Fussing with the sound equipment, Adam glances up and notices Amy standing at center stage staring at the empty dance floor. He quickly finishes plugging in all the right cords before standing up and walking over to her.

"You alright?" He asks, an undertone of concern in his voice.

Amy nods, but her body language says otherwise. She looks terribly stiff, arms crossed, knees locked, and staring straight ahead.

"Do you need help setting up your keyboard?" Adam asks, trying to locate the source of the problem so he can fix it.

"It's set up," she replies. Adam's worries run deeper because her demeanor doesn't change at all during their brief interaction.

"Can I get you something?" He offers, another attempt to sooth her.

"A time machine," she answers, only half-jokingly.

"Oh no problem, I carry one of those with me in my pocket for occasions just like this," he jokes, earning only a small smile from Amy.

"I want to go back in time and not allow you to convince me to join the band," Amy continues.

Adam, slightly hurt by her words, asks, "Why?"

Finally Amy turns to look at him, a soft expression on her face that heals any hurt Adam felt from her words, "Two words. Stage fright."

Finally Adam cracks a smile, "Ah, that's what's wrong."

She nods and turns back to face the nonexistent crowd. "How do you do it? How do you play in front of large audiences?" She asks, as if there's some secret trick to performing.

"I used to have bad stage fright when I first started playing," Adam admits. He takes a seat at the edge of the stage, patting the spot next to him. Amy finally gives up her staring contest with the empty crowd and sits next to Adam. "When I was younger I only played in my room, and never in front of anyone, not even my family."

"How'd you overcome it?"

"After a lot of encouragement from my friends, I joined a band at school. I became great friends with my band members and eventually gigs became less gig like and more like jamming with my friends. It took a lot of pressure off performances."

Amy doesn't feel anymore reassurance from Adam's story, "That didn't help," she admits.

"Baby steps," Adam reassures.

"Playing tonight isn't a baby step, it's a giant leap," Amy states.

"You've played in front of people before, right? Like piano recitals and in front of your piano teacher?" Adam asks.

"Well yeah, but that's different," Amy says.

"Not really. The only difference is that your audience isn't boring old people, its young college students."

"Exactly!" Amy states, "What if they know I don't belong here?" She asks. Adam immediately catches on to her vulnerable state.

"You do belong," Adam says in a comforting tone, "Everyone is going to see you play tonight and instantly love you, I promise."

"You don't know that," Amy asserts.

"How could they not?" He asks rhetorically. He lowers his voice and whispers in her ear, "You're so talented and sexy when you play, I'll have a hard enough time keeping my gaze on the audience," he teases.

This time Amy bursts out laughing, something Adam has never seen before. Her laugh echoes through the empty venue. Adam smiles at his accomplishment of getting her to loosen up.

"I have never been called sexy before," she admits, still laughing heavily.

Adam chuckles, "I don't believe that" he says, getting up and offering a hand to Amy.

She takes it, "Believe it buster."

"I'll tell you what, let's make a deal" Adam says, changing the subject back to her stage fright, "If for some reason the band really sucks tonight, I'll shield you from all the rotten tomatoes the audience chucks at us."

Amy giggles at the thought, "Highly unlikely but go on."

"But if the band rocks and everyone loves us, you have to come to the after party with me."

Amy ponders his offer, not sure if she really wants to go to a party where everyone will be drinking except her. She might not like a drunk Adam.

Adam speaks up because of her lack of response, "I know what you're thinking," he says, "But I promise I won't drink if you go."

"I don't want to ruin your night," Amy says, genuinely concerned that if she goes with him she'll bring him down.

"Not possible," he insists, "I have never had a bad time hanging out with a pretty girl."

Amy blushes at his compliment, "Fine you win, I'll go to the party with you."

"Really?" Adam says, kind of surprised she agreed so quickly.

"Well if I change my mind I suppose I can play really badly tonight," she reasons.

Adam laughs, knowing she wouldn't really sabotage the band, "Great, I better go change then because I like this shirt and I don't want all those tomatoes to ruin it," he jokes.

Amy grins, "Or you could just play shirtless," she suggests. The second it leaves her mouth, she feels embarrassed about it. She scolds herself for saying such a foolish thing.

