BEFORE THE SUN WENT DOWN | OPEN

A large window that overlooked the forested part of Concordia covered one entire wall in AB’s back office. The was a velvety blue couch pushed against it where she had folded a blanket and stacked a pillow in case of the often made last minute decision to stay the night at the club instead of going back to her barren apartment. The sun was at that perfect point in the sky where the stars twinkled to one side, but the sun was setting and glowing purples and pinks on the other. A bright crescent moon hovered right in the place where the dark blue night sky and the orange met.

As AB pushed the large, heavy door of her office open and entered her nightclub, she marvels at the long windowed wall that reflected the same image as her office window. It was sparkling and beautiful and she lamented when she saw that the club was practically empty. After all, the sun had barely set. It wasn’t particularly normal to go clubbing before maybe 11 at night. Despite the lack of a large crowd, loud music was booming through the amps on the stage and a DJ sat on a stool, leaning back and texting something on his phone. He wasn’t too into the slow night and seemed distracted by something he was reading.

A bartender was making a joke with one of the few people in the club, magically mixing a drink with her fingers. Annabeth smiled, proud of herself for hiring the Aphrodite girl, and looked at the door. An Ares boy was standing firm in the doorway, ignoring a much younger daughter of Venus that seemed to come every night to fawn over him. Other than a few people standing on the dance floor laughing and drinking whatever it was that Dionysus girl had made for them, CLUB NYSA was pretty empty.

Annabeth smoothed out get sequenced tank top and made sure her belt buckle was visible. Even though she couldn’t hear to clicking, she knew her cowboy boots were loudly landing on the floor as she walked. She took a seat at the bar and told the girl to make her the usual before spinning around to examine the club once more.

It had been a slow day once AB had left his shop, so slow that he had shut down early to go home and change before heading to the club. Tristan arrived at Club NYSA right after sunset and there wasn't much action there from the looks of the parking lot. The tough looking bouncer let him in after a few long seconds, probably because Tris wasn't a regular and it was too early for the serious partiers to be out and about.

For a moment, Tristan second guessed himself. He should've just had her come back to the shop and then sent her on her way in the morning, but he hadn't. It made him nervous for some reason that he would be seeing AB sooner rather than later. Almost as soon as he entered the room, he spotted her at the bar.

"Evening Ms. Wallace. Special delivery." He said once he made his way across the floor, pulling the package out from underneath his jacket where he had stowed it for the ride over.

OUTFIT

AB leaned against the railing overlooking the dance floor and, from across the barely populated room, Tris caught her eye. He was even better looking now than he had been in his shop earlier, and she didn't know if it was because he was trying or if he had just showered and that had made a world of difference. It didn't matter, really. She just liked to look at him.

She shook her head, "Please, Mr. Hill, call me AB." Her insistence had less to do with flirting and more to do with how uncomfortable she felt being called 'Ms. Wallace'. She was far from being old, after all. But she was okay with the implications that she might be flirting. He was cute and something about him just clicked, "Anyway, thanks for the knife. If you want I can get you hooked up with that drink while I run and throw this in the back?"

She motioned to the bar-tending Aphrodite girl and pointed at Tris, telling her to give the guy all he wants. The pretty blonde nodded in understanding and reached under the bar to grab a beer, "I'll be right back." She disappeared around the railing and up onto the stage. Finally she was in her office and threw the knife and box onto the couch before heading back out into the club. As she made her way back to Tristan, she wondered if she should have put a note on it.

The Aphrodite girl had delivered the beer as commanded, but for some reason had stayed to flirt his the good looking son of Hephaestus. AB Narrowed her eyes and smiled sarcastically before tapping on the girl's shoulder, "Lia, seriously?" Annabeth nodded her head in the direction of the bar where Lia had wandered from, "Back to work, hun."

Tristan took a swig from his beer as he watched the exchange in front of him. Sure, the bartender had been flirting a little, but he hadn't been interested. He was here to see AB after all. "Sorry to have caused such a stir. Maybe I should've come a little later." He confessed as he surveyed the club. He had been right, there weren't many people there. "Then again, maybe it is all for the best."

Taking a moment to actually look at the lady in front of him, Tristan couldn't believe what he saw. She was beautiful in a down home sort of way, not all paint and hairspray like most of the girls around here were. She almost looked like a girl he could take home to mama, if that was still an option.

"This is a nice place. Where did you get the idea for it? I mean, mine was kind of a no brainer, but this had to take some serious work." He observed with a hint of awe in his voice. There really wasn't anything like this on Concordia. Plenty of places sold arms and armor, but it was pretty apparent that AB had poured her heart and soul into this place and he liked what he saw.

AB laughed and leaned over the bar, accepting the drink her bartender brought to her. It was her usual Jack and Coke, light on the coke. She took a sip and smiled at the pleasant flavor, not understanding why her cousins didn't share the taste but putting that thought aside quickly, she turned her attention to Tristan. She shook her head, "You didn't cause a stir! She flirts with everyone." AB dismissed the apology almost immediately.

After his comment about her bar, she smiled brightly, "Well, thank you so much!" She beamed, "It may surprise you to learn that this was sort of a place is a no brainer for me also." She sighed, looking up as the chandelier changed colors above her head, "Most people forget that Apollo is also the patron of music. I didn't get his smart, medical half." She teased, annoyed by all her siblings who had a knack for all things medical while she would pass out if she saw a broken bone with the bone sticking out of the skin. The thought made her shiver.

"Huh, that's interestin. I'da never pegged ya for an Apollo kid." Really, she didn't look like much of one. They were mostly healers and stuff like that, which AB had pointed out. "So, music's your thing. That's different, in the good way." Tristan tried to explain. He wasn't quite as good with the ladies as he wished he was, letting his mouth get in the way. He coulda almost kicked himself when he started fumbling over his words.

The light caught his eye when she looked up, which made him follow her gaze. New colors were pulsing from the chandelier, which he hadn't seen before in anything except for one of those strobe light things. It was a nice touch for sure.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, "Sayin' different in a good way is just a nice way to call someone a freak, ya know." She teased, taking a sip of her drink and turning to look at the door. A rather large group of very young demi-gods were leaning across the bar near the door and trying to convince the Aphrodite bartender to hand over some booze. Although her required age was lower, anyone under sixteen wasn't free to drink like the rest of them. That was a mandate straight from Chancellor Hadley herself, and there was no way AB was going to risk her bar for those kids, "Hey!" She said loudly enough to be heard over the music, "Y'all know that ain't happenin'. Go dance or somethin'." She nodded her head in the direction of the dance floor and smiled like she was saying the nicest thing ever. She looked at Tristan, "Gotta admire their determination, huh?" She grinned, "Don't you miss bein' that young?"

"I don't know if you've noticed." Tristan whispered jokingly. "But we're all freaks around here. It kinda comes with the whole Demi-God thing, ya know? Some people are just a little cooler than others. Take me for example. Most of my siblings can do everything I can and more. It's a simply fact. It's cool to be a little different." He meant it too. Taze could make anything Tristan could if he just put is mind to it, so could any other Hephaestus kid. Even some of them without the pyrokenisis could run a forge.

Tristan barely stopped himself from laughing when AB started getting on to the younger kids. It was hard to enforce a drinking ban at any age on the island because of the Dionysus kids, but man the Chancellor did try. Luckily he fell just on the other side of the line and didn't have to worry about it anymore. "Nah, I wouldn't take back those days one bit. It's not as much fun on the island if your not sixteen, ya know? No booze, no fun." At least he was honest, ya had to give him that.

