Sorry, I know I'm the worst and this chapter took forever again. But I just got back to school a couple weeks ago and this semester is really kicking my ass and I've allowed myself to get distracted by other stories...oops sorry! Plus, I had really bad writer's block trying to write this chapter. I couldn't decide between a huge confrontation or kind of a diffusion. I sort of went somewhere in the middle. I don't know. I'm also really sick, this winter is awful. But I think this chapter is coherent enough that you can't tell I'm on a million doses of DayQuil...ahhh. Okay, sorry, I'm done talking. Once again, thank you guys so much for the reviews. You all are the greatest people ever and I literally can't thank everyone who has read, favorited, reviewed, or followed the story enough.

Barney was finally home and he had slightly mixed feelings about it, which made him feel awful. Yes, he had missed Robin and Aubrey, but truthfully he still wasn't ready to deal with the whole Robin/Ted situation. He had a lot of questions he needed to ask her today and chances were one, or both, of them would end up getting hurt and that was the last thing he wanted. But they couldn't avoid this conversation any longer. This business trip had put it off for an extra couple days, which he was glad for because he felt he could be more rational about the whole situation now.

He glanced at his watch, 9:35, Aubrey would definitely be asleep by now, which meant it was just him and Robin. He sighed wearily pulling the door open. It was time to get this over with. Robin startled as soon as the door was pulled open jumping to her feet. They looked at each other hesitantly not knowing how to react. Finally, Robin set the precedent when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"I know you're mad at me," she mumbled into his shoulder. "But I really missed you." He felt his heart break a little at the words. He knew what he was doing had been hurting Robin, but earlier he was so blinded by how angry he was, that he didn't really think about how she would feel. He reached up and stroked the back of her head softly, not quite ready to give up on the hug just yet. When she finally pulled away, he managed a small smile.

"Guess we need to talk now, huh?" She nodded reluctantly and returned to her previous spot on the couch. "Before I say anything else, I'm really sorry I avoided talking about this for so long. At first, I was too angry to bring it up and was worried I'd end up saying something I regretted and then I kept putting it off, which wasn't fair to you. So, I'm sorry about that."

"Thanks," she murmured giving him a sad half-smile.

"I probably should go first." He commented wryly mostly to himself. Truthfully, seeing Robin had caused most of his anger to fade. Of course he was still confused about what happened and if the catalyst of their relationship had been Ted's marriage, which he would really, really hate. But he regretted keeping this from her for so long. "Ted told me something when we were at Marshall and Lily's…"

"Ugh, of course it was Ted." Robin groaned and he raised a questioning eyebrow. "I'm so sick of Ted trying to get in the middle of our relationship. He tells you something to deliberately make you mad at me and then comes over here when you're gone to tell me he loves me. I don't have time to deal with all these problems he's causing. We have a baby and I haven't gotten enough sleep in months and I just-" She broke off and Barney was a little concerned she was verging on hysteria. He gently rubbed her knee and waited for her to calm down.

Barney honestly couldn't believe Ted at this point. Ted had been Barney's bro, his best friend, and now Ted was trying to destroy his marriage. Yeah, Barney understood that Ted never got over Robin, but he needed to be a grown-up and face up to the fact that he'd made a mistake and deal with those consequences. He also needed to realize that Robin's wasn't Ted's to 'take back'.

"Hey, I'm not mad anymore, okay?" He asked softly trying to calm her down. "I just need you to explain some things to me." Robin took a deep breath, steeled herself, and nodded. "Was I only rebound?"

"What?" She asked eyebrows creased in confusion.

"When we got together…" He trailed off licking his lips trying to figure out how to word it. "…were you using me to get over Ted?"

"No!" She immediately objected standing up. "No, of course you weren't. I was over Ted before us." Barney braced himself for the question he knew he had to ask next.

"Why did you call Ted the night before he married Stella?" Robin looked up at him in surprise, her eyes wide.

"That's what you were upset about?" She asked knowingly and he nodded. "I can't believe Ted told you about that." She muttered angrily under her breath.

"Why? Because it's true?!" He questioned feeling his agitation with Ted being redirected at Robin.

"No!" She yelled immediately, the loudness of her voice startling both of them. "I mean, yes, I called him, but I didn't mean what I said." Barney raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't make sense."

"Ted was the first person to love me, even my parents-" Robin broke off shaking her head. "I realized that if he married Stella, I would lose that and it scared me. I wasn't still in love with him and I wasn't about to get back together with him either. I was just scared…" She shrugged and Barney knew she was telling the truth, but it still didn't sit right with him. "I don't really have any excuses and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it, but I didn't think it mattered."

"It doesn't, I guess." He finally decided to let it go. Robin clearly had given him all her insight into this particular situation. It was just something he had to deal with. "I kind of thought you already had feelings for me at that point, though." He admitted quietly and he saw realization dawn on her face. Now she understood what he'd really been upset about.

"I did."

"Then why-" She quickly cut him off.

