Chapter 7- Mega Date
A/N: Sorry this took so long, but YDSI was my focus for way too long! It might be a while until I get to update again, because I am buying a house on Thursday, and there is a lot to do. But for now, enjoy!
To say she's nervous is an understatement. Here she is, going on a date with Barney Stinson. Yes, in this strange reality or dream she ended up in, she is married to him, but it's still a little bit weird. How can Barney even go out on a date? It just doesn't seem like something he would ever do. But then again, she wouldn't have ever expected Barney to be such a good father, and he's proved her very wrong on that so far.
The elevator ride is even a little awkward. She doesn't know what to expect from him. And the whole thing is a surprise on top of it. It's odd for her to be nervous in front of him. She's been nervous in front of other guys before, but not in front of him. It's only happens in front of guys she sees a future with. It's almost as if, as if she's developing feelings for him. And that is scarier than anything else she's dealt with in the past two days, including the baby.
She's broken out of her startling discovery by the sound of the elevator door opening. He pulls her out of the elevator by her hand, and before she knows it, they are hurrying across the lobby and out the door. When they are finally out on the street, she looks around to find the town car she expects, but doesn't see it anywhere.
"So where is the car?" Robin asks.
"We're not taking a car," Barney declares.
"What do you mean?" she questions. She's confused. He can't possibly be expecting her to walk in these heels could he? Although, that would be typical Barney, to not think of anyone else.
"We're taking that," he announces, pointing across the street at a horse drawn carriage. She's stunned. A horse drawn carriage is not Barney. That's something Ted would do. She can't help but wonder if Ted didn't have something to do with this.
"A carriage ride?" she challenges, mockingly. "We're going on a carriage ride?"
"This is a mega date," he proclaims. He tries to keep an upbeat attitude, despite her mocking tone. He knows this is another point where his wife disappears and his old friend reappears, the old friend that wanted nothing to do with love and romance. He's just afraid that he won't be able to turn this around, even by the end of the night. She may never get back to that romantic point, even if she's changed in this future.
"A mega date?" she ridicules. It's the most outrageous thing she's ever heard. "What does that even mean?" He can tell that she's getting annoyed, but he doesn't want to ruin it. Just like all their other great surprises throughout their marriage, he knows that the annoyance will be overtaken by the happiness when it's all over. At least he hopes it will be. He can never know for sure with this version of Robin.
"You'll see," he winks. She's starting to get incredibly frustrated. She hates surprises like this. "It makes much more sense than a superdate, right?" he adds. He always wanted this to be called a mega date. Only Ted would call it something as stupid as a superdate. But he had to call it that back then because he needed Ted's help. Now, he's grown up enough to plan this himself, so he can call it whatever he wants.
"I guess?" she answers, scrunching her eyebrows. There is obviously something behind the name, but at this point, she doesn't even want to know. She just hopes she doesn't regret doing this with him. "Can you at least tell me why we are doing this?"
"I just want to show you how much you mean to me," he says sincerely, in that tone that she never hears from him. It's so honest, and so not Barney. "I want you to believe it."
He grabs her hand again and pulls her across the street, into the carriage. She sure hopes that this isn't part of a trick, like the last time she was in a carriage. She really does not need to remember that moment. Besides, Barney would never let her forget it again.
But before she knows it, she's safely in the carriage, sitting down next to him, and they are off on their journey to wherever he is taking her.
"Ok," she says, breaking the silence. "Tell me something that I don't know."
"Something you don't know, or something that you know but don't remember?" he asks.
"Either one."
"You remember when I made Ted tell the story of how he rereturned for you?"
"Yes," she replies. She remembers it, but it seems like such a long time ago, even for her. She can only imagine it really is forever ago for him.
"And then Ted got you the new doormat to replace the other one?" he continues.
"Yeah." She remembers it well. It was such a touching moment. It made her fall for Ted even more than she already had. Of course, he was still with Victoria at the time. She had been depressed that she had lost him to her. Although, she hadn't been mad at Barney for bringing it up that night. She enjoyed the fact that it made Ted squirm, and at the time, she hoped that it would cause an argument between them. Of course it didn't, but the replacement doormat sure made up for it.
"He didn't get that for you." She throws her head around to look at him. There is no way that Ted didn't get that for her. Who else would have gotten it?
