AN: I've thought about this a ton and decided it's time I stopped droning on and on about everything else, started focusing on Swarkles and - spoiler, but not really - getting them together. So, um, I'm trying my best to wrap this up as quickly as I possible can, and not with haste.
"Are you sure?" Barney questioned their direction as they took off the second the plane had landed.
"I am pretty sure." Robin responded abruptly, clearly still irked about his broken promise on not following her all the way to London.
Moments later, they rushed through the gates of the airport; tired and jetlagged from the short yet stressful distance of the flight they had so impatiently sat through the entire time, with Barney coming up with lame pickup lines he could try out and Robin giving him dead eyes on every single one.
"It says the exit is on the other way though." He spoke again, ignoring her tone of voice as he fumbled through a map he had picked up on his way around barely a minute ago.
"No, trust me, it isn't." Robin replied fiercely, trying to look and act braver than she actually felt. Turning around to see how he was doing as they paced quickly through the hallways, she let out a sigh. "Your map is upside down."
And upon hearing her words, he realised that he had indeed been holding the map upside down for the few minutes.
"Oh. Sorry about that. Then…" He paused, scanning the map once again. "Then we're going in the right direction. You're right. Sorry."
"You don't need to apologise."
And they rushed through the airport, speaking no more, their feelings panicky and unprepared.
The two tried to grab a taxi, but with the ridiculous amount of people with the same intention, they realised they could only patiently wait in line behind what seemed like at least twenty people at the taxi stand.
"Look, I don't get why you're so mad at me." Barney had finally mustered up the courage to put his frustration into words as he blurted out those very words.
"I'm not." Robin replied, her palm placed horizontal on her forehead, shielding her eyes from the Sun as she stared out into the distance in anticipation for a taxi.
"You're looking at me like I've just killed your entire family and fed their remains to a pack of wolves." He continued. "And that's when you even feel like looking at me, because most of the time, we're not making eye contact. I just want to know why you seem so annoyed."
"I'm not!" She repeated and let out a sigh, still faced outwards.
The line shuffled quickly as the taxis arrived one by one, and soon enough, they were at the front.
"Look, I know you're mad at me because I promised you and I broke that promise. But I just wanted to look out for you. You know that."
"For the last time, I am not mad at you!" Robin repeated and finally turned around to look him in the eye. "I was annoyed at the fact that you lied to me, but that was about three hours ago. Right now I'm just… I'm just wondering why it's taking so long to grab a damn cab."
"Alright, alright. I get what you're saying. Slow your roll."
"Good."
A taxi finally came after five minutes of awkward silence between Barney and Robin as they lined up with their lips pursed the entire time and spoke no more after the one conversation they have had, and upon settling down onto the leather seats of the taxi, the two seemed to have loosened up.
Robin took out the written address of the hotel they were going to stay in from the compartment in her coat and showed the driver, who nodded and stepped on acceleration in a swift moment. The car turned around the corner and away from the airport and the two looked out of their windows, none of them knowing what to say next after the unpleasant interaction they have had just now.
They stayed like that for a while, until Robin finally turned to Barney and outstretched her arm, placing a hand on his lap, which caused him to turn to face her almost immediately.
"I'm sorry." She mumbled, not being used to apologising upfront but doing it anyway.
"For what?" He questioned. He was not trying to make her feel even worse by making her state her faults, but rather, he was genuinely concerned on why she was even apologising to him in the first place.
"For just now. I was snappy and I knew it, because you pissed me off. But… That's not the point. I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for speaking to you like that. You were just trying to help and I was tired and nervous about tomorrow."
Knowing she was putting her ego aside for him, he could not help but give her a lingering smile. He placed his hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze; his own way of telling her she had been forgiven and all was well.
