One- Ed Sheeran
Cause you are the only one
And all my friends have gone to find
Another place to let their hearts collide
Just promise me, you'll never leave again
"Are you ready?" Lily asked, her excitement clear as she squeezed Barney's hand.
The two of them crossed under the airport's threshold. Barney gave what he hoped was a confident smile. "As I'll ever be." he confirmed, giving Lily's hand a squeeze back before releasing her.
"If I know Robin, everything will pan out." Lily assured as they passed some souvenir stands. "No way will she leave after she hears what you have to say."
Barney smiled once more, but it was still uncertain. He didn't want Robin to leave, but no more did he want her to stay just for him. It had been the exact reason their marriage had fallen apart to begin with, and Barney would be damned if he kept Robin from her life again. No, if they were to get back together, it would be on Robin's own terms.
Together, Lily and Barney made their way to where the flight numbers were posted. Lily tracked down Robin's plane, reading the gate number aloud. Barney nodded, echoing the number in his head. They continued on their way, Barney feeling increasingly jittery with every step.
"So what are you going to say, exactly?" Lily wondered. She brushed by the others moving about, her own walk purposeful as Barney tried not to freeze in place.
Barney shrugged. "I thought I'd just...wing it." he said lamely, the words leaving a weird taste in his mouth. If there was one thing Barney Stinson always had, it was a plan. The only type of 'winging' he did was as wingman, and having so little control made him incredibly amped-up. Being plan-less felt to Barney like suddenly going blind while driving.
It was unlike him, and this wasn't lost on Lily as her mouth twisted up in concern. "Winging it." she repeated doubtfully. Barney wanted to feel indignant, but he knew that she was right. He didn't do this kind of thing.
"I know I'm not the best unrehearsed," Barney said, a sarcastic cut to his tone, "But it's Robin." And his sharpness fell away with the inflection of her name. "I'm hoping when I see her, the words will just come to me."
"What up." Barney added as an afterthought, earning the usual eye roll from Lily.
They arrived at the gate, and Barney immediately spotted Robin, back to them, at the opposite end of the room. He stared for a few seconds, then turned to Lily in a panic. "The words aren't coming to me!" he yelped, grabbing her arm. Lily pushed him away, her face going stone-cold-Aldrin.
"Listen up, Stinson. This is Robin, and if you don't even try to fight for her, she's going to get on that flight to God-knows-where for God-knows-how-long. She's going to leave and never know that she could have been happy with you, unless you man the hell up and go make sure she knows!"
The pep talk did the trick. Barney, his stomach still in knots, released Lily with a nod. He turned on his heel, jaw set, and made his way to Robin. She was still facing away from him, looking out the wall-length window. Barney went to tap her shoulder just as she turned around, causing his body to go rigid.
"Barney?" Robin was alarmed, but she couldn't say she was entirely surprised. Of course Lily hadn't taken her request not to tell Barney to heart, but then, had Robin really ever expected that she would?
"What are you doing here?"
It was a rhetorical question, and they both knew it. Robin suppressed the urge to run away, knowing that she would have to break Barney's heart for what must have been the dozenth time.
"I'm grand gesture-ing." Barney admitted, with a goofy set of his mouth. Robin blinked, almost laughed. Barney went on: "I know you thought that leaving without a goodbye was doing me a favor, but the real favor would be hearing me out. Okay?"
Robin rubbed at her forehead, already feeling a migraine coming on. "Sure." she agreed, because there wasn't a way to deny him.
Barney nodded, shifting his weight so that he stood up straight. Inexplicably, Robin almost laughed again, but the look on Barney's face choked the sound from her. His gaze was level, intense, and it unnerved her.
"This past month, I lost my mom." Barney stated, and Robin couldn't help but think that this was his weirdest method of seduction yet. "Ellie lost her grandma- and for a while there she lost me, too. Everything that's happened-all of this shit...it's shitty." Barney refused to look away from her. "But, when you're around, all of that shittiness goes away."
"When we got divorced, I was so lost." Barney continued. "Without you around, I didn't know where I was going, or what the hell I was doing. And then Ellie came along, and I started to get back on track." Barney's smile was soft, almost not there at all. "But then you moved back to New York, and I realized that I was still just as lost as before. Seeing you at the bar that day-"
"Barney." Robin choked out, and her voice was tight, stretched out like a rubber band. She stared at him, hating that she had to refuse him. But they couldn't work, and it was time to stop pretending that they could. "Please don't."
She had expected him to continue, but Barney just looked at her. "Why not?" he asked eventually, without bitterness. Robin's reply came automatically-unwarrantably-from somewhere in the back of her mind.
