Nothing good happens after two a.m.

But it was only eleven, and Ted thought that he still had another three hours of peace and security. He should have known better, though. He had woken up in bed next to Barney with his phone buzzing softly on the nightstand near his head, and checked his messages to find a text from Robin asking him to come to the door. And despite how rotten it made him feel to sneak out of the bed and tiptoe to the hallway, he complied with her request.

No, he wasn't followed to the front door. No, he didn't wake Barney up, not at first, anyway. That wasn't what went wrong that night. No, the ordeal started with Ted pulling the front door open and finding Robin standing on his porch clutching a certain unwieldy blue brass instrument in her hands. "Hi, Ted," she whispered, her voice filled with the desperate yearning she so seldom allowed to manifest itself.

The eternal hot potato of the Blue French Horn was a grudge match that refused to stop grappling for their attention. He wondered if at this point it was less of a symbol of their love and more of a symbol of their stubbornness and refusal to make peace with the ever recurring platonic nature of their relationship.

"Is this another birthday present?" he awkwardly joked, though he was too uneasy for the intended humor of it to shine through.

"Yeah, sorry about recycling your present…" She whispered, trying to sound playful, but coming off as genuinely apologetic. "I just…I couldn't stand having it sitting on my mantle, looming over me like that."

Of course her words stung, but by this point Ted was so used to it that the pain in his heart faded away from the foreground. "That's understandable..." He wasn't sure why she had brought it back to him, however, it wasn't like he much fancied the idea of looking at it all the time, either. "But a shame," he hesitantly added.

Robin quickly nodded her head as she thrust the instrument into his waiting hands. "It is. But it's your shame."

Well, he couldn't really argue with her on that one. "I'm sorry," he whispered for what he imagined to be the billionth time.

Robin's nodding quickly evolved into her frantically shaking her head. "No, don't start with me, Ted," she replied, a sharp edge to her tone. "You can't even give me one half-way decent reason why you're breaking my heart, so don't go on thinking you have the right to apologize."

"Robin, I...," he weakly countered, "I told you, we just…don't fit. I've spent nearly my entire adult life wishing we worked, but Robin, we just don't."

"How can you say that? I know that we've had our problems lately…ok, that we've always had our problems, but we...love each other; we have chemistry. And aside from chemistry all you need is timing, remember? And for once we finally had both, Ted. We finally have both." Her words threw him for a moment, and he wondered if she was right. She was, he realized, but the problem was, he also met the same prerequisites with Barney. Although, now that they were dating, perhaps it made it so that Robin and him no longer had a checkmark in the timing box.

"Robin, we both know that it's more complex than that. You and Barney had all of that too, but look at how that turned out."

She frowned at him and scrunched her eyebrows together, as though she was appalled that he had dared to try to prove her wrong. Or perhaps she was appalled that he had dared to mention Barney. "You're wrong, Ted. Barney and I didn't have timing. All I cared about was work and that destroyed our relationship, but I'm different now. I'm ready, and I love you." Her mouth snapped closed and she met his gaze with expectant eyes. He didn't want to disappoint her, she looked so hopeful, so optimistically beautiful. He felt her hand on his cheek and he stiffened, unable to move, or even breathe.

"Robin…" He wasn't sure how to explain to her that he couldn't do this. That no matter how badly he might be aching for it, he couldn't have it. He had never been in this sort of a position before.

She gently pressed her lips against his as she took the Blue French Horn back out of his grasp and cautiously let it drop to the floor. She deepened the kiss, and he didn't try to stop her. His hands snaked onto her hips and he began to greedily explore her smooth gorgeous curves with his fingers. They were panting by the time her tongue slipped away from his. She took his hand in hers and began to lead him towards the staircase with a crookedly seductive smile. He resisted and kept his feet firmly planted in the entryway. Images of Barney in bed next to him, contently asleep, trusting, and vulnerable, flashed through his brain and singed him like frayed wires. "Robin...," he whispered, his weak protests sounding pitiful to his ears.

"Come on," she whispered back, grinning, "There's no point in pretending you don't want this too."

