AN: This is the shortest chapter I've written in a long time but I really didn't have a whole lot to add to this episode. I strongly disliked the almost ridiculous resolution to the Ted/Barney issues, and I found it insulting that Barney was apologizing to Ted when the man has every right to be angry with him (and for the record, Barney didn't do a thing wrong by Robin either; she told him to stay). I thought it was revolting that Ted was let completely off the hook for his crazy locket schemes and last minute hopes to win Robin over. But then again, Barney doesn't know about any of that (nor does Robin) and it remains to be seen if Ted will bear repercussions for those actions eventually. As it stands though, there wasn't a whole lot to be said for what they gave us strictly in 9.04.


The Broken Code


Out on the hotel's back porch overlooking the pristine beach, Barney confronts Ted about the night a little over a week ago when he saw him holding Robin's – his fiancée's – hand by the carousel.

That day had been a weird afternoon all around. Dealing with Robin Sr. is always trying, especially when the man didn't even want them getting married in the first place, but Barney seemed to have made real, positive headway with him. When Robin called with a problem, he was in the middle of an intense game that he honestly didn't want to stop. So when she told him it could wait and that he should stay there and have fun with her dad, he was happy to take her up on it. If she would have asked him directly of course he would have dropped what he was doing and come to her, but she gave him her permission to stay and he ran with it.

Still, afterwards he felt guilty because Robin's "it's stupid" means it's anything but, and regardless of what she said he felt like he should have gone to her right away. Though she hadn't insisted, he should've hastened to help her anyway out of courtesy to her, because even without her "it's stupid" just the very fact that she called for him proved that she wanted him there despite what she said so that's where he ought to have been.

Realizing that, Barney hurried to shed his laser tag gear and go to her, better late than never. He found out from her dad just exactly where she was and rushed to Robin's side, smiling brightly when he saw her there in the distance. But then he found Ted already there with her, diligently comforting her, going so far as to actually hold her hand.

Barney was filled with an immediate sense of shame for not being there himself when Robin needed him. He should have been the one in the mud holding her hand and that's all there is to it.

But close on the heels of that shame and guilty remorse came a sense of annoyance and exasperation that had been building for a while. Because what exactly was Ted doing there with Robin attempting to fill his shoes?

Holding a woman's hand is not exactly a distinctly platonic action. It could be innocent on Ted's part. Then again, it could be anything but. And when you take this alongside Ted's cryptic comments during the Liddy incident at MacLaren's – how he knows Robin so much better, and what he would be doing and how he would be acting if he were the one Robin's marrying – well….it makes a man wonder.

It makes a man wonder even more when you take into account Ted's suspect behavior at the early stages of their wedding planning, fixating on it with a binder even bigger than Lily's and telling Robin 'we're going to have this' and 'we're going to have that' as if in his mind he imagined himself to be her groom and was trying to vicariously live Barney's experience.

Yes, it definitely makes a man question things. But Barney's done his best to dismiss those questions, lock them away tight, because what he tells Ted out on that porch is true; Ted is his best friend and best man and he certainly ought to be able to trust him. That's why he refuses to believe Ted's actions might have had an ulterior motive.

But that doesn't stop him from being pissed off about the sheer impropriety of it, particularly when Ted implies that he had to go help Robin because Barney was too busy to make time for her, an allegation that stings. The whole thing is insulting actually, and Barney wants due reprisal. Ted broke the Bro Code. Bros don't horn in on other bro's fiancées – especially a fiancée said bro made a play for himself only a year ago. It dishonorable; it's a matter of the Code. Ted violated it and he has every right to be angry with him because of it. But he lets it go for now, lulling Ted into a false sense of security for the bigger things he has planned.

Once back inside, Barney tries to put it out of his mind for now and enjoy a little time with Robin. Grabbing a scotch for the both of them, he sits down beside her at the table and drapes his arm over her chair protectively…..and, okay, maybe a little territorially.

The conversation turns to Marshpillow 2.0, and then friendly squabbling over Robin's bachelorette party, but things start to get awkward once Lily throws out the accusation that Robin has no girls she could have invited.

Barney knows this is something of a sensitive area for Robin at times, enmeshed in her dark daddy issues and the unconventional way she was raised, and he looks down at the table empathetically as she vehemently denies the charge, clearly motivated by self-protection.

"Face it, Robin," Lily declares, "you hate women….And women hate you."

