"So what'd you guys do last night?" Lily inquired.

"I wanted to go a concert," Robin paused to throw a thumb at Barney, "and he wanted to go to a party. Obviously we couldn't do with just what one of us wanted so we just stayed in…" She shrugged. "Watched a movie on cable…."

"That was legen… wait for it…"

"…dary!" Robin finished.

The couple smiled at each other, hands entwined, swinging back and forth.

"I'm so glad I thought of the idea to go to that concert," Barney joked with a wink.

"Jerk!" Robin laughed as she playfully pushed him. "You didn't even want to go!"

She giggled as Barney gave her his puppy-dog face and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The two had ended up going to a Sum 41 concert (because they're Canadian) after a dramatic battle of Rock-Paper-Scissors when they couldn't agree on what to do. Robin was glad that Barney had underestimated the concert; otherwise they wouldn't have had as much fun. She was also glad that she hadn't worn heels, otherwise the two would be giggling in a dirty cab, but thankfully Barney had convinced her to walk home instead- where the air was fresh and the atmosphere was of a casual romance.

Barney nudged his head against hers; bring her out of her thoughts. She figured it was because he had said something. "Could you repeat that again?"

He smiled and his fingers came up to play with her ears. "Still a bit deaf from the concert, Scherbatsky?"

She rolled her eyes at him and swatted his hands away.

"So, do you want some ice cream?" He apparently "repeated".

From the look of his face, Robin could tell that her child-like boyfriend REALLY wanted some ice cream, so she put on her thoughtful face just to torture him. "Hmmm… well, I don't know… It IS kinda late…"

"It's only ten; we've stayed up later…"

"…I don't want to get fat…"

"You're not fat…"

"I don't have any money on me…"

"Of course I'll pay…"

"But then I'd feel guilty…"

"You know I'd do anything for you babe." Wink.

"Hmmm…"

"Mmmm…?" She loved how he would playfully take her seriously on topics such as this. She loved how his blue eyes read "plleeeeeeeaaaaassssseeeee?" and she always loved the way he'd tilt his head to the side. So, she let a dramatic pause hang over the two of them before breaking out into a smile. "Of course I want ice cream, you idiot!"

"Yessss!" He pumped his fist up into the air and quickly led them to the nearest Cold Stone.

Another silence settled between them as they stared at the flavors of ice cream. "…What flavor are you getting?" Barney mumbled, breaking the ice.

"I haven't decided yet…" Robin responded as she basically glared holes into each flavor, trying to eliminate them one by one. "You pick on yet?"

She raised her eyebrow as he took a sharp inhale, as if his answer was going to be life changing. "… Cookies and cream."

"Dammit Barney! I was gonna choose that!" Robin laughed.

"Wanna just sha-." Before Barney could finish, a loud scream and the screeching of tires over took the entire store. All conversations stopped and everyone turned their heads towards the windows.

"OH MY GOD!" Someone close to the window screamed.

Robin's hand gripped onto Barney's arm, a "Wha…?" escaped from Barney's lips, and before anyone could finish a sentence, someone yelled, "DUCK!"

But of course, no one had the reaction time to do it before what they were supposed to duck for came into their vision. It was a drive by shooting. Robin's eyes widened in horror, but before any other reaction, Barney had his arms wrapped around her, turned them so that his back was facing the window, and dropped them towards the ground.

She pulled herself closer to him as she heard the glass shatter, the sound of raining bullets, the sound of screams… the sound of Barney stifling back a cry as a bullet made a hole through his biceps…

And all of a sudden everything went quite.

And then everything quickly flooded back.

"B-Barney…" Her voice was quite and raspy. Her hands slowly reached for his bloody arm. She tried to make eye contact with him, but his eyes were looking at something else. He had the look of shear terror on his face, so she gently cupped his face in her hands and met his eyes. "Shhh… Barney, relax, everything is gonna be fine…"

"R-robin… I… I'm sorry…" She gave him a confused look as he broke out into tears.

