The Re-return - HIMYM fic - 2/?
Part Two
“Good morning.”
Robin woke with a start. She turned over in her bed and eyed the man there with confusion.
“Not a morning person?” Matt asked.
Robin blinked. The previous night’s events came back to her.
She said in a groggy voice, “Not particularly. But it would seem you are, hmm?”
He grinned. “A little bit of one, yes. Do you have any plans for tonight?”
Robin bit back a groan. So it was going to be like that. “Um…we don’t have to do the thing.”
“The thing? What thing?”
“The thing…you know, the morning after thing where we pretend the night before meant something special to make us feel better about ourselves. We can just go on with our lives. Call a spade a spade, ya know?”
“Well, Robin, I’m not doing the thing. I had a good time last night, and I am genuinely interested in getting to know you. We’ve run into each other three times now. Maybe that could mean something.”
“Not everything means something.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not. But I find you to be fascinating. And I would like to take you out on a date, if you’re up for it. So I ask again, what are you doing tonight?”
Robin bit her lip and answered reluctantly, “Nothing. Pick me up at seven.”
* * *
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Lily was shouting on the other end of the phone, and Robin rolled her eyes at the woman’s dramatics.
“It’s called dating, Lily.”
“But why? And a guy you picked up last night? What were you thinking? I thought you were in love with Barney!”
“It doesn’t matter whether or not I’m in love with him. Sex is a completely different thing.”
“You two are the same person,” Lily muttered just loudly enough for Robin to hear and pointedly ignore.
“Why are you so dead-set on Barney and me, anyway? You tried to break us up last time around, for crying out loud.”
“I know I did, but things are different now. You guys have grown up. I just want to see you happy, sweetie.”
“Well, this guy Matt seems nice, and I’ve had a crush on him for ages. Why not see where it goes?”
Robin could hear Lily sigh on the other end.
“Okay. But don’t lead him on.”
All I ever do is lead people on, she wanted to say. Instead she responded with, “Okay.”
She hung up and started getting ready for her date.
* * *
The dinner was…nice. There wasn’t an instant spark that kept Robin wanting more, but it had been reasonably enjoyable. It was simple. She liked that. Things had gotten so complicated lately that she really liked simple. It was a nice change of pace. A breath of fresh air.
Matt had been sweet. He pulled her chair out for her and held doors open. It was all very chivalrous of him, but all it seemed to do was annoy Robin. She could take care of herself, thank you very much. She could hold her own with a 9 millimeter. She didn’t need people pulling out her chair for her all the time. Still, she appreciated the meaning behind the gesture. He was a nice guy.
They got to know each other over dinner. Turns out Matt was a banker. The details of his job bored Robin for the most part. She sipped her wine and pretended to look interested while he talked about it. She told him all about her job as a journalist and all of the jobs she’d held in recent years.
“And back when I worked at Metro New 1, my friend Barney paid me to say inappropriate things on the air…”
“Like what?”
“Um…you know, nipple instead of nickel,” Robin blushed. “Things like that.”
Matt raised an eyebrow. “And you did it? Why?”
Robin finished off her glass of wine. “I don’t know. We had like one viewer. Even my boss didn’t watch.”
“Hmm,” was his only response.
Robin didn’t like that she felt she had to justify herself to him. And that had been the most PG of things she had said.
“But, um…I quit that job years ago. Because it was going nowhere with its lack of viewers, so it’s not like I do that anymore.”
Matt replied, “That Barney guy sounds like a bit of a character.”
Robin choked on a bite of her pasta and forced herself to swallow. “Yeah, I guess so. He was with my friends and I when were at Hopeless.”
She felt uncomfortable talking about Barney and wished she had never brought the topic up. Robin segued the conversation back to journalism and started talking to him about her current job, brushing away any possible conversation of ex-lovers.
The rest of the date went relatively smoothly. They made casual chit-chat, exchanged little anecdotes about their friends (Robin made a point to leave out Barney in these tales), and Matt asked her for a second date.
She hesitated. Did she really want to date this guy? Sure, he was cute. He was nice. He was polite. But none of those things really made her tick. There wasn’t a spark. Not like there was with a certain other individual.