It's a well-placed barb that hits a direct target, playing on Robin's longstanding insecurities for being so different, so unlike other women. Most days she wants to say to hell with them then; there's nothing wrong with her; who needs em? But other times it's hard to ignore the notion that when everyone else is the same, she must be the problem, the oddity. And right now happens to be one of those times. "How could you say that?" Robin objects. "Women don't hate me." It's a lie, but a comforting one.

"Okay, sure, maybe not all women," Lily amends. "But name me one other female friend you have."

"I…I don't – I…there's…." Put on the spot, Robin knows she's got nothing.

While Lily and Robin's back and forth continues, Barney's mind loses track of the argument and who's ahead at the moment, still too preoccupied with his elaborate revenge scheme. Ted holding Robin's hand makes him see red, makes him want to smash a TV somewhere. He's already sent Ted off on a fool's errand to rewrite the table cards, but there's much more where that came from so he abruptly excuses himself from Robin and Lily's quarrel. "I have to go talk to Ted."

He starts to stand but Robin reaches for his arm. "Wait."

Sensing they need a moment and that Robin's not too happy with her right now anyway, Lily gets up. "I'll get us a smaller table – and see where Linus is; I need a new drink."

Once she's gone over to the bar, Robin turns back to Barney, frowning. "Lily's right isn't she? I have no girlfriends. It's true; women do hate me."

"Listen," he tells her, taking her hand, because he's not just going to walk away and leave her without the very best of reassurance, "you are an incredible woman, and if other women can't see that then it's their loss. I love you, and I still think you're the most awesome person I've ever met. We have each other, and that's way better than some Sex in the City crew."

"You're right," Robin smiles, and he can see her confidence restoring. "Who cares what anyone else thinks? I am awesome, aren't I?"

"Unsurpassed." He kisses her tenderly before getting up. "I gotta go. We're starting the poker game early." She nods her understanding and then he hightails it out of there to put the rest of his plot into play.

There's banishing Ted down to a maintenance room in the basement that's little more than a dungeon, saddling him with caring for the many doves in said room, and then rewriting the place cards all over again. Anything to torture him. Payback is a bitch and Ted's getting his.

It all culminates in replacing him as best man – and when Ted discovers as much, that's when the true anger comes out. Ted swears there was no wrongdoing in his actions, but Barney holds firm in insisting that there most certainly was. Ted can't just go around holding Robin's hand. She's his fiancée, very soon to be his wife. He's the only one who gets to hold her hand – and any other part of her. It's a matter of the Bro Code. Hell, it's a matter of friendship, period.

But when butting heads gets them nowhere, they end up taking it back down to the basement, down to Marshall to decide their dispute, and that leads to the three of them heading out to the beach for a test of handholding as a mark of platonic friendship.


Back in the bar, Lily apologizes for what she said. Yet Robin knows she really does have a problem connecting with other women, and now she can admit as much. The truth is, since she was raised as a boy, excessively girlish ways are so foreign to her that they tend to make her uncomfortable. Women can be such whiny, overemotional, oversensitive little girls.

But she's okay with that. She's okay with not taking to other women and other woman hating her right back. Like Barney said, they have each other. And if she ever feels the need for some girl talk, well she's got Lily for that….Or, you know, Ted.

Lily doesn't see it that way however, and it leads to the whole new problem of Lily becoming determined to help – or in this case force – Robin to find a new girlfriend for the year that she'll be absent in Italy. "What are you gonna do without our Saturday morning brunch with a side of sassy gossip?"

What Lily doesn't know, what Robin has never had the heart to tell her, is that their sassy girls' brunch has always been her thing and she only goes along with it to humor her. In fact, last month when Marvin had an earache and Lily couldn't make it, aside from her little godson's suffering it was the best Saturday morning Robin had spent in weeks. That specific morning is why, though the others may not get it, may never entirely understand or approve of who she really is, she knows that Barney absolutely does…


April 2013


Waking up before eight – which there is absolutely no excuse for on a Saturday – is sadly not new to Robin, and when she opens her eyes she isn't surprised to see that Barney is still sleeping. She would be too if she could. But most days her body still persists in the habit of being an early riser after years spent in a godawful timeslot when getting up that ridiculously early was out of necessity.

