He arrived at the apartment door. The place Lily was said to be living in now. He knew his goal and knew he had to act fast in order for it to succeed. He plants the knock on the door. She opens it after a few minutes, and Barney notices she's changed. Her hair was longer and a much darker red then before. Beautiful, but he immediately shook the thought from his head and enacts his plan.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Barney, what are you doing here? I can't believe it's really you, come in, have a seat, do you want some tea? I know the apartment seems small, but I don't need much space, let me show you some of my paintings, I think it's some of my best work ever-just stop it. Lily, you have to come home, you and Marshall belong together. The two of you have something that most people search their whole lives for and never find. I know you love him and if you knew what he was going through right now, you wouldn't be here for one more second." He reaches into his suit pocket and produces a plane ticket. "I bought you a ticket home. Marshall is one of the best people I know and it won't be long until someone else realizes that and you'll lose him forever. I can't stand the thought of that happening and I cannot keep stealing chicks from him forever." He turns to leave, but pivots back. "Never, ever anyone I was here, I will deny it tooth and nail, this trip never happened." He grabs the door and shuts it as he leaves. She's left in her thoughts briefly before he returns. "Hey, if you had three hours to kill before your flight, what would you do: Alcatraz or Fisherman's Wharf?" he queried, moving his hands up and down for show.
"Barney, I appreciate the gesture, but I'm just not ready to go back yet. My program got extended."
Barney sighed in a deep, annoyed sigh. "Lily, it's not easy to hop on a plane, fly give hours to a different time zone while sitting between two rotund gentlemen with bad flatulence, and have to watch What Lies Beneath."
"That movie does suck." Lily admitted.
"Totally, Zemeckis really-" he realized the subject changed and immediately return to the predecessor. "Lily, Marshall is in utter shambles. He gave to you what most men would never do for women. That trait is very hard to find."
She shifted in her place and handed back the ticket. "Barney, I know that, and I really appreciate what you're doing, but going back for me is not possible right now. I'm sorry."
"Then you leave me no choice." Barney declared, flinging a small bag onto the three-seater couch. "Until you come to your senses, I shall not leave that couch." And he strode over and sat down.
"Alright, Barney. I can wait a day for you to leave."
"Hmm, with that said, let's make this interesting. If I get you to return to New York in two weeks, you have to be my wingman for a month."
Lily considered this. "Fine. But if I don't you have to go back to New York and accept my wishes."
Barney knew with a term like that, his task would now be difficult, but he could do it.
He extended his hand. "May the best man win."
They shook. As Barney sank down into the couch, he leapt up in terror as something inside of it moved around. "What is that?" he yelled.
"No idea." Lily replied, eyes wide in fear. "Perhaps we should leave for a while."
"Agreed." And they slowly slipped out of the apartment and out into the San Francisco summer.