Kind of a short chapter, sorry! Also I'm sorry this took me so long to get up. I wrote two other stories in between, which I shouldn't have but I did it anyway haha. This chapter isn't very Marshall/Lily heavy at all. But they will be more involved in the rest of the story, I promise! I know no one really enjoys the Ted parts, but they are a necessary evil. And I wanted to give more backstory on Barney and Robin, so that's why I included that whole flashback. Also, this chapter was on the upbeat side because I listened to I Wanna Be (500 Miles) the entire time (and I do mean entire) I was writing this chapter. I should probably turn it off or I might go insane. Thank you guys again for the crazy amount of reviews I've gotten! I really appreciate it. I also appreciate anyone who read, favorited, or follows this story. I'm glad there are people actually reading it! Anyway, sorry if there are any glaring errors I missed, I only read over it once. And let me know what you thought!

"You know, one day when she gets older," Barney said looking down at Aubrey in his arms. "I'm going to tell her the story of how we met." Robin raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"You mean, how mine and Ted's eyes met across a crowded room and Ted said, 'hey Barney, see that girl?' and you said, 'oh yeah, you just know she likes it dirty.' That's a beautiful story to tell our daughter." Robin deadpanned, her head resting on Barney's shoulder.

"Well I was right, wasn't I?" He asked with a wide smile.

"Regardless of whether you were right or not-"

"I was," he interrupted and Robin rolled her eyes.

"That's still not a story a child would want to hear about their parents."

"My mom told me stories about her sex life all the time!" Barney protested.

"And look how that worked out for you," she commented with a wicked smile and Barney laughed.

"Fair point." He nodded. "I wasn't talking about that story anyway. I meant the story of how we finally got together."

"Finally?" She questioned. "It only took, like, four years. And one of those I was dating Ted and another one of those Ted was trying to get me and another one of those you were too busy being a playboy. So really, more like a year."

"Can we stop talking about Ted?" He whined. "And it was half a year that I was in love with you and you wouldn't acknowledge me. Gosh, give me more credit than that." Robin laughed and pressed a kiss to Barney's cheek.

"I'm sorry, half a year."

"Anyway, if you would have just let me get through what I was saying to begin with. One day, I'm going to tell Aubrey the story of how we got together."

"You want to tell me that story?" She asked looking up at him through her lashes. "I was pretty drunk that night."

"And I was pretty queasy and drunk and I still remember it." He shot back. "But if that was a misguided attempt to get me to tell the story then it worked, Scherbatsky."

"You know I'm not Scherbatsky anymore."

"And you know I don't care." He replied. "So the story begins with a cold day in November. Robin was lost in life and the Barnman came to the rescue."

"You don't have to be so dramatic about it," she mumbled into his shoulder. "Besides, I totally saved you that night." Robin huffed.

Robin was a Woo girl. And yeah, okay it was totally hot. Or at least it would have been if he wasn't completely in love with her and more worried about her than turned on by it. He sighed sending Robin one last fleeting look before doing the test tube shot with Marshall.

Hours later, after Barney had escaped the bull (finally). Marshall tied him to it, after finding out he hadn't told Ted about a potential architecture gig. Whatever, Ted hadn't even talked to him since he got married. He was stumbling around the bar, still trying to remain stable after the longest bull ride of his life. As soon as he thought he was ready to collapse he noticed a booth to his left and pulled himself into, letting his head fall to the table.

"You okay, bud?" He heard an amused voice ask and he looked up to find Robin looking at him, a smile playing at her lips. He mumbled incoherently against the table. "I'm sorry, you're going to have to repeat that."

"I hate Marshall." Barney said picking his head up off the table.

"Aw, did someone not like their punishment?" She asked in faux sympathy.

"It was mean!" He protested weakly.

"Well, I'll sit here until you regain proper function of your legs." He smiled and then they were silent for a couple of minutes. Once he felt at least somewhat normal again, he glanced over to Robin who was frowning at the table.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly. He knew she didn't like being worried about in any way, but he was worried and he was going to make sure she was okay.

"M'fine." She unconvincingly mumbled and he raised an eyebrow at her in challenge.

"Really? Robin, you wooed tonight! I never thought you would woo." She sighed and he could tell she was getting ready to tell him something.

"Do you ever feel like you're stuck? Like everyone else's lives are off getting better and you're still here in the same place you always have been?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. My life is pretty awesome." He proclaimed, but Robin leveled him with a look. Okay, they were being serious. He could be serious. "I don't know. Sometimes." He shrugged. "I mean, Marshall and Lily are getting ready to have a kid and Ted just got married. And yeah, I love my job but I want something more than that." He admitted quietly, not even daring to glance at Robin.

"I don't even have a job." Robin said in a strangled voice. "God, I'm going nowhere."

"What?" He asked incredulously sliding over to her side of the booth to wrap an arm around her shoulder. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"It's true. I went to Japan to further my career and it ended up being worse than Metro News 1 and now they don't even want me back."

"We're going to find you a kickass job, Scherbatsky. Because anyone would be crazy to pass you up." And maybe what happened next was a result of the alcohol in both their systems or maybe it was just chemistry but suddenly they were kissing. And it was amazing and everything Barney wanted, but then she pulled away.

