Author's Notes: I don't own How I Met Your Mother. Sorry if this is a little OOC; it's my first HIMYM fanfic.
"It's never too late, Barney," Nora assured him.
"Challenge accepted," he responded.
The next day…
Barney and Nora sat down at the same restaurant they had before on their second date.
"Look, Barney, I know you're just going to try to win me back," said Nora. "But-"
"Actually," Barney interrupted. "I have to talk to you about something."
"Okay," Nora was confused, but listened anyway.
"Alright. First, I admit I wasn't lying when I said I was. Maybe I would like to settle down some day, but not with you. I have to ask you something. Are you… in love with me?" The question seemed to pain him to ask, as if he didn't want to hear the real answer.
"No," she answered. He seemed to be relieved. "Why?"
"Look, Nora, you seem really nice, and I shouldn't have done all that just to get in your pants. However, I…" he sighed. "I still love Robin."
She wasn't as shocked as Barney had thought she would be. "Okay, can I start with those dirty names now?"
Barney laughed. "Are you mad?"
"About you still loving Robin? No. In fact, I kind of knew already."
"Wha-? How-?" He was confused. How could she have known?
"Barney, honestly. It's obvious. You're not over her, but you went out with me and you wanted to get in my pants to convince yourself you're not." She smiled. "It's okay though. Go."
"But what about the dirty names?"
"Maybe another time," she winked.
He smiled and left the restaurant, going to see where Robin went off to.
When he finally found her with Lily at MacLaren's, she was crying.
"And then she said 'it's never too late, Barney' and I just realized that I don't want it to be too late for me and him," Robin said through tears. "But he's in love with Nora, and even his heart says so."
"Not anymore," Barney said.
She turned around to face him, and he surprised her by giving her a kiss on the lips.
"Challenge completed," he smiled.
20 Minutes