"But…" she argues, quite loudly, before he interrupts her yet again.
"I did."
Her mouth falls agape. She's not quite sure she's heard him right. He couldn't have possibly gotten it for her.
"You did?" she mutters, half in shock, and half teasing. She has this feeling that he might be lying to make her feel better.
"Yep," he admits proudly. He never told her that before, even after they married. "I felt bad because I made it awkward, and I made Ted go back. Plus, I knew it would make you happy."
There is something about the way he says it, just like all the other things he's said to her today, that makes her believe that this is real. It changes her whole outlook on her relationship with Ted though. That was one of the things that made her believe in their relationship, and it wasn't Ted at all. Not that she ever really knew for sure. She never asked him about it. She just assumed it was him. But now that the wheels are turning, it makes her realize something else. Barney didn't do it just to ease his conscience. He did it because he cared about her, which means he's cared about her for a long time. Longer than she ever thought. Even from the time she can remember, in 2008, he cares about her, maybe even is in love with her.
"Wow," she mutters, the new information still running through her head. "So you were in love with me in 2008?"
"No," he sighs. He wasn't 'in love' with her back then. When he thinks about it more though, he was. There was always something about her. "Well, I was," he admits. Because the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes it's true. He's really just admitting it to himself now. "I just didn't know it yet."
"What do you mean?" It's yet another thing that comes out of his mouth that makes no sense. How could he possibly love her and not know it? You either love someone or you don't. She doesn't know how there could be any in between.
"I always knew there was something between us, but I had no idea what it was. It was so new to me," he confesses. She can't do anything other than listen intently, because for her, she's realizing something. She feels the same way. She's always felt comfortable around him, and she knows her relationship with him has always been different than with the rest of the group. Could it be possible? Could she already be in love with him and not know it herself? "But then I had something happen to me that changed my life, and from then on I knew. I knew I loved you and I would never stop, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself."
It's hard to believe. She can't help but wonder what could have changed him. It's all a bit too overwhelming. So she does what she normally does and avoids it by changing the subject.
"You promised me that you were going to tell me about our relationship," she says. "About how we got here."
"Yeah," he mutters. He can tell exactly what she's doing. She's retreating, her specialty. Well, their specialty. He hates to see her do it, because he's grown used to her being open with him. He doesn't like it, but he knows she's still a bit scared, despite how well she's taken everything.
"So?" she questions, waiting for his reply.
"We had sex and you couldn't resist me," he jokes, giving her that slice of him that she remembers.
She rolls her eyes, and she can't help but laugh. Of course he would joke. "Be serious Barney," she scolds. She wants the truth from him this time. She wants to know how it all happened.
"We spent the night together, and I realized I was in love with you soon after," he starts to explain, so calmly and quietly that it's jarring. "I spent the next year secretly being in love with you." He smiles fondly at the memory. "There was this one time we went out to dinner during that time period, and you were so shocked with how nice I was, that you told me to act more like myself. So, I couldn't tell you, because I had no idea how to possibly tell you, and I thought that you would never love me back or even take me seriously." He sighs heavily, so glad that time is behind him. Those days that he spent pining over her were the worst.
"Then one day you found out about it, and we kissed. We spent the entire summer having sex," he laughs. Those days were amazing. She laughs too, but it's not out of happiness. It's mostly out of shock, and the thought of her having sex with him repeatedly for so long.
"We were in a relationship that we refused to acknowledge," he adds somberly. "On top of it, we didn't tell anyone, so when they found out, they made us start dating. The problem with that was we weren't ready for a relationship with each other." She can understand that. She's not sure how she could be ready for a relationship with him now.
"So we decided it was best if we stopped dating and became friends again. And we did for a while, but we kept realizing that we couldn't live without each other. Other people we dated would make the other jealous." He thinks about those days. They were without a doubt, some of the hardest of his life. He pauses, considering what to tell her next. Should he include that Ted's wife really brought them together again? He decides against it. Besides, he shouldn't tell her that he really needed convincing to go after her, because it would just scare her away.
"One day, I just got tired of it. I wanted to be with you, and you wanted to be with me, but you didn't want to admit it, because you were scared about losing me if things went wrong again. So I came up with a plan to win you back, I proposed, and you said yes."
"Wow," she murmurs, stunned by the entire revelation. "What was the plan?"