He did, of course he did. He wanted it, but a seizure-inducing slideshow of Barney stills was still flashing through his brain, giving him a sick sort of vertigo. "There's...Robin, there's someone else," he finally forced out, unworthy of the rush of pride that came with the words. They had been hard to say, and he was glad to have said them, but they didn't have the power to right his wrongs.

"What?" Robin questioned, wide-eyed, smile rapidly faltering. "Wh...who? What?" She dropped his hand and took a step behind her, creeping farther away from him and closer to the stairway.

"No one you'd know." He was truly disgusted with himself. He wasn't this type of man, this wasn't him. Why did Robin make him so weak? Why did she have the ability to mold him into this type of man like so little putty in her hands? And, where did he get off blaming her for his own transgressions?

"You're kidding me," she scoffed, genuine disbelief evident in her eyes. "There's no…What's this mystery woman's name, huh?"

"Janet," Ted quickly spewed out.

"Janet what?" Robin prompted, eyebrows raised to the sky.

"Jackson," Ted mumbled, grimacing as the word left his mouth.

Robin rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation. "Seriously, Ted?" She paused a moment before asking, "Why can't you ever just be straight with me? Why do you feel the need to make up a reason to push me away?"

"There really is someone else, Robin."

Hurt suddenly flooded her eyes and she nibbled at her lip to keep her emotions inside before she once again questioned, "Who?" Her expression shifted until a streak of pure fury was painted across her features. "Wait…she's in your bed right now, isn't she? That's why you don't want me going up there."

Ted tried to keep his façade from betraying him as he readily shook his head and uttered, "No, of course not. Of course there's no one in my bed."

She could see through him, he knew that she could. He was as transparent as tracing paper in her eyes. She was dashing up the staircase before he could get another word out to try to stop her. By the time he caught up with her, her hand was already twisting the knob to his bedroom door. She pushed it open and stepped inside with the same powerful air of defiance he had always admired within her. He peeked inside from over her shoulder, his breath hitching as he caught sight of Barney's delicate features, clear even in the low-light of the room. Robin wordlessly shut the door, her actions suddenly more calculated and careful than before.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice wavering with uncertainty.

Ted couldn't see any sense in trying to deny it any further. "It's…well, it's exactly what it looks like."

"No, Ted, you didn't...this isn't funny." She had an expression on her face that was the same as the one she might've worn had he murdered someone right in front of her. Her piercing eyes quickly embedded their shrapnel within his skin.

"It's not supposed to be," he whispered, putting up his palms and gesturing for her to calm down. "I know this is...weird," he felt guilty for using the word, but he couldn't think of anything more suitable, "but it is what it is."

Robin shook her head, her lips curling upward as her confusion turned to rage. "You're disgusting," she snarled.

Ted anxiously ran one of his hands through his hair as he covered his mouth with the other. He had never expected this sort of response. He'd known that if Robin ever found out it wouldn't be pretty, but he hadn't anticipated it to be quite this ugly. "Robin, whoa, since when are you so..."

"I didn't mean it that way, Ted. It's disgusting because you're having sex with him out of pity."

Ted bit down hard on his bottom lip and began adamantly shaking his head. "No, no way. This...it means something to me, Robin. I...might love him."

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms back over her chest. "No, Ted. Here's what's really going on: you've been trying to do everything in your power to cheer him up since Ellie died, and when you found out that he had feelings for you, you tried to trick yourself into thinking that you felt the same way so that you could give him what he wanted. He's been your friend for decades, of course you love him, but not like this."

He felt a surge of fury stir up within himself that certainly must've been headier than the anger that she felt. "You don't know have a clue what you're talking about," he growled, his voice deadly serious now. "It might be difficult for you to accept, but I really do have feelings for him. I know that I'm not lying to myself. It hasn't been easy being in this relationship, but I haven't abandoned it, because I care about it. I care about him."

"But yet you're toying with him. God, Ted, why do you think you were so handsy downstairs and so damn eager to shove your tongue down my throat? I'm the one you're attracted to. You're kidding yourself and you're hurting him."

"I made a mistake tonight! I know that, but come on, the fact that I'm never going to stop being attracted to you doesn't invalidate the fact that I am genuinely attracted to him. And who are you to talk anyway? You've cheated before."

