A/N: Thank you to lillimolly93 for all her help editing! And to everyone else who's reading and reviewing.

As badly as Barney wanted to run to the nearest airport, he knew that there was something that he had to do first. As badly as he didn't want to, he knew that it was right.

That's how he found himself at Cassidy's parent's house. It was where she had spent the night. She was probably already up and getting ready for the big day. Oh boy, this wasn't going to be easy.

He was thankful that it was her that answered the door and not her mother or god forbid, her father. "Barney, what are you doing here?" She asked, tightening her robe. "You're not supposed to see me until the wedding." She smiled. "You couldn't go that long huh? Well I miss you too, but soon we'll have forever with each other." Barney couldn't help feeling guilty, but he knew that he was lying to Cassidy. He knew that marrying her would be the cruelest thing that he could do to her, because his heart would never really be in it.

"We have to talk." he said, seriously.

She must have heard the harshness in his voice, because her expression turned from playful to one of apprehension. "Can't it wait until later?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure that it's fine." She said, touching his arm. "I love you, Barney, so whatever it is, it can wait, okay?"

"Cassidy I can't."

"Can't wait?"

"Can't marry you."

"You're kidding." She said, her face blank of any expression. "I mean, you can't be serious. We're getting married today. It's what you want. That's why you asked me."

"I asked you because I was scared to go after the real thing."

"The real thing?" She asked as though it were the hardest concept to understand.

"You deserve better than some guy that could never get over his ex."

"You are over her." She whined. "You and Robin are done, remember?"

"I wish that I could tell you that was true." he thought back to everything that had happened the last couple of months and decided that Cassidy deserved to know the truth. "We slept together. That night that I went after her, then didn't come home until late. I told you that I just talked to her, because she was upset, but that's not that truth."

"Well I'm upset." She said, fighting back tears. "And that's definitely something that we're going to have to work through, but it doesn't change how much I love you."

"It meant something to me." he continued. "Sex with Robin… anything with Robin. It means something to me."

"That's why you stopped being friends with her." Cassidy said calmly. "You're not friends with her, so it's okay."

"I love her." Barney said, hoping that this would make Cassidy see.

"You used to love her." She corrected him.

"No. I've loved her for… years. It never stopped. Even being away from her just makes me love her more. And then I met you and you were nothing like her. There was no risk of getting hurt the way that I know Robin can hurt me. And you were fun, and pretty, and I liked being with you. I really did. But I don't think that I ever loved you. I don't think that I ever could."

"How can you say that?" She asked dramatically. "I know that you don't mean it."

"I'm so sorry." he said sincerely. "I hate that I had to bring you down. You deserve someone that's going to love you with all of their heart, but that person's not me. You deserve better than this."

"I don't care what I deserve." She said, grabbing his hand. "I want to be with you."

"I can't." he said. "One day you'll thank me."

She shook her head. "I'll never thank you for this. Barney, you are the most disgusting man I have ever met."

He wasn't about to argue with her. "I'm sorry." he repeated. "But trust me, one day, you'll look back on this moment, and you'll say that it was the best of your life." When did he turn into Ted?

"I tried so hard." she said, ignoring him. "I tried so hard to make you stop whatever it was that you felt for her. You didn't even try."

"I tried. I tried so hard. I tried right up until this morning, but I'm sick of lying to everyone. I'm sick of lying to myself. I'm sick of pretending like Robin's not the person that I want to be with for the rest of my life."

"Why didn't you tell me this from that start? It would have saved me a lot of trouble and you a lot of money."

"I was scared. Do you know how terrifying the real thing can be to someone who's always avoided it?"

Cassidy thought back to her high school boyfriend. She loved him with everything that she had, and when it didn't work out she was devastated. She thought about what she would do if he was standing in front of her. Would she still want to marry Barney? He was right. What she and Barney had wasn't the real thing. She cared about him. She liked to be around him. Maybe in a way, she even loved him, but not in the way that she loved her high school boyfriend, and not in the way that he loved Robin.