And then she felt the most excruciating pain she'd ever felt in her life. Slowly, she looked down to see blood covering her chest. Barney's blood…? No… It was her own. The bullet had shot right through Barney's arm and into her chest. Next to her heart.

Her eyes came back up to see Barney's tear stained face.

"I love you…" Her voice barely made a sound.

And then everything went black.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Barney screamed into his pillow. He continued his muffled screaming until he heard the foot stomping of the resident who lived above him. And when he finally stopped:

"Good Morning New York!"

He groaned into his pillow as his radio automatically turned on and an over enthusiastic broadcaster took the mic. "You're now tuning in to Z100 New York, its 8'o'clock on this fine Saturday morning. Today's date is September 1st, 2001, and we're gonna start the day off with that boy band those teenage girls won't stop talkin bout! Here's N'SYNC with That's when I'll stop loving you…"

Barney groaned even louder as the familiar song trickled into his room.

"When winter comes in summer

When there's no more forever

Yeah, that's when I'll stop loving you…"

He stayed down for a few more seconds before forcing himself up and turning the radio off. This wasn't the first time this had happened. No, no, nooooooooo. This was DEFIANTLY NOT the first time this has happened.

When he enters the bathroom, he takes a good look at his baby faced 25-year-old self in the mirror, blows his cheeks up with air, and then claps both hands against his cheeks to make a Pop! sound.

It's like the universe didn't want him to hook up with Robin…

He shakes his head as he examines the new scar on his body. There was a circle shape scar on the front and back of his right bicep where the bullet had run through.

Every time he loves Robin, either he dies or she dies. And he's got the scars to prove it.

As he thinks about gun shot wounds, his hand unconsciously reaches behind his neck to brush a similar scar. Somewhere along the line, he'd made a habit to touch that one scar where he'd been shot in the neck.

2007 was the farthest he'd EVER gotten. And he doesn't know how many times he's tried to get farther in this god forsaken loop.

He smiles as he suits up and laughs at how much goofier his face looks.

He's tried the "take Robin to a concert" six times now. The first time they took a cab and got into a car accident, the second time they walked home and got hit by a drunk driver, the third time they walked home but took a different root but got shot by the drive by shooters, the fourth time he tried the taxi scenario again but made sure to take a different taxi. They got blown up that time. On the fifth try, they walked home with the original route, avoided the drunk driver, but then got mugged. And on the newest sixth try, they walked home through the drive by shooters route, so he took her into the ice cream store to try and avoid getting shot, but apparently that didn't work either.

He pauses before he leaves his apartment.

It kills him that this always happened. That he couldn't just be happy with Robin. No interruptions.

He shakes his head and closes the door, shaking the knob to make sure it's locked.

The only thing that's keeping him going is the fact that he gets to right all his previous wrongs with her. He feels like he's getting closer and closer to whatever goal he is aiming for with each repeated day.

He waves a "good morning" to his doorman as he leaves the building.

He wants to take every chance with her. To stay with her. Because he knows she is the one for him. Because what if one day, the looping stops, and he and Robin could just… just exist together…?

He's walking to work today because he remembers how bad the traffic was on this particular day.

His biggest fear is that one day she'll die and things won't loop back. He also fears what will happen if he really does die. Does time move forward? It doesn't seem like it'll move back.

Maybe it's selfish for him to be doing this. To have time repeated over and over again, just because he is in love with some girl.

He doesn't know what to think.

But it's all fine, because for now, he's singing a song under his breath and is looking forward to another shot at love.

"When winter comes in summer, when there's no more forever, yeah, that's when I'll stop loving you…"

Barney is an involuntary time traveler who is in love with Robin. But every time he loves her, one of them dies and he is sent back to 2001.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I hope that makes sense…

So, uh, if you're confused, just drop me a review with what you want explained, and I'll hopefully explain it in the next chapter.

And if you didn't catch on, their date happened in 2007. I think I'm going to make it so that Barney isn't a womanizer at first, but you'll see when he does become one. Wink, wink. Cuz ya know… character development and all that good stuff…