Coalescence - HIMYM fic - 2/7
Title: Coalescence
Author: modernxxmyth
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Barney/Robin, Robin/OC (only temporarily, I'm sorry!), ensemble
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None officially, but based on speculation for season eight.
Summary: In the aftermath of Barney's engagement, Robin does what she can to convince herself she's moved on.
Chapter One.
Chapter Two
As it turned out, Robin and Ryan had quite a bit in common beyond name alliteration. They'd spent a lot of time together at the shooting range in the weeks since she met him. He really was a good shot. Not quite as good as herself, of course, but few were.
And he was nice. He always told her how beautiful she looked. And he was pretty good in bed, which certainly didn't hurt. Robin was surprised to realize how much she genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. He seemed to like her quite a bit. They'd gone on several dates, but Robin hadn't let him meet her friends yet. She wasn't ready for that. And, of course, there was the little fact that he had no idea two of her best friends were also her exes. And that when one of them got engaged recently, it had essentially led to Robin meeting Ryan.
Moral of the story, she was trying her best not to think about that, and she certainly wasn't telling Ryan about any of it.
* * *
"Why can't you just bring the baby monitor down to the bar?" Barney asked Lily and Marshall when he, Quinn, and Robin were hanging out in the apartment.
"Barney!" Lily exclaimed. "What kind of parents do you take us for?"
Marshall shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze to the floor.
"You've already tried, haven't you?" Robin asked.
"It's not in range," Lily muttered.
Barney laughed. "Alright, grown-ups. Fine. But you've got to get to the bar sometime soon!"
Surprisingly, the new parents made it down to the bar no more than half an hour later.
"My dad is babysitting," Lily explained. "I think he knew we were getting a little stir crazy."
"Not to point out the obvious," Robin began, "But…are you sure you trust your dad with your child?"
"Marvin is already asleep," said Marshall. "As long as Mickey doesn't do anything too crazy and disruptive during the next couple of hours, we should be fine."
"I'm calling him every ten minutes," Lily admitted.
Quinn showed up a few minutes later, hot off a job interview, and sat down next to Barney. Ted and Victoria followed soon after and bought a round of drinks for everyone.
"So," Victoria began when they were all seated, "Who wants to catch me up on what I missed the past few years?"
"Ted got beat up by a goat," said Marshall.
"These two," Ted gestured to Marshall and Lily, "broke up, got back together, got married, and had a baby."
"Barney has had not one, not two, but three serious girlfriends," Lily commented.
"And he got hit by a bus," Robin added.
"Robin was a teenage pop star in Canada," said Barney.
"I'm pretty sure Ted had a threesome," Marshall commented.
"He and Barney tried to have a baby together," Lily revealed.
"I'm not even going to touch that one," Victoria muttered.
"Ted and Robin got together a few months after Ted cheated on you with her," said Marshall.
"Then I broke them up," Lily spoke.
"Then Barney and Robin got together," Marshall continued.
"And we tried to break them up but they did it more on their own," Lily said.
Robin buried her face in her hands.
"Then Robin dated her co-anchor," Ted spoke up.
She shot him a glare. "Ted broke up a marriage."
"Make that two," Victoria commented. "Well, almost."
"Barney dated a stripper!" Ted exclaimed.
Quinn raised an eyebrow. "I'm right here, dumbass."
"Then she quit for me," Barney grinned.
"I think that's probably enough information for one night," Robin decided, raising her head from her hands to take a long drink from her scotch.
"You guys have certainly kept busy," Victoria said with a laugh.
"You could say that," Ted chuckled and put an arm around her.
"So you quit your job for Barney?" she asked Quinn who nodded her confirmation. "Wow."
Quinn drank her beer in silence.
* * *
It wasn't long before Ryan was insisting on meeting the group. Lily was nagging Robin constantly about meeting him, right along with Ryan, so finally Robin gave in and brought him over to Lily and Marshall's place for a group movie night.
Being the nice guy that he was, he got along pretty well with everyone. Barney was suspiciously quiet the whole night, talking almost exclusively to Quinn and barely glancing at Ryan once the entire evening.
He bonded with just about everyone else, though, and definitely had the group's seal of approval by the end of the night.
