K here. Brand new story, and for once, it's not for iCarly. This obviously takes place 'a little ways down the road'. Reviews are definitely appreciated. I apologize for any mistakes.
I don't own How I Met Your Mother.
Twitter: KatieM9
"Is this tie good?" I asked about the tie, but Ted, knowing me, his best friend, knew that's not what I wanted to know.
"Yeah, Barney. The tie is good. You're making the right decision about it." He said seriously.
"Bu-but what if it's the wrong tie? What if I make the commitment to it, and then realize that it was a mistake, that I should have worn a tie I've had longer?" I asked, sitting in the chair next to the mirror and bringing my hands to my face.
"Barney," Ted said, bringing another chair to sit in front of me. "Do you love… the tie you have on?"
"Yeah." I took a deep breath. "At least, I think I do."
"You think you do? Well, what about the tie you've had longer? Do you love her-I mean it- too?"
"Of course I do." I answered automatically. "I mean, I did once. But new is better, right? Right Ted?"
"I don't know. Maybe it is for some people. Maybe for me. Maybe not for Marshall and Lily. It's up to you to decide."
"But what if I can't?" I said quietly. Weakness wasn't my thing. Worrying: not my thing. Acting like Ted: Not my thing. But here I was, going through all of it, and for a girl to boot. But it was a girl I loved.
I just wasn't sure it was for Nora.
"You can. You already have, and you know it. You just don't want to admit it." Ted said, standing up. "You know what you want. It's what you've always wanted, you're just scared." He paused by the door. "Call me when you're ready."
"Ted, wait. Can you do me a favor?" I broke.
"Anything."
"Can you- can you go find her? Bring her here? I-I have to talk to her."
"I figured. Give me ten minutes." He said, a small smile on his face.
I nodded. That was all I could do at this point. He left, and I was alone again. For only a minute. Before I was ready for anyone to be near me again, Lily walked in.
"Hey Barney. How you holdin' up?" she said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I shook it off. "Please." I said, not looking up. "I'm Barney. The Barnacle. I'm always... aw-awesome." My voice broke on the last word, and I wished she would leave.
"Look, Barney. I was there when you realized you were in love with Robin." I winced. She said it so bluntly. "I was there while you struggled with telling her. I was the one who made you sit down and define what you two were. I was the one who watched you after the breakup, who saw through the macho attitude you kept up, to the guy who was really hurting. I've seen you at your best, and I've seen you at your worst. Whatever you're feeling, you can tell me."
I looked at her. She seemed sincere. Like she didn't have some big plan behind her words. Like she was telling the truth.
"D-do you think I'm making a mistake?" I questioned, fighting back the pin pricks in the corners of my eyes.
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I think…I don't know what I think. I keep going back and forth. I love Nora. I want to marry Nora. I love…her. I want to marry her."
"Barney, you know how you feel. Do what makes you happy, and forget the rest. Don't think about what you should do, or what anyone else wants you to do. Do what you want."
"I want… her." I said, and somehow I knew it all the time, I'd just finally come around to seeing it.
"Then go get her." Lily said.
There was a knock on the door. "Hey, Barney." Came Ted's voice. "I'm back."
"I'm…gonna go tell Marshall, if that's ok."
I nodded, and she left, leaving the door open. Ted stuck his head in the room "I think I'm gonna go with Lily. Give you guys some privacy." I nodded again. That seemed to be all I could really do.
"Hi Barney." She said. "Ted said you wanted to see me?"
"Yeah." I took a deep breath. "I thought I could do this. I thought I was ready. I though I could convince myself into believing I was ready. I thought I could go up there, declare my love, and everything would just work out the way it's supposed. But I can't. I can't because…well, the truth is, I'm-"
"You're in love with Robin." Nora cut me off. "I know."
"I-You... You know? How could you know if I didn't until 5 minutes ago?" I was completely confused.
"I have for… well, a long time. Since the first time I saw you two together." She sat down in the chair across from me. "I've noticed how you've been acting. Like you're not sure of anything, especially when you're around me. I just thought-no, hoped is more like it- that it was just because you were nervous about settling down. You were scared you were losing the person you used to be. Then I went to visit you at that cigar club you're always talking about."
"I never saw you..."
"I know you didn't." she cut me off again. "Before you saw me, I saw you. You were with Robin. You were just sitting there, talking to her, laughing, joking with one of your best friends. That's not what made me stop. You just seemed so relaxed, so…happy. That's when I knew it wasn't because you were scared, but because this wasn't right for you."
"B-but why didn't you say anything?"
"I don't really know. I guess it was because I was trying to pretend this was right. Pretend as if it didn't matter, that we would overcome it. I just wanted a happily ever after, even if it didn't really belong to me." She shrugged. "I understand Barney, and it's all ok. This just wasn't meant to be." She shrugged again, and stood up. "No hard feelings?"
I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't even sure what had just happened.
