Here is the next part! FYI this is going to be three chapters long.
Robin leaned forward to look out the window, expecting to see the lovely arch facade of Ted's new building. Instead, she saw a glass business building with bright florescent lights.
"Wait, this isn't your –" Robin began. Then she saw the sign WWN and she understood. Dread filled her stomach once again.
"This is the World Wide News building," she sighed, looking at Ted. He watched her knowingly.
"Go get 'im," he urged.
Robin wanted to be angry with Ted for bringing her here, but his face was so sad, like he didn't want to be doing this but didn't have a choice. She didn't understand it. Of course he had a choice! He could have taken her to his party where they would have had a lovely night together.
"I told you," Robin demanded impatiently. "I am done chasing Barney. Now can we please go to your party."
Robin was starting to feel desperate again, even more upset than she had been before. She was right here, and Barney was up on the roof proposing to some other girl. What was wrong with him? Didn't Barney know how much she hated that?
(A/N: Yes, Robin. Yes he does.)
"Robin, do you want to spend tonight making small talk with a bunch of bankers," Ted said, "in a daring yet refined contemporary masterpiece King Kong should feel lucky to climb," he added looking up at the sky, "or do you want to follow your heart?"
Robin scoffed. Why was Ted doing this to her? Any other guy would be perfectly happy to drop the subject and spend the evening with her. Why was Ted pushing her to do something stupid and embarrass herself? Robin didn't even understand why she felt this way to begin with.
"Why do you keep insisting that I have feelings for Barney?" Robin asked.
"Because you do," Ted replied.
She looked at her friend. It was so matter-of-fact, the way he said it. It was so simple. Was it that obvious? For a moment, Robin reflected on what all of this must look like from Ted's perspective. What it must have looked like for weeks. She looked obsessive, angry, upset, agitated, broken.
She looked like a girl who was losing the person she loved.
Ted's phone blinged again. "See, even Ranjit agrees," he said, before looking at his text. "Oh no, he has to pee," Ted mumbled.
Robin turned away, her antsy hands picking at the sequins of her dress. She didn't want any of this. She had tried dating Barney and had failed. If they were meant to be together, why hadn't it worked out the first time? Didn't that mean something?
Or maybe neither of them had ever really given it a chance. Maybe they were both too chicken-shit to admit how much they cared.
"The point is, you're not over Barney," Ted continued. "That's why you freaked out about him proposing on the roof of the World Wide News building."
Robin felt her rage from earlier bubble up again and she quickly did her best to squash it. That roof was beautiful, damn it.
"I did not freak out," she replied, carefully keeping her tone conversational. "I just find it a teeny, tiny bit annoying..."
She suddenly flashed back to the day two years ago when Patrice had followed Robin up to the WWN roof (unwelcome, of course.) Patrice went on and on about how beautiful it was, as if Robin hadn't already known that.
Patrice had never been up there before Robin had shown it to her.
"...that I am the one who showed her that roof in the first place! Damn it, Patrice!"
"Whoa," Ted responded again.
It was completely Robin's fault that this had happened. She had messed up all her chances with Barney, she was the reason Barney and Patrice had met, and she was the reason Patrice even knew about this ridiculously beautiful roof.
Robin's chest hurt so much, it felt like her lungs were on fire. Her breathing was labored. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to punch something, scream, or curl up in a ball and cry. She had never felt so helpless in her life. How did this happen to her? Why had she let herself ignore it for so long? She wanted to be the most important girl in Barney's life. She had always wanted to be the most important girl in Barney's life. What did it matter if it made any sense? She never wanted that electric, magical feeling to go away.
Was it love? Fine, maybe it was love. All she knew was that she sure as hell couldn't let him be with anyone else.
It wasn't a choice. It had never been a choice. It was a fact.
She had to do something. But there was nothing reasonable she could do at this point.
"What do you want me to do, Ted?" she asked, struggling to keep the tears from falling as she talked. "Run up to the roof, knock the ring out of Barney's hands, and say, 'Sorry to interrupt, but you should be with me.'"
Robin was hoping Ted would catch on to her sarcasm, agree that it was ridiculous and stupid, and take her to his party.
She forgot that Ted was a complete and utter romantic.
"Is that what you want?" Ted asked quietly.
If Robin hadn't been so emotionally overwhelmed, she might have laughed. Instead, tears welled up in her eyes.
"No," she said stubbornly. It wasn't completely a lie. Did she want to smack Barney and make him be hers? Yes. Did she want to humiliate herself again because of her stupid, uncontrollable feelings for Barney? Absolutely not. "I don't," she insisted. Her voice cracked, unable to hide that she was crying. "I can't keep making an ass of myself."
Ted looked at her sympathetically. "Well, a word in defense of making an ass of yourself," he told her. "it's underrated. Ten years ago, I made an ass of myself chasing after you, and I made an ass of myself chasing after you a bunch of times after that."
Robin almost laughed, but it came out as more of a sob. She once again wished she could have returned Ted's feelings. It always seemed so cheesy when he did stupid stuff in the name of love, but Ted always managed to pull it off. Robin didn't know if she was capable of being that cheesy. She imagined herself running up to the roof with a blue French horn – Barney would either laugh at her with pity, or he would be so disappointed in her that he would reject her on the spot.
Robin shook her head.
"I have no regrets," Ted continued. "Because it led me to something that I wouldn't change for the world, it led me... to you being my friend."
It was true, Robin realized. Ted's crazy pursuit was the reason she was even here with him in the first place. Her whole life changed because he didn't overthink his emotions, he just did what felt right. He had introduced her to all his friends, and welcomed her into his life. Ted was an amazing friend, who was good enough to make her do what she knew deep down she had to do.
"So as your friend," Ted insisted, "and a leading expert in the field of making an ass of yourself, I say to you, from the heart," he placed his hand over his heart, and said so sincerely, "get the hell out of this car."
Robin was openly crying now. She felt so bad to be leaving Ted because of this. She was supposed to be his date. "Ted," she cried, reaching out to adjust his bow tie. "It's your big night."
"It's just a building," Ted whispered.
For the first time that night, Robin really believed him. Ted understood better than anyone how important it was to listen to your emotions, and he knew that this was one of those moments for her. If she didn't do something now, the moment would pass and she would always wonder if things would have been different if she'd gone up to that roof.
Robin looked out the car window and allowed herself to really feel what her gut was telling her. That indescribable feeling surfaced, a feeling so familiar she almost didn't notice it was there. Her instincts told her that she had to go to him. She wanted to go to him. Whether Barney was aware of it or not, Robin knew that they were meant to be together. She had to hope that somehow her presence would be enough to make him realize it.
She had to at least try.
Before she could chicken out, Robin opened the car door and stepped out onto the curb. Throwing on her warm wrap, she walked up to the brightly lit news building and took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her ears.
She pushed aside all her thoughts and doubts and opened the door.
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