Annabeth laughed. He would be someone that cared about the booze. She shrugged and started to say, "Yeah, but we weren't marooned on an island surrounded by FREAKS back then." She mocked him with her words, sticking her tongue out, "You don't miss the days before we had to worry about the Titans goin loopy on us? Not even a lil bit?" She finished off her drink more quickly than she had originally thought she would. By now the club was starting to fill up. The sun was gone and had been replaced by a thousand glittering stars. The large windows made the entire room sparkle with starlight. A few people were now out on the dance floor making complete fools of themselves. She set he empty drink on the table and offered her hand to him, "Care to dance, hot shot?"

Dancing was not Tristan's strong point. Sure he knew a few simple steps and could do a few line dances if the occasion arised, but he wasn't confident that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. Here he was though, with a pretty girl waiting for him to answer. Surely one dance wouldn't kill anyone, right? "After you." He said through a grin, reaching out and taking the hand she had offered after putting his beer down. For the first time he began to notice the sheer amount of color in the room, mostly coming from the pulsing lights on almost every surface. It was pretty in a way he didn't have a way to describe. The dance floor was getting crowded by the time they reached it and the song was unfamiliar, making him a little nervous again. Maybe he should have finished that beer before coming out here.

As soon as Annabeth took the floor, the mood changed. Her emotion of confidence and excitement flowed over the club and the music suddenly changed to match it. Instead of playing the loud booming pop song that had taken over the room, a country song started to echo across the floor. To be more specific, Play it Again by Luke Bryan played. She smiled at the boy and raised her eye brows, "You do know how to two-step, don't you, country boy?" She asked swiftly, taking his hand and spinning herself around to the beat of the music before pulling close to him.

When the music changed, Tristan couldn't help feeling relieved. Pop music just wasn't his style and he wasn't sure what he would've even done out on the dance floor. Luke Bryan? Yea, they could party. A big grin spread across his face whenever AB took his hand. "Of course I can two-step. What kinda guy do you take me for?" He asked over the music before putting his hand on her back.

Spinning and dancing came easily to Annabeth, especially country music. She followed his lead, arguably impressed with his strong form and obvious experience with two-stepping. She had truthfully expected him to fumble a little, like most the guys on this god forsaken island did. So many Californian little princesses shoved into the small square mileage that was Concordia didn't do anything for AB. It was the reason her club was lit like a glow stick instead of rustic, the reason why more pop music played than country. As if to support AB's thoughts, the few people on the dance floor scattered to the sound of country music and started buying drinks. She smiled slightly, aware that it was a pretty good method to rake in a few extra dollars. People were bored with one song? They get drunk instead. Best plan ever.

She started to sing along with the music, spinning and dancing some more, "Oh my god, this is my song..." AB pulled herself as close to him as possible and took in a deep breath, trying not to wear herself out. His scent washed over her and she couldn't help but smile, "...I've been listening to the radio all night long..."

Tristan wasn't worried in the least bit when everyone else started leaving the dance floor, if anything he was kinda happy. All of the nervousness he had felt moments earlier was replaced by a feeling he couldn't quite name as he spun AB around before pulling her close again. Man, I'm glad she showed up this morning. He thought to himself right as she started singing. There had to be a dozen other places she could've went to, but she had shown up at Custom and he couldn't help but feel a little thankful.

"I'd gave that DJ my last dime If he would have played it just one more time". Tristan sang along with her under his breath, probably a little too low for her to hear. He wasn't the best, and he hadn't done it intentionally, he was just caught in the moment. It was true though. He woulda listened to this song all night long if they could keep dancing like this.

As the song came to an end, Annabeth's Musical Empathy was affecting her more than she thought. She stepped forward, ending the song close to him. She could feel his breath on her face and, for a moment, everything was hazy. Suddenly, without thinking, AB pulled his face toward hers and kissed him in the middle of the dance floor. As if suddenly realizing what she had done, AB pulled away with wide eyes and looked across the room, "I think the bartender needs me." She said, "Want a drink?" It was a sad attempt to distract him from her sudden actions.