Day 29

Swarley was the first one to move, and ended up waking him and Robin up in the process.

The sun had already risen, and Barney took a second to enjoy the view before turning towards Robin.

"Morning."

"Morning." She replied, while turning her face into his shirt.

"Someone's still tired."

"A little."

He smiled, he would have been completely content to stay out here for a little while longer if it wasn't for his aching back.

"How about I run to the store and get us breakfast stuff while you lay down inside?" he asked.

She looked up and shook her head, "I'd like to go with you."

"Sounds good." Barney replied and untangled himself from her.

It took them a while to get ready, but they eventually made it to the grocery store. Barney had his arm around her, and they were slowly browsing each isle to see what they might need.

He had never been a big fan of grocery shopping, but somehow he ended up really enjoying it with her. They weren't in a hurry at all, and Robin seemed a lot more relaxed and her old self too.

"I think we got everything, don't you?" Barney asked as they reached the end of the last isle.

Robin nodded, "yeah."

He looked at the full cart in front of him, they had gotten everything, from toys for Swarley, a paddleball set, to sunscreen and of course lot's of food.

"I think we are set." He pulled her closer and kissed her temple as they strolled towards the cashier.

Luckily there wasn't a line either and Robin was completely fine while they checked out as well.

They prepared breakfast together, and Robin even made her infamous crepes while he made fresh orange juice.

He watched her for a few seconds, and couldn't believe that this was the same girl who had had a nervous breakdown two days ago. He hadn't seen her this carefree and happy in a long time.

"I was thinking we could take Swarley for a walk on the beach after breakfast?" Barney suggested.

Robin looked up and smiled, "I'd love that."

"I'm sure he would too." He looked over to the puppy who was sitting by Robin's feet, hoping for food to drop.

"We can practice coming when he's called."

Barney nodded, "yeah."

He turned towards Swarley, "you'll be the best trained dog by the time we go home, dude."

They ended up going on a two hour walk, mostly strolling arm in arm while Swarley was running around them.

He was still little, and didn't really like being too far away from them, so they risked to let him off the leash and it worked out really well.

Once they got back to the house Barney asked her to lay down on the couch while he grabbed an ointment off the counter.

"What are you doing?" she giggled when he sat down besides her.

He smiled and carefully moved her t-shirt up, just enough to expose the cuts.

Robin's smile faded immediately.

"I don't want them to get infected." He explained as he started to carefully put the ointment on her cuts.

Robin swallowed hard and he looked up to her, "with all the sand around, you never know."

She didn't say anything the entire time he was doing it, but relaxed once he was done, and climbed onto the couch himself, spooning her from behind.

"Wanna watch some tv?" he asked as he turned the TV on.

Robin didn't reply, instead she turned around and buried her face in his shirt, she mumbled something, but he couldn't make out what it was.

He decided that it didn't matter and put his arm around her, "Swarley is completely spend as well."

She didn't reply, and eventually fell asleep while Barney watched a couple of re-runs of cops.

Robin baked some cookies while he made some calls to work. Naturally his boss wasn't happy with him bailing on the business trip, and went on and on about it.

"I've already agreed to you working from home Barney, the least you can do a couple of trips."

"I can't leave New York right now, I'm sorry. I will still attend all the meeting via e-conferencing and am going to keep up with my mails as well, I just can't come in right now."

"That's one hell of a personal emergency Barney."

Barney took a deep breath, he was so fed up with all this, "believe me, I'd much rather have not had this happen in the first place, but it did and now my priorities have shifted. Either you can meet me half way and I can work from home, or you should contemplate letting me go."

He had clearly stunned him with that bold statement.

"No-one was talking about letting anyone go. I will get you the dial-in details for those meetings."

"Thanks." Barney hung up.

He took a deep breath before turning around and walking back into the house. Robin was just placing the cookie tray in the oven.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Okay, I can work from here."

She nodded, "you could set up a little office in the spare bedroom."

"I was thinking I could just work in here, maybe sitting at the counter." He pulled himself into one of the barstools.

"And watch me prepare meals?" she asked delighted.

"Yeah…and you know, talk to you, watch Swarley do his thing. All that good stuff."

Robin smiled and leaned forward on the counter, "I'd like that."

"Me too." They smiled at each other.

It was so crazy how well Robin was doing since they had gotten here. It was as if she was a completely different person all of a sudden.

"Have you talked to the gang yet?" Robin asked.

"No, but they left some messages."

"Yeah, I got some too. Ted even suggested I should move back in with him." Robin shook her head, "they just don't get it, do they?"

"He did?" Barney asked surprised.

"Yeah…right before proposing I should talk to that psychiatrist he and Lily dragged into my room that one time."

He watched her play with the rim of the kitchen towel she was holding. Eventually she looked back up, "I'm not crazy Barney."

"I know that." He jumped off the stool and walked around the kitchen island, pulling her close.

"I can get over this - with your help, I can."

"Hell yeah you can." He smiled.

