Challenge Accepted(A Barney Stinson/HIMYM Fan-fiction) BOOK ONE

Chapter Twenty-Five: I'm Sorry

 I sat at the booth with the others, talking about Ted's thirtieth birthday.

"So, tell us, what was it like?" Ted asked Barney when he came back from the bar.

"What?"

"Penetrating that barrier. You and I are the first ones to hit it."

"Well, not the first ones, certainly, but the first ones at this table."

"I-I-I'm-"

"Although, I'm gonna be hitting it pretty soon.' Marshall said.

"Yeah you are."

"Yeah, and when I hit it, I'm going to go nuts. It's gonna be all night and I think I want a clown their." Lily added.

"I'm a little bit scared of clowns, but for you, I'm there."

"What are you talking about?" Barney  asked, looking horrified. I put a hand on his knee and he jumped, looking over at me.

"Ted's thirtieth birthday. You know this Friday?" I asked. I put a hand on his head. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Did you forget? What kind of friend is this guy?"

"Oh, right. A great friend, by the way. The best. " He looked at me. "Boyfriend too, right? Ha! Is it my imagination or are these drinks getting smaller? If this were a doctor's office, they'd say, 'try again'. Ha ha! How ya doin' there Robin?"

"I'm good."

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" I whispered to him.

"So I made a decision, I'm gonna go through all my old stuff, and I'm getting rid of anything I have no use for anymore. Barney, you want my X-box." Barney gasped.

"Ted, she has a name! Just what are you acusing me of?"

"Liking video games?" Ted questioned.

"I'm getting a drink." Robin said.

"I'll go with you."

"He just got a drink." I pointed out. Ok, something is wrong here. Barney's acting weird, he didnt' come home last night, and now he's following her to the bar.

~~~Barney~~~

Marshall sat in my office. I was going to tell him, simply because he knows what to do when it comes to relationships.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Marshall, I'm about to tell you a secret that you can't tell anyone. Not Ted, not Robin, not Lily."

"No, no, no, I don't want anymore secrects, I-"

"You are hearing this secret, Marshall." He ut his hands over his ears, humming loudly. I picked up a face, throwing it at him, and he caught it. "I slept with Robin." He froze.

"You slept with Robin?"

"Marshall-"

"You slept with Robin!? I cannot keep that secret.  I mean, you know I at least have to tell Lily."

"You can't. If you tell Lily, Lauren will find out."

"She should!" He told me. "Barney, do you understand how serious this is? Not only did you break your friend's trust in sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, you cheated on your girlfriend!"

"I know, that Marshall!" I leaned on my desk, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I screwed up, and I don't know what to do. Tell me what to do."

"You tell Lauren and pray for forgiveness is what you do." He replied.  "But it doesn't look good."

"But, if I come claen, if I apologize profusely, she'll forgive me, right?"

"Ordinarily, maybe, but Barney, you're the second boyfriend she's had to cheat on her with Robin." I didn't even think about that. I sighed.

"I can't lose her, Marshall. I can't. She is everything to me, and I lover her."

"That's all you can say Barney."

"Well, what if I do lose her? What if Lauren and Ted never want to talk to me again?"

"Well, I guess that's just a chance you're going to have to take." My phone beeped.

Lauren

Hey, I'm gonna hang out at your place, if that's cool.

Yeah, that's fine. I'll meet you there, actually. I need to talk to you about something.

Is everything ok?

I'll explain when I get there. I love you.

I love you too. <3

"Ok...I'm doing this." I told him.

"Best of luck, man." I nodded.

~~~

She sat on the couch, reading when I came in.

"Hey, so I had this idea. I was thinking that maybe for Ted's birthday we could..." She trailed off, looking at my face.  "Seriously, Barney what's wrong?"

"I have to tell you something, and chances are that after I do you're gonna hate me." She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Barney?" I sat down beside her, my hands shaking.

"The other night, when I didn't come home? Robin and I were watching the Robin Sparkles video, and we were drinking. We drank a bit too much, and one thing led to another-"

"Oh  my gosh." Tears welled up her eyes, and I moved, kneeling in front of her, with my arms on either side of her legs. "Please...tell me that you didn't..." I nodded.

"Lauren...it was a mistake. I screwed up and I am so sorry-" She pushed me away, getting up and walking across the room. " I swear, that's all it was. Just a drunken mistake, I promise if I had known what was happening-"

"Stop." She said tearfully. She turned to face me, tears streaming down her face, which made it so much worse. "You're the second guy I've dated that's cheated on me with Robin, do you realize that." I nodded.

"I'm sorry." She shook her head, pushing past me to the couch, grabbing her book and walking towards the door. She opened it, but I ran over, pushing it shut. "I love you. You have got to know that."

"I do. That almost makes it worse." She opened the door, leaving, and I slapped the door, raging my hands roughly through my hair. What do I do now? What can I possibly do now?

~~~

Telling Lauren was the worst thing I have ever experienced. But joining that with the experience of telling Ted, and I had fallen into a hole that I could see no hope  in getting out of.

"We're past this whole Robin thing now right-"

"You think this is just about Robin?" He asked. "This is about...You know, I've seen you do some bad stuff. I mean, some really terrible stuff to a lot of different people. I just always thought there had to be a limit. I always thought I was the limit. You're always spoutin' off these rules for bros. Isn't one of them, don't do this?"

"Yeah, and I broke it. I'm sorry."

"And Lauren, how could you do this to Lauren?"

"You did this to Lauren too, Ted-"

"And you did it to her, again. She now one day has to explain to the people she loves that two different guys have cheated on her with the same girl. Not to mention the fact that she wasn't in love with me." I sighed, burying my head in my hands. "You know, Barney, earlier this week I started putting things in a box and that box was labeled 'stuff I have no use for anymore'."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, maybe you belong in that box."

"Are you saying you don't' want to be bros anymore?"

"I'm saying I don't want to be friends anymore."