Co-Fic: Brohemian (3/?)
Title: Brohemian (3/?)
Previous Chapters: Part One, Part Two
Co-Author: idioticonion
Fandom: HIMYM
Pairings: Barney/Lily, various other combos
Rating: PG-13 in this part, NC-17 in previous parts
Wordcount: 2300 in this part, 7600 in total
Summary: AU, set around season one. Barney and Lily are starving artists living together in a run-down apartment building. However, things take an interesting turn when Barney meets a young reporter and Lily runs into her old friend, Ted.
Lily sleeps in until noon the next morning. When she wakes up, her nostrils are assaulted by the delicious scent of toast and coffee and her stomach rumbles loudly. Throwing on a t-shirt and sweat pants, she makes her way, bleary-eyed, into their tiny living room and finds Barney naked at the stove, making breakfast.
"Oh Jesus! Barney!" She laughs, throwing him a dishcloth. "Cover it up!"
"Some thanks I get for making breakfast!" He grins, throwing it back at her. "Besides, it's nothing you haven't already seen!" He waggles his eyebrows.
And to think she thought things might be weird between them. "Do I have to punch you again?" she snaps, and he backs away from her, holding up his hands.
"Hey, this is a peace offering."
"Burned toast?" She wrinkles her nose as she nibbles a piece.
"Not just that. I've got an idea!"
"What?" Lily collapses onto the couch, holding a mug of coffee in both hands.
"An idea about your exhibition. I say we fake it. It'll be fun!"
"Fake an art exhibition? Are you serious?" Lily shakes her head and made a mental note never to have sex with Barney again. She'd promise to give up dope too, if that would help prevent these weird moods.
"I'm serious!" Barney bounds over to her like an over-enthusiastic puppy. "All we need is a space, and a bunch of people who can talk pretentious crap, and your paintings. I know an abandoned loft we can crash, and you can make some flyers. Easy!"
She looks up at him, his enthusiasm touching her through her cynicism.
"Come on! It'll be like a f-you to all those idiots who didn't appreciate you and rejected your work."
Lily pondered this. "Well, the pre-Raphaelites used to set up their own exhibitions. As did the impressionists. Not that I'm an art movement. There's just me. And we've got to do it by Saturday. It's impossible."
"It's not impossible. It's really, really possible. In fact, it's an awesome idea, if I say so myself!"
"Dork," she said exasperatedly. But he was beginning to win her over. Only when he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek did she feel the doubt returning. And something else returning. "Please put some clothes on!" she says, desperately.
He rolls his eyes. "Fine, if you insist." He gives her a wry smile and ruffles her hair. She swallows hard as he turns to go back to his room and whoa, he has a nice butt. How did she not notice that before? He disappears behind his door, and she shakes her head. She wipes the wet spot off of her cheek with her thumb.
OK, so sex hasn't ruined their friendship. Quite the opposite. It's a little different, maybe, but she'll get used to it. And maybe, if they're both cool about it, they could...
No, she reminds herself. Sleeping together again wouldn't be a good idea. But, still. It meant that things like friendly kisses and harmless lusting are OK. Right?
She finishes off her coffee and goes over to the sink to wash out her mug. Her eyes drift over to her easel. Her painting (which she had tentatively titled "Barney Stinson is a Stupid Jerk With Stupid Hair", but that seems kind of mean-spirited in retrospect) is an abstract - a strange mix of blue and gold and red and black, basically her just putting paint on the canvas, but it works, in a weird way. She rolls her eyes. She works for weeks on the bridge painting and gets nowhere, but the one that she made, pretty much without thought, at three in the morning turns out good. Typical.
She walks over to it to get a better inspection. She hears Barney's door creak open. She looks over to see him pulling his shirt down over his chest (face, Lily, keep your eyes on his face).
"What do you think?" she asks, turning back to it.
