"You're beautiful."
Stevie looked up from her menu, her concentration broken. "I'm sorry?"
"I said you're beautiful." Robert repeated himself, smiling at her.
Stevie's cheeks tinged red, quickly looking back down at her menu. "Thank you."
He frowned, reaching across and gently lowering her menu back to the table. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, why would you ask?"
"I can't help but think you'd rather be anywhere else but here right now."
"I'm sorry Robert." She apologized. "In all honesty, i'm just really nervous."
His eyes lit up with amusement, lifting his wine glass as he took a sip, eyeing her. "You? Nervous?"
"Believe it or not i haven't been on a date in a really long time."
"Who said this was a date?" He watched her stammer, becoming flustered as a smile cracked across his face. "I'm just joking with you love, of course it is."
"That was mean."
"My apologizes." He set his glass back down on the table, reaching across to take her hand in his. "You've got nothing to be nervous about Stevie, I don't bite... unless you want me too."
She raised an eyebrow. "Getting a head of ourselves now are we?"
"I like to make assumptions."
"Well save those assumptions for your dreams."
"Still nervous?"
Stevie smiled at him from behind her wine glass, shaking her head. "No."
"Good."
A flash of light stole their attention, both of them looking to see someone with a camera pointed right at them. Robert gritted his teeth while Stevie hid her face behind her hair. "The nerve of some people."
"It's to be expected."
"Do you ever miss it?"
"Miss what?"
"Just being able to go out in public? Without body guards, without all the hassle." Robert questioned.
"Of course I do, but i wouldn't give what i do up for anything in the world."
"What makes it special for you?"
Stevie pursed her lips, her mind wandering. "All of it. The energy coming from the crowds, the applause. Through my writing i feel like i can connect with millions of people, i don't know a single one of them but it's the power of music that brings everyone together, it allows everyone to feel something, and that for me is beyond words." He looked at her with adore in his eyes, causing her too blush and look down at her lap. "And i've never known what else to do, writing and singing is the only thing that's ever made me truly happy, like i know where i belong in the world."
He just smiled, chuckling at her next words.
"You can stop starring now, what makes it special for you Robert?"
"The pain."
"I'm sorry?"
"The raw pain and emotion. I pour my heart and soul into everything i write to relieve my pain in life, it's the only way i know how to cope. After Karac died, i didn't know how to carry on, all i knew how to do was to pick up a pen and write out all my rage, and all my heartache onto that piece of paper. And i shared that pain with the world, because i know other's have it too, and if i can connect to anyone that listens to my music, if i can evoke an emotion for them, then it makes that pain a little more bearable."
