"Hey hey hey!" Robin almost yelled as she spotted Luke sitting by himself in a quieter corner of the overall buzzing café. "So sorry we're a bit late, bit of a rush-" she gestured to Barney. "-And this guy's having a pretty bad jet lag moment right now."

"Ha, I see. Hi… Barney? Is that your real name? Luke. So nice to be finally seeing you in person! I feel like you're a teenage pop star because Robin's pretty much been obsessed with you. You're like, 90% of what she says. Hope your jet lag's okay, man. We're going to be sitting here for three hours."

Barney's jaw dropped, and Luke chuckled, reaching out a hand for him to shake, and they exchanged a firm handshake, almost a businesslike one.

"I'm joking."

They shook hands, and Barney surveyed Luke, scanning his features.

Nice hair? Check.

Nicer hair than him? Nope.

Teeth? They're actually perfect.

Had muscles? Check.

Looked generally so much sexier? Not really.

Suit? He's not wearing a suit.

Okay, that did it. Not wearing a suit, not on my level. I won, Barney thought.

Smiling genuinely, he cleared his throat. "Yeah, that's my real name. So nice to see you too. At first I was like, 'I'm going to hate this dude's guts.' But man, you're pretty awesome. Seriously."

Robin stood between the two of the awkwardly as the two exchanged laughs, and as Luke noticed his girlfriend's uneasiness, he got around to pulling the chair out for her so she could take a seat.

And as he did, Barney continued examining his appearance.

Luke was wearing chinos, a purple polo shirt and a pair of brown Vans. Normally, upon seeing a man dressed like that, he would have snickered or snorted at his lack of suited-up-ness, but since he was only thinking in his head and not speaking aloud, he knew he had to quietly admit that he, in fact, did rock the outfit.

Noticing the awkward silence, Robin cleared her throat, picking up the plastic menu. "Right. I really don't want this to be weird! You two have a look and I'll go get the coffee. What do you guys want?" She asked nervously.

Not wanting the lady to pay for their coffee, Luke volunteered to be the one purchasing, which Barney thought to be a strangely comforting gesture.

He was glad he did not hate Luke. And to be honest, he even liked him. He seemed like a pretty cool guy, despite the fact that he used to think of him as the person who 'took Robin away from him'.

She looked up at Luke, who was standing up now, a wallet in his hand. "I'll get my usual latte," she cooed, something she only did when she felt affectionate.

"A latte for the lady," he quipped, pretending to mark it down on his hand with his finger acting as a pen, a move that made her smile. "And you?" He grinned at Barney.

"A latte as well would be awesome."

"Three lattes then." He muttered, heading to the counter. "Be right back!"

The second he was out of earshot, Barney sat up, resting his elbows on the table. "He's pretty great."

"Isn't he?" responded a perked up Robin.

"Yeah. At first I thought I was going to hate him because you made him sound so attractive in your emails. I was like, 'What if he's more awesome than me?' and all. You know me. But he seems cool. I like him, I really do. I'm not just saying that to make you happy or whatever. We're way past that stage of friendship where we fake our feelings."

Lightly resting a hand on his arm, she smiled gratefully. "I'm glad you do. I don't need your, you know, approval or anything, but being best friends and all, it's so much better if you two just met and got along."

"Yep, I get it. I'm glad I do, too."

Luke returned shortly with the lattes and soon the awkwardness had completely faded from when they had first met.

They sat and talked, Luke about meeting Robin, though Barney had already heard the story from her weeks back in time, Robin on her job and settling in London, and Barney on New York, the gang and all the embarrassing stories Robin was ever caught in.

The three of them sat sipping their coffee in bliss and contentment, and even though he felt as though there was a bit too much milk put in the drink that made him feel a little like hurling, he threw the thought aside and complimented the café.

It was just that kind of day where everybody was happy. There did not need to be any negativity. It was good like that.