"I pretended to date a co-worker of yours so that you would get jealous."
"That seems so stupid," she scoffs. She doesn't see how she would have fallen for that. "It worked?"
"Yep."
"Huh."
"What?"
"I just can't imagine it," she answers. "I just feel like I don't know you."
"Well, let's spend the rest of the night getting to know each other again, and we will see how things go," he suggests. He can tell she's starting to come around, but he knows that no one can push Robin Scherbatsky into anything, even if she happens to be a Stinson now.
"I think I'd like that," she admits.
He leans over and chastely kisses her cheek. But to his shock, she is the one that turns and pulls his mouth in for a kiss.
It's simple, calm, and sweet, not at all like she expected kissing Barney to be. She finds it intoxicating, though, and doesn't want it to stop.
"Well, we're here," he announces excitedly, pulling away from her. He hopes that she will love this part. She finally looks around, and she's surprised by what she sees. It's not a restaurant, like she was expecting. Instead, they are right outside of an ice rink.
"I thought we were going out to dinner," she challenges. "This is an ice rink."
"Yeah, I thought this might be a little quieter than Rockefeller center," he answers, somewhat disappointed before turning back into the Barney she knows well with his sarcastic comment. "Plus it's May, so this was really the only choice."
"But skating? We're skating?"
"Yes."
"I thought you didn't like skating. You complained the whole time the last time we went."
"Maybe that's what I wanted you to see," he answers. She's stunned. She never thought that Barney might have lied about something like that, that it might have been a facade. "If I'm being honest, I spent a lot of time over the years building up a front. I had to be the awesome one."
"Who are you?" she asks sarcastically.
"Your husband."
"I feel like I know you so much and sometimes I feel like I don't know you at all," she sighs. She's so confused all the time.
"You do know me," he insists, and she can tell he's being sincere, that he's letting her in. "Even back in 2008, you knew me better than I knew myself. You could always see through me. Just think about it. When was the last time you didn't laugh at one of my jokes? When was the last time you preferred hanging out with Lily or Ted over me? When was the last time you honestly didn't care about what happened to me? You know there's more to me than just what I am on the outside."
His monologue has left her speechless. She doesn't know what to think. Part of her realizes he has a point, but should she let him know.
"You don't have to admit it now," he continues, knowing her, and her inner struggle the way he does. "But you might want to consider getting these skates on if you want to skate. We don't have all night. Size six right?"
He takes her smile as an admission as she grabs the skates from him.
"Hellooo!" Ranjit shouts as they climb in the back of the town car after ice skating.
"Ranjit!" Robin exclaims, glad to see another familiar face. "How are you?"
"Very good," he replies with his thick accent.
"Where are we off to?" she asks. It's been an confusing night so far, but skating had been much more fun and playful than she expected. She kept waiting for womanizer Barney to come back, but the entire time, he was focused on her and only her. And there had been some pretty hot women there, eights at least. But no matter what happened, he still treated her like she was the only girl in the world.
"Telepan, your favorite," Barney answers, waiting patiently for her reply. That restaurant had been the part of some very defining moments of their story.
"Oh my god! I just found that place! It's amazing!" she exclaims. She's finally excited. All of the worry she had earlier in the night is gone. She feels so much better about this date. Skating and dinner. It's just perfect.
"I know," Barney teases with a grin. "I've taken you there quite a few times." One time springs to mind though. It was their first real date. The one that Lily set up. She tricked them into it. He was a perfect gentleman that night, and she didn't believe he could be like that.
"Hmmm," she hums in contentment. She can't help but stare out the window. Right about now she wishes she knew the whole story. How they got here, how they changed. She wishes she had experienced it all herself, because it's just too amazing to wrap her head around.
"God, the food has only gotten better," Robin moans after tasting her first bite of Lobster Bolognese.
"I know. It's like us, we've only gotten better with time." She doesn't comment, and he just admires her. She still makes him just as crazy as ever.
"What?" she asks, catching him staring. She's not sure if she's flattered or creeped out.
"Nothing," he dismisses.
"No, come on, tell me," she insists. She can tell there is more to it.
"It's just been a while since we've been out to dinner alone together," he answers.
"How long?"
"Since the day before Brianna was born."
"So over two months?" Two months seems like such a long time to her. It's not her lifestyle, to be a homebody like that. But she knows if she has a newborn, things had to have changed.