He bobs over to her, Barney's got this weird, loping walk as though he's never in a hurry to get anywhere. Finally he reaches her and stands in front of the painting, squinting. "It's... really..."
"Terrible," she thinks. "Lame," she clarifies. Even though she likes it, she's not sure he will. And she really wants him to like it.
"Powerful..." He says, after a long pause.
"Is powerful good?" she asks him.
"Er, yeah." He grins at her. He looks so much more alert than usual.
"Don't you have practice?" she snaps at him for no reason.
"I said it was good, Jesus!" he grumbles, making his way back to his room. "Anyway, I said I'd go look for a space to help you set up your fake art exhibition, remember? I know a guy..."
"Technically, what you said is that you knew a place we could crash," she says. "Not the same thing."
"Uh, that's what I meant," he shouts from his room. "Just need to make sure that it hasn't gotten any squatters."
She sighs. "Whatever." She goes into her own room and puts on some jeans and a nicer shirt. When she goes back into the living room, Barney's just about to leave. "So, am I allowed to come with you to see the super-secret exhibition space?"
"Uh, shouldn't you be working on that bridge painting?"
"Please. That thing is a train wreck." She slips on a pair of shoes. "Shall we?"
Barney pauses, then holds the door open for her, and, although Lily's a feminist, she still appreciates it.
The abandoned loft isn't far from their apartment and it's airy, cold but the light is amazing - through large, wide windows, and it's been white-washed, which gives it that trendy, slightly industrial feel. Lily stands in the center of the echoing space and turns around, taking it in. "Wow," she whispers. "Barn, this is perfect..." For a moment, she doesn't think about what this means, about what this might lead to. She doesn't think about how hard it'll be to pull this off, this elaborate rouse. She just imagines her paintings on the wall and gets caught up in his excitement. "I'm gonna-" She whips out her cell and texts Ted the address. She can't go back now. She's in this, no matter what the consequences.
He wanders over from the doorway and she gives him a hug. It's meant to be a thank you, for supporting her like this, for firing her up, for finding this place. But his arm slides around her waist and suddenly her face is turned towards his and it's too easy to kiss him.
It's only for a second - or rather, a second too long. Lily pulls back, blushing. "Sorry." Barney blinks, in surprise, and she looks away. "I didn't mean..."
She feels his fingers and his thumb gently cup her chin. She looks back into his eyes, and he pulls her in for another kiss. It feels natural just to melt into it, to let her body press against his. He wraps her in his arms as he deepens the kiss, his tongue gently pushing through her lips. She doesn't freak out (although maybe she should), but just closes her eyes and enjoys it. And, boy, does she enjoy it.
When Lily finally pulls away, Barney lets her go but his fingertips linger around her waist when they walk back into the middle of the space. She clears her throat and breaks contact, a little embarrassed by the intimacy. "So... uh? What're we going to do? Who will we invite?"
He walks up behind her, sliding his arms back around her waist. "Everyone?"
She shakes her head. "This is just so weird. I don't know what to say!"
"Say you'll do it!"
Lily turns towards him, resolutely. "I'll do it."
He smiles - it's incredible the way his whole face lights up when he smiles.
They just stand there like that for a moment, and it feels awfully... couple-y. But in a nice way. He's tall and warm and he feels good next to her. Not to mention the pulsing between her legs. Lily thinks back to the previous night - would being with Barney be such a bad thing? They like each other, and they like having sex with each other. What more do you need, really?
"Barney, I..." she starts, but then her phone starts to ring. She kind of wants to just ignore it.
"That's probably Ted," he says. "You should answer it."
She nods and pulls it out, whipping it open. "This is Lily."
"Lily Aldrin?"
She almost drops the phone in shock. Barney seems to have noticed her change in expression, because his brow furrows with concern.
"M-Marshall. How did you... How are you?"