Careful not to wake Barney, she tip-toes quietly from their bedroom in her pajamas to go find some breakfast. Actually, she doesn't mind this. It's far different from how she thought she'd been spending her Saturday morning. And left to her own devises, there's no reason to go to the effort of wearing something stylish and cute like she would have for Lily's brunch, or to order the latest celebrity trend breakfast that may or may not taste all that great while she indulges Lily's "sassy gossip". Instead, Robin spends the morning exactly as she'd like: watching the ESPN replay of the Rangers game and eating her classic beer cereal. Much like her beer ice cream floats, it's a trend that still hasn't caught on with the rest of the country, but if they can embrace beer bread she figures it's just a matter of being ahead of her time.

When her shouts at their massive TV – which truly is a transportive experience, making her feel like she's in on the action, so she really can't be blamed – become increasingly animated, she looks up to see Barney come into the room….just as she's pouring more beer onto her corn flakes.

He gives her an amused look, his mouth tipping up to one side. "My future wife."

Robin's always felt comfortable around Barney – dangerously attracted when she didn't want to be for most of their acquaintance, but comfortable all the same. The two of them have been friends for nearly eight years and there's never any judgment there between them; there's nothing she couldn't share with him. But even so, she feels a sense of what can only be described as self-consciousness wash over her as she realizes the scene he's just walked in on. There she is on the couch wearing cropped slouch sweats and a t-shirt, screaming at the game while enjoying a beer – in both bowl and bottle – at nine in the morning. She's not exactly the picture of sexiness, not exactly the perky blonde bimbo Barney has spent years waking up to.

She bites her lip, wondering if she should just play this off, forget the feeling and simply wish her fiancé good morning, or if she should come clean about what's bothering her. But communication has been their longstanding problem and in order to make this relationship work when they feel something they need to say something honestly to each other about it.

Setting her cereal bowl down, Robin takes a deep breath, preparing to do just that, bracing herself for the harshly truthful answer she might get in reply. "Barney, be honest; does it bother you that I'm not…." She pauses, thinking of the best way to describe it. "….more feminine?"

He's only been up ten minutes. Maybe that's why he's slow to follow. Or maybe it's the utter ridiculousness of the very idea of him finding any fault with her. The end result being Barney isn't quite sure what she's getting at. "What do you mean?" His forehead crinkles in confusion as he tries to decipher her. "Because you're watching the game?"

"Well that, and the beer for breakfast," she says, lifting the bottle sheepishly. "And what I'm wearing….It's not exactly what you're used to on women….Because, you know, I could step up my game. I haven't lost it," she's quick to point out.

And now he gets it. She's comparing herself to his other conquests and wondering if he's bothered by the contrast in her lack of overtly girlish ways. Which is insane. The fact that she is so set apart is the very thing that drew him to her in the first place. He'll take Robin's personality to so-called 'girlish' ways any day. "Of course you haven't," he rejoins as if it's the silliest thing in the world. And it is. So what if she doesn't sleep in frilly, exotic lingerie? After the sex is done, why not put on something comfortable? He has his pajama bottoms he sleeps in too. As for what Robin's attire, sure it's a t-shirt and sweats but she wears them like nobody's business. He looks down at the way they fall on her figure and his eyes are still drawn to the curves of her body beneath, the same way they would be in her fanciest dress. She has Lil' Barney – already a 'morning riser' – perking up at just a glance.

"Robin, I meant that as a compliment – as in, I can't believe I'm lucky enough to get to marry a woman this awesome. And there's nothing wrong with what you're wearing. You look super-hot, all comfy and straight from bed like no one else gets to see you but me….I bet if I put my hands under that shirt, or into those pants," he murmurs, his tone falling low and deep as his eyes skim over her, "your skin would be all warm and soft and inviting."

His eyes have that glazed look and she can tell he's already undressed her in his mind. "I'd do you right now on this couch if you'd let me. Mmm," he hums, imagining just that. "What do I need with all those hooks and closures anyway? The Barnacle knows his way around lingerie, no doubt, but with this I can have you completely naked in two seconds flat." He shakes himself from his lust-induced fog to remember that the subject isn't sex but the crime of Robin feeling insecure for even just a second. "But forget the clothes, Robin. I love that you're not a typical woman. I've had typical women, and none of them made the slightest impression. I love that you're you."

She smiles up at him. "Really? Are you sure? Because sometimes I feel like maybe I'm not enough like other women, that maybe it puts people off."

