I don't own HIMYM and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Barney loathed the direction the fight had gone. She was offering him an out? Seriously? "Are you asking me if I want out because you want out?" They had had a stupid, minor fight. That was all it should have been.
"No, I don't want out! Where did you get that idea?" Robin glared at her husband. It was unbelievable he had even asked her that when he clearly wanted to be elsewhere, like New York.
"How are you this mad when you just asked me that very same question? I don't want out! You asked so I'm assuming you're looking for an out." Fear overwhelmed him as the anger faded. This couldn't be the end of their marriage. Barney couldn't lose Robin. And the thought of not being married to her anymore? It was inconceivable.
"You're sick of travelling with me, thus the stupid excuse of not being able to access Wi-Fi to update your blog. You don't want to do this anymore. It's pretty easy to figure out where this was heading." Robin looked down at her feet so she could avoid him.
He laughed, more out of nerves than anything else. "I don't want a divorce, Robin. That's what I've said that I think you do and you were looking for an excuse." Barney sat down on the bed, feeling like everything had just crashed down on him. The fight had gone out of him now.
"No. I just had the balls to finally say something." She knew he never would have and was sick of it.
"Nah, that's not it. When did you stop loving me?" Oh, now he was numb. Barney would take that over the anger and sadness that had previously coursed through his body.
"What?" She had no clue why Barney would think that. Of course she loved him! That's why Robin was giving him an out.
"It's okay. I'll deal with it. Just be honest with me, Robin. That's all I ask." Barney wasn't surprised now – he was too broken for this to last, and he always would be. He should have known that it would catch up with him sooner or later, and that Robin would leave him because of it.
"Don't turn this around on me." Robin scoffed.
"I'm not turning it around on you!" And they had been looking forward to their Argentina trip too. He couldn't believe how naïve he had been. So much for having fun.
Robin didn't have the energy to do this anymore – she was still hung over from last night – and sat down on the bed next to him with a huff. "How did we get to this point?"
Barney shrugged. "No fucking clue. But I will not give up on us, Robin. So we've hit a rough patch – we can't just give up because of it. And I'm not letting you go just because the Wi-Fi wasn't working. That's a stupid reason to divorce. You know I love traveling with you? It's a lot of fun and you get to do what you want. Your career is going places, and I am so proud of you. We can get through whatever our issues are, as long as we work on them and don't give up at the first sign of trouble."
She teared up. "I don't want to lose you, but I'm scared I'm pushing you away by working like this."
"Never! But you do need to stop pushing me away. It's not fair to either of us." Barney was still on edge, but he felt better now that they were having a rational conversation of arguing.
She tearfully laughed. "You're right. I'm sorry, Barney. I never should have given you an out." Robin felt a little guilty now, but less worried and panicked than she had been earlier.
"I'm sorry, too. We need to be able to communicate a little better than fighting and having sex. It's what got us in this position in the first place."
"We need to be completely honest with each other from now on." They had been before, but they had let minor issues build and drive them apart. That couldn't happen again. She tentatively smiled at him.
He grinned back at his wife and kissed her. "That sounds good to me. And I want you to know – again – that I love you. You're never getting rid of me. You'd have to kill me to do so."
Robin barked out a surprised laugh. "You're an idiot."
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot."
"Yeah you are." Robin kissed Barney again and then snuggled in closer. He put his arms around her, content for the first time in months. It was a really great feeling and something he never thought he'd get back when they hit this rough patch. "You want to have awesome make-up sex?"
Barney laughed. "You never I can never turn down sex, let alone make-up sex." They probably needed to have another conversation – they hadn't quite worked through everything yet – but that could wait until later. And he definitely was not about to let those problems drive them apart again. It just wasn't happening, not on his watch.
Robin pushed him down and they made up several times that morning. And afternoon. And that night. They finally had to give up when the woman next door called to complain (out of spite, they thought, because they had accidentally ended up in her room the previous night).
And when Barney and Robin returned to New York, their marriage was stronger than ever. Their friends were happy they hadn't made a spur of the minute decision that would have changed everything for the group since it may have torn them apart and none of them wanted that. And learning that Lily was pregnant again? That was just another exciting event they were all looking forward to, especially since they adored Marvin, Daisy, and Penny. But Barney and Robin decided to keep their own secret to themselves for a little while longer, just to see the look on their friends' faces (the traveling would continue, no matter what, however since Robin's career was important to them both).
