Barry Berkman

Part 20

As we looked at each other, I had no idea what to say. He looked like he could cry. Or shoot me. I had already fallen for that one before. I sighed and told him the truth.

"The other day I saw a poster for the show and I thought I would check it out." I said. "I didn't know you were in it." I quickly added. He started to wipe his palms on his pants and I said,

"You did really well in that my lord scene, it's almost like you, weren't acting." I trailed off and he looked into my eyes sincerely. He waited a second before saying,

"That's because I wasn't." I saw sadness flash across his face and I stared back at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked. He closed his eyes and I thought about it again and said,

"Oh, Barry, you don't have to.." I didn't want to pry or make him feel uncomfortable but he spoke up.

"The other day I had to kill someone but I kept having flashbacks of when I served and I uh.." He paused, not sure if he wanted to continue.

"I had a flashback of when I shot my friend. I didn't want to but he ended up basically telling me he knew he was going to blab so I," He stuttered. "I, I killed him. I also didn't kill the girl I was supposed to and now Hank is really mad at me and Fuches and I got in an argument yesterday." It all flew out of his mouth, and he trailed off before taking a deep, shaky breath.

"Oh my God, Barry. I'm so sorry." Was all I could manage to say.

We stood there a long time together and then I gave him a hug. A long, long hug. After a minute, we released each other and giving me a half smile, he said,

"Thank you." He closed his eyes and an idea came to me.

"Hey. How about we get a nice big slice of cake for your great performance?" He chuckled and nodded saying,

"That would be great."

As we walked out of the theater, it was quiet but okay. I sent him the address of my favorite bakery and a little while later, we parked and walked up to each other. We both chuckled as he told me a story of how he got his head smashed into a cake while in the Marines.

"I swear they were good guys!" He jokingly put his hands up. "Just not on your birthday." He grinned to himself and we walked in together.