A certain other unavailable individual, she reminded herself.
“I’d love to.”
* * *
And so they dated.
The second date was more of the same. Chit-chat over dinner, then back to her place.
They went to see a movie on the third date, and he let her pick. There was a new action flick out, thank god, and Matt pressed for details about why a girl like her wouldn’t want to see a romantic comedy.
Robin rolled her eyes. “They’re not my taste.”
Date number four was coffee in the afternoon, and she hated to admit that she missed the aid of alcohol.
Date number five came along three weeks in, and Matt was insistent on meeting her friends. Robin had been putting it off for quite a while, but apparently avoidance was no longer a viable option.
She begrudgingly brought him to MacLaren’s when they were done with dinner.
Everyone was there, including Nora, to Robin’s great irritation.
“Hey guys,” Robin put on a big smile. “This is Matt.”
Marshall and Lily greeted him enthusiastically with handshakes. Ted had a permanent frown on his face. Apparently he hadn’t gotten over his blind hatred of the guy. Barney’s face remained blank and void of any emotion.
“Hi there,” Matt beamed. “Robin, would you like me to get use some drinks?”
“Sure,” she replied. “Um, just get me a beer.”
He left the table, and all eyes turned on Robin.
Ted exploded, “You’re dating that guy?”
“Oh my god, Ted, give it up already,” she replied. “Yes, it’s him.”
“At least now I know who you’ve been sneaking out in the mornings,” he grumbled.
Robin threw a pretzel at him.
“Hey!” he exclaimed. “Fine, I will tolerate him.”
Marshall interrupted, “Well, I think he seems nice. Good for you, Robin.”
“Thanks, Marsh Madness.”
“No problem, Robo-Cop.”
“He is cute,” Lily commented.
“He really is,” Nora replied. “Where did you meet him?”
“Oh, um…” Robin began, “A sale, a few years back. And then again at a club a few months ago. And then a third time here at MacLaren’s three weeks ago.”
“That’s quite a few run-ins! Maybe fate laid a hand,” said Nora.
Robin did her best to repress giving her a scathing look.
“Um, I don’t think so. I don’t really believe in that crap.”
“How can you not?” Nora wondered allowed. “It seems to me like fate brought you guys together. Sort of like Barney and I running into each other again.”
Robin eyed Barney with disbelief. She was doing a poor job of hiding her repulsion.
He gave her a helpless shrug.
Matt came back with their drinks, and Robin started eagerly on her beer.
Marshall spoke up, “Well I totally believe in fate. Nora, let me tell you the story of how Lily and I met…”
Robin tuned him out.
Barney kicked her from under the table.
She jumped a little in her seat and gave him a questioning look.
He smiled. Robin suspected it was his way of trying to cheer her up.
She couldn’t help the way her lips curved upwards slightly.
Barney tapped her foot with his again, and Robin’s gaze narrowed.
He had somehow taken his shoe off underneath the table and was now slowly sliding his foot up and down Robin’s exposed leg.
Robin tried to suppress a shiver. His foot was moving higher, and she had to focus hard on swallowing her drink.
Barney was about to reach dangerous territories when he removed his foot with grin and slid it back into his shoe.
Robin breathed a sigh of relief and maybe a little disappointment.
She made sure Nora was looking away and mouthed at Barney, “Tease.”
He winked.
Robin decided then and there that Barney Stinson was going to be the death of her.
She sighed. Robin had felt more in that one minute silent exchange with Barney than she had with Matt in three weeks.
Everyone decided it was time to head home an hour later, and Robin could tell Matt was fishing for an invitation upstairs. She feigned a headache and sent him home, trying not to feel too bad about it.
She spent most of her night in bed laying awake, trying to figure out what the hell to do.
* * *
Robin decided to drop by Lily’s place after two days of careful avoiding contact with Matt, in need of advice.
“You never should have dated him to begin with,” Lily told her.
“I just wanted to see where it was going!”
“Well now you have seen. And what you’ve seen is that it’s going nowhere.”
“I know…I just, I liked that it was so simple, you know? Things with Barney have always been so complicated. I just wanted something that was easy.”
