A/N
Hey guys! So, I thought of this story when lying in bed one night and wrote the majority of it at three am. It's based off the end of 6x20. The look Robin gives Barney after he pretends to be sick in The Exploding Meatball Sub is so intense. She looks so angry. This is based on that. Enjoy, and R&R! :)
2020
Watching a loved one in pain is never easy, and this was no exception. Robin rested her head on Marshall's shoulder. Barney coughed and she turned her face away so he wouldn't see her crying. Marshall squeezed her forearm.
"Marshall…can I ask one final favour, my friend?" Barney croaked. Lily hurriedly pushed Marshall towards the bed and Ted stepped in and put an arm around Robin.
"Yes, of course, of course…anything." Marshall replied.
Barney pushed back the covers slightly and retrieved a sandwich. An actual sandwich. "Eat this meatball sub."
"Wh-Where'd you get a meatball..." He started.
"I don't have much time!" Barney spluttered. Robin buried her face in Ted's shirt to cover the sound of her sobs.
"Okay, yes, yes, of course. Of course. Does this have some sort of special meaning?" Marshall asked. He was interrupted by the sub exploding, streaking his face with marinara sauce.
Barney got out of bed, cackling. "I'm not sick, you idiots! I've racked up thirty thousand dollars of uninsured medical bills for symptoms I don't even have! Totally worth it! You should see the look on your face! Oh wait, you can't – because it's covered in marinara sauce!" Robin didn't even know how to process this. She pulled away from Ted and ran from the room. Barney was busy laughing and didn't notice.
"Barney." Lily said. He looked up, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes and looked in the direction she was pointing, in time to see his wife slam the balcony door.
"Robin?" He called out. He followed her from the room and into the living room. She was shivering and leaning against the balcony rails. It was January and snowing and she was only in shorts and a tank top because it was so warm inside. Barney grabbed her coat and joined her outside. "Robin?" He repeated.
She turned to look at him, her face understandably furious. "Get the hell away from me."
"Come inside." He pleaded. She completely ignored him. "Or put a coat on, at least. You're going to catch hypothermia, it's freezing."
"Good. Then maybe you can see what it's like to worry about your sick spouse" She snapped.
He closed his eyes for a second. "Babe-"
"No! You pretended to be sick for eight months, Barney! Eight freaking months. All so you could get revenge on Marshall for a stupid incident that happened nine years ago! You don't get to come out here and play the loving husband card, you lost that privilege when you made me think the man I love was dying!" She yelled.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Oh, you're sorry? That's great! That fixes everything! That makes the fact that I had many sleepless nights in the hospital, sitting on horrible plastic chairs beside you, while you were sleeping peacefully. Or that you wasted thirty thousand dollars on literally nothing! Let's not forget that you lied and deceived me for months on end. I can't count the times I cried, or the nights I spent watching you. Or the time I wasted making sure you were always comfortable, cared for and happy. I neglected my own health and happiness for so long, I spent endless nights awake, googling your apparent disease and looking for symptoms and signs that it was getting better or worse. I just can't believe you." She was so angry.
Barney stood beside her in silence. He felt horrible. He was honestly the worst person of the face of the earth. Who does something like that to his loved ones? Who lets their wife suffer like that?
"You couldn't even keep a simple wedding vow. You promised you would always be honest with me. This isn't honest, Barney. When we got married you made one vow, and you couldn't even keep it. I thought I knew what I was getting into when I said yes on that roof top and I do at that alter, I knew I was in for lies and most likely heartbreak. I thought you loved me enough not to do something like this." Robin wiped away tears that were beginning to fall. "Please just go away. Go back inside, leave me alone."
Barney couldn't even find the words to express how much he loved her, so he obeyed her. He turned around and walked back into the apartment, gently closing the door behind him.
Inside, everyone had migrated to the living room. Ted was finishing a call to Tracy, who was the one who stayed home with all five of the kids. Lily and Marshall were sitting on the couch. Marshall had a towel around his neck and Lily was dabbing his face with it, in attempt to clean off some of the sauce.
She looked up at him when he entered the room. "You screwed up big time, Barney."
Barney nodded. "I know, I know. And I'm so sorry. I have no idea how to fix this though. I guess I didn't really see how upset Robin's been these past eight months."
"Bro, you barely even scraped the surface. She made sure you rarely saw her when she was upset, but she was absolutely devastated. All the time. In the first few months, when the doctors told her this would kill you, and soon-"
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"They said that? The doctors actually said that to her?" Barney interrupted.
"Yeah, they did. After that, she rarely ate or slept and spent most of her time when she wasn't in the hospital with you, crying. Eventually, all the all-nighters and eating next to nothing got to her and she-"
"Ted no." Lily quickly interrupted, covering Ted's mouth with her hand. Ted murmured something incoherent, that apparently, Lily heard. "I don't care how bad of a friend and husband he's been, we're not telling him that."