"Absolutely I'm sure. I love that on a good night you can outdrink me. I love that you know your way around scotch and a cigar better than most men. I love that you can defend this apartment with a .45 if necessary. I love that you have a body that will not quit but I still get to watch a game with you rather than be dragged down to the boutiques to tell you which outfit looks best. I don't want a typical, average woman. I want you, Robin Scherbatsky, who doesn't have a single average bone in her body. Why would I want average when I could have extraordinary?" He grins down at her with a look so tender and loving it nearly takes her breath away. "Now scoot over." He slides in next to her on the couch, swiping the beer bottle from her hand and taking a swing. "If I'm gonna marry a Canadian I might as well get used to hockey now."

Robin laughs lightly as Barney settles in and starts watching the game, but all she's watching is him. A minute and a half later she hits pause on the remote.

"Hey," he protests as all the players freeze on screen.

"You said you wanted to do me right now if I'd let you…." She tosses the remote onto the table and presses up on her knees, gliding one leg over his lap to straddle him. "I'm gonna more than 'let you', Barney….And then, afterwards, I'll slip back into these pants in two seconds flat," she winks, using his words, "and we'll watch the rest of the game."

"The perfect Saturday morning," he sighs, his hands already under her shirt. And he was right; she is warm and oh so soft beneath.


Present


That's why even if every other woman in the world looks at her like a pariah, Robin is nevertheless comfortable in her own skin, knowing she has her soon-to-be husband's full approval.

What's more, once Lily's gone to Rome, Robin imagines she'll be able to spend every Saturday morning in the same enjoyable fashion.

Lily, however, is dismayed at the idea. She fully understands why women would want to punch Robin in a jealous rage. She's gorgeous, with a killer body that makes it into her fantasies at least once a week – and on top of that men love Robin. She's a guy's dream; the body of a hot woman with the sex drive and interests of a man. That's guaranteed to bring on the female hate. But she still feels that her best gal pal is going to need another female influence while she's away in Italy, and she's not letting up till it happens.

Seeing how serious Lily is about all this, and having nothing better to do, Robin decides to kill an hour playing along in trying to find a new bestie, spewing Barney-isms and going about the bar trying to 'pick up' a woman in a fashion entirely worthy of her fiancé.


Meanwhile, out on the beach, Marshall forces Barney to hold Ted's hand and accept his comfort, which gets him to admit that the one he's really upset with is himself. The incident at the carousel made him feel all over again that he isn't good enough for Robin. He should have come when she first called. He should have been the one holding her hand. But he failed her.

In actuality, the very fact that he's been berating himself so – not over a failure to come to her, because he did come, but simply because he didn't drop everything and come running to her side even sooner – stands as compelling proof of how very much he loves Robin and desperately wants to do right by her. At the moment, however, all he sees is that he let her down.

But that's on him, not Ted.

"Look, Ted, I'm sorry that I've been taking it out on you. You were just being a good friend to Robin." The air grows silent, the moment heavy between them….and Barney has to broach it. It's been at the back of his mind for months now and after the carousel incident he has to just put it out there, get a quick 'no', and then he can move on and never think about it or ever question it again. "I mean, it would be different if you still had feelings for her." That's what all the dark voices whisper to him, telling him that what he really saw that day was his best friend Ted trying to make a move on his fiancée. "But you don't. Right?" he nods, his forehead scrunching in a hint of tension as he waits for Ted's comforting denial – so that he can go back to living in denial.

But no answer comes and harshness spills into his tone as he repeats, "Right?" His eyebrow rises expectantly, waiting.

Rather than a denial, what eventually comes is an unflinching confirmation, and Barney drops Ted's hand in blind anger. Not only does his best friend still have feelings for his fiancée but now by bluntly admitting it right out, as if he's not even ashamed at all, he's made them face this thing. He's brought the ugly truth out in the open and now they're going to have to deal with it.

But there is no dealing with it – which is why he's allowed himself to live in denial about Ted all this time. Ted's desire for Robin is unacceptable any way you look at it, and Barney demands Ted turn those feelings off. Ted claims that he's trying, but they're beyond the point of merely 'trying' and certainly beyond the point of excuses.

It's been six years. Six years. Robin's already told Ted in no uncertain terms that she doesn't love him. Now, driving that point home, she's marrying him instead. End of story. Barney's patience has worn thin. It's long past time for Ted to move on already.

