Chapter 6- Surprise at the door

Robin was woken up by loud bangs. She didn't know where she was at first, and tried to remember last night. Looking around the room she realized she was in Barney's living room, laying on his couch. And everything came back to her.

She remembered reading the story to Ellie, then settling down on the couch. It was quite unpleasant, and it might have been better to sleep in Barney's room, on his bed (Their bed). But it wasn't her bed, and sleeping in it while Barney wasn't there, just seemed like something she shouldn't do.

The banging turned out to be from the other side of the apartment's door, and it was getting louder and stronger. Wondering who it could be, she yelled "Just a minute!" at the door, and got up from the couch. The banging stopped. She was wearing a large sweater and long pajamas pants she brought from her apartment, but it seemed decent enough.

She walked slowly to the door, a little fearful of what (or rather who) she'll find on the other side.

The minute she opened the door, her eyes widen in surprise.

"Ted?"

"Oh," he said, with sarcastic edge to his voice. "So you do remember me." He walked past her, entering the apartment and facing her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Come on in," she said sarcastically, closing the door and facing him as well.

"Two months, Robin!" he yelled and she flinched. "Two months and you never bothered to call! And now this! I need to find out my best friend has been in a car accident a week later, by his brother?!"

"Ted, calm down," she tried, not wanting for him to wake up Ellie who was still asleep in her room. Or so she hoped.

He stared pacing, his hands flying around in the air.

"Calm down?! No! You have no right, Robin! No right!"

"Listen, Ted, I'm sorry I didn't call you, but can you please not-"

"Not what? Not make a big deal out of it?! He's my best friend, Robin!"

"I know," she said, her voice soft. "I'm sorry. But Ellie's-"

"That's right! His daughter, who you didn't even know existed, was in the car with him, and you never thought about-"

"Uncle Ted?"

Both of them turned around to see Ellie standing at the doorway of her room. Ted's face softened, and he ran to her, lifting her up and hugging her close to his body.

"Hey, baby girl," he said, looking at her. "Are you alright?"

Ellie nodded, yawning. Ted put her down, stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry we woke you up," Robin told her, though it really was Ted's fault. She came closer, taking the little girl's hand.

"Come on, get back to bed, it's still early."

Ellie nodded again, and Robin took her back into her room. She put her back in bed, made sure she was well covered, and closed the curtains.

When she walked back to the living room, closing the door behind her, she saw Ted sitting on the couch, his face in his hands.

"I'm really sorry, Ted," she told him honestly.

He looked up at her, and she thought she could see a single tear running down his face.

"Why?" he asked when she sat heavily next to him.

"Lily thought-"

"LILY THOUGHT?" he became mad again. Robin sent him a stern look, and he lowered his voice. "She was in on it too? So what, I was the only one who didn't know?!"

"She thought… well, she thought it wasn't a good idea to put more stress on you, considering…" but she couldn't finish, because this time she was definitely seeing tears in Ted's eyes. She hesitated before putting her hand on his shoulder, but decided to do it anyway. She didn't know if he wanted her comfort, or if he even considered her as his friend, but she wanted to show him that she still did.

"I'm sorry," she said.

To her surprise, Ted's arms wrapped around her and she could feel him burying his face in her shoulder. She stiffened at first, but after a few seconds relaxed and hugged him back. They sat like that for a few more minutes, Ted sobbing on her shoulder, while Robin rubbing his back.

Finally the sobbing ceased and Ted drew back. He whipped his wet face with the back of his hand, and avoided looking at her.

"I'm so sorry, Ted," she said again, referring to both the call she didn't make and Tracy's state.

He didn't answer, and she didn't know what else to say. They sat there in silence, each imprisoned in his own mind and thoughts.

He looks awful, she thought, sending him a few a few glances at his direction. His face was decorated by more wrinkles than she remembered from when she had last saw him. How long has it been? She tried to remember. Probably five or six years.

She had missed him, she had to admit to herself. During her traveling she thought about her friends a lot. Mostly about Barney, but also about Ted. She missed the safety of his friendship, the knowledge that no matter what she did, there was always someone to back her up and support her. She missed their old saluting joke, and his earnest advices. Seeing him this broken made her own heart to break.

When she got back to New York, there had been a few times when she picked up her phone and dialed his number, but decided against it in the last second. She was just too scared of the possibility of him not wanting to forgive her for not being there for so long.

"It's just so hard," he said suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts. "All the time I have to spend at the hospital, worrying my ass of. And dealing with Luke and Penny's questions about why they can't see their mom all the time. They are still so little… And Tracy, she's…" he stopped to wipe another tear, "she's so brave, but seeing her that fragile and vulnerable is the worst thing I have ever seen.

"And now Barney, Barney of all people, the only one who was still here… it's just not fair."

She felt so bad for him, for having to deal with all that. He didn't deserve that, he deserved to be happy.

"I'm sorry, Ted," she said, for the million time. But she felt like no matter how many more times she'll say it, it still won't be enough. "For everything. For not calling you, for not being here for you. For Tracy…"

She couldn't deal with the dark path the conversation had gotten to anymore, and she knew she had to try and cheer in up instead.

"But no one is dead." She said, avoiding the word yet. "Tracy has a chance to survive this, and so does Barney. And we have to be strong for them and believe there will be some kind of miracle."

"Miracle?" he repeated, looking at her strangely. "Since when do you believe in miracles?"

"I don't know, I guess it is a good time to start."

"You're right." He said, smiling at her for the first time. Even if it was a small and sad smile, it was still better than watching him cry.

"So," he said, his voice changing to business like. "You're watching after Ellie, hah?"

"Yep," she replied.

"And how is that working out for you?"

"She's a cute kid," she said, smiling. After last night she really started to like that girl. She did say her favorite book was about Sparkles. And she was just so much like Barney, that she couldn't not like her.

"Yeah, she really is." Said Ted, agreeing with her. "So you really have no problem with that? I mean," he said hesitantly, "she is Barney's daughter. You can't pretend that doesn't bother you, even a little."

"At first it did," she admitted. "And maybe it still does. But she's Barney's, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"I really missed you, Ted," she said, facing her fear of his response.

He looked up at her, and his face broke into a smile. "I missed you too."

She didn't realize how much she needed to hear him say it, until he actually did. She pulled him into a hug again, and he responded by wrapping his strong arms around her. And for the first time in a week, Robin felt a little bit better.

AN: Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate it! I'm starting University in two weeks, so I don't know how much time I'm going to have to write this and my other stories, but I'm going to try to continue writing as much as I can.

About this chapter, I'm not a Robin\Ted fan but I do like how they had a strong friendship, even though they had so much history between them. And he did deserve to know about Barney.

So anyway, hope you liked it, please continue to R&R, it makes me want to write more (: