A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this final chapter up. Thanks so much for all the thoughtful reviews! This marks the first time that I have actually finished a piece of fanfiction - hopefully this will inspire me to get around to finishing off the others. :) I hope you all like how it ends, thanks for reading this far!

The next morning, Barney rolled over and reached across the bed to lay his arm across... nothing. He sat up, startled, and looked around his bedroom. No! he thought, No, she can't just leave me high and dry! She can't just open the door to a whole new universe of incredibly awesome love-sex and then slam it shut again! She can't tell me she loves me and then chicken out like a - He heard someone shuffling around in his kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief, sinking back into his pillow.

A few minutes later, he emerged from the bedroom wrapped in a silk robe, to find Robin pouring two cups of coffee, wearing one of his button-down shirts and, as far as he could tell, nothing else.

"Hey-" she started to hand him a mug when he pulled her into a kiss. Having both hands full of hot coffee, she found it difficult to extract herself. "Mmmmm! Mmmm-mmmm!" she mumbled insistently.

He finally pulled back. "Something to say? Maybe how awesome I was last night?"

"Well, that too, but mostly watch the coffee. You wouldn't want your awesome scalded."

He took a cup from her and began to sip. "Robin, please, it'll take a little more than piping hot - yow, Scherbatsky, is this still boiling?"

She smirked as she sat down at his table. "I warned you."

He sat down across from her. "So, uh, it looks like we're not doing the whole make-excuses-hasty-exit-pretend-it-didn't-happen thing... So... What happens instead? I'm kinda new at this."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly worked up an appetite. I was thinking maybe we should go out for brunch -"

"Brunch??"

"Yeah, there's this new place with unlimited french toast, it-"

"Robin, look. I had an amazing time last night. And I want to do it again. Many, many times, preferably starting as soon as I finish this coffee. I love you, I'm not afraid to say it, I don't care who knows it... But I'm sorry. I'm just not ready for that kind of commitment right now."

"You... You what? You love me, but you're not ready to take me out to eat? Barney, we go out for dinner all the time. What on earth-"

"But this isn't dinner, Robin. This is brunch. Ted and Stella went out for brunch. Marshall and Lily go out for brunch. Do you notice a pattern? Brunch is a symbol of a long-term, committed relationship. It is a symbol of monogamy and matching sweaters and moving to New Jersey together. Brunch is the opposite of everything that Barney Stinson stands for."

Robin rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure how a simple meal - a simple oh so tasty meal - had come to have such cult status among her friends. "Don't be ridiculous. It stands for omelets and french toast and sausage and maple syrup. Just because the long-term committed couples that we know go to brunch doesn't mean that we have to be in a committed relationship to eat it. Not that there aren't worse things that could happen to you than to be in a committed relationship with me, you know! The woman you're supposedly in love with?" She realized that she'd gotten quite loud toward the end and sipped her coffee sheepishly.

"Oh, great. So you're saying you only slept with me to try and rope me into a relationship?"

"Barney!" Robin was pissed now. "Let me remind you that you were the one who took it to the "I love you" place. I was just looking for some fun, you're the one who brought feelings into it. And yes, when you pushed me I had to admit, I have, somehow, fallen in love with you. But that doesn't mean that I'm just going to roll over and be treated like one of your bimbos! Why did you say that, Barney? If you're so, so very scared of commitment that you won't even go eat a freaking omelet with me, why did you bother telling me you love me?" She had to feel a little bit bad when she saw the wounded-puppy look on his face - but damn it, this weekend had not gone the way she intended it to go and she needed some answers.

"Robin," he started quietly, "I don't want to treat you like a bimbo. But... I kinda want to keep treating bimbos like bimbos. They're fun. I don't love them. I want to spend a whole lot of time with you, I want to sleep with you over and over again - I will toss my 'Never sleep with the same woman on more than three separate occasions' rule RIGHT out the window for you. I'll even..." he swallowed, "I'll even go eat brunch with you, if it's that important, because you're that important to me. But..."

