A/N

This is a little cliché but whatever. Sorry this chapter kinda sucks, I'm pretty bad at little dialogue stories, so it's a lot of he did this then he did that. I was going to make this very sad but I have another few others in the make that are incredibly upsetting. I'm a little sadistic :)

You Belong With Me

I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night, I the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry.

2016

Barney was miserable. It had been six months since he and Robin got divorced and he was lonely. Sure, bimbos and one night stands helped for the first few months, but he missed her so much. He missed waking up with her in his arms, he missed her making him coffee, he missed having someone to talk to. He missed the vanilla bean scent of her shampoo. He missed all the little things. Ironic, right? Barney Stinson missed monogamy.

He got home from work late. It was about eleven pm. He had been in a meeting with some businessmen from another company and it ran long. He was exhausted and delirious. Barney unlocked the door to the apartment and quietly slipped in, forgetting he was alone. He climbed into bed and panicked slightly when he felt nobody next to him, then remembered. He had nobody.

...

Barney awoke at one am. His phone was going crazy with texts and calls from Lily. He groaned and picked it up, letting his eyes adjust to the light before reading them. She sounded hysterical.

Lily: Barney, she's dead.

Lily: This isn't fair! She's too young!

Lily: Answer the damn phone.

Lily: Don't you care? You were freaking married to her.

What? His heart and brain went into overdrive as he quickly texted back.

Barney: What?

Barney: Lily?

She only took a few seconds to respond but it felt like years.

Lily: Here:

Lily: Attachment: worldwidenews / breakingnews

Barney tried to slow his breathing as he clicked on the article and waited for it to load. Finally, it did and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the headline. Brazil Hotel Fire. He skimmed the article.

Seventeen Americans were caught up in a fire in Brazil. It was started in a kitchen of their hotel. WWN's own foreign correspondent team were caught in the blaze. There were few survivors, all of which were staff of the hotel.

Barney's world was black. He quickly fired off a text to Patrice.

Barney: Was Robin in that hotel?

He didn't need an answer. He knew. He had watched an article yesterday, that she was in Brazil for. His phone buzzed and he took a deep breath before opening it.

Patrice: Yes. I'm so sorry, Barney.

...

Barney woke up in a cold sweat. His heart was racing and his palms were sweating.

"Just a dream. It was just a dream." He said out loud to himself, in attempt to calm his nerves. He got up to get a glass of water and thought about all the little details in the nightmare that didn't match up, like why WWN would publish such an emotionless article at midnight. Or why Lily would break news like that to him so quickly. That didn't make sense. It was helping him calm down.

After he finished his drink, he went back to bed, but couldn't sleep. He couldn't get his brain to stop churning and imagining the worst possible scenarios ever. He needed to talk to her. He needed to hear her voice, then maybe he'd be okay.

He got up and called her. She didn't answer. So naturally, he called her sixteen more times, and began to freak out. It was the middle of the night, but now he was really scared. So, he put clothes on and then took a cab to her apartment. He had been here a couple of times, to drop off her stuff, so he knew the address.

It was only once Barney got up to her door that he remembered he didn't have a key. He knocked a few times, but she didn't answer. It occurred to him that she may not actually be in New York.

"Crap." He mumbled. He dropped to his knees and lifted her doormat. Under it was a spare key. Good. Keeping a spare key under the doormat was something they fought a lot about as a married couple, but right now, he was glad she was stupid enough to literally invite strangers into her house. He put the key in the lock and unlocked the door.

Inside it was dark, but her bag was at the door, which meant she was home. He heard stumbling and noises.

"I have a gun. Turn the light on, and don't touch anything and I won't shoot." Robin demanded. She sounded confident, but Barney knew she was terrified.

"Relax Scherbatsky, it's just me." Barney said as he reached for a light switch.

"What the hell are you doing here? You scared the crap out of me." She asked.

"I…um…" He thought about lying but decided the truth was better. "I had a nightmare. I needed to hear your voice." He admitted. She burst out laughing.

"Seriously? You had a nightmare? That's adorable." She cackled. "But seriously, we're divorced. You can't just come over to my place at midnight."

"I just…okay?" He spluttered. "Can I stay over? I can't sleep at my apartment." He couldn't stop thinking about how vivid that dream was.

Robin rolled her eyes. "Fine. You can stay here, tonight."

"Thank you." Barney said, sitting on the couch.

"You can sleep in the bed with me if you want." She stated. He looked at her, puzzled. "It's not like we've never shared a bed before." She yawned and trudged back to the bedroom. He had no idea how much she missed him, too.

Barney followed her back to her room and climbed in beside her. Out of instinct, she cuddled up to him. His eyes widened and she realised.

"Sorry." She quickly said.

"It's alright." He replied. "Stay. I like it. I've missed you so much."

"Me too." She replied, drifting to sleep.

As he too, started to fall asleep, he wondered if they could give their relationship another shot.

...

Barney awoke in the morning, in Robin's bed. She was gone, but had left a note beside the bed. Hey, so I had a surprise trip this morning. I'm currently on a plane to Mexico. I'll see you when I get back? –R

He fell back onto the bed. This was a harsh reminder of why he and Robin don't work.