Annabeth's point of view.

As always I do not own the characters only the idea to the story.

Chapter Two

As the already crowded music club got even busier, Annabeth began to feel her nerves grow to a new height. These weren't the usual pre set jitters that always affected her before a gig. Those were more of a tense fluttering in her stomach, like tiny, excitable owls performing somersaults inside of her. They were partly the result of her curiosity of performing to a new audience and how their music would be received, but were mainly as a result of her ADHD.

Annabeth had always had a problem with patience; the problem being that she had none. Some called her impulsive, but what might be perceived as impulse was in fact the actions of a high functioning brain that assessed all options within seconds, making it seem like she never considered anything before acting. Her over analysing aside, when Annabeth had set her mind to something she wanted to do, no what she needed to do, she had to do it there and then. There was no waiting around for her, it was either do or do not. There was no try (yep, now she sounded just like Yoda – mental note to self, she thought as her mind wandered, do not share these thoughts with the Stolls, they'd never let you live it down).

It was due to her impatient attitude that she had never got on well at school. Teachers just never seemed to like her. It was surprising really since Annabeth had enjoyed her education (as limited as it had been) and was an avid reader. Maybe there just wasn't a module in teacher training college that taught you how to cope with a highly intelligent ADHD child who had often taken it upon herself to complete her work assignments hanging upside down from a tree branch. Strange really when she came to think about it.

Now back to her nerves. Annabeth was sure some of the jittery feeling inside her was partly due to the impatient desire to be up on stage, performing with her closest friends. She never felt as alive as when her fingers were moving skilfully along the fret board of her prized grey guitar. Yes, she was excited to be back in her element again, but she was also scared, something that was hard to admit. Annabeth Chase didn't do fear. Fear wasn't an emotion that Annabeth often felt, so it had taken her a while to comprehend the reason behind the emptiness in her stomach and the dryness of her throat. Oh, so that was what fear felt like? Well Annabeth thought ruefully, it could shove it!

"Ha, someone looks like they're regretting that bet now!" Thalia smirked as she adjusted the strap to her black bass guitar.

With her short, black spiky hair, accentuated by an electric blue streak, a perchance for ripped black leather and multiple piercings, Thalia looked the epitome of a punk rock musician. Annabeth glanced down at her own attire; skinny black jeans, her favourite grey hoodie and converse high tops; she looked perfectly ordinary compared to her friend. Ordinary and unnoticeable, just how she liked it.

"Gods, you had to bring it up Thals!" Annabeth responded, suddenly feeling the urge to throw up. What was happening to her?

"No seriously, I never thought I'd see the day when Annabeth Chase was actually frightened," Thalia continued, gaining the attention of their fellow band members, "Oi, any of you losers got a camera, this is truly a Kodak moment!"

Will, the band's lead singer turned towards Annabeth with a look of sympathy that she interpreted as: "Look, I feel your pain but you brought this upon yourself". Annabeth wished he wasn't right. Behind the drum set Beckendorf ignored them all, being too busy adjusting the snare drum to pay Thalia any attention; everyone was too used to her constant teasing and sometimes it was best to ignore her so as not to encourage it further. Luke on the other hand looked Annabeth directly in the eye, a gleeful expression upon his face.

"Oh my poor Annie, wishing you'd never bet against me now?" he gloated.

"No," She was, but she was never going to let him know that, "and don't call me Annie!"

"And she isn't you're anything!" Thalia shot back, she was never one to shy away from conflict.

Annabeth continued to restring her guitar. It was just her luck that the E string had snapped right before they were due to begin. Lost in thought she was oblivious to the two quarrelling band mates next to her. Why, oh why had she made that bet? If it wasn't for her stupid pride she wouldn't be in this situation, dreading what was going to happen at the end of their set.

It had all started two weeks ago after an intensive band practice at the Halfblood headquarters, otherwise known as home. They'd been practising relentlessly for months now, dedicating every spare minute to their music. It wasn't always easy to find time to practise all together, sure they all lived together with a few other friends and were lucky enough to have space at home for practise (one of the perks of living in an abandoned warehouse, one of the many and somewhat varied perks Annabeth mused) but with their erratic work schedules and subsequent sleeping patterns, zoning in on a time when a) they were all present, b) they were awake and probably most importantly c) when the Stolls weren't up to shenanigans (an extremely rare occurrence unfortunately) was always a challenge. The reason for the additional practises was the rumours that talent scouts had been reported at their most recent gigs and there would undoubtedly be someone from the industry at Olympus Club, the biggest music venue in the city.

Annabeth had found herself lounging on a sofa with Luke while they lazily watched Travis and Connor Stoll attempt to play Guitar Hero. The brothers were spectacularly useless at it, resorting to hitting each other with their fake guitars every time they failed. At the sound of a laugh escaping Annabeth's mouth, Connor turned to her defensively.

"Oh you think you can do better do you?" he'd asked, scowling.

"Of course I could, you are looking at two guitarists here," she gestured to herself and Luke, "And by that I mean real guitarists, obviously. I'm sure I could beat both of you and Luke here."

"Mmm, you willing to bet on that, Chase?" Luke had smirked at her. He knew she could never resist a challenge.

"Sure Castellan, you're on! What are the stakes?" Annabeth had replied confidently, she had never lost a bet in her life and she wasn't about to start now.

