"Champagne?" Ted asked his friends after pouring a glass for himself.
"None for us." Barney laughed. Robin rose her eyebrows at him.
"Speak for yourself." She reached for the bottle.
"Trust me Scherbatsky," he grabbed her hand and pulled her back, "I've got something much better for you later."
"Why later?"
He walked towards the door, "I've got to go. Merry Christmas everyone!" he turned to his wife, "I'll see you later." winked and left.
"Where do you think he went?" Robin asked, after a minute.
"I don't know. How would I know?" Lily panicked more noticeably than she had hoped.
"Where's the poop, Lily?"
"There isn't any, I swear." Robin looked at her, disbelieving. "What is this even about? Barney does stuff like that pretty regularly." Lily continued.
"Exactly. He never tells me where he's going." She sighed, "You don't think he's cheating or anything. Do you?"
"Robin, he loves you. Yes, he's dishonest and yes, he used to be the biggest player in the city and…" she trailed off.
"Is this you trying to convince me he's not cheating?"
"My point is, he gave that up. For the longest time I thought that man wouldn't even think of giving up his single life for anyone, but then he met you. I know Barney well enough to know he'd never hurt you sweetie. You've been married for almost a year, I can't believe you still think he would do something like that."
"I just worry sometimes. We don't always communicate with each other. I feel like no matter how long we're together we'll never be as good at the whole being in a relationship thing as you and Marshall."
"He isn't cheating on you. I promise." Lily said sweetly, walking over to the kitchen. "Maybe he went home, you could check your apartment."
"Yeah, maybe. I'll go, um, do that. Merry Christmas!" she said as cheerfully as she could manage, heading over to the door.
…
Robin swung open the door to her apartment, calling out to see if her husband was home. She walked down the hall to their bedroom, glancing around for any clues as to where he might be, to find a note on the bed written in his handwriting.
Meet me at Maclarens at Midnight. Sorry I left after dinner without explaining anything, I had to go do a thing. You'll understand later.
Barney
She glanced down at her watch. 11:52. Eight minutes. Brilliant. Robin rushed downstairs, hailing a cab the moment she got outside. She was greeted by Ranjit's friendly, familiar voice, "Hellooo!" She smiled and told him where she was headed.
Robin arrived at the bar at 11:59, only a minute to spare. She rushed inside and saw Barney, standing at the bar holding two scotches. He handed one to her with a wink, "Told you I had something better for you, Scherbatksy."
She took a sip, "You're right. This is better." Robin glanced around at the empty bar before sliding into their usual booth. "Are you going to give me an explanation for you suddenly leaving earlier? Or how you managed to get the keys to the bar while it's closed?"
"Haha please." He sat down across from her. "I am the master of the possimpible." Robin laughed, his words bringing her back about five years, to when he had gotten her a job with as little explanation as she was sure to be given tonight.
"You really are."
"So I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you our plans for tonight. I've decided to give you another Super Date, since the last one didn't really count."
"Why didn't it count?" She asked, well aware of the answer.
"The last Super Date you went on, you went on with the wrong guy."
"You're right. It should've been you the first time." She smiled although it had been difficult to get the words out.
He stood up, walked around the booth, and sat down beside her, immediately pressing his lips against hers. Both aware that they were completely alone for the first time at this bar, they kissed for longer than they ever would've gotten away with if others had been present. Robin felt his pants tighten against her hips, and they began kissing with more passion and speed than before. He wrapped his arms around her back, unzipping her dress and unhooking her bra in one, fluid movement, then stood with her legs tightly around his waist, and walked over to the bar.
Barney lay her down gently and climbed on top of her, pulling her dress off in the process. Robin threw off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt as they kissed, their desire for each other more intense than any words could even begin to describe. She removed the rest of his clothes and slipped her tongue back into his mouth.
He pulled away after a moment and cursed under his breath. "God, you're so hot." He said, stating the obvious. Barney brushed his lips against her neck softly and slid inside her. One hand was holding hers firmly against the bar, and the other ran down her naked body, fondling her breast and stroking the gentle curve of her waist.
Barney held back at first, knowing it would drive her crazy. He was right. She moaned softly, wrapping her arms around his back, her fingernails digging into his skin, begging for more. He obliged, picking up speed. Ecstasy coursed through them as they simultaneously reached climax, looking deep into each other's eyes as they did so. He collapsed on top of her, kissing her softly.