Robin wasn't sure why she wasn't particularly happy about that.
* * *
The next week passed very quickly for Robin. Things were crazy at work, and when she wasn't at the studio late, she was out for drinks or at the shooting range with Ryan. She really liked what she had with him. It was simple. It was easy. It was fun. The past few months of her life before him had been so crazy and painful and convoluted that being with Ryan was like a breath of fresh air. She needed something easy in her life.
Except that it wasn't all that easy when she really let herself think about things. Because Ryan was clearly falling for her, and she clearly wasn't falling for him. She liked him a lot. He was attractive and fun, and they had plenty in common. But the spark…that thing she was supposed to feel, that she'd felt with Barney, wasn't present in her current relationship.
But it was nice and simple and easy, and she decided she'd try and overlook that.
* * *
Turns out she couldn't overlook it much longer.
Robin entered MacLarens, planning on grabbing a quick drink before heading over to Ryan's place for dinner, but instead she found Barney sitting at the booth, staring into his scotch by himself, something small and shiny in his hand.
She frowned, ordered a scotch from the bar, and sat down across from him.
"Barney?" she asked tentatively.
Her voice seemed to snap him out of his reverie, and he looked at her, surprised.
"Hey, Robin."
"What's wrong?"
Barney silently held up a familiar looking diamond engagement ring.
Robin gasped.
Her world stopped for several seconds.
"The engagement's off. We're done."
Robin was quiet. She couldn't manage to get any words out.
Barney sipped her drink and threw the ring on the table.
She let out a shuddering breath and finally managed to get out, "I'm sorry, Barney."
"Me too."
"Why?" Robin asked after a beat.
Barney shook his head.
He clearly wasn't ready to talk about it.
They finished their drinks, both lost in their own thoughts. Robin focused on the smooth burn of her scotch instead of the look on Barney's face and what this could possibly mean for them.
She finished her last sip and set the glass down on the table. Robin grabbed Barney's hand from across the table and made eye contact with him for a moment.
"I really am sorry, Barney."
She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back, clutching it like a lifeline.
He nodded and mumbled a gruff, "Thanks."
They stayed together like that for quite some time.
---
Chapter 3
Author: modernxxmyth
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Barney/Robin, Robin/OC (only temporarily, I'm sorry!), ensemble
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None officially, but based on speculation for season eight.
Summary: In the aftermath of Barney's engagement, Robin does what she can to convince herself she's moved on.
Chapter One.
Chapter Two
As it turned out, Robin and Ryan had quite a bit in common beyond name alliteration. They'd spent a lot of time together at the shooting range in the weeks since she met him. He really was a good shot. Not quite as good as herself, of course, but few were.
And he was nice. He always told her how beautiful she looked. And he was pretty good in bed, which certainly didn't hurt. Robin was surprised to realize how much she genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. He seemed to like her quite a bit. They'd gone on several dates, but Robin hadn't let him meet her friends yet. She wasn't ready for that. And, of course, there was the little fact that he had no idea two of her best friends were also her exes. And that when one of them got engaged recently, it had essentially led to Robin meeting Ryan.
Moral of the story, she was trying her best not to think about that, and she certainly wasn't telling Ryan about any of it.
* * *
"Why can't you just bring the baby monitor down to the bar?" Barney asked Lily and Marshall when he, Quinn, and Robin were hanging out in the apartment.
"Barney!" Lily exclaimed. "What kind of parents do you take us for?"
Marshall shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze to the floor.
"You've already tried, haven't you?" Robin asked.
"It's not in range," Lily muttered.
Barney laughed. "Alright, grown-ups. Fine. But you've got to get to the bar sometime soon!"
Surprisingly, the new parents made it down to the bar no more than half an hour later.
"My dad is babysitting," Lily explained. "I think he knew we were getting a little stir crazy."
"Not to point out the obvious," Robin began, "But…are you sure you trust your dad with your child?"
"Marvin is already asleep," said Marshall. "As long as Mickey doesn't do anything too crazy and disruptive during the next couple of hours, we should be fine."
"I'm calling him every ten minutes," Lily admitted.
Quinn showed up a few minutes later, hot off a job interview, and sat down next to Barney. Ted and Victoria followed soon after and bought a round of drinks for everyone.