"Ugh, I was just waiting for you to shove that in my face. It's irrelevant. And besides that, it only further proves my point; I cheated on Kevin with Barney because all along Barney was the one that I was in love with. I was kidding myself with Kevin just like you're kidding yourself with Barney." She paused her eyes softening a bit before she whispered, "He's so vulnerable...how could you do this to him?"

"I'm not doing anything to him! We're dating, we like each other; it's really a pretty simple concept, Robin!"

The door to the bedroom violently swung open, rapidly drawing both of their attention away from each other. Barney stepped out into the hallway, his nearly bare figure silhouetted on the walls of the dim hallway. He rubbed at his eyes and cocked his head to the side as he studied Robin up and down. "What?" he blearily whispered. "What's going on?"

"Barney," Robin whispered, nervousness tangoing with pity in the tone of her voice. "Ted..."

Barney held her gaze for a moment, confusion clearly imprinted upon his features before his expression changed into one of bleak understanding. "Oh. Ted told you, huh?"

Robin's eyes widened slightly and she nodded her head. "Yes, but that's not what..."

"Yeah, I told her, sorry," Ted said, quickly stepping in to try to put a stop to Robin's confession.

Barney smiled at him and shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine. She was bound to find out eventually." His smile dropped as his eyes turned back onto Robin. "But, oh, Robin, I'm so sorry. I know how this must feel for you...I've been there."

Robin shook her head and took a few steps closer to him until she was close enough to rest her hand on his shoulder. "No, Barney, I'm sorry."

He tilted his head again and stared past her at Ted, confusion returning to his face. "Huh?"

It was obvious that Robin was intending to spill the beans, and Ted figured that it would be beneficial for him to be the one to tip the legumes instead, so he took a deep breath to prepare himself and said, "Robin and I just kissed. I'm sorry. It was an accident."

A vague shroud of misery poured over Barney's face and his mouth fell open slightly as he struggled to grasp the words. "Oh," he finally whispered, clearly waging a momentary war against his tear ducts.

Robin swiftly enveloped him in her arms, offering him an awkward kind of maternal comfort. He seemed uncomfortable in her embrace for a moment before he met her eyes and whispered so quietly, Ted had to strain to hear him, "You didn't know about us before you…right?"

Robin frowned at him and shook her head, whispering back a gentle, "Of course not."

Her reassurance obviously made him feel more at ease in her grasp as he wrapped his own arms around her and pulled her in closer. Ted watched them silently from the sidelines until his heart threatened to give way. "Barney, it wasn't…I love you."

Barney met his eyes and slowly shook his head back and forth. "Maybe, but you love Robin more. Maybe you even love her more than you loved Tracy."

Ted's jaw dropped open as his eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes grew narrower. Half of him now wanted to slap him. Honestly, he didn't know where he got off being so high-horsey, he had cheated in the past too, but Ted knew that this was likely an inappropriate time to make such an accusation. "Don't," he harshly whispered, his tone distantly threatening.

"Did you just settle for her because you couldn't get Robin?"

Robin pulled out of Barney's arms and took a step away from him, a slightly disapproving expression on her face. "Barney, come on," she whispered softly.

"You know, Ted, you're the last person I would've expected to do something like this," Barney continued, willfully ignoring Robin.

Ted conceded and nodded his head, trying to let go of the anger carving through his capillaries. "Barney, it was an accident. It was just a kiss." Of course, that was a bit of an understatement in regards to the steamy makeup secession that had taken place downstairs, but Ted didn't see how telling the full truth in this situation would be beneficial for him.

"What, so you tripped and fell onto Robin's lips? Seems unlikely."

"It was…instinctual."

"Right. Sure." Barney rolled his eyes as he strolled passed Robin and made his way over to Ted. "Cut the bullshit, Ted. You're straight, this whole thing has been a nice little experiment for you. I should have known."

"No, I'm not. I'm in love with you, I swear I am. Just…please, let's move past this." Ted shot Barney a pleading gaze before leaning closer to him and attempting to kiss him.

