February 13th, Robin woke up to the faint scent of roses. She turned over on her side, expecting to see the familiar image of her husband lying beside her, but with the exception of herself, the bed was empty. She pulled herself away from the mattress, tiredly coming to her feet to spot Barney smiling at her from the hallway, already dressed and holding a bouquet of roses.
"You know Valentine's Day is tomorrow. It's February 13th." She said, unable to resist smiling.
"Robin," he began, "I have never been one to celebrate Valentine's Day. Instead, I taken much pleasure," he gave a signature wink, "in the awesomeness of the day before, Desperation Day."
"That's still not a thing." She interrupted.
"It's a thing. Desperation Day," he picked up where he left off. "a legendary day that I used to spend banging the chicks who really were willing to bend over backwards to get a date on Valentine's Day."
"Is there a reason you're reminding me of all this?" Robin asked, slightly irritated.
He continued, his tone changing to one of sincerity, "But then I married this girl, who made it all seem, less legendary. And I realized that desperation day was just a day where I was desperate to distract myself from how broken I was. So, now I'm dedicating it to you, the one who made my life as legendary as I always pretended it was, the one who made me not want to be alone anymore. And this Valentine's Day, I won't be alone, and for the first time in a long time, that doesn't scare me."
Robin smiled, thinking to herself that this would be the first Valentine's Day that ever meant anything to her. And she knew that it was really nothing more than an artificial, over-commercialized, imitation of a feeling that she previously didn't even understand. But she did now, Robin Scherbatksy, of all people, had become a romantic. And for the first time, she thought maybe the day, which was completely meaningless, could be something else with him. Robin knew it could be something.
"I love you." She managed, with all the thoughts rushing about in her head, those three words seemed about all she could voice, but hell did she mean them.
He didn't reply, only smiled, leaned in and kissed her gently.
She returned the kiss, ruffling one hand through his hair and using the other to clutch onto his back. The kiss intensified, with their bodies now pressed tightly together. Before either of them could process what was happening, they had found their way back to the bedroom. They're clothes were thrown off almost instantly, falling to the ground one article at a time.
…
The two of them high fived, now lying naked in bed, with tired yet satisfied looks on their faces.
"God, that was awesome." Barney said breathlessly.
"I can second that." Robin added, in a near daze.
"Speaking of seconds…" He rolled himself back on top of her, kissing her passionately.
She reciprocated, but reluctantly broke away after a minute. "Wait, what about our plans?"
"Right. OR… or." He suggested before kissing her again, but this time he was the one to pull away. "No, you're right. Save round two for later?"
"Deal."
"And round three. Four. Five. Six. Se-"He began listing, with somewhat long spaces in between his words.
She gave a small laugh, "I get it."
They redressed themselves, ate breakfast and headed out of the apartment hand in hand. Hand-holding was one of those things that had never felt right before they were together.
Barney loved the way her hand felt in his. Even as time went by, he never seemed to forget what it had been like to be alone, without Robin. He had always felt so empty, feeling as if something were missing. He had that something now, that someone. And it felt natural, almost having become a reflex for him to reach for her hand.
Robin looked down at their hands, intertwined, giving a slight smile. She had never liked any of this, or even understood it. But it made sense now. Being in a couple made sense. It was never like she had imagined it to be, silly and meaningless. She didn't feel less independent, only less alone. The truth was that she had never felt alone while knowing him, whether or not they were together, he had always been there for her, always loved her in some way. He had always understood her in a way no one else had. It felt good to finally be as physically close to him as she had felt emotionally.
Their first destination for the day was the cigar bar. Barney had thoughtfully suggested that they go back and do all the things they had done on their first evening they spent alone together, the night they became bros, and the night their chemistry and attraction for each other finally became clear.
Smoking El Piramide together again that day felt as if they had travelled back in time, eight years ago. Of course, a lot had changed since then, but there were also so many things that hadn't. They realized then that one of the most magical things about their relationship is that the chemistry never faded. Even as a married couple, their feelings for each other only grew. It was the fear and uncertainty they used to carry around with them that seemed to have disappeared.
They played laser tag after that, which Robin hated to admit her love for. There was something fun about something so childish. And yet, it still managed to incorporate guns, which made it all the more enjoyable. The two of them mercilessly took down everyone else in the arena. Plotting and ambushing others was just one of those things Barney and Robin did best. For lone wolves, they worked extremely well as a team.
They immediately high fived to celebrate their victory. "God Scherbatsky, you are seriously the best laser tag partner I've ever had." Barney said with a goofy smile.
"Out of interest, how many laser tag partners have you actually had?" She asked.
He looked to the left with his eyes, mock suspiciously, and she responded by hitting him gently on his arm. "Hey!" He said, rubbing the spot she had hit him with his other hand, "To be fair, I usually just turn on them and go rogue."
She shook her head, smiling, "You're an idiot."
He smiled back at her, kissing her briefly. "So, wanna get a hot pretzel?"
She nodded.
Later that night, after a few drinks at the bar with the gang, they went home and spent night playing battleship.