"So," Victoria began when they were all seated, "Who wants to catch me up on what I missed the past few years?"
"Ted got beat up by a goat," said Marshall.
"These two," Ted gestured to Marshall and Lily, "broke up, got back together, got married, and had a baby."
"Barney has had not one, not two, but three serious girlfriends," Lily commented.
"And he got hit by a bus," Robin added.
"Robin was a teenage pop star in Canada," said Barney.
"I'm pretty sure Ted had a threesome," Marshall commented.
"He and Barney tried to have a baby together," Lily revealed.
"I'm not even going to touch that one," Victoria muttered.
"Ted and Robin got together a few months after Ted cheated on you with her," said Marshall.
"Then I broke them up," Lily spoke.
"Then Barney and Robin got together," Marshall continued.
"And we tried to break them up but they did it more on their own," Lily said.
Robin buried her face in her hands.
"Then Robin dated her co-anchor," Ted spoke up.
She shot him a glare. "Ted broke up a marriage."
"Make that two," Victoria commented. "Well, almost."
"Barney dated a stripper!" Ted exclaimed.
Quinn raised an eyebrow. "I'm right here, dumbass."
"Then she quit for me," Barney grinned.
"I think that's probably enough information for one night," Robin decided, raising her head from her hands to take a long drink from her scotch.
"You guys have certainly kept busy," Victoria said with a laugh.
"You could say that," Ted chuckled and put an arm around her.
"So you quit your job for Barney?" she asked Quinn who nodded her confirmation. "Wow."
Quinn drank her beer in silence.
* * *
It wasn't long before Ryan was insisting on meeting the group. Lily was nagging Robin constantly about meeting him, right along with Ryan, so finally Robin gave in and brought him over to Lily and Marshall's place for a group movie night.
Being the nice guy that he was, he got along pretty well with everyone. Barney was suspiciously quiet the whole night, talking almost exclusively to Quinn and barely glancing at Ryan once the entire evening.
He bonded with just about everyone else, though, and definitely had the group's seal of approval by the end of the night.
Robin wasn't sure why she wasn't particularly happy about that.
* * *
The next week passed very quickly for Robin. Things were crazy at work, and when she wasn't at the studio late, she was out for drinks or at the shooting range with Ryan. She really liked what she had with him. It was simple. It was easy. It was fun. The past few months of her life before him had been so crazy and painful and convoluted that being with Ryan was like a breath of fresh air. She needed something easy in her life.
Except that it wasn't all that easy when she really let herself think about things. Because Ryan was clearly falling for her, and she clearly wasn't falling for him. She liked him a lot. He was attractive and fun, and they had plenty in common. But the spark…that thing she was supposed to feel, that she'd felt with Barney, wasn't present in her current relationship.
But it was nice and simple and easy, and she decided she'd try and overlook that.
* * *
Turns out she couldn't overlook it much longer.
Robin entered MacLarens, planning on grabbing a quick drink before heading over to Ryan's place for dinner, but instead she found Barney sitting at the booth, staring into his scotch by himself, something small and shiny in his hand.
She frowned, ordered a scotch from the bar, and sat down across from him.
"Barney?" she asked tentatively.
Her voice seemed to snap him out of his reverie, and he looked at her, surprised.
"Hey, Robin."
"What's wrong?"
Barney silently held up a familiar looking diamond engagement ring.
Robin gasped.
Her world stopped for several seconds.
"The engagement's off. We're done."
Robin was quiet. She couldn't manage to get any words out.
Barney sipped her drink and threw the ring on the table.
She let out a shuddering breath and finally managed to get out, "I'm sorry, Barney."
"Me too."
"Why?" Robin asked after a beat.
Barney shook his head.
He clearly wasn't ready to talk about it.
They finished their drinks, both lost in their own thoughts. Robin focused on the smooth burn of her scotch instead of the look on Barney's face and what this could possibly mean for them.
She finished her last sip and set the glass down on the table. Robin grabbed Barney's hand from across the table and made eye contact with him for a moment.
"I really am sorry, Barney."
She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back, clutching it like a lifeline.
He nodded and mumbled a gruff, "Thanks."
They stayed together like that for quite some time.
---
Chapter 3