In which Barney & Robin have one crazy, wild drunken night together that leads them to Vegas and a 24 hour wedding chapel. This came to me last night so I hope you like this, I'm starting a new long fic cause I want to explore this and why B/R are always going to be drawn back into that scary web they play. It'll be fun to explore them in the light, or darkness of their post divorce but in a much funnier and very B/R way.

Future B/R is fun to write but a messy fun.

Enjoy!

2020

"Can you believe Ted's married?" Barney asked taking a sip of his champagne from the reception of Ted's wedding.

"Wow, what a long crazy journey. Tracy's a great girl, and clearly his soulmate." Robin answered with a slur in her voice.

She's drunk, they are both drunk, both know they're drunk but both won't say they're drunk. It's classic Barney & Robin, it's that dance they dance all too well. Ignoring the facts; the sad, painful reminders that they once had that thing, that thing that Ted has with Tracy that got lost somewhere along the road that led to them getting a divorce. They don't like to bring it up, they don't like it when others bring it up and for a while, until now they barely talked to each other and tried their best to avoid being around each other or talking like they used to. At one time, that wasn't a problem. In fact, they used to talk till they were all talked out. Usually, one would call the other early in the morning to talk about whatever but somewhere along the way they lost that ability to just talk to one another like normal friends do. Then, the reality hit them and both knew they were in love and are no longer those friends who talked about everything at anytime the way they used to, they wanted to get that back again. They are in love, but both scared of relationships in general and aren't the greatest at commitment and are terrified of showing/revealing their true colors.

They know each other so well that sometimes they forget how to talk to each other when times get too hard or too complicated to know or understand what the other one is getting at. The looks, they both shared a look at Ted's wedding. Both know that look all too well, it's that I'm sorry I screwed everything good in my life up look. Neither want to be the first to say or admit to it but both were thinking this same thing as Ted and Tracy said their vows.

It brought them back to their own wedding. Them, standing up before their friends and family telling each other the real truths on how they feel. The things they kept bottled up inside them a lot over the years, so much so that it at some points over these years combusted up into one chaotic mess that their feelings had become something they couldn't control or quite understand cause neither one had that feeling before each other. They both screwed up, both know it and both regret it but both are back to square one again, at that point again where they want to speak up but are too afraid to asked the questions and to know the answer to the questions they've both held inside since they signed those divorce papers.

But, after some silence Barney finally spoke up. The bar had quieted by now, Marshall and Lily went home to tuck Marvin and Daisy into bed, Ted and Tracy are married and off on their honeymoon and they are the only ones in the bar at 2am sulking and awkwardly silent on the one topic that neither wanted to bring up.

"Yeah, Ted's married, Marshall and Lily are gone so where does that leave us?" Barney had to ask, god he's missed her, seeing her again brought up everything again. He tried avoiding it, tried ignoring it and tried distracting himself from the one thing he's been avoiding this whole time. Robin, and the fact that they're not together anymore and the pain of signing those divorce papers had gone away but seeing her again brought it all back up.

Seeing Barney again after being away and apart from him after they divorced brought everything back again, for her too. This sucks, the awkwardness of sitting alone together in the same bar where, for years has been a big place in their lives. It's the place where they met, it's the place where they flirted, laughed and enjoyed being apart of something special. It's the place where they both were always the happiest in, the place where they almost... the place they talked till dawn, the only place in this goddamn big city where they always ended up going to even on this night of Ted's wedding. All the memories came floating back up to this bar they once called their home. They had some interesting, fun, crazy, flirtatious times in this bar but there were also sometimes when one of them was so sad and felt alone would come here, they would talk and eventually one would smile again. Like that one time that jackass Simon dumped her for the second time and he cheered her up. He didn't suspect or predict what would happen next on that night but he doesn't and has never regretted that night together ever.

Like they always do, Robin dodged the question got up and went for more drinks came back and had an answer for him.

"I don't know." She flatly says in that soft tone of voice that he knows is her serious tone of voice.

"What was that look before?" Barney had to ask, he couldn't get that moment out of his mind and if he kept it inside any longer he will probably regret not saying this and it's been on his mind since Ted's wedding.