"Yep," he confirms. It's upsetting to him that they are finally out alone together, and she doesn't remember. But she's incredible, because she's here, trying, and she seems to be having a great time.
She doesn't know what to say to answer him. She starting to feel the awkwardness of the early evening creep back with the choice of conversation, and with the way he is treating her right now. He's just too nice. She gets why, but he just doesn't seem like Barney to her.
"What are you thinking about?" he questions. He can see that she is thinking about something with the way she is staring off into space while she eats.
"Nothing. It's stupid," she rebuffs.
"That means it's far from stupid," she alarmed, because he's read her so well. "What is it really about?" he prods, wanting her to know she can open up to him.
"You're just so nice," she finally admits. "I'm just not used to it. I'm ready for you to be yourself. Not that you aren't being yourself," she clarifies when she sees the disappointment start to appear on his face. "I just don't know this side of you, and it seems weird to me."
He starts to chuckle at her comment. He mentally berates himself, because he knows it's just going to cause her to retreat, but at the same time, the irony is spread so thick.
"What? You think it's stupid don't you?" she laments. She's starting to hate that he made her believe it's okay to share, and now he's laughing at her.
"Not at all, it's not stupid at all," he answers, taking her hand and stroking it to calm her down. "It just reminds me of the first time we were here alone together."
"How is that?"
"Well, we were supposed to meet the gang here, but they didn't show up."
"Oh."
"Okay," he admits. "That's not true. They didn't show up on purpose. Actually, they never knew. Well Lily knew."
"Huh?" Now she's really confused. She doesn't get what this has to do with her comment at all.
"She kinda set us up on a date."
"A date?" She's shocked yet again tonight, wondering why Lily would have lied to set them up on a date. But she thinks back to Barney's story from earlier, and it makes sense. Lily would have to lie to them to get them on a date.
"Yeah. A date. Except you had no idea it was a date. You said almost the exact same thing that night," he replies. And it clicks for her why he laughed. It would be ironic that she said the exact same thing all these years later. "And don't worry," he adds. "I can still pull off the inappropriate. I just only do it for you now."
"Dinner was amazing. Thank you Barney," she says sweetly, once they are back in the car with Ranjit.
"Of course" he answers. "Anything for you." She hears the sincerity in his voice. She gets why he wanted to take her on this date now. Her opinion of him has certainly changed in the last few hours.
"That still seems so weird to me. But did I pass?" She wants to know, because she's ready for that next step. Not that she wasn't ready before, but she's even more ready now.
"Night's not over yet," he says, laughing.
"Huh?" she mutters yet again. Surprises seem to be the theme of the night.
"There's more."
"There's more?"
"It's a mega date. Of course there is more," he answers cockily, grinning like an idiot. Even though she's surprised there is more, she's not surprised at all. It is Barney after all, and he would be the one to pull off a surprise like this. "Ranjit! To Times Square!"
"To Times Square!"
"Sorry it's a little last minute, so they're not the best seats," Barney apologizes as they sit down in the theater. She has no idea what he's talking about. They are in the Orchestra section, and the view of the stage is amazing.
"These are amazing seats," she argues. "How did you do this?"
"A magician never reveals his tricks." She rolls her eyes at his comment. Every once in a while she gets a glimpse of the old trickster Barney. But the longer the night goes on, the more she realizes that she always liked those little lines and jokes. The only thing she didn't like about him was the parade of bimbos. It's almost as if this version of him is new and improved. It's all the things she liked about him, mixed with the things she's always secretly wanted him to be.
"What's this show even about?" she asks. "I've never heard of it."
"Not sure, but I've heard good things about it."
"You've heard things about a musical?" she asks sarcastically. Even with his new and improved facade, she still can't see him loving a musical. He's just not that kind of guy.
"I've changed!" he insists. She glares at him with an evil eye, trying to get him to admit it.
"Okay," he finally admits. "Ted's wife is obsessed with it."
"That sounds more like it," she cackles.
"Fun fact though," he adds, "one of the actresses in the original cast was her doppelgänger."
"Wow!" she mutters. "We've only found Marshall's and mine so far."
"Actually…"
"Wait, you've seen another one?" He nods in confirmation. "That's awesome! Whose did you see?"
"All of them."