Barney bristled and shook his head to stop him. "I've been through enough shit already, I don't need to keep being strung along." He sighed and moved back towards Robin. "I'm...I need to get an Uber."

"Barney, stop. This is ridiculous," Ted whispered, somehow managing to be simultaneously patronizing and pleading. "Let's just talk through this."

Barney met his eyes for a moment before he dropped his gaze and again shook his head. "I don't want to talk, I just...want to think."

Ted knew that he owed him at least that much. He knew that his only choice now was to step back and give it time, but it was more than a little difficult to come to terms with that reality when his heart felt the way it did. He wanted to pretend like Barney was overreacting; he wanted to act like someone more emotionally stable would have been over the betrayal by now, but truthfully, he knew better. He knew that what he had done was very nearly unforgivable.

It would have been one thing if it had really just been a kiss. But it wasn't, it was a yearning in his heart, a constant unquenchable thirst for Robin that could only be alleviated by having her in his arms. He wanted, more than anything now, a relationship with Barney, but Robin was an addiction he felt almost powerless against. She was like a drug. She wouldn't be good for him in the long run, he knew that. If he allowed it, she would eventually destroy him, but he still craved the high that she could offer him.

He was nothing but a junkie, and he had hurt the man that he loved. All he really wanted was to offer Barney security in an uncertain world, but now he was a cause of uncertainty himself. He thought that he would never feel guiltier than he had the night that Ellie died, but now he learned that he had been wrong. This was it. Surely this was what top-tier guilt felt like.

"Barney," Robin interjected, clear-cut concern shining through in her tone, "Why don't you just come back to my apartment with me?"

Ted gaped at her, shocked and quite frankly, peeved-off, until he reached the realization that her motives were likely much more pure than he had originally assumed them to be.

"Please, I'm not going to try to kill myself again over this," Barney muttered, dramatically rolling his eyes at her.

"God, I'd hope not," Robin replied, "But I don't think you really want to go back to your own apartment right now, do you?"

Barney sighed and surrendered to her with a solemn, "No, not really."

She cautiously smiled at him and said, "Alright then."

Despite the fact that Barney would just be staying at her home so that she could keep an eye on him, Ted couldn't keep from feeling more than a little uneasy. His worst fear now was that he would lose them both. Barney wouldn't take him back. Robin wouldn't ever speak to him again. It all seemed so very likely.

He wanted to beg him not to leave, but he knew that any further confrontation would only make things worse for all involved. So, when Robin took Barney's hand and began to lead him back down the hall, he didn't move to stop them. Barney glanced at him from over his shoulder one last time, and in the fleeting moment of eye-contact that resulted, Ted attempted to summon a century's worth of apologies. Then, without another word being exchanged, he was left standing alone in the hollow hallway with a guilt-ridden conscience and a heart that had caved-in on itself.

The next morning went about as well as he could have hoped for it to go. Of course, it was only to be expected that the first words out of Penny's mouth, once he moved downstairs and their paths crossed in the kitchen, were, "Is Barney still asleep? I decided I'm definitely going to stop referring to him as my uncle, because that would be weird now that you're…well, now that he's my father's boyfriend, you know?"

Ted hadn't a clue how she had so much energy to gab her mouth off first thing in the morning, until he caught sight of a mug of coffee on the counter behind her with a delicate little ruby lipstick smear dancing around the rim. He'd told her a million times to cut back on the caffeine because she was too young to become dependent upon it, but it seemed that his warnings were either not being heeded or had come too late.

"Makes sense," he mumbled, shuffling towards the coffee machine himself. He definitely wouldn't make it through the dreary day stretching forth before him without at least that much of an artificial high. His caffeine dependency was decades in the making and he wasn't about to start trying to shake it now. "And, no. He's not asleep, he's…out."

"Out? Out where? Is he going back to work?" A smile had dared to edge its way onto her lips, and though it obviously wasn't intending to, Ted felt that it was mocking him.

"No, he's out with Robin for the moment."

"Oh?" her voice took on the conversational hum of a receptionist trying to subtly churn the office gossip grind. "Why's that?"

"They're friends. I have to share him."

Penny laughed softly and nodded her head in understanding. "Well, I hope you're not too jealous."

