Being good friends with the gang meant you eventually met all their rivals—including Barry Kripke.

The man was arrogant, competitive and terribly inappropriate. He always made comments to Bernadette, Amy and even you. At first you wrote him off as just a creep, but over time it felt like he seemed to only have eyes for you.

As bad as it sounded, he stopped making flirty comments to everyone else and focused them solely on you instead. You couldn’t help but notice that he was actually quite funny when he wasn’t being a jerk. That and he was actually quite charming. Not the way he intended, but there was something to him when he wasn’t trying so hard. When he let his guard down and showed a genuine interest towards you and the things you liked.

You found your thoughts wandering towards the plasma physicist more than you would’ve liked.

“Come on, it’d be fun! You won’t wegwet it!” Barry pleads, following you around Stuart’s comic store like a lost puppy. You usually would’ve ignored him, but it was a little difficult now since you found him rather endearing.

He speeds up, blocking your path while taking care to not invade your space. He raises both hands in surrender, the smug, lopsided grin of his completely gone now.

“Wook. I pwopose a deal. If you don’t wike it, I won’t ask again.” He promises, eager to try and reason with you. He really liked you, in fact he was completely smitten to say the least.

“One date. That’s aww I’m asking.” He holds up one finger, searching your gaze intently. He’s serious now, no charming tricks. No cheesy flair—this was it. “Give me a chance…pwease?” His words are hopeful, pairing sweetly with the tiny curve of his mouth. Okay, he was kind of cute.