"Not a bad idea," Adam says, pretending to actually consider it. "Then again, it is a bit drafty in here," he says.

"Yeah, it's probably too cold to start shredding clothes," Amy agrees. Amy chuckles as she thinks about how this conversation started. She was so worried and panicked, but Adam has a way of calming her. Amy feels a sense of gratitude toward the guy standing next to her.

Riley interrupts, "If you two don't mind, I'd like to do a sound check."

…..

"If you keep dilly dallying we're going to be late," Lisa warns.

"If you keep rushing me it will only take me longer!" Bianca replies from the bathroom. She isn't really concerned with looking nice for Riley, but since she'll be going to his gig its best she put in a little effort appearance wise.

"You better have your outfit already picked out," Lisa calls out from somewhere in the apartment.

"It's just a gig, do I really need to dress up?" Bianca complains.

"Yes, it's his first gig of the year! Would it kill you to be supportive?"

"No, but it might injure me," Bianca retorts. Bianca hears Lisa sigh from another room. Lisa takes it upon herself to go into Bianca's room to pick out an outfit in an effort to speed along this process.

Bianca hears her rummaging through her closet, "Why are you in such a rush?"

"Why are you dragging your feet?" Lisa counters.

"Are you meeting up with Nick tonight?" Bianca ventures to question. She heard only a little bit about their date a few nights ago and she hasn't seen him around since.

"Not if you take 50 years to get ready," Lisa answers.

Bianca finishes applying her makeup to her satisfaction and heads back into her room.

"Okay how about this?" Lisa asks, holding up a red crop top and skin tight jeans.

"Whatever floats your boat," Bianca says, taking the clothes from her friend.

Lisa makes her way for the door, "Next time I see you, you better be ready," she warns.

Bianca quickly slips on the outfit and checks herself out in her full length mirror before grabbing her clutch purse from her nightstand. She slides on the strappy shoes placed by Lisa by her bedroom door.

"Ready," Bianca says, finding Lisa waiting patiently on the couch.

Bianca and Lisa enter a little venue a few blocks from campus called The Troubadour. A lot of local talent plays here and occasionally a semi-famous band. It has a small bar, a menu with about three food options on it, ten tiny tables and booths, and a large dance floor in front of the reasonably sized stage.

"Place looks packed," Lisa says into Bianca's ear so her friend hears.

Bianca looks to the front of the stage and only sees music equipment set up, which means the band must be backstage.

"Come on," Bianca says, grabbing Lisa's hand and leading her through the large crowd of college students. Bianca remembers when Riley first started the band and hardly anyone would show up to gigs. Regardless of the size of the audience, Riley always played as if he was playing in front of a crowd of thousands. Now that he has gathered a small loyal following from kids at school, she feels a small amount of pride for her boyfriend's accomplishments.

The two girls make it to the backstage door where a bouncer is waiting.

"I'm the drummer's girlfriend," Bianca half-shouts at the bouncer. He takes a second to look Bianca up and down before moving out of the way and allowing Bianca and Lisa to pass through.

Once the door is shut behind him the sound from the crowd greatly muffles. Bianca inwardly sighs in relief, happy she can hear herself think.

It's only a short jaunt down a narrow hallway before the room opens up in front of them, displaying a small room with one couch, two chairs, and a coffee table dispersed around the room.

Bianca's eyes instinctively spot Riley, "Hey," she says, walking closer to get his attention.

From the corner of the room, Adam tunes out of his conversation with Amy when he hears that familiar voice. He looks up and much to his surprise he spots Bianca only eight feet away.

Riley looks up from twirling his drum stick and smiles instantly, "Hey you, glad you made it," he says, wrapping Bianca in a hug before planting a kiss.

Lisa, who is standing near Bianca, takes the time to scan the room. She gently and discreetly nudges Bianca, who is busy kissing Riley, when she spots a glaring Adam sitting in a chair across the room.

"What?" Bianca asks, directing her attention toward her friend. Lisa darts her eyes toward the corner of the room and Bianca glances in that direction.

Her eyes squint and eyebrows scrunch in an effort to verify she's seeing who she thinks she's seeing. Bianca turns back to Riley with a confused look on her face. Biting her tongue from saying anything stupid, Bianca waits for Riley to explain.