He tried to return her smile, tried to laugh to keep himself from crying, but his heart was still threatening to give in and it was extraordinarily difficult to playfully shrug his shoulders and whisper, "Only a little."

Ted had promised himself that he was going to be strong and give Barney space to think. He had sworn that the best thing he could do now was sit back and hope that he decided to forgive him. Ted was normally fairly adept at keeping his promises. This was a messy exception.

His finger rested motionless against the smooth, reflective surface of her doorbell as he considered, for the last time, turning back. Decisively, he applied pressure onto the button until he could hear the echo of the chiming sound ring around him from inside the apartment. He was fully expecting Robin to answer the door, in fact, even more than that he was expecting to be ignored altogether. Instead, like a beacon of misguided hope, Barney appeared in the doorway. A plain black t-shirt clung tightly to his skin and he was sans pants, merely in his boxers. He had left the apartment in a state of near nudity the night before, and obviously he hadn't managed to collect many articles of clothing since then.

Ted tried to gather his thoughts together, but Barney's bare legs and charmingly tousled hair was more than a little distracting. "Umm..." He managed to mutter, once again awestruck by just how attracted he was to his former best friend. "Barney, I'm..." He wondered how anyone can be quite so perfect. "I know that what I did was inexcusable and that I don't really deserve your forgiveness, but I want it. I need you. I can't imagine living without you."

Barney stares at him blankly for a moment, his eyes eerily devoid of emotion. Ted hadn't seen him look this numb since the days just after Ellie's death. Slowly, his expression fills with something akin to shame and he shakes his head. "Ted, last night...I was so unbelievably hurt and pissed off at you..." Ted winced, prepping himself to hear the worst. "When Robin and I got here she started trying to comfort me and one thing just kinda led to another and we...had sex."

Ted hadn't prepared himself accordingly. This was worse than the worst, somehow. This was an inconceivable nightmare. His breath caught in his throat and the air felt suddenly suffocating. "You?" he mumbled, incomprehensibly. "No...you..."

"I'm sorry, Ted," Barney whispered, stepping further back into the apartment, unsympathetically gesturing for Ted to follow him inside. Ted didn't feel fully in control of his body as he stepped through the doorway and listened to it briskly slam shut behind him. "I didn't mean for this to happen, but you know...I guess there's part of me that still loves her. I know that she doesn't feel the same way about me, but she was there for me last night, anyway."

"Where...where is she?" Ted managed to croak out, having to hold on to the wall to keep his heart from tugging him downwards and throwing his balance off-kilter.

"She's at work right now," Barney supplied, a slight frown appearing on his lips. "She should be back soon though, I think."

"How could she...? How could you?" Ted asked, his voice rapidly rising in volume as his shock sharply twisted into anger. "You really give that little of a shit about me? I mean, I know that I hurt you, but we could have worked through it. It's all over now, though. You made sure of that."

"Oh, shut up!" Barney snapped back, "You started it!"

"Who the hell cares!? All I did was kiss her, but you full-blown cheated on me!"

"Please, our relationship ended before I slept with her as far as I'm concerned."

Ted's eyes widened as the toll of the betrayal wholly struck him. He was afraid that he was far too close to the edge of tears for comfort. "I really did love you, Barney...," he helplessly whispered, giving in to the moisture forming in his eyes and allowing it to spill over onto his cheeks.

Barney's eyes finally softened and the fury that had subtly shifted his features unexpectedly evaporated. "I loved you too, but you let me down, and Robin, well despite our difficulties, she's never betrayed me like that."

"But Barney, can't you see that she obviously just wanted someone to screw her last night? It didn't happen with me, so she moved on to you because you were just stupid and miserable enough to do it."

Rage returned back to Barney's face tenfold and his hands balled into fists at his side. "Fuck you, Ted. Really. I already told you I know that Robin doesn't love me, and you know what? Maybe I'm the one who just wanted to screw someone. Maybe I just wanted to forget about how much you screwed me over." He began to cry himself, but his tears fell much more frequently than Ted's. Soon his body was being racked by sobs for the first time in weeks and Ted was struck by an annoying tinge of guilt.

