Chapter 2

A/N: After chapter 1, I had a little bit of writer's block, trying to figure out how to make this story compelling, and suspenseful enough to be eager for another chapter. This story holds a special place in my heart, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it. I am sorry this chapter took so long to publish, but I am very proud of it, and I hope the time waited was worth it! -G.

When Barney walked into Ted's house for the first time in years, he didn't quite know what emotion to feel. For someone who normally was extremely talkative and energetic, he now was speechless. What are you supposed to say to your best friend when their daughter passes away? On the way there, Barney thought that he would know exactly what to say, - being a father, and knowing what he would want someone to say to him - but when he walked into the living room, staring blankly at the brown, leather couch where Ted told his kids in extreme detail, how he met their mother, all those words slipped away, and only one thought remained:

There's nothing you can say.

Nothing you say, or do, can heal the gut-wrenching feeling of grief, because only one thing can do that: Time. So it became Barney's mission that night, to not necessarily drag his best bro in the world down, but to just get him moving. Get him talking - about anything, really - and at least distract himself from the craziness taking over his brain.

Let alone watching the love of your life pass away, but now Ted had to go through the same process for his own daughter. He was there the moment she was born, and he had always hoped, somehow, that he wouldn't be there when she died. He didn't think he heart could take another heartbreak.

Being a father was no easy task, Barney recalled. The day that Ellie was born completely changed his life. And for the better, he liked to believe. If someone had told him in his mid-20s that he was going to be a father, raising the most beautiful girl in the world, by himself, he would've ran until he found Atlantic City, and drank his fears away. In no universe or situation he ever was in before, was he more happy than he was being her father. There is no stronger bond than the one between father and daughter.

But then Robin climbed out of that cab.

The only time Barney was ever truly happy before Ellie was born, was when he was with her. He remembered not wanting to go to sleep every night. And not just because of the idea of sex, but the idea that for once in his life, his reality was better than his dreams.

Barney never believed in love at first sight. In a way, he still didn't. He believed in attraction at first sight; he thrived on it. But he never believed in love. He barely had any role models to him that marriage worked, and was something he was capable of. But when Ted pointed her out to him at the bar, he thought she was hot, sure, but he never thought that she would be one of his best friends in the entire world, who he couldn't imagine life right now, without.

His life had changed so much since the last time he sat in their booth at MacLaren's, and he had never looked back. Not until now. Not until he wished that she still kept her wedding band, in the same place he had kept his.

He wasn't ready to give up just yet. He never gave up. Especially on something this important.

Before she saw Barney standing at the front door, Robin wasn't sure if she should even come at all. Things were already awkward between her and Barney, and know this whole tragedy just multiplied it. But when she saw him standing there in her favorite suit of his, she knew she had made the right call.

She always thought that her instincts would kick in somehow, and she would know exactly what to do, and how to react when she walked in Ted's house. She had planned an elaborate, but very to the point, and kind-hearted, conversation to get him to start moving on, but when she felt the tension, and mood in the living room, she knew she was in way over her head.

When it came to tragedies, Robin usually was brutally honest, and would tell whatever the person deserved to hear about the person affected, and always hoped it would help them move on quicker, but the more and more she tried to do that, the more confident she grew that it never really worked. If her breakup with Barney had one silver lining, it was that really, all you need is time. Time to work out anything you needed worked out. Time with your friends who support you no matter what you do. Time just to let out all of your emotions; a time where no one judges, or cares that your getting snot and tears all over their clothes.

When someone dies, it's hard to comprehend what you're supposed to do, but when it came down to it, there was no secret method to be happy sooner; you just had to live with it.

The same could be said about relationships; when it came down to it, you just had to come to the terms that things weren't going to be the same afterward. But at least with relationships, you at least had the opportunity to get another chance, if you tried hard enough. But even so, things weren't going to be the same; there was always going to be the worrisome dread filling your head that the same thing was going to happen in the near, or distant future.

But when Robin saw Barney at the front door, the worrisome dread suddenly washed away and was replaced with a feeling of hope. And whilst waiting for the door to be answered, and catching up with him, she grew more and more hopeful that wind was started to blow the closed door on their relationship slightly ajar.

When the front door opened to reveal Ted's house, she couldn't have been happier that the two of them were walking in together.

A/N: I know I didn't actually continue the story after chapter 1, but I wanted to devote this chapter to Swarkles, and their internal emotions about seeing each other for the first time in years. Chapter 3 will definitely be a continuation of chapter 1, but I would love to hear your opinions' about this chapter specifically, and if you would like to see chapters like this pop up in the future, or if you want me to never do this again. I would love to hear anything you guys have to say, and will make sure chapter 3 is written and published asap. -G.