He chuckles, and it's too goddamn familiar. She hasn't seen this guy in years, but one phone call is bringing all of the memories flooding back. "I'm good. I'm in New York for at least a few weeks, and Ted gave me your number." She remembers now - she'd given Ted her cell just before she left the bar last night. She'd never thought he'd pass it on to her ex-boyfriend. Douche.
"Great." She looks up at Barney, and she can't really decipher his expression. "We should... see each other. Catch up?"
"Yeah, yeah, sounds good. You know anywhere good?"
She pulls away from Barney, giving him an apologetic look. His fingertips trail her skin for as long as they can before she's out of his grip completely. She walks over to the window and negotiates details with Marshall, all the while looking back at Barney.
It's not like she's planning a date, or anything.
It's nice - talking to him, remembering Hewitt Hall, just pretending she was eighteen again. But when she ends the call, having made arrangements to meet Marshall for lunch the next day, Barney's looking at her strangely.
"Who was that?" He asks, an edge of aggression in his tone.
"Marshall... he's-"
"Marshall, your college sweetheart?" Barney interrupts her. College sweetheart? She makes a face. That's such a Barney thing to say. Like anything is that black and white. "You're having lunch with him?" Barney continues. "What about...?"
He trails off. Lily wonders if he was going to try and define himself as in a relationship with her after what basically was a one-night stand. Because the idea just skeeved her out. And, yeah, they kind of had just been making out, but since when was that a marriage proposal?
"We're just catching up," Lily says.
"Really?" There's that judgmental tone creeping into his voice - the one that shows up in all guys after you sleep with them, sooner or later.
"Yeah, really," she replies. "I can keep my pants on, you know." It was kind of ironic, considering that she'd jumped him the night before, but whatever. "It's not really any of your business, anyway." She doesn't mean to sound so petty, but it just comes out.
He looks hurt and he turns away, shoulders hunching. She turns and walks past him, holding the door open as she walks back into the stairwell. If he's going to sulk then that's his problem. But instead he breezes through the door, his expression unreadable and they descend the stairs together.
"So..." He says, carefully, breaking the silence between them. "You gonna make some invites to your exhibition? We can send them round to a few journalists. You never know who might bite?"
"Can't hurt, can it?" she says, and he shakes his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. They walk in brittle silence for a while. "I'm really not going to sleep with him."
"Well, it's none of my business," he says, petulantly. She rolls her eyes. "Do you still have feelings for him, or something?"
She shakes her head. "No, nothing like that." She swallows. "It's just that... I've never... felt the same way about anyone else like I felt about him. And maybe I never will." And Barney's looking at her, his face plainly showing his surprise and pity, and Lily looks down at the sidewalk. "It's not easy to forget. Is all."
Saying those words, it's weird but it crystallizes something for her. She's never articulated this stuff out loud before. Dropping out of college, she had grand ambitions, wanted to travel, do so many things. The pain of breaking up with Marshall was fleeting, much like the pain of leaving Scooter. She'd understood that if she wanted to lead this kind of life, have this kind of independence, then it would come at a sacrifice.
But it hadn't felt like much of a sacrifice.
But Marshall had made her feel so safe, so happy. She'd never found that again, not for more than a brief nocturnal encounter. Will she still feel that when she sees him again? Is he still single? Maybe he's even married by now?
They keep walking together for a while, not talking or looking at each other.
"I know you'll find someone," Barney says, after a long while. "You're a great girl." She smiles, still not looking at him. He laughs. "Plus, you're pretty good in bed."
She hits him in the arm again, and he just keeps laughing.
They reach their apartment. Barney looks at the clock. "Crap, I'm gonna be late." He grabs the violin off the top of their wardrobe. "See you later."
"Bye," Lily replies, and he walks out the door. As he shuts it, Lily sits down heavily on the couch, the spring that dug into her leg last night still poking at her.
It'll be OK, she tells herself. You can deal with this. The exhibition, Barney, Marshall... it'll be OK.
She keeps telling herself that for the rest of the day. She isn't entirely sure if it helps.
