Starlight

XXXIV: Be the Hero

Be the hero of your story
'Til it's done
Why go promenade when
You were born to run?

- 'Be the Hero', Big Fish

xx.xx

She'd been here before.

It wasn't as familiar to her as other areas of Henry's house, but Robbie had spent a couple of nights nursing some strong spirit or another in his makeshift bar. A few kitchen-style island counters with stiff leather bar stools, cabinets full of bottles, cans.

As the cool leather chilled her skin through her jeans, she remembered one long-ago evening they'd spent here, talking until 3 am. He'd tried to keep up with her. Robbie couldn't really handle her drink, but Henry was something else.

She trailed her fingertips along the frigid marble counter top, trying to recall exactly what their conversation had been about - he'd been flirty, confident, playful. She had too. They had clinked glasses, shared secrets, let the warmth of the alcohol radiate from their skin and keep them cozy despite the chill Winter night.

The words they'd said to one another had since faded away, but the feelings that conversation left behind - the warmth, the longing, the way she'd felt echoes of his hammering heart in her own chest as he pressed his body to hers, kissing her clumsily against the counter - those feelings were somehow more vivid than ever, emphasized by their own absence.

"Hey!" Bill's voice interrupted her quiet reverie. "What you got there?"

She took an unnecessarily loud sip, flustered by his sudden presence. "Just coke."

"Not drinking, huh?"

She shrugged. "Nah."

"Yeah, me neither. Figured that with everything that's going on, we could do with a designated driver!"

"Uh huh."

"In fact, it might be good if there are two of us, just in case. Can you drive?"

Another slurp. "Nope. Could never afford the lessons, let alone a car."

"No worries! That's fine!" Bill began to drift away, before turning back toward her: "Oh, does the Professor...?"

Robbie sighed. "Look, I'm probably his best non-robotic friend, and I'm literally trusting him with my life by being here, but... honestly?" She settled the cup down, swiveling around on her bar stool to look at him properly. "Even if he could drive, I wouldn't get in any car with him behind the wheel."

Bill turned to her with a start, his eyebrows knit together and a frown forming. "Wait, he has robot friends?"

"Yeah, if you count his Amazon Alexa. It's probably his best buddy in the whole world," She snickered, before trailing off as she realized that without her in his life for the last eight months, that had probably been true.

"He does seem pretty eccentric. Sorry - I don't mean to be rude, I know that he's doing his best for us." His eyes flickered over to Ted for a second, clearly remembering Robbie's series of arguments with him.

"Don't worry about it," She relented with a small smile. She'd tried to be standoffish and aloof in order to have some time alone to process the day, but it just wasn't in her nature.

"Listen," Bill settled down on the stool next to hers. "I'm really sorry about Mel. She's a great girl."

"Thanks." Robbie didn't know what else to say, absentmindedly drumming the side of the bar with her feet. "I remember she told me once that you have a daughter. Is she...?"