He was certain that he was no longer the one who needed to feel ashamed of their actions, but yet he couldn't help but feel awful as he watched Barney once again break down right before his eyes. He was swiftly reminded of just how hard things had been for him lately, of just how fragile he was, and he wondered if he really had the right to hold his actions against him. Barney was just a victim to the powerful current of emotions and disasters that had seized control of his soul. Ted was furious and wounded beyond words, but yet he couldn't help but feel a spike of deep concern for the man who had brought this heartache upon him wedge itself in his chest. It was easy to forget that nearly all the exhilaration and apparent passion for living that Barney had donned since the start of their relationship was just a bandage on the gaping gash that Ellie's death had left within him.

Ted opened his arms, wondering if Barney would even allow him to embrace him as he approached his shaking form. To his surprise, Barney didn't shy away from his touch as he pulled him close to his body. Ted gently rubbed one of his hands against the back of Barney's head, trying his best to soothe him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, unsure of why he was allowing such words to leave his mouth. "I shouldn't have said that." He heard the front door noisily open behind him, and he released Barney and spun around to face it with a sudden fervor he hadn't known he possessed. Predictably, it was Robin.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked, gazing past him, her question obviously more directed at Barney.

Ted took a step away from Barney, his footfall so purposefully forceful that he was practically stomping like a child in the midst of a tantrum. He still had a fair amount of wraith ripping at him, and now that he had decided to let Barney off the hook, his only option was to direct it at her. "Why don't you tell me what happened, Robin!?" he shouted. "I'd like to hear your take on things."

A profoundly startled expression appeared on her face and she quickly tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?" she cautiously inquired, her eyes nervously darting back to Barney.

Ted felt a gentle hand clamp down on his shoulder and he glanced over his shoulder to meet Barney's gaze. "Yeah, so, um...that was all bullshit."

"Huh?" Now Ted found that he was the one startled, cocking his head to the side, and asking, "What do you mean?"

Barney anxiously shifted his gaze onto the ground as he hesitantly whispered, "Nothing actually happened between Robin and me last night..."

Ted could feel his own eyes dramatically widen with shock as his brain got caught in the soft-spot between relief and rage. His heart rate seemed to be accelerating with every breath he took. "Why did you...?" he aimlessly mumbled.

Barney shrugged uncomfortably before mumbling back, "I wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine, ya' know, just to see how easily you could swallow it."

Ted shook his head in disbelief, allowing the rushing surge of rage within his brain to win over for a moment. "This is so much worse than what I did to you!"

"Ummm...what? I didn't even actually do anything!"

Ted caught a glimpse of Robin from out of the corner of his eye, she looked more uneasy than he had ever seen her. It was obvious that she was waiting for a chance to sneak past them and disappear into the depths of her apartment. He sidestepped and gestured for her to go on, whilst softly whispering, "No reason you should have to be involved in this anymore." She shot him a grateful glance before awkwardly rushing past them in the direction of her bedroom. Ted and Barney both fell silent as they waited for her to flee the premises, but once she closed her door behind her, their momentary truce dissolved and Ted mustered his resentment once more as he yelled, "It doesn't matter! You still...you're still just such a damn good liar."

A flicker of what could only be pride overtook Barney's features. "Good."

"It's not a compliment."

"Maybe not to you it's not."

Ted sighed and shook his head in exasperation. "Well, you got what you wanted, then. You hurt me back, how's it feel?"

Barney's cocky expression quickly vanished and his eyes widened to match Ted's. He nervously licked his lips before whispering, "My goal wasn't to hurt you back...no, it was. You fucking broke my heart, why shouldn't I have tried to break yours too?"

"But that's the thing, Barney, I didn't mean to break your heart. God, I would never..." Ted could feel his defenses tumbling away. He had exhausted the reserve of rage within him, and now all that was left was the relief, the hope, and the guilt. "No, you know what? You're right. I had this coming. All I ever do is hurt you."

Barney silently held his gaze before his eyes softened into deep pools of crisp blue and a small sigh escaped his lips. "That's not all you ever do," he mumbled, his tone one of reluctant acceptance. "If that's all you ever did, I wouldn't…" His voice trailed away and he resolutely shook his head. "Why…? Why couldn't you push her away? Why wasn't I…enough?"