He quickly notices Bianca's confusion, "Oh that's Adam, the new lead guitar player." Bianca nods in understanding while trying to hide her mix of emotions from seeing Adam so unexpectedly. When Bianca doesn't say anything, Riley suggests, "Let me introduce you."

"Oh no you don't have to," Bianca insists, but it's too late.

Riley hollers at Adam, "Hey Adam, come here for a sec."

Adam looks just as stunned as Bianca. Unsure of what to do, he reluctantly stands up from his seat and gently sets his guitar down. As slowly as possible he makes his way toward Riley and Bianca.

The short walk to Riley was not long enough, no matter how slowly Adam moved his feet. "What's up?" Adam asks as he approaches, swallowing whatever nervousness he feels in his stomach.

"I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Bianca," Riley says, gesturing to Bianca. Adam and Bianca trade glances, Adam doing his best to read what Bianca's expression is saying. Her pleading eyes, pouting lips, and concerned face beg Adam to go along with this introduction.

Respecting her wish, he reaches out his hand to Bianca, "Nice to meet you," he says halfheartedly, the guilt of lying to Riley weighing on his mind.

She takes his hand, "I'm glad Riley was able to find a replacement under such short notice," she says politely.

"Yeah I totally struck gold with this kid," Riley boasts, placing his hands on Adam's shoulders and playfully shaking him. The rough gesture reminded Adam he's still holding Bianca's hand, so he quickly let go. "Not only can this guy play, but he saved all our asses by finding a keyboard player on short notice."

Adam shrugs off the compliments, "I need to finish tuning my guitar before we go on, so excuse me," he says, turning to return to his seat.

Bianca watches as he strides back to his seat and notices the girl sitting next to him. She only has a moment to dwell on this girl's presence before Riley draws her back into reality.

"I really am happy you came tonight," Riley says genuinely, moving in to hug her again.

But Bianca is faster, taking a short step back, "It's pretty packed out there, we better go find a spot."

"I'll be looking for you in the crowd," Riley says, smiling ear to ear.

Bianca smiles back in an effort to mask her eagerness to leave the room. However, she quickly does a 180 and heads for the door. Once Lisa and Bianca move through the crowd and find a small table to sit at, Bianca finally allows the entire situation sinks in.

"Wow," Lisa says, voicing her immediate reaction.

Bianca sighs and leans her head back against the chair, "Are my boyfriend and ex-boyfriend really in the same band?" She asks, staring at the ceiling in disbelief.

"Yup," Lisa confirms.

Bianca's weirdest and worst nightmare is coming true, "And they're getting along with one another?"

"Seems like it," Lisa agrees.

"And I'll see Adam every time I go to one of Riley's gigs?"

"Definitely," Lisa confirms. Bianca curses Adam in her mind, angry that he caused this terrible situation.

"And Riley doesn't know a thing about Adam and I's past," Bianca states, a feeling of dread sinking in.

"He's clueless," Lisa observes. Bianca is mad at herself for lying to Riley by pretending she didn't know Adam. She hates that she allowed herself to compromise the trust they have. She hates that Adam put her in that position. Damn Adam.

"So this situation can only get worse, right?" Bianca asks.

"Well it's not going to get better," Lisa answers.

Snapping her head forward to glare at her friend, Bianca sarcastically says, "You're super helpful."

"What are friends for?" Lisa jokes.

"This would almost be comical if it wasn't happening to me," Bianca says.

Lisa laughs, "I think it's pretty funny." Spotting Nick across the room, Lisa has the urge to get up from the table and walk over to him. However, her loyalty toward her friend in distress keeps her in her seat. Instead, she looks longingly across the room in hopes Nick will feel her stare and look over.

Bianca isn't blind, she catches on pretty quickly, glancing in the direction of her friend's stare. Seeing Nick, she says, "Go on, we don't both have to be miserable."

"You sure?" Lisa asks, fully prepared to stay put if her friend asked her to.

Bianca waves her friend off, "Leave me to wallow in my misfortune."

"I'll be back in a little bit," Lisa promises, "And then we can get super drunk and forget all about this twisted turn of events."

