Seeing Ted propose brings out the romantic in Barney. He realizes that he has deep feelings for Robin, even if they've opted to bury those under a layer of callousness. These only grow stronger when Robin lands a job in Japan. She quickly returns, quitting her job and coming back to New York for Ted's wedding, citing homesickness.
Ted gets left at the altar by Stella, and his singledom coupled with Robin's precarious situation leads the pair to move in together. Robin gets a job as an early morning anchor to avoid being deported. The close quarters breed resentment between Ted and Robin, who learn to vent their frustrations with each other by having sex. This situation doesn't sit well with Barney, who is secretly in love with Robin. Ted realizes that Barney has feelings for Robin when he goes to extreme lengths to keep the two roommates from fighting (and then resolving it in their way).
Ted realizes that Lily has been secretly steering his life, pushing him to break up with women she didn't think were suitable. When Ted and Robin realize that their initial relationship might have been severed by Lily, they relate to one another in their shared animosity toward her actions. The conversation turns toward being better friends to one another and they opt to abandon their sex-based resolution system.
Ted starts an architectural firm in his apartment, but can't seem to land any clients due to his fear of being rejected. Barney and Marshall, now working for a banking corporation, land Ted the gig of designing their new national headquarters, but the project falls through, leaving Ted back at rock bottom.
Ted runs into Stella and her new husband Tony, who offers Ted a job as a professor of architecture. Though he's initially too proud to take the offer, he later realizes it's the right decision. The class is the first time that Ted will cross paths with the mother of his children.