Of course she saw the way that he looked at her. That's why she tried so desperately to keep him away from her.

Cassidy wanted this though. She wanted a marriage and a happily ever after, and Barney seemed like the perfect guy to do all that with. "What about me?" She asked. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"You don't want to marry me." He said. "You don't want to marry someone who's in love with someone else."

"I mean, maybe one day you'll stop loving her and only love me, right? It's possible, isn't it?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I'm never going to stop loving Robin."

"I'll be here." She said quietly. "If whatever you have with Robin doesn't work out. I'll be here."

He shook his head. "Come on. Find someone else. Don't dwell on this, okay?"

"It's just not fair. I thought we were so good together."

"We were on paper, but we deserve more than to be happy on paper." He deserved more? Did he really deserve Robin? The thought occurred to him for moment, but them he remembered that he had a flight to catch. "I have to go." he said, apologetically. He didn't know if he deserved Robin, but he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to show her that he did.

-xxx-

Robin's favorite thing to do in Paris was to go for walks late at night. There was this café that she always stopped at. She would get a croissant and a cup of coffee and sit at the same table outside. The city was quieter at night, and she could actually think. She couldn't think that well in the hotel room. It was too stuffy. She always found that she could think better when there was a cool breeze. It must be the Canadian inside of her.

She was able to think about her friends, even Barney, and not hurt. She felt herself heal with every late night walk, and every time she saw a blonde man in a suit and wasn't reduced to tears.

"You look like you're thinking hard." said a French voice beside her.

"Isn't that why people do things alone?" She said, turning to see a pretty young girl cleaning the table next to her.

"I suppose." she said. "Maybe some people just like quiet."

She smiled. "That's because it's easier to think when it's quiet."

"Do you mind if I ask what?" She said, sitting at the chair next to her. Usually Robin would be annoyed by this, but this girl reminded her of someone that she knew. Someone that she had moved to another continent to try and find again.

Robin sighed. "Have you ever been in love?"

She shook her head. "I don't think that I ever want to be in love. It seems nice in the movies, but life's not really like it is in the movies, is it?"

"Not at all." She said. "I was just like you. I always said that I would never let my world revolve around a man, but here I am. Running away from the only person I ever really loved because I couldn't handle my emotions."

"You're probably better off without him." The girl said comfortingly.

"I was better off before him." She said. "I don't know that I am without him."

"No offense, but it kind of seems like he drove you crazy."

She nodded. "It's all kind of my fault though. I hate to say this, but I did this to myself."

"Maybe one day you'll be able to be together." The girl said hopefully.

"Don't fall in love." She told her, ignoring her suggestion of a reunion between her and Barney. "It seems like it's great, and you're going to be happy at first, but save yourself the trouble and the frequent flyer miles. Love your career and love your family, but never love someone so much that it hurts when they leave."

The girl nodded, but Robin could already see it. Four or five years from now she would meet a sweet talker in a suit and he would make her laugh and she would love him before she even knew what was happening.

Robin made her way back to the hotel. The walk back was never as nice as the walk there.

"A hundred dollars says that when you turn around I say 'Wow'" She knew that voice, that pick up line anywhere. It stopped her dead in her tracks. She had to be imagining it. There was no way that Barney Stinson was there behind her.

She took a deep breath and kept walking.

"Scherbatsky." The voice said again. It was undoubtedly Barney.

She turned around. "Why are you here, Barney?"

"You don't sound happy to see me."

"I came here to get away from you." She said flatly.

"Yeah, and I came to bring you home."

"Barney-"

"No, just let me talk." He interrupted. "I was supposed to marry Cassidy today, but I couldn't. Not when I'm still in love with you. I should have never let you go. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and to be honest, I don't think that I can ever love anyone like I love you. I was stupid. I still am, for hurting you, but I promise you that I will never hurt you again if you give me another chance."

She closed her eyes tight; when she opened them he was kneeling in front of her, holding out a ring. A diamond ring. "Will you marry me?"