"Barney wait." Lily said, pulling Barney's arm as he tried to run. "You can't just go to Canada."
"But what about all that stuff you said. About how we're supposed to be together?" Barney replied.
"You are, but you can't just show up, especially not right now. She won't admit it but she's very vulnerable, if you go…" Lily started to say.
"What? Lily, I have waited so long for this that I don't know if I can wait any longer." Barney said.
"What are you gonna do once you get there? What are you gonna say?" Lily asked.
"I don't know. Can you do me one favour though?" Barney said.
"Sure, anything." Lily answered.
"Can you text Robin and find out where's she's staying. I'll phone you when I land and get the address then." Barney replied.
"Okay Barney. You're sure you want to do this?" Lily said.
"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life Lily, I've had a lot of regrets but I know this won't be one of them. If I don't go she's gonna move back there for good and I'll miss my chance." Barney said.
"Go." Lily said releasing Barney's arm. He runs down the hall, downstairs and onto the street. Lily walks back inside her and Marshall's apartment. Ted and Marshall stop their conversation.
"Where's Barney?" Ted asked.
"He had some stuff to take care of." She answered.
"What's happening to our gang?" Marshall said.
"Whataya mean? He's coming back. He is coming back right?" Ted questioned.
"Yes, of course he is Ted, and Robin'll come back too. She just needs to figure some stuff out and be alone for awhile Trust me.." Lily said reassuringly
Meanwhile Barney waits anxiously in line at the airport until the teller yells next. He rushes to the counter.
"One ticket to Vancouver." He said.
"Are you sure? It's leaving in 20 minutes." She asked.
"Yeah that's plenty of time but could you hurry please?" He replied.
She nods and prints out the ticket seconds later. He exchanges his money for the ticket and runs towards the gate. He reaches the plane with only 2 minutes to spare, he texts Lily to say he's on the plane before he takes off.
Back at the apartment, Lily's phone goes off although she is nowhere in sight. Marshall looks at Ted, Ted nods and Marshall unlocks the phone. After he reads it he sits there with a stunned look in his face.
"What, what is it?" Ted asked.
"Um, it's Barney, he said he's on the plane." Marshall replied.
"What plane?" Ted questioned.
"I dunno." Marshall said and calls out to Lily in Marvin's room. "Hey Lil!"
"Yeah." Lily said walking into the living room holding Marvin.
"While you were in the other room, Barney texted you saying he was on the plane."
"Oh, you know Barney, he always has some way of telling us he's about to have sex with a random stranger." Lily said awkwardly.
"He's never texted us before, only after. And usually there's picutres." Ted said shuddering.
"I once got a video. I'll never look at lettuce the same way again…" Marshall said. Ted looks at him strangely mouthing the word lettuce.
"Seriously, what's it all about?" Marshall asked.
"Okay, you want the truth, here's the truth. Barney's flying to Canada." Lily said sighing.
"Why would Barney go to Canada? Whenever Robin mentions…" Marshall began to say when Ted interrupts him mid-sentence.
"He's not going after Robin is he?" Ted questioned.
"No, of course not." Lily said looking away as she does.
"Lily!" Ted said sternly.
"ALRIGHT FINE! Barney's flying to Canada because he still loves Robin and she still loves him even though she doesn't know it right now." Lily answered.
"How could you let him go after her?" Marshall asked.
"What do you mean 'how could you let him go after her?'" Lily questioned.
"I mean, if Robin was so upset over her break-up with Nick that she decided to fly out to Canada, she's clearly not thinking straight." Marshall answered.
"It's not just over her break-up, I know it. When I was on the phone with her after she landed she said 'you guys and Barney,' not just 'you guys.'" Lily said.
"What does that have to do with anything." Ted asked.
"If it had nothing to do with Barney she wouldn't have singled him out, she doesn't know it on the surface but deep down she knows she can't ever be as happy with anyone as she can with Barney." Lily said.
"I don't get it though, they barely even dated and by the end they were miserable." Marshall said.
"They've both been in serious relationships since then, BOTH of them have been engaged, at least for a little while, and then last year…" Ted began to say but stopped himself, knowing that what he had seen last year was meant to stay between him and Barney.
"Last year?" Marshall asked.
"I really shouldn't say, I wasn't even supposed to see it." Ted answered.
"Fine, I'll tell it." Lily said, Ted sat there stunned, thinking he was the only one that had known. Lily proceeded to tell Marshall that Barney had broken up with Nora to be with Robin but she stayed with Kevin, breaking his heart.
Later that night, Lily awakes to the sound of her phone buzzing. She moaned, turned her bedside light on and answered it.
"Barney do you have any idea what time it is?" Lily asked.
"I know, I'm sorry can you tell me the address?" Barney pleaded. Lily gives him directions that he repeats to the cab driver. Lily goes to hang up the phone, "hey, thanks."
"Just get back soon, both of you." Lily said.
The cab comes to a stop outside a very wealthy home. Barney hands him a bunch of cash and gets out. The cab drives off, Barney looks at the home in awe, stumbling up the stone steps, knocking on the door.
"May I help you?" A woman, clearly some sort of housekeeper, asked.
"Is Robin Scherbatsky here?" Barney asked anxiously.
"And you are?" She questioned.
"A friend of hers." Barney answered. The woman opens the door, welcoming Barney into the extravagant home.