"I wish they would just leave it alone."

"They are just worried, it's normal." Barney defended the gang.

"Do you think I should talk about it too? Cause that's their main concern, right? That I'm not processing it or whatever because I'm not opening up about what happened."

"I think it shouldn't matter what they think. Personally, I think the few times you did open up about it brought us closer together, and they helped me gauge situations better. Like when we went to the hospital the other day, you know? But I don't know, it's your choice, I would never push you into talking about it."

Robin nodded, and took his hand, "we can maybe start small and go from there."

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her, "I'm really, really proud of you."

"For what?"

"For not giving up."

"You haven't given up either." She replied.

"And I never will."

Robin nodded and turned around to check on the cookies.

Barney watched her while she took them out of the oven, everything felt so normal and easy since they had gotten here. He should have gotten her out of New York City a lot sooner.

"They are still a little gooey, do you want one while it's hot?" Robin asked and turned around.

"One? I'll have the whole batch." He walked forward and put his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder.

She giggled, and leaned back, "they are still too hot."

Barney nodded, "they look delicious."

She turned her head around and they kissed.

"You can have them every day if you want."

"Man, these four weeks are going to be perfect." Barney grinned.

The cookies were indeed delicious and Barney decided that yeah, as long as they took long walks with Swarley, there really wasn't a reason why he shouldn't have a few every day.

They were lying in one of the canvas chairs again, watching the sun set over the ocean.

Swarley had opted to lay next to them this time, which gave them a little more space.

"Remember how I told you about the couple that found me?" Robin's voice was merely a whisper and Barney turned his head towards hers.

"Yeah." He replied.

She was still looking ahead, when she continued, "they were older…maybe in their late forties. She was pretty hysterical…probably in shock too, anyway, she never really tried to talk to me or anything, she was just overwhelmed with the situation. She was the one who called 911 and waited for them to waive them down."

Barney nodded, he took a deep breath.

"He stayed with me. I don't remember his name, although I'm sure he said it." She took Barney's hand and he squeezed it, gently encouraging her to keep talking.

"The first thing he did was to take his coat off and covering me with it. It was probably ruined afterwards...he also asked me a bunch of stuff, what my name was, if I was hurting…" She paused again.

"I didn't answer. I was just so out of it at that point. He eventually shut up and just sat there, stroking me hair…I'm pretty sure he cried."

She finally turned her head towards his and they locked eyes.

Barney didn't know what to say, so he asked the first thing that came to his mind, "how much time passed before they found you?"

Robin shrugged halfheartedly, "I don't know. Could have been ten minutes, or an hour. No clue."

Barney nodded, the thought of her lying there hurt and alone was killing him.

"Why didn't you call us?" he asked.

"My mind was just completely blank…I don't know how to describe it, I was just so out of it. I don't think I could have even remembered the code on my cell phone, even if I'd remembered that it was in the purse. I was paralyzed Barney, I couldn't move, I couldn't think…I don't know how to describe it."

He nodded and freed his hand from hers to use it to stroke some wild strands of hair behind her ear.

Robin leaned in and kissed him, "I didn't really start to think straight again until you started staying with me."

That made him smile, "remember the first night? Man, I was so worried you'd shoot me the second I set foot in the apartment."

"Really?"

He nodded, "yeah, I was pretty convinced that I wouldn't even make it to your door without getting hit by a bullet."

"But you tried anyways."

He nodded and kissed her.

"It was so weird, you being there that is. But you were right, I needed someone there with me." She smiled.

"I didn't sleep a single wink that first night." He chuckled.

"Really?"

"Well, I was on alert and ready for combat."

Robin kissed him once again, "I would probably be dead by now if it wasn't for you."

"Don't say that." He replied.

"Please, I was neither sleeping nor eating until you started to show up at night. Ted and Lily would have submitted me into a psychological ward within a week." She swallowed and snuggled up to him, "that would have been it Barney, I wouldn't have made it out of there alive, not while being in such a completely hopeless situation."

"Things aren't hopeless now, right?" he asked concerned.

"No. There are still moments when it seems that way…or there were moments over the past couple of weeks when it seemed that way but it's nothing like it was then. I'm starting to realize that life is still worth living. There are things that make me want to keep going now."

Barney smiled, "like Swarley?"

"Yeah, for example."

"What else?" he asked, curious whether or not the ambition she used to have for her job was returning.

"You."

"Me?" Barney asked surprised.

"Yeah, I really enjoy spending time with you Barney."

"Well, let's see if you still say that four weeks from now when we've been together 24/7 for this long."

"I got a feeling we'll be okay." Robin replied.

Barney smiled and kissed her one more time before suggesting to go on another walk on the beach.

As far as Barney was concerned, the first day at the beach was a complete success, and he couldn't wait to see how things would play out.

Robin opening up to him about that night was always a big deal, and even though a part of him didn't want to know what had really taken place that night, he also knew that it was important for her to talk about it.