Link to Part Four
Previous Chapters: Part One, Part Two
Co-Author: idioticonion
Fandom: HIMYM
Pairings: Barney/Lily, various other combos
Rating: PG-13 in this part, NC-17 in previous parts
Wordcount: 2300 in this part, 7600 in total
Summary: AU, set around season one. Barney and Lily are starving artists living together in a run-down apartment building. However, things take an interesting turn when Barney meets a young reporter and Lily runs into her old friend, Ted.
Lily sleeps in until noon the next morning. When she wakes up, her nostrils are assaulted by the delicious scent of toast and coffee and her stomach rumbles loudly. Throwing on a t-shirt and sweat pants, she makes her way, bleary-eyed, into their tiny living room and finds Barney naked at the stove, making breakfast.
"Oh Jesus! Barney!" She laughs, throwing him a dishcloth. "Cover it up!"
"Some thanks I get for making breakfast!" He grins, throwing it back at her. "Besides, it's nothing you haven't already seen!" He waggles his eyebrows.
And to think she thought things might be weird between them. "Do I have to punch you again?" she snaps, and he backs away from her, holding up his hands.
"Hey, this is a peace offering."
"Burned toast?" She wrinkles her nose as she nibbles a piece.
"Not just that. I've got an idea!"
"What?" Lily collapses onto the couch, holding a mug of coffee in both hands.
"An idea about your exhibition. I say we fake it. It'll be fun!"
"Fake an art exhibition? Are you serious?" Lily shakes her head and made a mental note never to have sex with Barney again. She'd promise to give up dope too, if that would help prevent these weird moods.
"I'm serious!" Barney bounds over to her like an over-enthusiastic puppy. "All we need is a space, and a bunch of people who can talk pretentious crap, and your paintings. I know an abandoned loft we can crash, and you can make some flyers. Easy!"
She looks up at him, his enthusiasm touching her through her cynicism.
"Come on! It'll be like a f-you to all those idiots who didn't appreciate you and rejected your work."
Lily pondered this. "Well, the pre-Raphaelites used to set up their own exhibitions. As did the impressionists. Not that I'm an art movement. There's just me. And we've got to do it by Saturday. It's impossible."
"It's not impossible. It's really, really possible. In fact, it's an awesome idea, if I say so myself!"
"Dork," she said exasperatedly. But he was beginning to win her over. Only when he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek did she feel the doubt returning. And something else returning. "Please put some clothes on!" she says, desperately.
He rolls his eyes. "Fine, if you insist." He gives her a wry smile and ruffles her hair. She swallows hard as he turns to go back to his room and whoa, he has a nice butt. How did she not notice that before? He disappears behind his door, and she shakes her head. She wipes the wet spot off of her cheek with her thumb.
OK, so sex hasn't ruined their friendship. Quite the opposite. It's a little different, maybe, but she'll get used to it. And maybe, if they're both cool about it, they could...
No, she reminds herself. Sleeping together again wouldn't be a good idea. But, still. It meant that things like friendly kisses and harmless lusting are OK. Right?
She finishes off her coffee and goes over to the sink to wash out her mug. Her eyes drift over to her easel. Her painting (which she had tentatively titled "Barney Stinson is a Stupid Jerk With Stupid Hair", but that seems kind of mean-spirited in retrospect) is an abstract - a strange mix of blue and gold and red and black, basically her just putting paint on the canvas, but it works, in a weird way. She rolls her eyes. She works for weeks on the bridge painting and gets nowhere, but the one that she made, pretty much without thought, at three in the morning turns out good. Typical.
She walks over to it to get a better inspection. She hears Barney's door creak open. She looks over to see him pulling his shirt down over his chest (face, Lily, keep your eyes on his face).
"What do you think?" she asks, turning back to it.
He bobs over to her, Barney's got this weird, loping walk as though he's never in a hurry to get anywhere. Finally he reaches her and stands in front of the painting, squinting. "It's... really..."
