AN: Hope it's not too abrupt to say this is the 22nd and final chapter. Thank you for the favourites, the follows, the nice reviews and most of all, thank you for sticking with me. Catch you all later soon, sometime in the future. Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter and savour the sweet taste of the (...spoiler alert!) happy ending. :) x

Awkward, Sam thought as the three settled down on Robin's couch, looking at his watch constantly and impatiently. What's this all about now? I haven't got all day.

Struggling with her words, Robin cleared her throat and her voice pierced through the silence.

"Sam."

Looking at her with his infamous puppy eyes, his 'oh so lovely' voice was back, a voice – no point fighting it – enough to make her weak.

"Robin."

"And Barney here, what up." Barney added, raising his eyebrow, a gesture ignored by the two.

Taking a deep breath, she mustered all the courage she had left; looking at Barney for some additional strength she knew she could find radiating from him, someway, somehow. She breathed out. "Sam, I can't do this anymore. I can't do this relationship thing anymore. It's… Emotional abuse."

"Oh baby, good, I'm glad you've brought this up, because – truth to be told, me neither."

Barely paying attention to what Sam was saying, she continued with her little rant, surprising herself with the eloquence of her speech. "…All that's left has gone away and… There's nothing more to say or do. I think we should just call this off and save the trouble. It's just not working."

A short silence followed but Sam quickly stood up and opened his mouth, breaking the tension in a simple, matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"…I agree."

"Wait, what?"

"Yep, I agree. Let's call it off."

"Okay. What? That's it?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Sam shrugged. "Whatever. Now, if you'd excuse me, I have booked a tennis court at noon so I'll see you around, maybe." Getting up, he grabbed the racket he had brought with him when he had entered her apartment and simply left without another word.

"See me around? I can't believe it. He just… Left. I mean, what!? He didn't even yell at me and we didn't even fight. I was really looking forward to fighting because I really needed that extra anger built up gone." She wiped her forehead, a look of disbelief plastered on her face.

"See? That was way easier than expected. He just walked out on you. Literally. You know what they say. It's time to let go, and you did. Now you'd know you've saved yourself the trouble by breaking up with him at such an early stage."

"No, I haven't saved myself any trouble at all, I don't think."

"What do you mean by that?"

She was dead serious now, the corners of her mouth flat, her usual, noticeable dimple missing, vanished into the flesh of her cheek. "Barney, you know what I mean."

Unaware of the situation and how she was feeling, he panicked. Knowing her, she could be thinking about ponies and rainbows or she could be thinking about crying a river. You never know, but that is just part of her character; unpredictable, surprising, a complete wild card.

"No, I don't." He stated, genuinely confused. "What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is," she shrugged, getting up from her couch and walking down to the fridge to get a cold beer. "I bet it's going to be a much more physically, mentally and emotionally demanding job to be dating you, mister attractive face."

"Quit scaring me, Robin Scherbatsky, you saucy little minx."

Following her tracks and pulling her in for a kiss, they both broke into their widest grins, putting the brilliance of the sunrays outside to shame.

Together, at last. The first day, the new beginning, a fresh start.

And little did they know that their life together had barely begun.