"You don't know if you're ready for long-term monogamy?"

He raised his hands up in front of his face. "Don't throw your coffee on me!"

She sighed. "No, Barney, it's okay. I'm glad you're being honest. Look, it's not like I want to be tied down, either. You know why Ted and I broke up."

"Because you woke up one morning and suddenly remembered you're a heterosexual female?" He grinned and held his fist out. "Bump it. C'mon, bump it. You know you want to."

She let a grin creep onto her face and bumped his fist. "Well, that too. But mostly because I realized that I didn't want the kind of long-term commitment that Ted did. And I still don't. I've been to Argentina and Japan, but I've got a lot more traveling to do - and I will admit that I enjoy sampling the local flavor." Her eyes lost focus for a second as she remembered the nights with Gael. A dreamy smile played on her lips before she brought herself back to reality. "But Barney, honestly, after last night do you think we can just be friends the way we were two days ago?"

"Well, I don't want to be friends the way we were two days ago, because we weren't having super-awesome love-sex two days ago. Duh."

"Love-sex?"

"Look, Scherbatsky, that's not important. The important thing is... So what the hell do we do?"

Robin looked down at her coffee for a few minutes. "Well, some people have open relationships. Like, you're dating, but you can sleep with whoever you want."

"I'm listening..."

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "But that seems like it could get awkward, y'know? Like, what if one of us is expecting to go home together and the other one doesn't realize it and goes off with some random person? I want at least a little more predictability than that. I think I could actually be okay with you sleeping with bimbos now and then - I mean, it's not like they'll be hotter than me anyhow - but I'd want some warning."

"So I need to say, hey Robin, I'm thinking of bimboing up tonight?"

"Yeah. Or I could say, hey Barney, when I go to Ireland next month I'll be kissing a few blarney stones. And then we could have a Time Out." A smile began to creep over her face, "Yeah. We can be boyfriend and girlfriend, but we're allowed to call Time Out. We should set a few ground rules first - like, we agree at the start how long the Time Out will be. So, for example, I might ask for two weeks when I go out of the country, or you might ask for the weekend sometime. So there's no surprises."

Barney smiled and rubbed his hands together. "I am liking the sound of this! But wait - would I have to tell my bimbo that I have a girlfriend?"

"Hm, should there be a disclosure clause... I don't see any reason to. That would just spoil the fun, right?"

"Of course! Oh oh - what if we're in the middle of a weeklong Time Out, but I am really wanting some maple sugar?"

"Well, I don't see why we couldn't have sex with each other just because we're in a Time Out. But, y'know, hos before bros. Don't want to ruin a Time Out with neediness."

Barney was all business now. "You're right, of course. Sex with the primary partner should be allowed, but not required, during a Time Out. I assume friends and family members of the other party are off-limits?"

"Uh, that's a hell yes. Also, this is just about sex. If either of us starts to develop feelings for someone else, we should really just end it."

"Robin. Please."

"Okay, fine, I'll just follow that rule."

"Ms Scherbatsky, I think we can come to an arrangement here. I'll have my people draw up some documents."

"... Barney, are you a contract negotiator?"

"Please. I will admit, I have participated in a few heated negotiation sessions, but do you really think my job could possibly be summed up with such a simple title?"

She grinned. "So... Does this mean we're boyfriend and girlfriend?"

He grinned back, and was surprised that he was actually happy to hear those words. "I think it does."

"Awesome. Now can I have my french toast?"

His grin turned sly, as he traced the outlines she created under his shirt with his eyes. "Don't you think we should shower first?"

. . .

That evening, Ted, Marshall, and Lily were sitting in their regular booth at MacLaren's.

"We got to see Marshall's new niece while we were in town. She weighed over twelve pounds when she was born," Lily told Ted, a queasy look on her face. She turned to Marshall. "Sweetie, have I ever told you about my deep-seated desire to adopt a needy child from a developing country?"

