AN: Hello fellow HIMYM fan! This will be my first fic for this fandom and my first fic since…wait for it…2006! It's been much too long, I have always enjoyed writing and it was about time I got back into it. Still need to figure out if I'm any good at it and that's where you come in, yeah you! Any reviews I can get will mean the world! I am also on board with all constructive criticism! I will try to update this as often as I can but keep in mind I am writing this at the office and I am buried in work during tax season,
Now about the story: it is a Swarkles fic focusing on Barney's character development throughout the show, because let's face it, finale aside, it was phenomenal. I wanted to write about the ever so common fear of allowing yourself to strive for something more that make Barney and Robin such relatable characters. Hope you enjoy! Happy reading!
It all came down to one thing: trouble.
The thrill of the unpredictable made Barney Stinson's eyes twinkle with mischief and his blood run hot with unbound enthusiasm. Wherever he went, he never had to look far…Truth be told, he never had to look at all. Trouble was the sole concept beneath the catch phrases, the plays, the rules and inspired speeches; the one pillar without which all would threaten to crumble. Much like the scotch, cigars and fine suits, it was ingrained in the very fiber of his being. Day after day, night after night, the endless pursuit of absolute awesomeness took him from unlikely encounters to unimaginable situations. Barney Stinson, a man reinvented, would never dare dream of stopping; his next breath depended upon the continuation of the perpetual fever only trouble could command. He lived in a parallel universe of sort, one where the only certainty one could depend upon was the uncertain. One constant had however proven vital amidst the all-consuming storm of women, gambling and booze: a group of 3 friends. Ted Mosby, love sick architect with a penchant for pompous forms of entertainment; Marshall Eriksen, happy go lucky law student with dreams of a better world; and Lily Aldrin, a no bullshit kind of gal who could always be counted on to tell it like it is. Against all odds, they had managed to find a place in his heart; a heart which he had long ago deemed too small and far too damaged to harbor any feelings, least of all love.
The year 2005 had seen a new addition to their little group; one whom like a breath of fresh air, had swept away everything in its wake. The year had flown by in a flurry of scotch, cigars and laser tag and insidiously, Barney Stinson's outtake on all things awesome had begun to shift. Unbeknownst to him, Robin Scherbatsky, reporter, scotch drinker, cigar smoker and gun lover; would be the beginning of a new, unsettling breed of trouble for Barney Stinson.