A/N: I started this work in 2016, and now, five years later, I've finished it.

I'd like to thank some of the people who helped me out: AlEmily360, SapphireTrafficker, tigerlilycorinne, AshenMoon42, Lesbian101, Shiuanc2, and LadyHW.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Annabeth swirled the last dregs of tea left at the bottom of her to-go cup and looked up at Piper, who was talking about her boyfriend Jason. She was always talking about Jason. Annabeth nodded and smiled, not quite following what her best friend was saying. Her mind was wandering back to an essay she had to write about the birth of art-deco. She stared into space, not noticing when Piper stopped talking, instead watching a couple of kids with skateboards try to do tricks on one of the park's benches.

Piper seemed to notice Annabeth's lack of attention and mistook it for something other than disinterest. Annabeth hurried to set her empty cup down as Piper took her hands in her own, her dark eyes shining with sympathy. "Hey, I want you to know it's okay to be worried about it. It's natural to be."

Annabeth feigned ignorance, shrugging. "About what?"

But she knew what. She was reminded of it everyday. Every time she got dressed and happened to glance down at the little timer, merrily counting away to the day she died. Every time someone looked at her wrist, they would give her a pitying look. "That's so soon," they'd say, "You're awfully young." She never told them it was the same day as her birthday. She didn't want them to pity her even more than they already did.

Piper gave her a withering look. She knew Annabeth hated the subject, but that didn't stop her from bringing it up. "Annabeth…"

Annabeth sighed. "Piper, really. I'm fine." She really was. Of course, when she was young and she first did the calculations telling her that she would die on her twenty first birthday, she didn't want to believe it. She'd cried every night for days, but over time she'd learned to live with it. It was a part of her, just as much as her curly blonde hair and grey eyes. It was fate, and it was never going to be altered.

"But Annabeth, you've got to be at least a little concerned. Your birthday is in less than a year."

Annabeth carefully took her hands back. "It almost sounds as if you want me to be constantly pondering my death."

"Well… no. But you've got to be thinking about it a little bit- everyone does." Piper was a champion of introspection and talking about feelings, which Annabeth usually appreciated, but today her concern was misplaced. Annabeth had long ago gone through all five stages of grief, and now she was happily settled on acceptance.

"Nope," Annabeth said, popping her lips on the 'p'. "I try not to."

She gave Piper a small smile. Piper frowned back at her before rolling her eyes and returning Annabeth's smile. She pulled her choppy, brown hair into a ponytail and fanned her neck.

"God, it's hot. I should have gone with iced," she said, holding up her own cup. Annabeth had ice in hers, but it had all melted by now. She got up and held out her hand.

"I'm going to go throw this away, want me to take yours?"

"Yes please!" Piper handed her her cup, happy to not have to get up. It was the end of August, at the start of the fall semester of Annabeth's junior year, and the summer heat still hung in the air. Everything felt sticky and slow and it made any movement feel like a feat.

She made her way to the trashcan on the other side of the park. The sun shone brightly and people were dozing in the green grass. It was beautiful out and Annabeth dreaded having to go inside later and start on her essay, no matter how interesting she found the topic. There was something wrong about being stuck inside on a day like this. She was glad Piper had invited her out for an iced tea break. She threw the two cups away once she got to the trashcan and turned around to walk back to Piper, not really paying attention to anything but the nice feeling of the sun on her face.

"OOMF!" She collided hard with someone, knocking her head against their sharp jaw and eliciting a pained noise from them.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" she said, holding up her hands as she stepped away from them. She looked up at the person she had bumped into. It was a boy about her age, tall and lanky, but clearly athletic. He had messy dark brown hair, almost black, that made him look like he had just walked through a hurricane, and a pair of mischievous sea green eyes.

"Haha...nah, it's fine." He combed his hair back with his fingers and smirked at her, which made him look extra mischievous. Annabeth sort of smiled back. She expected him to walk off since this was usually the place where these conversations ended, but instead he held out his hand. "Percy, by the way."

Annabeth was puzzled at this stranger's introduction. Was he trying to make friends? She had just walked into him, she doubted that was the best first impression. Nonetheless, she timidly shook his hand.

"Annabeth."