Before Marshall could reply, Barney and Robin strode up to the table. Ted stood to grab a chair, motioning for them to take the booth seat, but Barney indicated that he needed to use the restroom first.

"Hey, guys, how was your Thanksgiving? And how was that date last night, Ted?" Robin asked as she slid into the booth.

"It was great!" Marshall exclaimed at the same time Lily said, "It was... family."

"You know, interesting you should ask that," Ted said as he settled into his chair. "Because, see, you would have already heard about my date if you'd been back to the apartment at any point since noon yesterday. I think maybe I'm not the one with the most interesting story to tell, Miss Scherbatsky. At least you know who I was out with. Did you meet someone last night?"

Robin opened her mouth, unsure what to say, but was saved by Barney sliding into the booth next to her. He put his arm around her shoulders and turned to the others. "Hey guys, long time no see! I hear you had a hot date last night, Ted - was it that chick I set you up with last weekend? She was smokin', I hope you tapped that."

Robin shifted uncomfortably as the other three simply stared at them, mouths slightly open. Was it really all that obvious, just from an arm around her shoulders? Did Barney never do that normally, just as a friend? Had she given him too big a grin when he did it? Did she look too nervous now? It wasn't that she wanted it to be a secret, but she'd been hoping to tell them rather than have them figure it out from the slightest evidence.

"Come on, Ted, tell me you tapped that."

"You know, I don't know what Ted did last night but I think there may have been tapping going on," Lily answered knowingly, giving Robin a significant look.

Robin blushed, which caused the other three to all break out in hopeful grins. She finally couldn't take it anymore. "You guys! Stop it! Stop looking at us like that!"

"Us?" Ted said asked innocently. "I was just looking at you and looking at Barney. I didn't realize there was an 'us' to be looked at. What sort of 'us' might there be, Robin?"

Barney, who had been completely oblivious up to this point, grinned. "Oh yeah! Hey guys, Robin and I are a couple now. Anyhow, Ted, back to this piece of ass. I repeat, and I would like you to focus on answering my question this time: Did. You. Tap. That?"

Ted, Lily, and Marshall all started talking (and, in Lily's case, squealing) at once. "Congrats!" "For real?" "That's so cool!" "It's about time!" "How did it happen?" Robin was surprised at the response - she was expecting something more like shock, not excitement. After all, she'd been pretty shocked.

Lily waved her hands to silence them. "That is so great, you guys. We've all really been rooting for this."

"You have?" Robin was really, really confused now. Barney leaned in and muttered something in her ear. "What?? You all knew that he was in love with me? Everybody but me knew about this? I'm really that completely oblivious?"

"More like in denial, we figured," Ted told her as he sipped his beer. Robin couldn't really argue.

Ted finally gave Barney the details of his date (no, there was no tapping, it turns out she'd crossed the hot/crazy line), while Lily pried information out of Robin.

During a lull in the conversation, Barney nudged Robin as he stared over at the bar. "Hey, uh, can we take a one-night Time Out? Like, now?" She followed his gaze to young redhead in a very short skirt. He straightened his tie and began to stand up, but she pulled him back down.

"Barney, no! We agreed no Time Outs for the first two weeks, so we can get used to this thing," she hissed at him, annoyed. She'd somewhat expected this, but not for a couple days at least.

He turned to her, crestfallen, then looked down at his beer. "Great. This is what I get for letting myself get roped into a boring, no fun, sexless.... relationship." He shuddered.

"Uh, hello? What sexless relationship is this? You're still getting laid tonight," Robin told him, incredulous.

He brightened immediately. "Really?" She nodded, rolling her eyes. "Sweet!"

He turned to the others, putting his arm back around her. "Hey, guys! Haaaaaaaaaave you met my awesome girlfriend, Robin?"