Lily smiled sadly. “I know, sweetie. But it wasn’t right. It was just another way for you to avoid your feelings for Barney.”
“Yeah, but it’s so much easier avoiding them!”
“Staying in the relationship isn’t fair to Matt if it doesn’t have a future.”
Robin heaved a sigh. “I know. It’s the story of my life. I should teach a class on leading guys on.”
Lily frowned. “But you don’t do it on purpose.”
“That’s true. I don’t. It just comes naturally. But you’re right. I need to end things with Matt, don’t I?”
“It’s for the best,” Lily replied. “You can’t move forward with him if you’re in love with Barney. And were you really that compatible to begin with?”
Robin shook her head. “Not really. The sex was good,” she admitted.
Lily’s eyes lit up. “How good? Barney good? Because what you told me about how he was in bed when you were drunk that one time sounded kind of incredible…”
Robin put her face in her hands. “Why do I tell you things?” she muttered.
“Because I’m your best friend!” Lily grinned, hugged her, and offered her a martini.
* * *
Robin met Matt that night at MacLaren’s for drinks and broke the news to him. He was understanding enough. He told her to call him if she ever changed her mind, and he left after a little awkward conversation.
She ordered herself a scotch and sat in silence for a while. Robin was getting ready to stand up and leave when she saw Barney walk in the door. He noticed her and grinned.
“Hey, Scherbatsky.”
It felt like the first time he had said her name in weeks.
Barney gestured to her empty glass. “You want me to get you another?”
“Sure,” she replied with a hint of a smile.
He ordered two scotches at the bar and returned a couple minutes later, drinks in hand.
Robin thanked him when he passed her a scotch.
Barney cleared his throat. “So what’s got you looking so solemn?”
She took a long sip of her scotch and savored the feeling as it slid down her throat and into the pit of her belly.
“I dumped Matt,” Robin answered.
“Why?” Barney asked.
She wished she could give him the answer she wanted to.
“Oh, you know. The usual things. He was a nice guy. I didn’t want to lead him on.”
“Ah,” Barney replied. “You don’t want to be tied down. I know how you are with commitment.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t going to work with him. But…I don’t know. Never mind. It’s stupid.”
“What? Tell me,” he requested with a smile.
Robin took another sip of her scotch. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think I wouldn’t mind so much doing the whole commitment thing if it was with the right person.”
Barney cocked an eyebrow.
She shook her head and continued, “I sound like Ted. Ugh. But, um…I just…I feel like I’m finally at a point in my life where I could see myself sticking with one person, you know? If they were the right one.”
It took every ounce of her willpower not to tell Barney that she wanted it to be him.
“That’s not stupid, Scherbatsky. Now you have to promise never to tell Ted this or I will never live it down, but…I get it. After everything that’s happened this year with my dad, sometimes I think I might want that someday. Sometimes.”
“Sometimes,” Robin agreed.
They both sipped their drinks.
“When did we both grow up?” Robin asked.
Barney laughed. “I don’t know. I was just wondering the same thing.”
“Not long ago at this time of night, you’d be hitting on every bimbo in this bar.”
“Now, now, don’t get me wrong,” said Barney. “I still love bimbos. Very much so. Bimbos mean a lot to me. But sometimes I think I could want something more than bimbos.”
“Is that why you’re with Nora?” Robin asked, afraid she didn’t want to know the answer.
He shrugged. “Sort of. She’s the first woman I’ve liked in a serious way since, well…you. So yeah, I’ve been giving it a try. But I haven’t really figured out if it’s her I want something more with.”
Robin’s breath caught in her throat, and she said a silent prayer that her face wasn’t giving away her emotions.
She cleared her throat and finished her scotch, tearing her gaze away from Barney’s.
“Anyway,” Robin started, “I think that’s enough Tedding out for one night, don’t you think?”
He smiled. “Yeah, I do.”
She tried not to read too much in the look he was giving her.
“I’m gonna head home,” said Robin.
Barney finished his scotch and nodded. “Me too. I’ll see you around.”
Robin turned to leave.
He grabbed her elbow. “Hey, Robin?”
“Yeah, Barney?”
“Keep your chin up.”
She gave him a sad smile and went upstairs.
--
Part 3