"That's a really pretty name," he said, grinning. Annabeth hoped he wasn't going to hit on her. She wasn't trying to be conceited, but she already had a boyfriend. She wondered if she should tell him this, but decided against it. She didn't want him to take it the wrong way.

"Thanks." She didn't know what else to say, so she stupidly added, "It was a gift."

Percy chuckled. Annabeth smiled lightly up at him, absentmindedly noting that he had a nice laugh. His eyes traveled down to her wrist, almost instinctively, and Annabeth tensed, waiting for the inevitable. Here we go. She had been wondering when he would look at her timer. Everyone did, it was only a matter of time. She had already seen that he had 61 years, 7 months and 5 days left. She waited for the look of pity, like she was already dead. A walking corpse.

But Percy surprised her with a grin and no further reaction besides that. He just pulled his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans and checked the time.

"Oh! Sorry, Annabeth, I've got to go meet a friend." He smiled, waved, and started to jog off. Annabeth was too shocked to say goodbye, or do much else than watch him go. Maybe he was just really polite?

She looked at her wrist and read the numbers. 64 years, 5 months, 10 days. She blinked and tapped her timer. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Maybe the heat was getting to her. But when she looked back at her timer, it still read the same thing:

64 years, 5 months, 10 days.

That couldn't be right. Never in the history of the timers had she ever heard of one changing. The day of her death was set in stone. It's what she'd always been told, what she'd always been prepared for.

Annabeth recalled a news story from one of her classes last year. A woman had been walking across a sidewalk when a car had almost hit her. At the last minute a man had pushed her out of the way. When the paramedics came they said she seemed confused, like she couldn't believe she was still alive. She had kept glancing at the timer on her wrist and muttering, "That was the end, that was supposed to be the end."

Annabeth felt the gears in her mind turning. What if what happened to the lady was also happening to her? Could the man that had saved her, have reset the timer? Is that what was happening to Annabeth?

There was a sliver of hope—like a door opening, just a crack. Her fate had changed. She was going to live until her eighties. Why it had changed, Annabeth didn't know. It didn't seem like she had been in danger, but she wasn't about to question it. She didn't think it was possible, but here it was. She smiled and looked up just as Percy rounded the block and disappeared out of her sight.

I'm going to live.

She smiled and began walking back towards Piper, who had been curiously watching her during her conversation with Percy, but was now typing something onto her phone. It didn't seem possible, but everything seemed brighter, more golden. The air felt clearer as she breathed it in.

She chanced one more look at her timer, one more happy reminder, but stopped right in her tracks. She stared at her wrist in horror as the number on her wrist changed. The 60 disappeared. The 5 months turned to 10 and the 10 days turned to 16.

And just like that, the door slammed shut. That tiny ray of hope that she hadn't noticed had grown the size of the sun had been put out and trampled on. Annabeth thought she had accepted it, but she was wrong. The cold hard truth faced her once again. Fate doesn't change.

But it had. Just for a minute, it had. Her short life had grown longer and fuller. There were so many lost moments that had appeared before her and then had been torn away in a flash.

For just a minute, the possibilities had seemed endless. Annabeth continued walking forward, towards the park bench. The heat had become unbearable and she felt like she was suffocating. She was determined not reveal how crushed, but she wasn't sure if she could help it.

She had to wonder though. Why? Why had her timer jumped? She didn't know how it was possible, but something must have changed. What in her life had changed? What was new?

"You ready to go? I have another class to get to," Piper asked with a smile, getting up from the bench they had been sitting on. Annabeth nodded, trying to smile in return.

Percy. He was new. That was the only thing it could be. Somehow he was going to stretch out her life; he was the key. He was going to save her.

"Annabeth, are you okay? You seem a bit…off. Who was that guy?" Piper asked. She slipped her phone into her pocket and grabbed her backpack off of the ground.

Annabeth shook her head, then nodded. "I'm fine," she said, to answer the first part of Piper's question. "And I don't know." But I'm going to find out.

Annabeth was not going to accept an early death, not anymore.

Percy.

Annabeth was going to find him and make sure he never left.

I'm going to make sure he stays by my side forever.

A/N: Updates Monday and Friday