"Barney, I-" But before she could finish, he had to say something.

"I love you." He blurted. Okay, not the most romantic way he could have done that, but he's Barney Stinson and she's Robin Scherbatsky and romance was the last thing either of them cared about. She didn't say it back, of course not. It was Robin, but she pulled him in for another kiss.

And that was more or less the story of how they got together. Of course things happened after that. They eventually had to set boundaries. No strip clubs for him, no letting random men buy drinks anymore for her. They defined their relationship at their time without pressure from Marshall and Lily, who were far too busy trying to start a family to pay attention to the fact that Barney and Robin were sleeping together. It worked too. Obviously they had their problems, every couple does, but they were able to work through them pretty easily.

"We're pretty great together, aren't we?" Robin asked with a fond smile on her face.

"Pretty great? No, we're legendary." He said without argument. "And don't ever refer to us as anything other than legendary. It's pretty demeaning actually."

"Yes sir," she said mockingly.

So that was it. They were definitely getting a divorce. Ted had tried everything he could to talk Stella out of it and she wouldn't budge. He understood. They weren't in love anymore and she thought she could be in love with someone else. As much as it hurt him, he had to let her go. But he was worried about the kids. He really had no legal claim over Lucy, so if Stella was cruel enough he'd probably never see Lucy again. He didn't think she would be that cruel. After all, she cheated on him. She wasn't really in the place to start taking everything away from him. He was going to give her the house. This was her territory. She lived here before they were married. And honestly, he had no reason to stay in New Jersey if they were divorcing. He missed the city and the constant commotion and his friends. He missed his friends and moving back to the City insured that it would be a lot easier to stay in their lives.

Ted sighed glancing through their wedding album. He must be a masochist because he had been doing nothing but going through their memories the past couple days. He kept looking back on happier times: when they got married, when Aidan was born. It was sad, but therapeutic. He was finally realizing what Stella had known for awhile now; they weren't meant to be. Sure, they were happy for some time. He thought they could be happy forever and they could have. Maybe not in a soulmate way, but they were friends above all else. They just weren't right for each other. A fact he kind of knew from the beginning, but had chosen to ignore because he wanted to be happy. And he wanted to Stella to be the one, even though everyone told him she wasn't.

Sometimes his mind went back to the night before his wedding. Robin had called him and told him not to do it. Looking back now he saw all the things Robin saw without the being blinded by the promise of a future and she had been right. That wedding wasn't anything he wanted, it was Stella's sister's wedding and he had just accepted that. He wasn't that kind of guy at all. Marriage was a forever deal, he was only going to have one wedding. He told Robin she was wrong and hung up on her. She didn't come to the wedding and they barely spoke after that phone call. He regretted it all now. Although, if he hadn't married Stella then he wouldn't have Lucy and Aidan and he couldn't imagine his life without them. But still Robin had been right. And he accused her of being jealous of him. He shook his head, God, he could be an idiot sometimes.

Robin was a huge chapter of his life. She was someone he had trusted a lot, someone who used to know him better than he knew himself. Someone he really truly believed was his one, his soulmate. He still believed it sometimes. He never had the connection with anyone else that he had with Robin. Yeah, he loved Victoria and of course he had loved Stella but Robin was in a completely different league. She was Robin. He felt like he missed that boat big time and let Barney pick her up. He could have had that life with Robin. That was all he wanted with her and she did it with Barney Stinson of all people. He wondered how they got together. If they just sort of ended up together after he left and Marshall and Lily had kids, or if it was more complex than that. He really had no idea. He wanted to know, though. He needed to know. And he really wanted to talk to Robin.

"That was Ted." Marshall said solemnly sitting down at the table. "He and Stella are getting divorced."

"What?" Lily asked, her eyes widening.

"I guess Stella's been cheating on him and she finally came clean." He explained.

"And that's it? They're done?"

"Well, Ted tried to fight her on it, but she really wanted the divorce so he had to deal with it." Marshall ran a hand through his hair. "I feel really bad for him, Lil." Lily took a deep breath steeling herself for what she was about to suggest. She wasn't Ted's biggest fan, but he was going through a hard time. They used to be best friends, after all.

"Maybe he could stay with us for a little while?" She tried to convince herself this was a good idea, a good idea that wouldn't blow up in their face in some way. "You know, just until he gets back on his feet and finds his own place."

"I think that's a really good idea. We could help him get back to old Ted. The one we were friends with and everything."

"And it would definitely be good for him to get out of the house he has with Stella. Right now he probably hates her." Marshall shook his head.

"He just seemed sad. Really, really sad. Not angry or anything else, but really sad."

"Are you okay, Marshmallow?" She asked her eyes filling with sympathy.

"I should have been there for him."

"He left us. You tried as much as you could have back then. Don't beat yourself up over this." Lily instructed in her motherly tone.

"You're right," he sighed rubbing a hand over his face.

"I know I am." She smiled. "Look, Ted will stay with us for a couple days, you'll get your friendship back on track and everything will be okay again."