Okay, maybe not in just that moment but he's been keeping this inside since the divorce so he needs to say something before not being able to again and then regretting not saying anything will forever hang over his mind.

"I don't know. I guess it was the wedding and remembering our wedding. Ted and Tracy getting married brought back the memories of our wedding." She stops herself for a moment before continuing. This is going to be either painful to say but maybe not.

"I've been lonely." She continues taking along sip of her scotch.

Barney raised an eyebrow, he didn't see this coming he thought she was in a good and happy place in her life that's why him dragging her down led to her asking for that out of their marriage. But, alone he didn't think he was going to get that confession from her.

"Lonely huh?" Truth be told he's been lonely too but tries to not think about it to prevent himself from becoming depressed.

"It's lonely traveling the world without someone there. I've missed being home, here in New York, with my friends and..." she pauses again looking down at her glass in her hands trying not to cry and reveal more emotion than necessary especially sitting here with her ex husband talking about loneliness.

"And, you." She can't, no she won't do it. She won't sit here and cry in front of him. She always hated public displays of emotion.

"I thought you were happy. I thought getting the divorce is what made you happy and it's what you wanted." There's another bit of silence before Robin speaks again.

"I thought it would be for the better. I mean I saw you seeming unhappy with me for weeks maybe even months so when we got in that fight there was no turning back. I saw how unhappy you were and asked for that out. At the time I thought it was so we can both be happy and not tied down. We both were unhappy and with my job taking over our lives I thought I'd give you away to be free of me and my job but the truth is... I missed you so much when we signed those divorce papers." To elaborate more she starts to go on and on talking and in her drunk state of mind she starts telling the truth and getting everything that's been on her mind and distracting her from her work for this long time being apart from him.

"I started to concentrate on work it was mostly a distraction from thinking about how I screwed up everything cause I couldn't handle the pressure of my job and our relationship that was crumbling." He can't believe it, he truly thought she was happy. He thought the divorce was for the best for both of them, he thought it would savage their relationship without it getting too messy. If he knew how lonely she was, he would have flown to wherever she was to be with her because he missed her too.

"So, after like a year had past I started to continue working harder to forget about you and about us. I messed things up Barney, I know I can't change what happened between us but I don't regret marrying you." This is the one question that's been eating at him for years since they left each other. Does she regret marrying him? Because that's the one thing that scared him the most before they got married. Are they doing the right thing? Does she love him? Can he make her happy? It's all those big questions he never asked but wanted to by the end. He had that answer to that question by her signing the divorce papers and ending their three year marriage.

She wasn't in love with him and that continued to bother him after their divorce was finalized. He tried to ignore that, he knew thinking about it would make him crazy so he pretended that, that wasn't the reason she asked to end their marriage. So, for years since they don't ever talk or anyone even bothers to ask he ignored and buried the thought of her not loving him enough to fix the problems they were having at the time.

"I have to ask, it's been killing me for years. Did you ever love me? Like ever?" He didn't want to ask, doesn't even want to know the answer but it's out now so he can't take it back.

"Of course I did that wasn't why we ended our marriage." Now she's crying. Barney thought that all these years that she didn't love him but that isn't true. That never ever been true. God, she let him think all these years, all the times they were together and happy that she didn't love him. No wonder he's never thought to call her or think about coming to see her. This is why they failed in their marriage, conversation wasn't their strong suit in the relationship but loving him was the best thing she's ever done.

"You thought you didn't matter to me. You thought I didn't love you, that isn't true because I did and I still do." Now she's really crying and suddenly he's once again on her side of the booth just like all them years ago crying over another guy but this time it's the guy she still loves and who cheered her up on that night that Simon dumped her. Holding her as she cries, sobbing on his suit jacket resting her head, her hair is a bit longer than it was the last time he saw her. On his shoulder after realizing that Barney, all this time had thought she didn't love him...

TBC... This will be more fun, it's not all sadness it more stupid, crazy, drunken, night of revealing too much about everything that's been happening with them. This is a future fic, it's a reunion of B/R but also a really fun, sweet story that will get more interesting after this start chapter.