Ted was once again seized by an intense desire to pull Barney into his arms, if only so he wouldn't have to look him in the eyes and bear witness to the tears that threatened to start spilling out of them again. He resisted, however, and instead forced himself to keep eye-contact as he whispered, "You were enough, you're…everything. I guess I didn't realize just how much you are until I lost you. I wasn't lying when I told you that I love you."

As soon as the words left Ted's mouth Barney's arms were around him and their lips were passionately pressed together with tongues intertwined. Ted was so taken aback he nearly flinched away from the contact, but Barney's hand pushed gently against the back of his head preventing him from breaking away from the kiss. By the time Barney finally broke away from him they were both gasping for breath. "I hate that I just did that," Barney muttered, panting heavily between his words.

Ted shook his head in confusion before impulsively initiating another kiss. Barney didn't give into it this time and Ted quickly pulled his lips away. "I know you're scared I'll hurt you again, you have every right to distrust me, but…If you give me another chance I'll make it right. I'll earn your trust again." Your love, his brain longingly added.

"I'm so…stupid. I have no choice, because I still want you so badly I can't…" Barney let his words fall away in favor of forcing his lips back against Ted's.

"Thank God you're stupid," Ted gently whispered against Barney's lips.

"No, I…," Barney aimlessly attempted at protesting once more, even as he leaned deeper into the kiss.

Ted stopped him for a moment, backing off a step. "I'll do anything to make it up to you, Barney. Whatever I have to do."

Barney's eyes widened and Ted thought he caught a glimpse of a grin as he playfully asked, "You ever thought about getting remarried?" Ted's eyes nearly rolled out of his skull and onto the wooden floor. He also nearly toppled onto the floor himself, in all honesty. After a beat of near-hypervenalation, Barney released him with a whispered, "Kidding, just wanted to see you sweat."

Ted found that it was still extremely difficult to rein himself back in and take a breath. "Hilarious," he said, the unamused monotone of his voice in direct opposition to his words. He breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head while simultaneously giving in to a small smile.

Four months later, the idea was no longer so hilarious.

"This must be weird for you," Ted mumbled, anxiously straightening his tie for approximately the millionth time.

He could see Marshall grinning at him behind his back from the reflection in the mirror. "Would you stop with that already? My two best friends are both getting married today! To each other! I daresay, that this is, in fact, a miracle."

"Oh, please, this again?" an all too familiar voice suddenly asked.

Ted quickly spun around to face the one in possession of that voice. "I didn't think you'd come," he whispered, unable to stop himself from smiling a bit.

Robin shrugged. "Neither did I, but I don't know, I guess I'm just relieved that Barney still wanted me here even after I almost stopped it from happening."

"Well, I'm glad you came."

Robin frowned at him ever-so-slightly before saying, "I'm here to support him, not you. I'm still mad at you, don't get the wrong idea."

Ted's smile evolved into a grin and he eagerly nodded his head, "Fine by me."

The door opened again and Penny cautiously peeked her head into the room. "Hey, dad, you almost..." Her words died away as she caught sight of Robin. "Hi, Aunt Robin," she quickly greeted before her gaze returned to Ted and she put her hand up against the side of her mouth to do a faux stage whisper, "I thought you said you shouldn't invite exes to your wedding. You know I love her, but isn't she a bit of a double whammy?"

Robin playfully rolled her eyes as she began to walk back towards the door. She sidestepped Penny and slipped out into the hallway, willingly providing them with room to talk about her behind her back. Ted simply smiled at his daughter and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess there's an exception to every rule. Besides, she was there when I married your mother and that went fine."

Penny shrugged at him, and indifferently said, "I guess," before taking her leave and letting the door click shut behind her.

Ted tucked a strand of his hair back into place before he finally turned away from the mirror in order to glance at the gorgeous watch on his wrist. "Shit, ten minutes to showtime," he whispered, trying to keep his voice from wavering as he dangled within the very cusp of hyperventilation. He nervously rubbed his palms together before turning his eyes up to meet Marshall's. "I'm doing the right thing, right?"

