Author's Note: I have always felt that the build up to Barney and Robin in Season 4 is executed very well – on Barney's side of things. We get a real sense as the audience of what he's going through. On the other hand, Robin's feelings come out of left field. I get the sense that their relationship might have been easier to connect to if we had had a better idea of Robin's feelings and how that led up to the climactic scene in The Leap, the Season 4 Finale.
So… with that in mind, here are a few moments from Robin's perspective.
Sandcastles in the Sand S3EP16
Barney Stinson has this way with women. It had always been true, and in the few years that Robin had known him, she had seen countless women fall prey to his charming trap. She, Robin Scherbatsky, belongs to the super-secret club, those on the inside of Barney's schemes. It's hard to explain, but it feels like a privilege to be his friend.
She knows he finds her attractive – she's notices the heavy-lidded looks he's shot at her across their usual table at the bar, the way his eyebrows twitch up when she wears a particularly revealing outfit. That smile – the one that melts her insides – when he feeds her an obviously fake line.
"Holy crap, you're beautiful!" he had said to her once. And he meant it too. She couldn't help it – it was very flattering to be on the female side of Barney Stinson's flirtatious personality.
She'd always roll her eyes at him as he'd point – "Target acquired." Then, as he left the bar with the bimbo attached to his arm, sometimes he'd shoot a look over his shoulder. Logically, she knew he was looking at all of them – Marshall, Ted, Lily, herself… but sometimes the look was so intently focused that she felt butterflies in her stomach, as if he were staring straight through her skin.
Because he understood her, better than almost anyone in the entire world. It was all physical, she'd tell herself. It was natural that a girl would be attracted to Barney Stinson. But it was innocent attraction. She wasn't about to do anything about it. She was never planning on acting on her secret lust.
Partly because Barney and her could never be a one-night-stand. They were friends. Bros, even. Partly, she kept it all bottled up because she was afraid of Ted's reaction. But still… to get it out of her system would be a relief. If she could only feel it – what Barney had to offer, maybe then she could go back to normal.
So when he wraps his arm around her and presses her head down gently onto his shoulder, she tries to believe that he really means it. "You are the most awesome person I have ever known…" Sure, she'd seen him with other girls – the perfectly sculpted mask of hurt, concern, worry, lecherousness, whatever it took to get a girl in bed. But she believed – she honestly did – that when he spoke to her, his words were sincere.
It was probably naive and stupid. But she was smitten.
When she thought back on it, she had no idea who had initiated contact. It had happened so slowly and yet so quickly – all at once, a lightning flash from an invisible sky. One minute, he had his head thrown back in carefree mirth, laughing at Robin Sparkles on the TV. He pointed at something and Robin had blushed but laughed along – after all, it was pretty damn hilarious.
Suddenly, he was staring at her, his eyebrows crinkled so that the three lines on his forehead were more pronounced. He looked a little mystified at something. And as the music of Sandcastles in the Sand swelled to its pathetic crescendo, Barney and Robin leaned together suddenly, lips connecting.
She wasn't surprised that he was a good kisser. After all, he had had plenty of practice. But the thought of him with other women created this painful twist in her gut, so she pushed it away and allowed his lips to caress hers with a single-minded certainty that she loved.
He was so careful to please her – so beautifully focused on her. He teased her – bringing her to the edge of something that promised to be wonderful, and then pulling her away from the edge of the cliff. He seemed desperate for contact. It was as if after years of starving himself from the taste of greatness, he had finally allowed himself to cave in, to release all tension, and to tear down all barriers.
They were excellent together, and that was what scared Robin the most. She wondered, as he brought her down from release with a gentle, pressing kiss to her neck, if he was like this with all of his girls. She somehow hadn't pictured it to be so nice. Sure, it had been intense, gratifying, passionate, but he had been so sweet. It was a side of Barney she had never known, and she felt the hard shell around her heart start to melt a little.
Afterwards, there was no awkwardness. A sheen of sweat covered his bare chest, and to Robin, it was the most natural thing in the world to rest her head against it. Barney ran his fingers through her hair once, twice, smoothing out the tangles he had created by gripping the tendrils at the base of her neck as he took her.
And she had drifted off to sleep, satisfied. She didn't allow the tension to creep into her body and mind until the next morning. She needed to put off the fall-out, because rarely had she experienced a moment so simple, so free from complexity, so perfect.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please please please drop a review!
