Blainey

BarryxLainey is the het ship between Barry Goldberg and Lainey Lewis from the The Goldbergs fandom.

Season 1
Barry loved Lainey as a child, and even when he had a crush on another girl Lexi Bloom, he admitted to finding Lainey attractive. Lainey initially did not return his feelings, but being Barry the younger brother of his best friend, he ended up getting to know him better and become attached to him. To help Barry conquer Lexi, she kissed him during a party, but from that moment on, Barry lost interest in Lexi and began trying to conquer Lainey.

Courtship
Barry lets in Lainey and Erica in the rock band he formed with his brother Adam. After a concert for Barry and Adam's parents the first declares his love for Lainey. She politely refuses him, but the boy does not lose heart and decides that he will continue to woo her. Barry asks Erica to persuade Lainey to give him an appointment, but she refuses to do so. When Barry ends up in the hospital due to an intestinal obstruction, Lainey goes to see him with great joy of the boy. Eventually Barry managed to break into Lainey's heart, and the two began dating.

Secret relationship
Lainey was initially ashamed of her relationship with Barry (Lainey was very popular at school and Barry and no) and decided to keep it a secret. At one point Erica accidentally discovered their relationship and was not at all happy about it. Barry hoped that Lainey would invite him to Sadie Hawkins's dance, but she refused to do so.

Erica decided to take advantage of the situation to separate Barry and Lainey, and asked their mother Beverly to get a dame for her brother for the dance, which she did. Lainey obviously didn't like it, and left Barry; however Erica, in seeing the sadness of her brother, repented of what she had done and convinced him to try to clarify things with Lainey. Barry rushed to the dance and told the girl that if he wanted to keep their secret relationship, it was fine for him. Lainey moved and decided to make their report public and kissed him in front of everyone.

Official couple/forbidden love
Now that Barry is officially her boyfriend Lainey wants their fathers to meet (it's the only rule set by Mr. Lewis). The two initially seem to get along but Barray's father Murray is a Philadelphia Eagles fan while Lainey's father is a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Out of love for his son Murray, he comes almost to humiliate himself in front of Mr. Lewis, denying his favorite team, but Barry won't let him, so Bill forbids the two teenagers to hang out; fortunately, Lainey excited by the idea of forbidden love, decides to start seeing Barry again in secret. Barry marches the school, and when his mother finds out he puts him in punishment, preventing him from going to the parade in which Lainey is the protagonist having been elected queen of the school. Spurred on by Erica, he escapes and goes anyway, giving a serenade to the girl.

In short, the two fall in love more and more, to the point that they begin, to neglect their respective friends, spending all their free time together. Erica is hurt and irritated by the fact that her best friend prefers her brother to her and manipulates JTP (Barry's group of friends) trying to split them again, failing miserably. When she admits that she did it because she missed Lainey, she and Barry forgive her and help her convince the JTP to stop courting her. Then they return to spend time with their friends.

When Erica and Lainey get to participate in the television program Dance Party USA, Barry tries in vain to join them; however, Erica takes conjunctivitis and Barry takes dance lessons from Coach Mellor, impressing Lainey very positively to the point that the girl decides to take only Barry; in the end, however, the couple changes their mind and still bring Erica with them.

End of prohibitions
Barry and Lainey kiss continuously in public at school, to the point that the headmaster summons their fathers to talk about their behavior. Unexpectedly, the two become friends after discovering that they have a lot in common; however, Murray, annoyed by Bill's talk of his divorce, tries to avoid him with anger, and this fact also upsets Barry and Lainey who see the renewed rivalry of their fathers as a threat to their relationship. Eventually, Bill and Murray reconcile and become friends again, much to the delight of their children.

During a conversation Barry inadvertently tells Lainey that he loves her. When she does not respond, since she is a cheerleader Barry becomes the school mascot to approach her, unaware that a rival team is planning to beat the mascot. Eventually Lainey, worried about him, tells him she loves him: she hadn't made it before because she saw her father with a broken heart after her mother left him and she was afraid of ending up like him. Barry is overjoyed to having received the declaration of Lainey.

Season 3
Lainey is annoyed because Barry constantly tries to impress her (because of Erica who constantly tells him that a girl like Lainey is too much for him), so she asks Erica to stop him, but she, to have fun behind him, tells her brother that he must be more like Boy George to be with Lainey. Barry then dresses like the famous singer and calls himself "Boy Barry", but, having discovered the joke, he gets angry with Lainey and breaks up with her. Lainey is devastated and discovered her friend's responsibility requires her to help her recapture Barry, coming to apologize by dedicating a rap of her own creation (as he did while he was courting her), in front of the whole school, but people think that she's making fun of Barry and his passion for rap and the situation gets even worse. In the end it is Erica who, sorry for what she did, convinces her brother to go back with the girl, since if Lainey chose him she loves him as he is. Barry runs in the rain, to Lainey's house to declare his love and the blonde is visibly very happy.7

When the Christmas holidays come, Barry spends all his time with Lainey, completely ignoring his little brother Adam; seeing that the latter is not injured Lainey leaves with an excuse and the two brothers clarify their differences. Subsequently Adam and Barry include Lainey in their festive traditions.

Lainey doesn't want Barry to do something exaggerated for Valentine's Day, and he tries to think of something small, but romantic; inspired by the music video for Hello, by Lionel Richie, Barry tries to sculpt a clay bust depicting Lainey, though only getting gruesome gouges. Lainey, however, appreciates the attempt, and is moved by the fine words Barry addresses to her, and the two profess their love again.

Later, Barry tries to impress Bill, Lainey's father. His father Murray tells him that all fathers despise their daughters 'boyfriends and tries to help Barry ignore Mr. Lewis' poor opinion of him, but when Barry sees that Bill has a good relationship with Lainey's ex-boyfriend, he depresses and decides to earn Bill's approval in every way. In the end, he succeeds thanks to Murray's help.

Despite his father's imposing on him, Barry has no intention of taking the aptitude test for college, and is very disappointed to learn that Lainey and all three of his JTP friends are planning to take the test, and that they have given up their dreams. In the end he admits to everyone that he is afraid to take the test because he thinks he will fail and that he is afraid his friends and his girlfriend, will go on to great things, leaving him behind. Murray reassures his son and he then begins to study for the test, to the satisfaction of Murray and Lainey who have always believed in him.

Fanon
Barry X Lainey is probably the most popular ship in The Goldbergs franchise. It could be seen as the representative couple of the show, being present in all seasons, and having evolved through them. It is a ship appreciated by fans, who dedicate them GIF, video and fanfiction.

Fandom
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