"Sounds good to me," Bianca says, already looking forward to her first drink of the night. Lisa hops off her seat and quickly makes her way over to Nick. Bianca watches her friend greet Nick, kissing him on the cheek, and feels briefly happy for Lisa before returning to her sulky mood.

…..

"You might want to slow down," Riley warns after Bianca takes her third shot of vodka in a row.

As her only defense, Bianca responds, "It's a party."

Riley backs off, knowing Bianca is in one of her moods.

The gig ended just after midnight. The band played an entire set and even an encore after the crowd cheered voraciously. Afterward, they quickly packed up their equipment and loaded it into Kelly's van. Riley hooked up with Bianca before heading to the party and Adam and Amy got a ride in Kelly's van.

Before entering the loud and rowdy house, Amy hesitates, "Promise you won't leave my side tonight," Amy asks, with a hint of pleading.

"Promise," Adam replies, taking Amy's hand as he leads them into the house.

Riley spots Adam and Amy at the front door and goes over to them, "Hey," he says enthusiastically, the music is blaring so loud that everyone has to shout, "I'm glad you guys made it!"

Adam nods and smiles, not wanting to chat with Riley too long, knowing Bianca would be near. Amy looks around, taking in the house party. Her trepidation fades as she realizes it's just a bunch of people drinking and standing around, with the exception of a few people dancing. This isn't so bad, she thinks to herself.

"Why don't I show you guys where to get a drink," Riley offers.

"Nah," Adam shouts, "I'm not drinking tonight."

Riley nods, as if it's not weird for two sober people to be at a party, "Well Bianca and I are over there," he shouts, nodding toward the beer pong table, "Join us if you like." Riley leaves them be, choosing to rejoin his girlfriend.

After seeing Adam come through the door, Bianca downs another two shots. Liquid courage as she's come to know it. She also notices the girl he's with, the same girl that was backstage and the girl that's apparently in the band with him.

When Riley reaches her, Bianca slurs, "Who's with Adam?"

"Huh?" Riley asks, not quite understanding.

"Her," Bianca reiterates, pointing blatantly right at Amy.

"Oh that's Amy, newest band member," Riley states.

"Are her and Adam together?" Bianca asks casually, trying not to sound too curious, but glaring attentively at the pair's intertwined hands.

"Adam and Amy? No way," Riley says, rejecting the notion completely, "No dating within the band." The one and only rule Riley has for his band. Dating members would just cause trouble down the road.

"Oh okay," Bianca says, pretending to lose interest in talking about Adam. She does her best to redirect her attention toward the alcohol only feet away from her. Hard as she tries, she keeps finding herself darting her eyes around the house to catch glimpses of Adam.

"Finally you're here," Nick says, running into his roommate and giving him a drunken pat on the back, "The band was awesome tonight! I'm officially a groupie," he jokes.

"Amy, this is Nick, my roommate," Adam explains, hoping that Amy won't judge his friend for his drunken behavior.

"Nice to meet you," Nick slurs, leaning forward to hug Amy. His poor coordination results in an aggressive bumping of shoulders but Amy does her best to not cringe.

Adam notices Amy's discomfort, so he changes subjects, "Hey Nick, aren't you supposed to be here with Lisa?"

Nick redirects his attention to Adam, "Yeah she's in the kitchen getting her man a drink," he jokes. Adam knows the sexist remark is playful but he's worried Amy might not think so.

"How about you go find her," Adam suggests, "Some other guy could be hitting on her right now," he jests.

Riley looks shocked by the idea, but it motivates him to go find Lisa, "You're right! I must go and find her," he states, charging off in the direction of the kitchen.

Once he's gone, Amy says, "He seems like quite a character," her tone nonjudgmental, even allowing a small chuckle to slip out.

Adam is relieved by her lighthearted tone, "He's much better sober, I promise," he says.

"I don't mind," Amy says, putting Adam's worries at ease, "I think it's funny watching drunk people."

Adam seems taken aback, "And how many drunk people have you been around?" He has a hard time imagining this sweet, innocent girl surrounded by partiers.

"This isn't my first party, ya know," she states. Amy views parties as a sort of social experiment where she can observe human behavior and its abnormalities.

