We Let Our Shadows Fall Away Like Dust
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"Guys, I need help." Robin announced as she entered MacLaren's Pub. She seated herself down next to her friend Lily, who was in the midst of telling a story to her husband Marshall. "I have an issue." Her words were louder this time, but neither Lily nor Marshall seemed to be phased. Robin sighed audibly. "Ahem."
"Hm?" Lily turned to face Robin, recognition taking over her features. "Oh, yeah, one second Robin." She angled herself in the direction of Marshall once more. "So anyway baby, the driver, you know the one with the red hat?" Marshall nodded, clearly intrigued.
"Crazy Mike?"
"That's the one!" Lily grinned, reaching out to give her husband a high five. He slapped her hand and leaned back, waiting to hear what his wife had to say. "Well," Lily continued. Her eyes were alit and Marshall was slowly leaning in to insure that her words did not go unheard. "When he turned the corner- the one by the old park- he looked back at me and-"
"Guys!" Robin interrupted, throwing her hands up in the air. "Did you not hear me? I said that I had a dilemma!" She grabbed Marshall's beer from across the table and took a large sip. "It's like, a ten. Or more." She sighed once more, returning the beer. "It's like a one thousand."
"Yeah, yeah, okay Robin. One minute." Lily waved her off and took a swing of her own beer. "As I was saying, Crazy Mike looked back at me and-"
"Lily!" Robin cried out, exasperated. "Could you just please listen for one second?"
"I will! But Robin, you always abuse your tens, and I'm almost finished with my story!" Lily grinned and patted Robin on the hand softly. "Just wait one minute, okay?"
"But Lily-"
"Just one minute and-"
"Barney is going to break up with me!" Robin's outburst had caught both Lily and Marshall's attention, as each of their eyes widened and Lily's story went completely forgotten.
"What?" Lily croaked out. Robin nodded. "Why on Earth would you think that?"
Robin took a deep breath and placed both of her hands onto the table. She looked at Lily directly in the eye and willed herself to remain calm and collected. "He asked me to meet him at Splitsville tomorrow at one, after his big meeting with the North Koreans." Marshall gasped.
"No."
"Yeah." Robin's voice got quieter as she went on. "And we all know what that means." Marshall nodded his head sorrowfully.
"He wants to split." He stated, exaggerating the 't'. Robin reached for Lily's drink and Lily gave it to her immediately.
"Yep." She downed the entire glass in one gulp, and Marshall signaled Wendy the waitress to bring her over some more. Their booth went silent for a moment, each person lost in their own thoughts.
"This doesn't make sense." Lily said, finally breaking the depressing silence. "I mean, why would Barney go through all of that trouble to get you to marry him, only to break up with you a few months later?"
"I don't know. I guess…" Robin paused and exhaled vehemently. "I guess he just stopped loving me." Her words were laced with sadness and something Lily could only recognize as despair.
"Oh, sweetie don't say that." Lily moved closer to Robin and put her arm around her. "Barney loves you!" She shook Robin lightly and gave her a smile. Robin did not reciprocate however, and she suddenly emerged from her seated position and made her way towards the door.
"I have to go. I… I have to go." Lily nodded in understanding.
"You want to, um, stay with us?" She motioned between her and Marshall as she spoke. "You know, just until you clear this whole Barney thing up?" Robin stopped and looked at her friends, tears filling her eyes.
"Can I?"
"Of course!" Lily responded enthusiastically, and Marshall grinned as well. "Just go on up and we'll be right there." Robin dabbed her left eye with her hand and grinned.
"Thanks guys." She called down as she exited the bar and climbed the stairs that lead to Lily and Marshall's apartment.
"So anyway, crazy red-hatted Mike looks at me and-"
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"Hi Robin!" Robin turned around to see her co-worker Patrice smiling widely at her. She had just arrived at work after a long night, and seeing Patrice was not how she wished to start off her day. "I noticed that you were kind of down yesterday after you got that phone call, so I organized your desk! Come look!" She led Robin into her office and beamed proudly. "I even bought you new supplies!"
Robin eyed the display and groaned loudly, her frustration clearly evident. "I only use number one pencils!" She exclaimed, picking up a number two pencil that Patrice had placed in her pencil cup. "God, can't you do anything right Patrice?!" Patrice's gaze traveled towards the ground and Robin ushered her out quickly.