"Terrible," she thinks. "Lame," she clarifies. Even though she likes it, she's not sure he will. And she really wants him to like it.
"Powerful..." He says, after a long pause.
"Is powerful good?" she asks him.
"Er, yeah." He grins at her. He looks so much more alert than usual.
"Don't you have practice?" she snaps at him for no reason.
"I said it was good, Jesus!" he grumbles, making his way back to his room. "Anyway, I said I'd go look for a space to help you set up your fake art exhibition, remember? I know a guy..."
"Technically, what you said is that you knew a place we could crash," she says. "Not the same thing."
"Uh, that's what I meant," he shouts from his room. "Just need to make sure that it hasn't gotten any squatters."
She sighs. "Whatever." She goes into her own room and puts on some jeans and a nicer shirt. When she goes back into the living room, Barney's just about to leave. "So, am I allowed to come with you to see the super-secret exhibition space?"
"Uh, shouldn't you be working on that bridge painting?"
"Please. That thing is a train wreck." She slips on a pair of shoes. "Shall we?"
Barney pauses, then holds the door open for her, and, although Lily's a feminist, she still appreciates it.
The abandoned loft isn't far from their apartment and it's airy, cold but the light is amazing - through large, wide windows, and it's been white-washed, which gives it that trendy, slightly industrial feel. Lily stands in the center of the echoing space and turns around, taking it in. "Wow," she whispers. "Barn, this is perfect..." For a moment, she doesn't think about what this means, about what this might lead to. She doesn't think about how hard it'll be to pull this off, this elaborate rouse. She just imagines her paintings on the wall and gets caught up in his excitement. "I'm gonna-" She whips out her cell and texts Ted the address. She can't go back now. She's in this, no matter what the consequences.
He wanders over from the doorway and she gives him a hug. It's meant to be a thank you, for supporting her like this, for firing her up, for finding this place. But his arm slides around her waist and suddenly her face is turned towards his and it's too easy to kiss him.
It's only for a second - or rather, a second too long. Lily pulls back, blushing. "Sorry." Barney blinks, in surprise, and she looks away. "I didn't mean..."
She feels his fingers and his thumb gently cup her chin. She looks back into his eyes, and he pulls her in for another kiss. It feels natural just to melt into it, to let her body press against his. He wraps her in his arms as he deepens the kiss, his tongue gently pushing through her lips. She doesn't freak out (although maybe she should), but just closes her eyes and enjoys it. And, boy, does she enjoy it.
When Lily finally pulls away, Barney lets her go but his fingertips linger around her waist when they walk back into the middle of the space. She clears her throat and breaks contact, a little embarrassed by the intimacy. "So... uh? What're we going to do? Who will we invite?"
He walks up behind her, sliding his arms back around her waist. "Everyone?"
She shakes her head. "This is just so weird. I don't know what to say!"
"Say you'll do it!"
Lily turns towards him, resolutely. "I'll do it."
He smiles - it's incredible the way his whole face lights up when he smiles.
They just stand there like that for a moment, and it feels awfully... couple-y. But in a nice way. He's tall and warm and he feels good next to her. Not to mention the pulsing between her legs. Lily thinks back to the previous night - would being with Barney be such a bad thing? They like each other, and they like having sex with each other. What more do you need, really?
"Barney, I..." she starts, but then her phone starts to ring. She kind of wants to just ignore it.
"That's probably Ted," he says. "You should answer it."
She nods and pulls it out, whipping it open. "This is Lily."
"Lily Aldrin?"
She almost drops the phone in shock. Barney seems to have noticed her change in expression, because his brow furrows with concern.
"M-Marshall. How did you... How are you?"
He chuckles, and it's too goddamn familiar. She hasn't seen this guy in years, but one phone call is bringing all of the memories flooding back. "I'm good. I'm in New York for at least a few weeks, and Ted gave me your number." She remembers now - she'd given Ted her cell just before she left the bar last night. She'd never thought he'd pass it on to her ex-boyfriend. Douche.