"What? What happened?" Barney asked. Lily shook her head. "I have a right to know. If something I did caused her any physical pain…"
"She's fine, okay? It was just…" Lily paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "It was nothing. Don't worry." Barney knew she was lying but didn't press any further.
He switched subjects. "What am I supposed to do about Robin?" He glanced outside to his wife, who looked freezing but was way too stubborn to come inside or put a coat on. Everyone followed his gaze.
"I'll go talk to her." Lily said, getting up. She paced over to the balcony and stepped outside. Robin looked up when the door closed. "Hey."
"Hey." Robin replied.
They stood in silence for a while until Robin turned to her best friend.
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be feeling right now. I should be angrier but I'm mostly just relieved. And sad that he kept that from me." She said.
Lily gave her a half smile. "I'm sorry that he lied to you for so long."
"I don't even know what to do right now." Robin thought out loud.
"Put a jacket on, it's freezing out here. Then maybe go for a walk to clear your head?" Lily suggested.
Robin nodded. "Okay." Both women went back inside. Barney jumped up from the couch and paced over to his wife. He put a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off. She put a coat on and picked up her bag and wordlessly walked out the door.
As soon as she was outside, in the open air, she felt better. It was cold though. She hailed a cab and gave the driver the one address she could think of to go to right now. James and Tom's. James was the only person in the world who had felt even a tenth of what she had been feeling the past eight months. He was the right person to talk to.
…
She arrived at her brother-in-law's place and handed the cabbie a note. She gave him a large tip because he had to deal with listening to her cry the entire way. She walked up the stone footpath silently and knocked on the door. She could smell something delicious cooking inside and hear the complaints from Sadie and Eli as they set the table. Eventually, the door opened and Tom was standing on the other side. He took one look at her tearstained face and wrapped his arms around her.
"James." He quietly called.
"Who is it?" James asked, coming into the entryway, Eli and Sadie following him. He saw Robin and choked back a sob as he turned to his kids. "Guys, maybe you should go set an extra place for Aunt Robin." They scurried off and he turned back to his husband and sister-in-law. Tom stepped back, allowing James to pull Robin into his arms. "He's gone, isn't he?" James asked softly.
"No." She replied. James pulled away from the hug so he could look her in the eyes. He looked very confused. "Turns out he was never sick. He lied and pretended for eight freaking months."
James' eyes widened. That sounded exactly like something Barney was capable of, but he didn't think he would actually do something like that. Especially since he saw at least a little of how hard Robin was taking it. "Why? Did he have a reason?" James asked, too shocked to say anything else.
"Nine years ago, he and Marshall were eating meatball subs and he spilt marinara sauce on his tie, so he decided this would be the perfect course of action to get back at Marshall for pointing out that he got sauce on his tie, and then he gave Marshall a sub and it exploded." Robin explained.
"What an asshole. He's my brother and I love him, but honestly. What the hell was he thinking?" James asked. "At what point does he put somebody else above him?"
Robin shrugged. "James, I really don't want to talk about this right now. I needed to get away from Barney for a little while though. Would it be alright if I stayed here? Just for a few hours. I'll go home later, but I really needed to clear my mind."
"Absolutely. Stay for as long as you want. You're family, and family is always welcome here." James replied.
"Thanks." She said with a weak smile.
James, Tom and Robin retreated into the main area of the house. Sadie and Eli were sitting on the couch, staring at their feet. They looked up when the adults returned.
"Is Uncle Barney dead?" Sadie asked.
Robin inhaled sharply. Barney had made a real mess. Now, they had to figure out what to tell all seven of their nieces and nephews something. They obviously couldn't tell them the truth. She glanced at James who shrugged before replying. "No, honey. He's alright."
"Good." She said. The thirteen-year-old got up and hugged her aunt. "I'm glad you're here. You're my favourite. There's too many boys here. I need to talk to a girl."
Robin smiled. This was her favourite part of being an aunt. "Talk away, sweetie."
As Tom returned to the kitchen to keep cooking, James and Robin listened intently to Sadie's story. Apparently, two of her friends at school, Masie and Hayden had broken up because Hayden said he was in love with her and she didn't love him. She loved another boy named Drew, but she couldn't date Drew because he's Felicity's ex-boyfriend and Masie can't date her best friend's ex. But, now Felicity is dating Mike who has likes Masie. Now, Mike told Sadie that Cristopher has a crush on her, but Christopher is mean to her so she thinks Mike's lying.
"And that's everything. It's all so complicated." Sadie explained.
Robin grinned. "Sorry, honey. It doesn't get any easier as an adult." Sadie sighed and threw herself against the pillows.
"Boys are so problematic." She sighed.
"Totally. Maybe you shouldn't date until you're like, Aunt Robin's age." James said. Robin laughed. For a moment, just a moment, everything was okay.
…
A/N
So, what do you think? This isn't a one shot and I'll post another chapter later. Also, this is completely off topic but I love Robin and James' relationship. Please review! :)