"That," Robin said, catching her breath, "was quite the date."
"Oh believe me, we aren't finished, Scherbatsky." He smirked, pulling himself up and hopping off the bar. "Come on." He put on his clothes and she did the same, before heading back outside.
The two of them got into Ranjit's cab, and drove to the Rockefeller centre. The ice rink was bare, but somehow Barney had managed to adorn the sides of it with Christmas lights, intertwined with mistletoe. Robin even noticed the mistletoe he had hung from the hand of the famous, gold statue in front of the larger-than-life Christmas tree. Her jaw dropped, eyes widening as she tried to take it all in. "How did you…" he shushed her and directed her to the side of the rink where he had conveniently placed two pairs of skates.
They stepped onto the ice, hand in hand, and began skating, Robin still in awe. She placed a hand on his chest, smiling. "This is amazing… You're amazing." He kissed her, and spun her around on the ice with more skill than she would've guessed. In her nine years of knowing him, she had only once before seen him in skates.
"You're not too cold?" he asked, concerned.
She rolled her eyes, "I'm Canadian, remember?" He laughed, turning around to face her, now skating backwards.
"Okay seriously, how do you know how to skate?"
"I'm Barney Stinson." He said with a wink, "And, I am a quarter Canadian, remember?"
"Believe me," she smiled, remembering the sheer look of horror on his face when she told him the news. "I haven't forgotten."
They skated around the rink a few times, mostly without speaking, yet sneaking more kisses than they could've if they hadn't been alone. Not that company would actually stop them. Barney broke the silence, with mock-seductiveness, "Notice how I put mistletoe everywhere? We're going to have to kiss a lot more."
"Oh trust me, we're going to do a lot more than that."
"Round two, huh?"
"Of many." she whispered, seductively undoing her coat.
"As usual." He added, pulling her in and reluctantly stopping her from taking off the coat, desperately trying to ignore how turned on he was.
…
They didn't arrive back at their apartment until 2:33 am. Barney pushed Robin against a wall, kissing her passionately, immediately after stepping through the door. "Tonight's gonna be good," he whispered, "but I've got to give you your gift first." He pulled away from her, reaching underneath their Christmas tree and picking up a small box wrapped in shiny, gold paper.
Robin opened it, tears reaching her eyes as she saw what was inside. "How did you find this?" She stared down at the locket, the same one she had buried when she was younger, and had failed to find before the wedding a few months ago.
"Ted tracked it down a while ago and told me to give it to you. He told me everything that happened at the carousel, how you were looking for some sign to marry me that you never found. But you married me anyways, without any signs and you have no idea what that means to me."
"You aren't upset that I had second thoughts?"
He rested a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Of course not. What matters is the choice you made in the end. I just wanted to give this to you, in case you ever have any doubts about us again."
Robin smiled, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder, "Thank you." She walked over to the tree, picking up a larger box, wrapped in the same paper as hers, and handed it to him.
He opened it to find a box labeled "622 West 14th Street" filled with the same items he had filled it with years ago, but now topped with his final play, "The Robin", and a plastic bag with two cigars.
"I thought we could smoke those." She smiled. "The truth is I've had this box ever since I found it. I held on to it during the time before we were together and even since, but I don't need it anymore, I have you, and I realize now that that isn't something that will ever change. I still don't want to let go of any of these memories, but now I thought we could scatter them throughout our apartment, just make them part of our home instead of a box for remembering each other. And I realize that was the corniest thing I've ever said and I'm sorry."
"You've made me say far cornier things." He smiled, and begun unpacking the contents of the box, before removing the cigars and handing her one. They lit them and smoked together, crashing down on the couch and breathing in the familiar taste of El Piramide.
After they were finished, without even a moment wasted, they leapt back into each other's arms, their entire bodies pressed together, tasting the flavours of scotch and cigars that lingered in each other's mouths. While their lips were briefly apart, Robin whispered "Merry Christmas" into his ear, and he repeated, running his fingers through her hair and tugging gently. Even with a lit Christmas tree as their only source of light, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked in that moment, her skin glowing, eyes reflecting the holiday light, lips begging him to kiss her for the millionth time that night.