Over the years, Grover had slowly learned and mastered how to play the flute. As trivial as it might have seemed to any demigods (many of which had encouraged him to give it up several times), it meant a lot to him to be able to play something other than an accidental rendition of a Hilary Duff song and one or two fairly simple songs. Not being able to play the flute had been an embarrassment to him as a satyr – all the respected satyrs knew how to play a wide array of nature and tracking songs – and now he felt a level of self-respect that had not been present before.
But as he sat beside Juniper, trying to play a song for her as she had requested of him, all his ability seemed to have left him and once again he found himself tripping over the notes of a song that was starting to sound suspiciously like "So Yesterday." He inwardly cringed, hands shaking as he tried to make the first song he had ever played for his girlfriend not make him look like a failure.
Juniper smiled encouragingly at him as he continued. A wave of heat filled his cheeks and he stopped suddenly.
"Sorry, I'm, uh, usually better than this," he said, tearing his eyes from her and staring at the ground.
"It's okay. You're just nervous." She gently lifted his head to look back at her. "I think it's cute."
Grover's blush deepened, and Juniper giggled.
"Just try again," she encouraged. "I know you're good at this – just pretend I'm not here."
He didn't tell her that what she was saying was near impossible, instead trying to convince himself that he could play with her next to him, and well. As she cuddled up to his side, he took a deep breath and concentrated fully on playing a simple folk song. He ignored the first couple of wrong notes at the beginning and kept playing, imagining the flush of pride that would appear on Juniper's face if he succeeded. His notes began to sound more certain, and when he chanced a look at his girlfriend, the look of admiration and absolute attentiveness she wore made him confident.
When he finished, Juniper threw her arms around him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "That was great! I knew you could do it. Play some more?"
Grover smiled back at her and stole a quick kiss before beginning another song.