"Well then try harder," he demands. "I'm marrying her in less than two days." Does Ted really expect him to just blithely live with his best friend pining after his wife? Not even knowing if he can trust him alone with her after Ted's all but admitted that holding her hand was less than innocent. "What the hell are we gonna do about this?" Something has to give – and it's not going to be his marriage to Robin. He would hate to lose Ted's friendship but if it comes down to a choice, there is no choice.

Ted finally breaks down and admits that it was weird and he did feel something holding Robin's hand. Still, he maintains that the two of them are brothers and he'd never do anything to hurt him. But Barney reflexively scoffs at that since Ted's actions out in the rain don't exactly support what he claims. It sure seems like Ted was already trying to make time with his soon-to-be wife.

And he knows how Ted gets when he's obsessed with women. For years he's seen how he gets about Robin. He's never going to let her go.

When Ted recognizes Barney's skepticism, he offers to even swear on the Bro Code as a good faith gesture, prompting Barney to bitterly proclaim, "The Bro Code's stupid."

He believes in it, yes. He even built a life around it. But at the end of the day he made it all up; they're past the point of pretending now. And while it's fun – and truthful and a fairly brilliant text – what is the Bro Code really in the face of something as serious as this? Who cares about silly rules and bylaws when the future of their entire friendship is on the line?

Be that as it may, Ted insists on swearing by the same Bro Code – Barney's Bro Code – which he's always mocked, proving how seriously he's taking this too. With his hand on the Code, he confesses truthfully that he may always have a little feeling left for Robin. It's an acknowledgement that makes Barney quirk his head in contempt, because that's obviously not okay. Living life knowing that his bro still has the hots for his wife is not tolerable and no amount of swearing on any book is going to change that. But Ted insists he doesn't want to lose their friendship and vows to do his best to get over it, and certainly never to act on those inappropriate feelings.

The question becomes, can Barney live with that?

The blunt and utter truth is that he shouldn't have to. It isn't fair to him. It's too much to expect someone – anyone – to just be cool about this and not care or be bothered at all. This is Ted's problem, not his, and he shouldn't have to deal with it, especially not on his wedding weekend. He should never at any time have to deal with a friend who still wishes he could be the one married to his wife.

But then Barney thinks about his friendship of over a decade with Ted. He thinks about all the crazy times they've shared and the ways they've been there for each other as more than just bros, as brothers. And he thinks about how he would feel if this were the other way around, if last February Robin had gotten together with Ted, and he knows he would be feeling the same way. He would've never stopped loving her regardless – he couldn't; he's never been able to. And so he does sympathize with what Ted's going through. But he also knows, most of all, that he would have wanted Robin to be happy, and that means he never would have interfered even if he wasn't the one she was marrying. Barney wants to believe the same of Ted.

He doesn't want to lose his best bro simply because they fell in love with the same woman; that's an equally unfair alternative. And he doesn't want Robin to have to lose Ted either. It isn't her fault that Ted wants more than friendship from her. She's caught in the middle of all this and he knows she loves Ted dearly as a friend just like he does. It would be a devastating loss for the both of them if they had to cut Ted out of their life.

So, ultimately, Barney decides to let it be just exactly what it is: Ted's problem to get over. From this moment forward he's going to put it out of his mind entirely and go back to the way they were before. Whatever Ted feels or doesn't feel for Robin will be his issue to get past and it won't have to change the relationship between the three of them just as long as Ted keeps it in-check the way he promised.


Back in the bar, Barney's methods have been successful – a little too successful Robin soon discovers when she comes back from her trip to the ladies room to grab her forgotten purse and instead finds Lily jealously threatening her new friend. Never have the words "I'll cut you!" sounded so sweet to Robin.

This is why their friendship works, because Lily's not like every other woman either. She's a total psycho, Robin's own psycho bestie, and the only one she needs.

After the women finish hugging, they sit back down with their drinks for a side of Lily's sassy gossip right now since they'll inevitably miss their girls' brunch tomorrow.

"So," Lily asks, "what was up with you running out of here earlier, after we confessed to Ted about ruining his scotch?"

In hindsight, the memory of just exactly what had her running out of the bar and up to the third floor makes Robin smile. "Oh, Barney and I got this crazy idea into our heads that once we were married for a while maybe the magic would start to fade and we wouldn't keep having sex anymore, or at least not as much."

"What?" Lily laughs.

"Yeah, we got a little nuts there for a minute," Robin acknowledges now. "We decided we had to bang as soon as possible – and in some place wild and forbidden too – just to prove how hot we are for each other."