"I was saving you the trouble." Robin said, and as the words left her mouth, she recalled the memory immediately; a single glance at Barney told Robin that he did, too. When the smirk spread across his face, it was a knowing one.
"Maybe I want to be saved the trouble." he said sincerely, stepping closer to Robin, who stepped back in turn.
"We're not doing this." Robin snapped, dangerously close to losing her resolve. Barney's teasing look dropped, but he didn't back down, waiting for Robin to continue.
"Barney, it's too much." she insisted. "We waited too long to try and fix things. By this point it's just...hopeless."
Barney shook his head. He was determined. Robin was not slipping through his fingers for a second time. "I don't believe in hopeless when it comes to us." he said seriously. "We can make this work."
Robin rubbed her temples, both wishing he would go and wishing he would never leave. "No, we can't." she nearly yelled, then quieted, her tone still fierce. "Barney, you're a dad now. And I have this job. It's not as simple as some speech in an airport and us running back to the Fortress and living happily ever after."
A smile crossed his lips, aggravating Robin all the more. "No, it's not that simple." Barney agreed. "But nothing with us has ever been that simple. Robin, you and I are messes. We're stubborn and idiotic and we can never get our timing down right." His voice was almost serene as he went on, "But the fact that I love you, and that I want to be with you? That's the simplest thing there is."
And there they were: the three words that Robin had been dodging for so long. She had pressed them down, forced herself to unthink them. It hadn't made her want it any less.
And there it was: the lump in her throat. But Barney, eyes ablaze, was seemingly unable to stop himself now.
"I've never met someone who makes me feel the way you do, Scherbatsky." His voice softened on the nickname, the fire in his eyes sizzling out into something gentle. "I know that I fucked up, and I know that you think this is a mistake...But if you let me, I'm going to spend every second from here on out making up for the last two years."
Robin swallowed that lump in her throat. "Barney," she muttered, a plea, "I can't stay here."
"I know." Barney said easily. "That's why I'm not asking you to stay."
Robin, skeptical-and a little hopeful-raised her eyebrows. "You're not." she said dumbly, confused by the smile that Barney still had playing on his lips.
"No." Barney agreed. "I'm asking for you to let me come with you." He smiled ruefully. "I told you I want to make up for the past," He held up the plane ticket he had purchased, smile widening into a hopeful one. "So why don't we start with Argentina?"
The promise of his words started something within Robin; a forest fire making its way through her chest. It was overwhelming, destroying all her doubt in its wake, until all she could do was lead the way to baggage check.
"So. What are you thinking?" Barney asked later, watching Robin from his seat beside her. They'd been flying in silence for the last hour, neither of them entirely sure what to say about the morning's events. Robin didn't look at him at first, but when her eyes did rest on Barney, something inside her settled into place.
"We both had some stuff to deal with." she stated.
Barney didn't quite understand, but he nodded. All he wanted was to chase away any doubt Robin may have held on to. "Yes." he agreed. Robin was looking at him, but her eyes were far away, in that elsewhere that Barney learned to recognize over the years. She was thinking, and thinking hard.
"But it's just stuff," Robin continued eventually. "Right?" she added, but Barney knew enough by now not to answer. "Stuff that we can work through."
Barney nodded again, and would have been amused under different circumstances. "I think you're working yourself up, Scherbatsky." he said gently. Robin's eyes refocused, bringing her back down to earth.
"Yeah." she agreed. "Yeah, maybe we could just...hold off any decisions?" She caught Barney's concerned gaze, thinking that Robin was going back on her choice. "Only until we get back to New York." she added hastily. Barney looked curious then, causing Robin to press on. "What if while we're in Argentina, we just focus on being with each other. On seeing if we still work, and then when we get back to the city...we can talk about us."
Barney took this in. A vacation from reality sounded appealing, especially one that involved Robin. "Let's do it." he agreed, earning a smile from Robin. She looked at him carefully, assessing, taking in the features of his face. It was the same face she could recognize anywhere, albeit with a few more lines and creases. The eyes she loved, blue rimmed with gray, and the curve of his nose. Robin eyes traced the angles of Barney's face until her gaze landed on his lips, settling there. Hesitantly, the movement measured, Robin leaned in.
The kiss was quick, a testing of the waters, and it was awkward, trying to maneuver around the plane's seats. But it held something, the same blazing sensation that Robin had felt before boarding the flight. It held determination, a promise of what was to come.
AN: Ta-da! What did you think of the second-to-last chapter? Thanks in advance for reading/reviewing.