Adam tries to picture her in high school, going to parties, hanging out with her friends, socializing around a beer keg, yet he doesn't think it fits who she is now, "I'm sure you were quite the party animal in your day," Adam quips.

Careening around the corner, Bianca bumps into Adam at full speed, causing her to spill her drink all over him.

"Oh my gosh," Bianca laughs, finding it funny her drink ended up all over Adam, "I spilled all over you," she says, stating the obvious and finding it hilarious.

Slightly frustrated, he shakes out his hands to flick off some of the alcohol. He then takes the rest of Bianca's cup from here, "I think you're done with that."

She tries uselessly to get it back, "I'll be done when I say I'm done," she whines, pushing against him with thrashing arms.

"Maybe you should go find Riley," Adam suggests to Amy. Adam hopes that Riley can get Bianca under control before she makes a scene or embarrasses herself.

"Okay," Amy agrees, leaving him with Bianca.

Once Bianca notices there alone, she allows herself to speak her mind, "Who's the girl?" She asks, spitting her words out, jealously evident.

"Just a friend," Adam says, not feeling obligated to explain himself to Bianca.

"Whatever," she says, pretending not to care. "You know this is all your fault," she says, changing the subject.

"What is?" Adam asks reluctantly, knowing that this conversation isn't going to end well.

"You, Riley, being in a band! Are you fucking crazy?" She shouts, loud enough that the surrounding people glance over.

Adam starts to form a question, "I didn't know-," but Bianca cuts him off.

"You're so annoying, reinserting yourself into my life like this," she accuses, shoving a finger against his chest.

"Didn't mean to disrupt your life," Adam says apologetically, but Bianca talks over him.

"I was doing just fine, great actually, without you! I don't need you, I don't want to be friends, I don't want to see you around, I definitely don't want you buddying up with my boyfriend," she says, emphasizing the word boyfriend in an attempt to get a reaction out of Adam.

Adam doesn't know where all this anger is coming from, but he has to deescalate the situation before it gets worse, "Bianca why don't we continue this conversation some other time, when you're sober," he suggests.

"Does your little girlfriend know about this," Bianca says, reaching out to tug on Adam's belt.

Adam sighs, upset she went there, "Why does it matter to you?" He says, frustration coming through.

"You know, a sweet little girl like that isn't going to stick around once she discovers your missing appendage."

That strikes Adam where it hurts, and he knows she knows his biggest insecurities, "I'm going to go," he says, done with trying to reason with Bianca. He isn't going to stand here while she tears him down.

Seeing Riley approaching from behind Adam, Bianca irrationally does the first thing that comes to her mind.

She slaps Adam across the face, hard, "You jerk! I have a boyfriend," she shouts, making sure Riley heard and saw everything.

Adam is completely taken by surprise, his jaw aching from the slap and his head reeling from confusion. "What?" He asks, completely dumbfounded.

"Hey back off," Riley says, his arms yanking Adam away from Bianca by the shoulders.

Adam registers how that must have looked and realizes what Bianca just did, "Wait, that wasn't-"

"Did you hit on my girl?" Riley asks. Not waiting for an answer, he shoves Adam.

"I don't want any trouble," Adam says, not fighting back. "I'll leave."

Riley takes a second to cool off before realizing fighting is a bad idea, "Good, go," he warns. The entire party halted, waiting in anticipation for a dramatic climax to this confrontation.

"Come on," Amy coaxes, pulling Adam toward the door.

Adam slightly resists Amy's tug, instead trying desperately to find Bianca's gaze in an attempt to make sense of what just happened. Once he does, her eyes betray her evil intentions. Adam cannot believe Bianca would act this way. For the first time since seeing Bianca, Adam truly believes that the woman standing in front of him is not the girl he knew in high school. That Bianca is gone.


A/N: I really think I need a beta reader, I don't trust my own proof reading. Anyway, interesting chapter for sure. I don't know where I'm going with it so any suggestions would really help. I like that Amy and Adam can't be together because of the band rule. That will at least help me justify putting Adam with Rebecca for the time being. Bianca is a mess in this chapter, but she'll make amends eventually. Lisa will probably give her a good talking to. Anyway, Adam probably needs to come clean to everyone about being FTM. How should he tell Nick? How should he tell Amy? And how should they react? Thanks for reading and please review!