"Before you make me go I got that picture on your desk framed and-" Robin did not get to hear the rest of what her co-worker had to say, as she slammed the door swiftly in her face. Once the door had been shut she made her way slowly back to her desk, eying the pencils with clear distaste. She sat down and with one glance discovered what Patrice was rambling about until she had cut her off. There, perched upon her stack of unused books was a framed photo of her and Barney. They were standing beside a Christmas tree, and Barney had an arm slung across Robin's shoulder. He was looking down at her with a smile. Not one of his fake camera ready smiles, Robin noted, but a real, true smile. One filled with what only could be love. She remembered when that picture had been taken, and tears began to make their way down her face. It was a few weeks after their engagement, they were attending a small Christmas party at Marshall and Lily's.
Robin picked up the photo, her face now covered in tear tracks and red blotches. Suddenly, as if she was unable to control her actions, she flung the frame against her door. It shattered instantly, filling the room with a million tiny glass pieces. The photo inside however, the one that was causing her so much pain at that given moment, fluttered down towards the floor gracefully. It landed delicately among the glass, and Robin let out a shaky laugh. The unmarked photo was almost taunting her.
"Robin?" Patrice called out, opening her door slightly. "I heard some noise, it sounded like glass breaking." She grinned softly and entered the room. "I brought a broom." Robin arose quickly, grumbling as she did so. She yanked the broom out of Patrice's hand and pushed her out of her office.
"Dammit Patrice!"
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It was night time when Robin returned to Marshall and Lily's place. She had prolonged every assignment and piece of paperwork that she had received that day in order to remain in her office for as long as possible. Around eight o'clock however, most people were beginning to clear out, and Robin did not want to seem too suspicious. She was already working slowly as it was. Finally she packed up her belongings, ignored every text and voice mail that Barney had left her since last night, and headed back to her designated home for the evening.
"Hey guys I got that- oh," Ted paused once he saw Robin sitting on the couch. "Robin. Where are Lily and Marshall?"
"I think they took Marvin to Lily's friend's house for dinner or something." Robin shrugged helplessly. "I'm not entirely sure." Ted nodded and made his way over to where Robin was sitting, closing the door behind him.
"Why are you here? I mean," he removed a pillow from the couch and seated himself down beside her. "Why aren't you with Barney?" Robin shook her head and waved him off, not wanting to get into it.
"It's nothing, really." She glanced down at her hands and fiddled with her nails as a distraction from the conversation. "Don't worry about it."
"Oh I'm not worried about it," Ted reassured her, causing Robin to look up at him. "But someone surely is." Robin exhaled shakily, and Ted placed his hand on her knee. "He's been calling me all day worried sick, Robin."
"He's going to break up with me, Ted." She was crying now, despite doing her best to prevent her tears from spilling. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow he is going to break up with me." Ted shook his head and removed his hand from Robin's knee.
"What? That's ridiculous, Robin."
"No, no, he is." Ted reached over Robin's shoulder and grabbed a box of tissues. He handed it to her and she took a few, smiling gratefully. "He asked me to meet him at Splitsville tomorrow at one o'clock."
"No." Ted gaped, to which Robin bobbed her head up and down. "That's low, even for Barney."
"I just-" Robin blew her nose loudly, causing Ted to scrunch his nose up in a mild revulsion. "I love him, Ted. Dammit!" She threw her tissues onto the floor violently, staring at them with disgust. Ted scooted closer to his friend and placed his arm around her in an attempt at comfort. He pulled Robin closer until her head was resting on his chest. "I love him." She sobbed into his shirt.
"I know." Ted looked at her helplessly. "I know."
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"I'm not going." Robin stated firmly as she sat down at Lily and Marshall's kitchen table. "No, I'm not putting myself through that."
"Robin," Marshall sat down across from her. "You've been ignoring Barney's every message and call for a day now. I had to tell him that you and Lily were just having a sleepover." He paused, and Robin looked at him questionably. "Girls over twenty-five do that, right?"
"I don't know if-"
"The point is," Marshall disrupted Robin, "you don't know that he's going to break up with you. You don't."
"It's Splitsville, Marshall." Robin counteracted his argument unwaveringly. "He is. And I'm not going to sit there looking like an idiot while he breaks up with me in public."
"You don't know…"
"But I do!" Robin was nearing hysterics now as she screamed at Marshall. "I do! And I won't… I can't…" She huffed and stood up. "I can't handle it."
