A/N

So, this chapter covers some darker themes, but it isn't too bad. Trigger warning for very, very mild violence. Also, a disclaimer: I don't think that domestic violence or abuse in any way is okay or anything to joke about. I make sure Barney expresses that. Also, once again, I'm sorry to Schmosby shippers but this is to demonstrate how they don't work again. Please R/R! :)

I Won't Let Go

It hurts my heart to see you cry. I know it's dark, this part of life.

2033

Barney groaned and threw himself on the couch. He was exhausted. Ellie was going through a phase, where she thought she knew better than Barney, therefore thought that going to bed past midnight on a school night was a smart idea. He had finally gotten her to go to sleep by confiscating her phone. Now he just wanted to sleep. Until next year, preferably. There was a knock at the door as he was getting off the couch to head into his bedroom. He groaned and went to answer it. The person standing on the other side was the last person he expected to see. Robin.

He was about to ask why she was at his house at 1:03 on a Thursday morning, but saw her tearstained face, and just drew her into a hug instead. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"No." She whispered. He pulled her away from him and held her by the shoulders, so they were looking eye-to-eye. That was when he noticed the bruise starting to form under her left eye, and the blood gashing from her nose.

"Oh my god, did…did Ted do that?" He asked, in shock. He wasn't sure Ted was capable of hitting anyone, much less his own wife.

"Ted? No, that wasn't Ted." She replied. Barney relaxed a little. "That was Luke."

Barney's mouth dropped open. He was now starting to get angry. "Luke hit you? Luke Mosby?"

Robin nodded. "It was my fault. Ted and I…we were fighting and I said something about Tracy and-"

She was cut off by him drawing her into another hug. "Robin, it wasn't your fault, okay? It doesn't matter what you do or say, nobody has a right to hurt you. Especially not your stepson." She started crying softly and he pulled her onto the couch. He grabbed a box of tissues from the coffee table and handed them to her to stop the bleeding. Then, he got up in search of ice for her to put on the bruise.

"I shouldn't have brought Tracy into it." She sobbed as he handed her the ice. He wrapped his arms around her. The hugging was just friendly. He was simply comforting her.

"Robin, please stop blaming yourself." Barney said. This was making him furious at Ted. He was the one who raised Luke, and apparently taught him it was okay for him to put his hands on a woman. It made him sick. Sure, back before he married Robin, Barney had done some pretty bad things to women, but he had never ever put his hands on one. He knew that was wrong. "Can you please tell me everything that happened? From the beginning?"

She took a deep breath. "Okay."

An hour ago

Ted and Robin's fight was getting more intense by the minute. Robin had lost track of what they were fighting about. All she knew was she was exhausted and wanted to go to bed. This was reminding her too much of how her first marriage ended. She missed Barney and regretted throwing their relationship away. Now that she's been with Ted for three years, she realizes what she had with Barney. She'd never have that with anyone else. Maybe having a baby with Barney wouldn't have been such a terrible idea after all.

"You make me furious, Robin!" Ted yelled. "ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS!" She'd never been screamed at like this before. She and Barney used to fight, but it was never like this. He hadn't ever yelled at her like this. He wouldn't have. She shook her head. She has to stop comparing her two marriages.

"Stop yelling at me, Ted. I'm your wife. That's not how husbands are supposed to behave towards their wife." She replied.

"Right, because you have something to compare me to." Ted snarled.

"I do actually. Barney never yelled at me like that."

"BARNEY, BARNEY, BARNEY! SHUT UP ABOUT FREAKING BARNEY!" Ted screamed. "You know what else Barney did? He slept with countless woman. Like three hundred. You were just one of them that he happened to like. How do you know he didn't sleep around when you were married, huh?"

Tears were flowing down her face. She wasn't just another number to Barney. She knew that. And he hadn't cheated on her. He wouldn't have. "He didn't." She mumbled.

"God! Tracy was never this impossible!" Ted yelled.

"You can't tell me not to talk about Barney and then go and talk about Tracy!" Robin noticed Penny and Luke hovering in the doorway.

"That's completely different! I lost Tracy!" Ted replied.

"Oh my god, shut up. I'm sick of hearing it. I'm sick of the boo hoo attitude you have whenever someone brings up Tracy. I got three years with Barney. Three years, Ted. Just because we got divorced, and Tracy died doesn't mean I don't miss him as much as you miss Tracy." She replied.

"She was stolen from me. You dumped Barney." Ted spat.

"You're living in the past! You're married to me, not Tracy. She's dead. Move on." Robin spat in reply. Maybe she got a little too insensitive there, but it shut Ted up. His expression was blank. Luke's wasn't. He was pacing over to them.

"Don't talk about mom like that." He growled. His fist was clenched and approaching her pretty fast. It slammed into the side of her face, on her cheekbone, hitting her eye and nose. She's never been punched before, so didn't know what it was supposed to feel like. That hurt pretty bad though. She could feel blood leaking out of her nose and her eye throbbing. Luke mumbled something she didn't hear, then stalked off to his room. Ted's mouth was dropped open, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned towards the kitchen and walked off. Penny had her hand to her mouth. She dropped it and Robin could see her bottom lip trembling. There was empathy in the eighteen-year-old's eyes. She shrugged helplessly and also walked away. Robin ran to the door, grabbing her bag and coat on the way out and went the first place she could think of.

Back to the present

Barney hugged her tighter as she finished telling her story. He was disgusted. The fact that Ted didn't say anything to Luke, or do anything to make sure Robin was okay was sickening. He also wondered why she hadn't fought back. She was known for standing up for herself. Probably because she hadn't want to hit her sixteen-year-old stepson. That was understandable.

"I'm sorry." Barney whispered.

She weakly smiled. "Thanks."

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Robin responded.

"Robin, please be honest. You're talking to me. We know things about each other that nobody else does." It was true. During their marriage, when they were lying in bed in the dark, the two had a tendency to spill secrets that nobody else knew. He was more honest with Robin than he's ever been to anybody. He stayed true to his vows.

"I'm okay. I just…don't really want to go home. I think I'm better off alone. The three of them are supposed to be my family, but they made it blaringly clear that they don't give a crap about me." She replied.

"Don't go home tonight. You can stay here. I have a guest room. Let the jerk you married suffer a little."

"Thank you." She said, hugging him.

"Anytime." He replied. He reached over and lifted her hand to check her injuries. The blood was clearing away, but the bruise under her eye would be nasty. Good, maybe it would show Ted and Luke what they'd done. He pulled her off the couch and was about to show her to the guest room, when she headed there alone. Right, she'd lived here for over three years. It only occurred to him once she shut the door that he'd still do anything for her.

Barney had to physically restrain himself from going to the Mosby's house. Instead, he climbed into bed and turned off the light. As he was drifting off to sleep, he felt sick again, just thinking about what had happened tonight. Ted really was a jerk.

…

A/N

Is this chapter too dark? I'm not sure. Please leave a review to tell me what you think!