Luke chuckled, a knowing glint in his dark blue eyes, "I dunno. Don't know if you have anything I want!" His eyes roamed up and down her body as he spoke, his lip quipped in a lustful smirk. He was goading her, trying to get her riled up, but Annabeth didn't mind. It was fun when Luke was in a challenging mood.

"Okay, I win and I get your new pedal board," Luke just smiled at that as if it wasn't a real hardship if he lost, "with all your pedals," Annabeth continued. She knew that would wipe the smirk off of his face.

As predicted Luke's smile faltered for the briefest of seconds (he'd spent months saving up for all of his effect pedals, they were his pride and joy) but then his smile quickly returned, somehow even more self-assured than before.

"You're on!"

His confidence was slightly unnerving and Annabeth had found herself asking, "What do you get if you win?" Not that his winning would ever be a possibility, but she wouldn't have been Annabeth Chase if she didn't consider all eventualities.

"Oh you know what I want," he'd replied winking at her.

Annabeth knew what that look meant. He'd been relentless for months now, never giving up. She'd always managed to find an excuse and deter him, but he wouldn't give up for long. This seemed like an ideal opportunity to stop Luke once and for all and she wasn't going to miss it.

"It's a deal," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. She didn't miss the look of shock that briefly passed his face before it was smothered by a huge smile.

Looking back on it now, Annabeth should have seen the warning signs. Luke had been so confident in his abilities, but she had refused to see it. It was only Guitar Hero for gods' sakes, how could she loose at that? It was a game. Annabeth Chase never lost to anyone…

She had lost. It was the first time losing and it hurt like hell. But as her friend Silena always said, everyone's first time hurts and it's always a disappointment. Ok, yeah Annabeth knew this wasn't what Silena had been referring to (although she was in agreement with that sentiment – it had hurt and it was a disappointment), but come to think about it, losing to Luke hurt more. It had hurt her pride and if there was one thing in her life that Annabeth relied upon it was her pride. How could she have lost? Even now, two weeks on, she couldn't forget the look on Luke's face when he realised what had happened. It was like all of his Christmases had come at once and Annabeth was the present he'd been hoping for the most. Tonight was the night that he would be cashing in the bet. Tonight was the night she'd be giving him what he wanted. Gods, she really was going to puke.

Get a grip Chase!

Well no time for that now she thought as all of a sudden as she was blinded by spotlights – an aspect of performing that she'd always hated, like yeah blinding and disorientating people is such a great idea if you want them to perform well. Not only were the spotlights bright, they were hot. Annabeth could already feel tiny beads of perspiration forming on her forehead, it wouldn't be long before she would have to discard her hoodie in favour of the formfitting vest top she wore underneath. How could Thalia stand there in her leather jacket, did she not feel the heat? It didn't matter where they were playing, whether it was in a freezing warehouse or a crowded bar, Thalia would be wearing her leather jacket, never even breaking a sweat. This wasn't the first time that Annabeth wondered if her best friend was indeed mortal.

"It's show time!" Thalia gleefully exclaimed, plucking at her bass guitar to lead the band into their first song.

A few minutes into the set and Annabeth's nerves had vanished. She wasn't thinking about what was going to happen, being too absorbed in the music. Her fingers moved seamlessly along her guitar with such ease and skill that even Luke couldn't keep up at times, and he was a very talented guitarist. Annabeth was in her element! She didn't know how long they'd been playing for, time just ceased to exist. Playing the guitar was calming for her ADHD mind.

Although absorbed in her actions, Annabeth was aware of the appreciative sounds the crowd were making. There was a lot of cheering and clapping that was getting louder and louder as they continued to play. It was obvious that they had built up quite a fan base if the sounds of singing from the audience was anything to go by. They never played cover songs, all their music being original, but there would be one cover tonight Annabeth remembered with a prickling of fear. Just one at the end of their set, but she wouldn't dwell on that now, she was having too much fun.

Will was an excellent front man, he managed to keep the audience interested with his melodious voice and easy going attitude. He was comfortable being at the forefront, something that Annabeth never was. She enjoyed standing at the side with only her guitar to focus on. Luke was also a natural performer, he would smile at the audience and crack jokes. The steady banter between him and Will kept the audience laughing between songs, whilst giving the rest of the band a few minutes breathing space.

All too soon their set was coming to an end Annabeth realised, as her heart began to race with anticipation of what was coming next. She was beginning to lose her focus and for the first time that evening she lifted her head and gazed out into the appreciative crowd.

That's when she saw him.

Wow! That was all Annabeth could think (great vocabulary Chase, you sound like a simpleton!), yet wow was the best adjective she could think of. He looked like a god! His tall, lean frame (was that a hint of muscles she detected under his snug fitting navy Henley shirt? Don't gawp she reprimanded her wayward mind), was leaning against the bar with ease. His black hair looked ruffled like he'd just stepped in from a windswept beach while his smile was bright and full of laughter. And his eyes, oh gods his eyes!

Before Annabeth could stare anymore (falling more and more in lust with each passing second) she noticed the small red headed woman next to him put a protective hand on his chest (no fair Annabeth wanted to scream!). Of course he was taken, why wouldn't he be?

Right focus now Chase. Annabeth dropped her eyes back to her guitar and started to concentrate on her surrounding band members. They were almost at the end of their song, meaning there was only one left. The feeling of needing to puke returned to Annabeth instantly. It was almost time.