Marshall's eyebrows rose and his face took on a quizzical expression. "Right thing? If this is what you want, then it's the right thing."

"This is what I want," Ted answered, feeling more confident in his answer than he sounded.

"You love him, right?"

Ted immediately and vigorously nodded his head. "Yes."

"Then it'll be fine," Marshall assured him, standing up from his chair against the side wall of the room and walking towards Ted. He reassuringly clapped his hand down on Ted's shoulder and flashed him a warm smile. "Don't worry so much."

"The guy who shaved his head right before his wedding is telling me I'm worrying too much?"

"I didn't shave my whole head…"

"Right, because that makes it better."

"It does."

There was a knock on the door and Marshall made to answer it as Ted took a deep breath and tried to calm his reverberating nerves. James strolled into the room and looked Ted over, scrutinizing him. He seemed to pass the test, as James quickly stopped and smiled at him. "Barney's ready, just wanted to make sure that you are too…And that you didn't run off and leave my brother at the altar."

"Glad you have so much faith in me, James," Ted mumbled.

James nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and said, "Just watching out for my baby bro."

Ted smiled back at him and nodded his head. "I know, it's fine. I get it." He thought for a moment before hesitantly adding, "I promise that I'm done hurting him, though. I really do love your brother, more than I can say."

This seemed to set James at ease as a smile reappeared on his face and he took a few steps closer to Ted until he suddenly wrapped his arms around him. "Welcome to the family, then."

Ted laughed and graciously nodded as he whispered, "Thank you."

"Now I've got to go get Barney, it's almost time…" James said, his voice trailing off as he walked out of the room.

"You ready?" Marshall asked once the door clicked shut and they were once again alone.

"As I'll ever be," Ted answered, his nerves rapidly returning with a vengeance. He frantically checked his watch again and whispered more to himself than to Marshall, "Two minutes."

He moved back in front of the mirror and quickly studied himself in it. He wasn't sure about what he saw in it and immediately set about fussing with his hair once more. "Ted, if you're late Barney will kill you. You know how insistent he's been about getting the timing perfect."

Ted rolled his eyes and forced himself away from his reflection. "You don't need to remind me. I still think it's ridiculous that he's making us both walk down the aisle."

"It's sweet," Marshall replied, grinning.

"That's what he said."

"He's right."

"If you say so. I just wanted to stand there and let him garner the attention."

"No such luck."

"Seems not."

"What time is it?"

Ted's eyes hurriedly moved down to his wrist once more as panic settled in his chest. Just as he opened his mouth to give Marshall an answer a loud, obnoxious buzzing noise erupted out from Marshall's pocket. He quickly pulled his phone out and silenced the alarm before meeting Ted's eyes. "Showtime," he whispered, tugging the door open.

Ted hurried out of the room and down the hallway, his rapidly beating heart and heightened breaths the only sounds to be heard. Marshall disappeared, heading off in the other direction as planned, so that he could beat Ted and Barney to the ceremony and inconspicuously take his position off to the sidelines.

When Ted finally reached the door to the main room of the venue he came to a sudden halt. He rested his hand against the smooth wood of the door and took a labored breath. Once he pushed the door open, that would be it. There would be no going back. He would marry Barney Stinson. The thought even now still struck him as kind of ridiculous. Ridiculous and magical. Weird and beautiful. Terrifying and glorious.

After everything they had both been through in their lives, this, at least to him, felt like a worthy end to their story. Or perhaps, a worthy beginning.

One last breath, and he was through the door.

I know I said that there would be two more chapters, looks like I was wrong...whoops. I was going to have this chapter continue on past the wedding and have it be long enough to split in two, but I really would just rather it end with the wedding. Originally I had planned for this to end with Barney refusing to forgive Ted and actually getting back together with Robin, but I figured that this is probably the better way to end it. Anyway, thank you so much to anyone who stuck with this and read the whole thing! It's the longest thing I've written, so it feels nice to be able to mark it as completed.

If you've gotten this far I would really appreciate it if you would leave a review on the fic overall. It would mean a lot. Thank you!

Maybe eventually I'll write more for this fandom.