"Please, make yourself at home, I'll go get Ms. Scherbatsky." She said and walks down the hall. Barney sits in a chair, his legs shaking, rubbing his hands up and down on his pants, trying to calm himself. What was he going to say to her?
"Barney?" He looks up and sees Robin standing over him with a confused look on her face. He stands up slowly, and embraces her.
"I'm sorry about you and Nick." He said.
"I don't have the best choice in men do I?" Robin said.
"They don't know what their missing out on." He replied and releases her.
"Barney?" She asked.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Why are you here?" She said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"What I mean is you would've been the last person I thought I'd see here. You hate Canada." She said.
"I came here to make sure you're okay." He replied.
"You didn't have to come all the way out here to make sure I was okay." She said.
"Yes I did because I know your not." Barney said to her.
"Barney, I'm fine, really." She said, not at all convincingly.
"No your not Robin, If you were you wouldn't have flown all the way back to Canada to cool off after your break-up." Barney told her.
"I didn't come here to cool off Barney, I'm moving back here. Every year I'm so close to finally being happy and then something fucks the whole thing up. I'm just done with New York and everything in it. And if you came here to try and convince me otherwise, you wasted a plane ticket." She replied.
"Do they have bars in Canada?" He said.
"Uh, yeah?" Robin answered, confused by the sudden change in topic.
"You wanna grab a drink?" Barney said. He knew Robin well enough to know when she was lying. He also knew that after 3 martini's in her she'd spill anything, it was her truth syrup.
"Sure let me just get some cash." Robin said.
"On me." He smiled. "How the hell do you find a cab here anyway?"
"Here in Canada, you rarely use a cab. We have cars." She said.
"Freaks." He muttered.
"C'mon, I'll drive."
Robin leads him around the house, revealing a very nice garage. She presses a button on her keys and the door opens up revealing an expensive car.
"When'd you start shitting money?" Barney asked,
"I was Robin Sparkles remember? I paid for this house and everything in it. I wanted to go to America with a fresh start, earn my money like everyone else. Now get in." Robin said and hoped into the drivers seat. Barney sat quietly in the passengers seat as she pulled out of her long driveway.
It took 20 minutes to get to the bar. 20 minutes of awkward silence. 20 minutes of Barney racking his brain for the right words.
Robin knew Barney was keeping something from her. Normally this car ride would've been filled with him saying some inappropriate comment or some Canada jokes of their shared homeland. But he just sat there, staring at the road or (when she looked away), at her.
He loved the way she focused on the winding road. Her cheek bones tightening at sharp turns and relaxing on the straight road. It made his mind wander, making up ridiculous scenario's that he'd never dare say aloud, like instead of going to a bar, they were taking a vacation together, maybe even a couples retreat. As Robin put the car in park, he quickly snapped out of his daydream, returning to reality.
3 Martini's Later
"Robin." He said.
"Yes Barney," she drunkenly slurred back.
"Why did you really come back here?" He asked.
"You wanna know why, Ill tell you. It's because I don't wanna stand in your way anymore." She said, finishing off the rest of her drink and snapping at the waiter for another.
"Stand in my way? What do you mean?" He asked confused. They all thought is was because of her break up with Nick, but now…
"You know exactly what I mean Barney. If it weren't for me, you and Quinn would still be together. Actually, you and NORA would still be together. I screw up you relationships Barney. When I saw the way Nick and Rachel were acting,…"
"Wait, who's Rachel?" Barney questioned.
"She's Nick's ex. I saw what Nora and Quinn probably saw, something that seems unfinished." She said starting to cry. "I don't want to be the reason your relationships don't work Barney. I don't want you to meet the right girl and lose her because of me, so I though it'd be better to just come back to Canada."
"Hey, listen." Barney said, reaching across the tables, grabbing her hands and staring into her bloodshot eyes, thinking about how beautiful she looked. "You had nothing to do with me and Quinn, we were too different and it probably would've ended up in a brutal divorce. With Nora, yes we cheated together, but you didn't end. I broke up with her because I loved you more and I thought you felt the same way."
"I did." She said, making his hands fall to his sides.
"It's funny because I remember Kevin walking into the bar behind you." He said.
"I was afraid Barney." She said.
"And you don't think I was? I was terrified, every negative thought raced through my mind, everything but you choosing Kevin over me." He replied.
"I so badly wanted to be with you Barney. But I just kept thinking about last time. How it ended, the FACT that it ended. But then I really thought about our break up. Not even 24 hours after you were hooking up with sluts you'd scope out at the bar like all I was, was a really long one night stand." She said to him.
"After we broke up I was more hurt than you'll even know Robin." He began to say, "I just pretended I was okay because I knew you guys wouldn't understand. I was in love with you for a year Robin and we barely got to date."
"Barney." She began to say.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." He said, embarrassed.
"No, it's fine." Robin said. She gets up from her side of the booth and sits beside Barney. "What about with your break up with Quinn?"
"I dealt with that one surprisingly well but I didn't want everyone to think I was hollow inside, hence the week alone in my apartment. I guess I just loved you two differently." He told her.
"You did really love her." She replied.
"I loved you too you know." He smiled.
"Yeah, sure." She said, laughing a little as she did.
"I still do." He said.
"You still what?" She said looking at him.
He turned to face her. Without even a second thought, he looked into her eyes and replied, "love you."