She then exited the apartment.
"She's going, isn't she?" Lily asked from Marvin's room. Marshall got up and went to meet his wife and son.
"Yeah," he confirmed while absentmindedly playing with Marvin's foot, which was rising high in the air and out of his crib. "If there's any chance that she's wrong, and that Barney won't dump her, she'll take it."
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Robin exhaled as she entered the restaurant. She briefly wondered why she was there, but those thoughts vanished immediately when she saw Barney. He was seated at a table nearby to where she was standing, and he looked so casual and calm that Robin wanted to throw up.
"Robin!" Barney exclaimed as he caught sight of her. He stood up and walked over to her, grinning. "I got us a table already," he explained as he grabbed her hand and led her to their spot.
"Alright, Barney." Robin spoke up once they were both seated. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. "Talk."
"I was kind of hoping you would talk." Barney told her while playing with a sugar packet. "I mean, you've been ignoring me since yesterday. God knows why."
Robin stared at Barney, her incredulity clearly present on her face. "God knows- God knows why?" She laughed dryly and shook her head. "You're unbelievable."
"Huh?" Barney took in his fiancée's face and titled his head. He placed the sugar packet onto the table and folded his hands. "What'd I do?"
"It's not what you did, it's what you're going to do!" Robin burst out. Her eyes began to turn red, but at that point she could not care less. Her potential tears and fallen face obviously did not matter much to Barney, so why should she express any type of concern?
"I don't-"
"Dammit Barney!" She grasped onto the edge of table, almost as if it were her lifeline. She held that table like it were the only thing keeping her relationship with Barney afloat, and she refused to let it go. "I know why we're here, so just do it already! Do it!" Her words were filled with venom and her expression worn with anger.
"Do what? Robin," Barney reached for her across the table, but she scooted her chair backwards. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Break up with me!" She cried, still gripping onto the table. "Leave me! Dump me! Whatever you call it, that's what you're supposed to do! What you're going to do, right?" She paused briefly before continuing. "For God's sake Barney, we're sitting in Splitsville!" Barney fell silent. "Just do it," Robin whispered. "Get it over with."
"I'm not…" Barney sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "That's not why I brought you here."
"What?" Robin questioned, undoubtedly taken aback. "Then what… why are we here?" Barney pursed his lips and averted his gaze to the floor.
"I heard that their banana splits were really good." He murmured shamefully, to which Robin's mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide.
"You brainless bastard." Her hands removed themselves from the table and were now folded across her chest. "You made me believe that you were going to break up with me, when really you just wanted to taste some ice cream?"
"I love you." Barney declared while shrugging. "I thought you knew that. So I didn't really… I mean, I didn't think that you'd think that I didn't. Plus," he grinned, "you really like ice cream."
"Oh my god."
"I'm serious! I swear, you like ice cream more than you like me." The grin remained on his face. "Do you remember the last time we were here?"
"Yeah," Robin confirmed. "You gave that big romantic speech and scared Nick off."
"Mhm. I meant it, you know." He kept talking upon noticing Robin's slightly confused gaze. "The speech. What I said. I meant it. I was- I am- hopelessly, irretrievably in love with you. More than you know."
"I thought that you were going to break up with me."
"I should have been clearer."
"You should have."
"You're enough. For me. You're enough." Barney clarified. "I love you so damn much, Robin." He looked at her. Really, truly beheld her. She appeared clearer and shone brighter than anyone he had ever laid eyes on. He stared at her like she was his world, and she was.
"You're an idiot." Robin announced while shaking her head. "Really. You're… you're something else."
"I'm awesome." He smiled widely at her. "Hey," his smile abruptly fell and his hand gripped hers. "Are you crying?"
"Shut up." Robin shook her head once more and chuckled lightly. "Just shut up and order me my ice cream." She held tighter onto his hand. "I want vanilla."
"Yes, ma'am."
"No sprinkles."
"Of course not. You know, I'm hurt that you don't believe I know what you like on your ice cream."
"Just stop talking and order the damn dessert."
"God, I love you."
"… I know. And I love you, too."
A/N: This is kind of really crappy but I had the inspiration for this fic and it wouldn't leave me alone so… yeah.
My sister (acomplimentandasmile) gave me the idea for this. So, all credit to her for that.
I hope that you maybe didn't think this was completely awful. Review, please? :)