"Great." She looks up at Barney, and she can't really decipher his expression. "We should... see each other. Catch up?"
"Yeah, yeah, sounds good. You know anywhere good?"
She pulls away from Barney, giving him an apologetic look. His fingertips trail her skin for as long as they can before she's out of his grip completely. She walks over to the window and negotiates details with Marshall, all the while looking back at Barney.
It's not like she's planning a date, or anything.
It's nice - talking to him, remembering Hewitt Hall, just pretending she was eighteen again. But when she ends the call, having made arrangements to meet Marshall for lunch the next day, Barney's looking at her strangely.
"Who was that?" He asks, an edge of aggression in his tone.
"Marshall... he's-"
"Marshall, your college sweetheart?" Barney interrupts her. College sweetheart? She makes a face. That's such a Barney thing to say. Like anything is that black and white. "You're having lunch with him?" Barney continues. "What about...?"
He trails off. Lily wonders if he was going to try and define himself as in a relationship with her after what basically was a one-night stand. Because the idea just skeeved her out. And, yeah, they kind of had just been making out, but since when was that a marriage proposal?
"We're just catching up," Lily says.
"Really?" There's that judgmental tone creeping into his voice - the one that shows up in all guys after you sleep with them, sooner or later.
"Yeah, really," she replies. "I can keep my pants on, you know." It was kind of ironic, considering that she'd jumped him the night before, but whatever. "It's not really any of your business, anyway." She doesn't mean to sound so petty, but it just comes out.
He looks hurt and he turns away, shoulders hunching. She turns and walks past him, holding the door open as she walks back into the stairwell. If he's going to sulk then that's his problem. But instead he breezes through the door, his expression unreadable and they descend the stairs together.
"So..." He says, carefully, breaking the silence between them. "You gonna make some invites to your exhibition? We can send them round to a few journalists. You never know who might bite?"
"Can't hurt, can it?" she says, and he shakes his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. They walk in brittle silence for a while. "I'm really not going to sleep with him."
"Well, it's none of my business," he says, petulantly. She rolls her eyes. "Do you still have feelings for him, or something?"
She shakes her head. "No, nothing like that." She swallows. "It's just that... I've never... felt the same way about anyone else like I felt about him. And maybe I never will." And Barney's looking at her, his face plainly showing his surprise and pity, and Lily looks down at the sidewalk. "It's not easy to forget. Is all."
Saying those words, it's weird but it crystallizes something for her. She's never articulated this stuff out loud before. Dropping out of college, she had grand ambitions, wanted to travel, do so many things. The pain of breaking up with Marshall was fleeting, much like the pain of leaving Scooter. She'd understood that if she wanted to lead this kind of life, have this kind of independence, then it would come at a sacrifice.
But it hadn't felt like much of a sacrifice.
But Marshall had made her feel so safe, so happy. She'd never found that again, not for more than a brief nocturnal encounter. Will she still feel that when she sees him again? Is he still single? Maybe he's even married by now?
They keep walking together for a while, not talking or looking at each other.
"I know you'll find someone," Barney says, after a long while. "You're a great girl." She smiles, still not looking at him. He laughs. "Plus, you're pretty good in bed."
She hits him in the arm again, and he just keeps laughing.
They reach their apartment. Barney looks at the clock. "Crap, I'm gonna be late." He grabs the violin off the top of their wardrobe. "See you later."
"Bye," Lily replies, and he walks out the door. As he shuts it, Lily sits down heavily on the couch, the spring that dug into her leg last night still poking at her.
It'll be OK, she tells herself. You can deal with this. The exhibition, Barney, Marshall... it'll be OK.
She keeps telling herself that for the rest of the day. She isn't entirely sure if it helps.
Link to Part Four