Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
"Hey guys," she slid into the booth,
"Hey Robin," Lily smiled at her, Barney nodded over the rim of his tumbler,
"It's so not true, it couldn't be."
"What's going on?"
"Ted's trying to convince us that he got to Second base with Stacey Harrison,"
"Stacey Harrison?"
"Totally hot chick that went to our college," Marshall looked apologetically at his wife,
"Ted were you drunk at the time?"
"No, Lily." He looked at the couple across from him, "I'm telling you, I did. It was after the second freshman mixer and she was holding a beer and had streamers in her hair."
"I don't believe it," Marshall said,
"Erikson, I have to say that Ted does make out with chicks that are ridiculously too hot for him, he's like a seven, maybe an eight if he were in a suit, and he's scored nines and tens all over the place…I'm saying this one's plausible." Before anyone could argue, Barney slid out of the booth and towards the bar to buy a round of drinks.
Robin took Barney's vacated seat next to Ted and turned to the rest of group, "Guys, I have some news,"
"Oh?"
"I've accepted a new correspondence job in Europe."
"What?"
"When?"
"Oh my god Robin, I'm so happy for you," Lily reached over the table and gave the younger girl a hug,
"Thanks I leave in two weeks,"
"Wow, that's soon." Lily pulled away a little, Barney quickly sat in the seat at the end of the table,
"Kiss her," he whispered to the embracing girls,
"Oh Barney, I'm going to miss you, I'm going to miss all of you,"
"Miss me?"
"Robin got a correspondence job in Europe." And before Robin could even blink he was out of the bar, suit jacket whipping around the corner, door slamming.
"What was that?"
Barney, it's Robin. Please pick up, I know you're there. I've left you thirteen messages, I'm leaving tonight and we're having a party on the roof. I just want to be able to say goodbye to all my friends, including you. In the last four years you've become like a best friend to me, better than that, we were bros. I'm not going to beg you, this is the last message I'll leave. Goodbye Barney, have a good life.
The taxi screeches to a halt outside McLarens and Barney pays the meter and he's out and running, up to the roof, the apartment, but there's no one there. He runs down the stairs and straight to their regular table, Lily, Ted and Marshall are sitting there with these sad expressions. "Where. Is. She?" he wheezes.
"You're too late; she's already left for the airport." Quietly Lily writes down on a napkin and hands it to him,
"That's her flight information; if you're quick you might catch her."
He runs out of the bar and when there's no taxi in sight he runs in the direction of the airport until he finds one, he gets in, "JFK. There's an extra hundred for you for every red light you run."
45 minutes and a few near-collisions later Barney was at the ticket desk, after buying a ticket and clearing security he was running to her gate. "Robin," he screamed, she was about to hand her ticket to the hostess, "Scherbatsky!" he screamed, she turned around and saw him.
"Barney?" and then he was standing in front of her. "That was a little anticlimactic." But he grabbed her and then he was kissing her thoroughly like that one time almost a year before,
"I almost died Robin, I thought I was dead and the only thing I was thinking about in the world was you. I'm not going to make some romantic gesture or say I love you, I'm not going to ask you to stay I just thought you should know."
"What do I do now?"
"You get on the plane and go correspond the hell out of them."
"Barney,"
"Goodbye Scherbatsky."
"Seeya Stinson."
Robin watched him; he stayed at the window to see the plane off. She gripped the arm rests tight, white knuckled with tears dripping down her face, as the plane took off and New York City and his handsome face faded from her sight.