him. A reply, a quick message… Anything at all, but nothing showed up except for a promotional email from Bath and Body Works.
He hasn't messaged.
She was not going to lie about how she was feeling upon noticing he had not left a message. She was slightly disappointed.
Actually, 'slightly' may just be the understatement of the century.
Why hasn't he messaged?
Okay, don't freak out. You're just being weird now.
He was probably busy reuniting with the gang. Or he was exhausted from the trip back. Or… Or… Yeah! Time zones! How could she forget? He's probably asleep right now. That must be it.
He must have talked to the gang and gone home, then went straight to bed from exhaustion.
Robin sighed in relief and forced herself to put her mind off the million reasons he could be doing something else than messaging her, before realising that messaging was in fact a job done by two people, and as much as she had wanted him to message her first, sometimes the conversation has to be struck up by the other person.
Look – It really should not matter if he messages me first or not. Stop making absolutely no effort and expecting everything. Phones work both ways, she thought.
Picking up her phone again, she composed a new email.
To: Barney Stinson
From: Robin Scherbatsky
Subject: Feeling OK?
Hey – Just wanted to make sure you're feeling OK and that you've landed safely and all that stuff.
Write back soon, all right?
Missing you already
Robin
Before clicking 'send', she stared at her screen, reading her message over and over again.
'Missing you already'? She thought. That sounds… A bit odd. Desperate. Needy. Sad. Like she could not live without him. And that is not entirely true.
Clicking 'backspace' rapidly, she replaced 'missing you already' with 'love you'.
Okay… Hold up. 'Love you'? Seriously? It sounds even worse. No… That will not do.
Deleting the same part of her message for the second time, she removed 'love you' entirely, leaving a blank space behind.
Robin. That sounds OK. Normal. Friendly? Not really. But it definitely sounds normal. Normal is good.
She proofread the message for the last time, and, satisfied with its content, smiled at her phone before pressing 'send'. Just as she did so, Luke came out of the kitchen with steaming hot pancakes covered in whipped cream, cut up berries and maple syrup separately.
"Yum," was all she managed as he sat down.