"Don't be upset when I tell you this, okay?" He hesitated, but nodded. Whatever it was, he needed to know whether it would upset him or not. "I didn't know if you felt anything for me. And even if you did…I wasn't sure you'd ever really change." She shrugged helplessly. "Obviously you proved me wrong, big time, but I had this sense of security over my relationship with Ted that I was losing to Stella and I wanted it with you, but I didn't think you could give it to me. So, I panicked and I called Ted. I regretted it in the morning and I almost called to apologize, but I thought that might do more harm than good." Barney felt the tension he'd had for the past couple days slip away as he heard more of Robin's explanation. "Are you upset?" Robin asked and he realized he still hadn't said anything.

"No," he shook his head and she looked surprised. "Robin, even I doubted if I could change. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but I had been that version of Barney for so long…"

"For the record, I like this version of Barney the best."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He smiled widely and she smiled back, just as wide.

"I'm sorry I got so angry."

"I get it."

"You do?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I mean, if I had just found out that while we were in the midst of trying to figure out whether we should do this thing for real, you called Shannon and asked for a second chance and told her not to get married. I wouldn't be happy." She told him with a shrug. "But you have to know that that call to Ted didn't mean anything. I didn't want him then and I don't want him now." She stated resolutely.

"I wish he would stop."

"Well, last night I kicked him out and told him to think long and hard before he came back." She said, voice full of pride and he laughed.

"Good call, Scherbatsky." He nodded grabbing hold of her hand. "What'd he say last night, anyway?" He'd still been too stressed about this situation to really ask Robin what exactly had been said. Robin tensed beside him, which caused him to sit up. "Robin?" He prompted.

"Okay, but remember that these are Ted's thought and I do not in any way agree with anything he said. In fact, I kicked him out because of it."

"Noted," he mumbled, eyes narrowed. He really didn't like where this was going.

"Firstly, he doubted that I was happy, which I assured him I was. But he said there was no way you had changed…" Robin revealed bracing herself for his reaction.

"What?" He asked in a controlled tone praying for Ted's sake that that didn't mean what he thought it meant.

"He implied that I had no way of knowing what you were really doing on your business trip."

"He thought I was cheating on you." Barney finished and she nodded. "He's unbelievable." He stood up quickly throwing on his jacket.

"Barn," Robin said softly trying to get his attention, when he ignored her, she spoke louder. "Barney, don't do this."

"No, I have to. Ted doesn't seem to be getting the message, so I'm going to give it to him loud and clear."

"Barney," she pleaded putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll be good." She looked at him skeptically. "I promise." He murmured leaning in to kiss her. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Don't do anything stupid, please." He nodded in acknowledgment and headed out the door.

Ted wasn't proud of himself. Although, he didn't regret what he did, he wasn't happy about the lengths he went to to try and get what he wanted. But he had been pretty sure Barney and Robin weren't completely happy with each other and how their lives turned out. All he had to do was plant considerable seeds of doubt in both their heads, which he had done. Now, he just had to wait and see. If they survived, then he had obviously been wrong, but if they didn't- well, he could swoop in.

He nodded to himself. Maybe it wasn't the best way to go about this and if anyone ever put the pieces together, he'd be a dead man. But he hadn't know what else to do and he had to do something. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he almost missed the commotion at the door.

"Oh, Marshall and Lily, wonderful to see you two this fine evening." He heard a voice he knew was Barney's say. "Now, can you tell me where to find my best buddy, Ted?" And Ted could already hear the anger in Barney's voice. There was no mistaking that. Ted almost wanted to run away, but he knew he had to face whatever was coming his way. Ted knew it might happen when he instigated this whole thing. And who knows just because Barney was mad didn't really mean anything.

"Oh hey Ted!" Barney greeted with a sarcastic smile on his face. "Care to inform me on what right you had to come into my home while I was away and accuse me of cheating on my wife?" He questioned, the smile never leaving his face, as Marshall and Lily gasped in the background. It unnerved Ted. He had seen Barney mad, but this was different. He was thankful for a moment that Marshall and Lily were there, if only to prevent Barney from killing him. It took him another moment to realize Barney had actually asked him a question and Ted struggled to find the right answer.

"C'mon Barney, you can't be that surprised I would think that. The Barney I knew thrived on one night stands." Ted replied in a friendly tone.

"Exactly! The Barney you knew! Apparently, you can't wrap your head around the concept that people actually change, Ted."

"But you changed so drastically!" He defended.

"Yeah, falling in love, getting married, and having a child will do that to you." Barney snarked back. "I don't appreciate you getting in the middle of my relationship with Robin. We're fine. We love each other and we're happy. But we also just had a baby and neither of us are in any condition to deal with your shenanigans, Ted. We are tired and the last thing either of us wants to do after a long day is fight about you, because, frankly, you're not worth it. So, I kindly ask you to stay out of our lives. And if you come near us again, your reception will be less than pleasant." He said flashing one last smile in Ted's direction, before walking out of the house. Ted's eyes went from the door where Barney had just exited to a fuming Marshall and Lily.

Well, shit.