"All of them?" she asks, excitedly. Now this is something that she really wants to know about. "Come on. Spill. What were they?"
"Ted's is a wrestler!"
"Man that's cool," she mutters. That's so much better than her own.
"That's the boring one!" Barney exclaims.
"How is that even possible?" There is no way that a wrestler isn't the coolest of the doppelgangers.
"Mine is a gynecologist slash fertility specialist."
"Oh my god! How did you find that one?" She has a difficult time not laughing hysterically at that one. Of all the things that Barney's doppelganger could have been, she's not surprised that the universe picked that one out. She pities the poor women that would have fallen for plays after that one.
"Lily."
"Oh dear," she moans, still laughing.
"Yeah. I actually almost got locked in his office," he sighs. "Lily made me come to her appointment to make sure it wasn't me. And then they put me in Ted's stupid sensory deprivator thing. The janitor had to let me out."
"Why would she think it was you?" She's just a bit curious about that. Lily should have known that he wouldn't do that to her.
"I may have impersonated some doctors and pretended to be my doppelgänger before," he admits, slightly embarrassed that he has to tell Robin this part of the story. "I can't say I blame her."
"So what was Lily's?"
"That one's awesome. That one's more than awesome," he exclaims, and she kind of loves it. It's a bit of her Barney. "It's legen- wait for it- dary! Legendary!"
"Well what was she?" Just the way he says it makes her excited. She hopes that it's not a letdown.
"A stripper!" Nope. Not a letdown.
"Oh my god! No way!"
"Yes way!"
"Wow," she mutters, finally realizing something. If this really is the future, and not a dream, she'll never get to see these things. They are gone. She'll never experience those moments again. It leaves her saddened. "I wish I could have seen all that."
He feels awful, because she's right. Those are moments she might not get back. She may never remember the doppelgangers, or his proposal, or their wedding, or the birth of their daughter. It may all be gone.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Barney says, apologizing.
"No. It's okay," she agrees, knowing it's not his fault. She can see how awful he feels about it, and she doesn't want him to feel that way. "Let's just enjoy the show, alright?"
"Sure."
"So are we picking up Bri now?" Robin asks. The show was amazing. Apparently, it almost swept the Tony's one year. Of course, she'd never heard of it, since it didn't come out until after her time, but it was amazing nonetheless. The evening as a whole had been lovely, but it had been long. She was ready to go home.
"Not quite yet." She sighs. He can't really expect her to do any more can he?
"Why not?" she groans.
"I told you. This is a mega date. It's not over yet," he answers with a wink. She doesn't know whether she should be annoyed or not.
"But where could we be going?"
"You'll see." She really hopes this is the last thing.
Before she realizes it, the car has stopped, and they are in what appears to be a business district.
"Okay, Barney. This one makes no sense. We are outside of the World Wide News building. Why would we end our date here?"
"You'll see." She groans again. This better be the end. There is something about this that is foreboding, and she doesn't like it.
She follows him inside to the elevators. She has no idea how he gets them past security, but at this point, she is way too tired to even question him. She watches as he pushes the button for the top floor. Even though she's tired, there's an undeniable bit of thrill to this. Like she's taken this ride before. There is something more to this.
They walk out of the elevator and he drags her to a stairwell. Her feet hurt, but he's so enthusiastic, that she wants to follow. They're up the flight of stairs in no time, and they finally end up standing before a large door. He opens the door for her and lets her walk through first. It's a plain roof, some tables scattered around, but just for a second, she swears she sees rose petals, candles, twinkling lights and a lone piece of paper. It almost like a weird hallucination, but it's gone so fast. She shakes it off, and just continues.
Then he's dragging her to the roof ledge and pointing to the sky.
Fireworks explode all around, and even though it's short, it's one of the most amazing things she's ever seen. She even wants to cry, it's so beautiful. It's a reaction she's never had before , but she can't help it. No one's ever done something like this for her before.
"Thank you," she expresses, tears welling up in her eyes. "This night has been perfect."
"I'm glad." He's so happy. Everything that he wanted to do tonight to get her to remember helped.
Suddenly, he grabs her and pulls her into a kiss. It's not entirely unexpected, but it's so good, even better than before. This time, it's exactly like she expected it to be, if not better. It knocks every other dream kiss she's had with him out of the water. She's ready. She's passed his test, and she's ready for more.