"I'm going to go tell the guests the wedding is off, alright?" She gave me kiss on the cheek. "Bye Barney." She said softly, walking to the door.
"Wait." I said, just as she was about to leave. "Why are you doing this? Acting like this?" None of it made sense.
"Maybe it's crazy, but when you realize that there's a reason for this almost happening, but not, and that it's not meant to be, if it happened it would just be a mistake, it's easy to let go any feelings of anger." She smiled. "I care about you, Barney. I want you to be happy, even if I'm not the one who makes you happy. That's what we're here to find. The one person who makes us happy like no one else can. For you, that's Robin. I thought you were mine, but I was wrong. And I'm fine with that." She stopped and looked straight into my eyes. "Go get your one Barney."
With that, she left, and I was alone with my thoughts again. Trying to process what had just happened. Trying to straighten everything out in my mind.
What was I going to say to Robin?
Robin POV
I didn't want to go. I didn't want to have to sit there and watch him marry some woman with a stupid accent. But I had to. Ex Boyfriend or not, the guy I was in love with or not, he was still one of my best friends, and I had to go to his wedding.
Unless I got sick, I thought. That was perfect! I'd call Ted, tell him I was sick, couldn't possibly go to Barney's wedding like that. Didn't want to make it less awesome. Fake a cough. Sit home and eat ice cream, or go to the shooting range, pretend the target had long dark hair…
"You have to come, Robin." Ted said. "Trust me, you'll be glad you did!"
"Ted, I can't. I told you, I'm sick." I giggled, and mentally cursed my lack of lying ability.
"Just come! Please! I promise you won't regret it." I heard the hand being yanked from Ted.
"Robin," came Lily's voice. "Please come to the wedding. It won't be the same without you."
"Lily, you can keep saying that, but I can't." I didn't giggle this time. "I'm not on speakerphone, right?"
"No, why?"
"Lily, I have to tell you something. I can't go because I can't watch him marry someone else." I said, a tear running down my face. Great. He was making me cry. I never cry! Yet there I was, acting like such a… girl.
"Robin, listen to me. Trust me. Come to the wedding."
"Is like the time you told me to knock?"
"Just come! I have to go!" she said quickly, and the line went dead.
"Just come." I said aloud to myself. "Alright."
I went and got dressed, a simple black dress and low heels. My mind was elsewhere though. I wasn't even conscience of the cab ride to Van Smoot, nor checking in, just telling people I wa 'a friend of the groom'. All I remember thinking was how much I didn't want to go, didn't want to be there, didn't want to be just 'a friend of the groom'.
I wasn't there even 5 minutes before I had to find the bar. If I was going to watch Barney marry another woman, I'd do it with a scotch in my hand. I'd ordered a scotch, but before the bartender could even pour my drink, Lily found me and started to yank me away
"Lily! What the hell are you doing?" I asked, looking longingly at the bar.
"You have to come with me." She said seriously.
"No!" I said loudly, pulling my arm out of her grasp. "I don't want to go!"
"Robin, I swear I'll kill you if you don't come with me right now!"Determination flashed in her eyes as she grabbed my arm again.
"Lily, I can't! Don't you understand?" I pulled my arm back again.
"I do." Said an English accent. "Understand, I mean."
Slowly I spun around. "Nora? What are you doing here?" I noticed her silk, light orange cover up. "Wh-why aren't you dressed?"
"I'm here to make an announcement." Politely, she asked a nearby guest for his chair, and climbed up to stand on it. "Excuse me!" she shouted "May I have everyone's attention?" no one even looked at her. "YO!" She screamed "LISTEN UP!" That got their attention. "I have an announcement. I know most of you are expecting a wedding today. I'm sorry, but you're going to be disappointed. There will not be a wedding today, at least not between Barney and myself. And no, it's not being post-poned. There simply will not be one. Ever. We've realized that we are not meant to be, and that's all there is to it."Her eyes fell on me "We both have futures in other people. But everyone is welcome to stay for what would have been the reception."Everyone looked on in an awkward silence. "That's all then. Thank you."
She stepped down, and everyone, after a moment, broke out in whispered conversations, all centering around what could have prompted the apparent break up. I was in shock. I couldn't process what she said, couldn't comprehend any of it, except that there would be no wedding.
There would be no wedding. The words ran through my head again and again. I tried not to smile, but it was hard because there would be no wedding. I tried to feel bad for Nora, and a small part of me did, but most of me was happy, relieved, and shocked all at the same time.
"Robin." She said, pulling me into a hug. I didn't know what to do. Why had she looked at me when she said 'futures in other people'? "I know you must be kind of surprised right now, and most likely confused as well, but I don't have time to explain it. My mother's having a break down." She smiled. "Perhaps you should go talk to Barney."
"Barney." My stomach dropped. Of course I had to talk to him. Why hadn't that occurred to me before I came here? If it had even crossed my mind, I never would have.
What was I going to say to Barney?