"Robin, that's insane. Marshall and I have been together for seventeen years and we have a kid, but we still go at each other like rabbits whenever we find the time. And this is you and Barney," she says as if that alone makes it all the more absurd. "You two are worried about the spark fading? Seriously? You guys still sneak off at least twice a month from group events to go do each other on whatever bed or hard surface you can find. You have the kind of chemistry that just doesn't fade, remember? Besides, this is Barney Stinson we're talking about." She gestures at Robin's tight body that most women would kill for, the kind of figure that age doesn't touch. "He's still gonna wanna hit that when you're ninety."

Robin smiles brazenly. "We ended up figuring that out."

Lily just shakes her head at her. "After Barney plowed you out in the open where anyone could see, right? I swear I'm gonna end up bailing you two out of jail someday…..But the next time you guys do it in public like that you should give me a heads-up. You – you know," she's quick to add when Robin gives her an odd look, "so I won't be anywhere nearby to have to see that….Cause I definitely wouldn't want to watch."

"Right," Robin chooses to quickly gloss over that. "Well no plowing took place anyway – actually someone was, just not us. We figured it out after we accidentally walked in on my great-grandparents doing it."

"Eww," Lily shudders. "That's a tough one."

"Yeah. And it wasn't normal doing it either. I'm talking dirty stuff – with a walker, a pair of dentures, and some Werther's Original." Robin grimaces, pushing away the remembered image. "But it gave us hope, you know? If they're still that kinky at their age, we can be too."

She spots Barney coming in from the lobby just then, all wet and clearly a victim of the sudden rain shower that had cropped up outside. "Excuse me a minute," she says to Lily, getting up to go after him.

She catches up with Barney in the hall and questions him, "Hey, is everything alright?" Grabbing a fresh towel from a nearby housekeeping cart she places it over his head, gently toweling off his wet hair. "I saw you and Ted heading out to the beach with Marshpillow," she divulges, letting go of the towel and allowing him to take over the task. "It looked kind of tense."

Barney drapes the towel down over him and Robin reaches up, padding her palms over his shoulders and chest to soak up the moisture from his jacket. "You know," he shrugs. "Bro Code ceremony."

She nods, walking with him the rest of the way to their suite. "Just as long as everything's okay."

When they get to the door he doesn't immediately go inside even though she knows it's unlocked and the poker game's already started, apparently without him. Instead he turns to her and quietly asks, "Do you know Ted and I once got into a fight over who gets to marry you?"

Robin looks up at him, surprised. "Really?"

"Yep. I insisted you were going to be Robin Stinson someday." He smiles at the irony of that. "But Ted did not agree. We ended up coming to blows over it. True story. Bloody nose, black eye, the whole nine."

"When was this?" she asks with concern now.

"After you and I broke up, when you started dating Don," Barney scowls. "I was lost without you, you know. All that sleeping around was only to try and forget you. But it wasn't working and I was a mess. Actually, it was the night we both came over to Don's apartment to find you and I shouted 'Robin, I love you' up to the window. Do you remember that?"

"Yes, I do. I remember," Robin replies, thinking back and trying to make sense of it years later with this new information added. "I – I thought you guys were goofing off."

"You thought I was just drunk," Barney points out. "You didn't believe me. But I meant every word of it."

It was so long ago and she was completely in the dark, with no idea he was still in love with her and certainly no clue that he was fighting with Ted because he wanted to marry her one day. It's kind of a mind bomb and Robin doesn't know what else to say other than, "I'm sorry. I really didn't know."

He holds her gaze meaningfully. "As long as you believe me now."

"Of course I do," she grabs his hand, holding it in hers. "Barney, where is all this coming from?"

He shakes his head, smiling. "I'm just really happy that I get to be the one. I'm so glad I was right about Robin Stinson."

Smiling softly, Robin moves in close to him. "Me too." She pulls him into a tender, lingering kiss and by the time they break away she can see that whatever tension was still there before has drained out of him, melting away with the sweetness of their kiss.

Perked up and grinning and back to his normal self again, Barney asks, "So you wanna play some poker?", nodding toward their room.

She smirks at his playfulness. "Yeah, just let me go get Lily."

"Okay," he smiles, leaning in for one more, quick kiss before opening the door to their suite. "Bros!" he announces to the table – which now includes Marshpillow and Ted, who already went in ahead of him. "Make room for two more. It's for the bride."