This is a day for the record books. It's my first fic that has absolutely nothing to do with Rent! *gasp!* The world may explode now. Enjoy :).

Warning: Contains spoilers from Season 7, specifically Episode 17

Disclaimer: I don't own HIMYM. The person who does is a god.

Growing Up

"Robin loves you," Ted whispered. I could feel his eyes on me as an uncomfortable silence rose in the room. Shit. Not this again.

"I-uhm...what?" I asked, even though I heard him clearly the first time.

"She loves you," he repeated. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. She loves you, not me." Ted climbed off the couch and came to my side, looking down on me with an expression of confusion and emptiness. I stared at the video tape in my hand, desperately wishing he would just drop it.

"No she doesn't. Trust me." I stood up, placing Marshall and Lily's sex tape on top of the television, and looked Ted in the eyes. There was the feeling again, the coiling in my gut, the one I'd been feeling ever since Thanksgiving when we had almost adopted a baby. Now's not the time, Barney, I thought as my eyes roamed his face.

"Yes she is," Ted insisted again. "Something happened between you two, that's why you broke up with Nora! That night I saw you in Robin's room with the rose petals and candles-"

"Yeah well did you see those petals and candles get thrown into the trash?" I snapped at him. He took a step back, worry creasing his brow.

"Barney...what happened?" Ted's voice was quiet, pleading with me.

I couldn't hold it in anymore and the entire story came spilling out in one big gust. "We hooked up okay? After the hurricane. She told me she loved me and that she wanted us to be together, so I broke up with Nora. I was convinced she would do the same for me but...I guess she and Kevin are in love. It hurt, but I can't stop it."

Ted looked at me sone faced, eyes wide, for a few seconds before he spoke. "They broke up last night."

"Bummer." I said. The truth was, that was all I could say. It surprised me, the lack of emotion I felt as those words left Ted's lips.

If it was even possible, Ted's eyes got even wider. He looked at me like I was insane, as if I had three heads or something, mouth opening and closing several times but no words coming out. I sighed, ignoring him and turned back to the VCR.

"Let's make some bets on this sex tape shall we?" I snickered, trying desperately to change the subject. "I've got Marshall with a surprise piercing at five to one odds, Lily with a landing strip ten to one, and Marshall with a landing strip, even money!"

"I don't believe this..." Ted murmered. My heart lurched, he was still trying to get to the bottom of things. "You're in love with Robin, you find out she's single and your reaction is 'bummer'?"

"What the hell do you want me to say Ted?" I cried, not meaning to sound so angry. Ted flinched and and backed even further away. "What ever I thought was there, turned out to be imaginary! It's done, I'm over it, I've moved on!"

I had moved on. Ted didn't realize it but he had been the reason for it. He'd always been there for me, as a friend, as the solid rock beneath all the shit going on in my life. And on Thanksgiving, when we were about to adopt a baby, I suddenly started to see him differently. As much as we both didn't want to admit it, adopting a child was a more than a platonic step for most people. And it was just enough to make me figure out something, to articulate something to myself that I'd been ignoring for years. I loved Ted, as more than a friend, and I had forever. Robin didn't matter anymore. I wasn't, and I had never truly been, in love with her.

"So...if Robin were to start dating someone else, you wouldn't mind?" Ted peeked up at me from beneath timidly lowered eye lids.

"Yes," I stated reassuringly. "They can have her."

"Even if that someone else was me?"

And with that my whole world came crashing down. The look in Ted's eyes was heart breaking. I wondered if he could hear my heart shattering into a million pieces.

"You really love her?" I whispered, tears starting to brim in my eyes.

He nodded slowly.

"You two deserve eachother. She makes you happy and that's all that matters to me."

The relief on his face almost made me sick to my stomach. He stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You know Barney, you've really grown up."

My hands shot forward of their own accord, grasping his arms tightly. We stared eachother in the eyes for a moment before I leaned in, letting my eyes fall closed as I pressed our lips together. He tried to move away, but I had him in an iron grip. I needed to get this out of my system. Ted kissed me back, but only for a brief second before he moved away again. This time he met no resistance.

"Barney...I-I can't. I'm sorry." He lowered his eyes to the floor, arms wrapping around himself.

I nodded, breathing heavily as I began to back towards the door. "I hope you're happy with Robin," I said, showing myself out into the hallway.

"Barney..." Ted tried, but I slammed the door behind me, closing both Ted and the "grown up" Barney in behind me.

Short and angsty, I know. But I just watched this episode and I NEEDED to write this. It practically jumped out at me from this scene. R&R if you please.