I don't own the TiMER or anything about it. Most of the story is mine though. So enjoy!

Brand new chapter time! Y'all don't know HOW EXCITED I was to add new content to this fic. All weekend I worked on editing and re-writing. And then of course, writing this new chapter.

It has been a while since I've written any new content for this fic. I hope it still reads smoothly. Leave your thoughts!

My phone rang, making me jump a little. It was my dad. I couldn't remember if I had told him I was going out tonight, so he might be a little panicked.

"Hey dad, what's up?" I asked. There was so much noise happening on his end that I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

"Can't talk for long," he started. "Am having to work a double tonight. I won't be home till real late. ER is insane right now. Don't wait up."

Before I could say anything, I heard someone yell his name and the phone went dead.

"Everything alright?" Andy asked after a moment.

I shrugged. "My dad said he had to work later than expected. Sounds like there was a lot going on and he's been pulled to the ER. But it means I don't have to worry about having to be home at a certain time or anything."

I laughed and reached out to grab his hand. He took my hand in his, but there seemed to be a bit of hesitation behind it. His face didn't look upset or anything.

"Everything alright with you?" I asked.

He smiled. "Yeah. I'm alright. Curfews aren't something I've thought about with us yet. It's a Friday evening, so we don't have anything tomorrow, but I have to remember that you have a curfew normally and especially when your mom gets back into town it may be a little stressful to hang out with you. Do you know when your mom is getting back?"

"Sometime next week, but I don't even know if she told me exactly." I responded. Surely, she had said when, but it had been so late when she 'reminded' me about the trip that I couldn't remember most of the conversation. It was still really suspicious, and I wasn't sure the trip was as planned as she said it was. My dad probably knew when she'd be back, but I hadn't brought it up with him. It was nice not having to worry about certain things surrounding my mom.

We stopped at an ice cream shop after walking around a little more. It was a perfect evening and we both enjoyed milkshakes out-front of the shop. People were milling about, most were couples and everyone just seemed happy. It was still pretty warm out being August, but it definitely was cooler than earlier in the day.

We stayed out front of the ice cream shop until they turned the lights out on us. Andy looked down at his watch. "Seems like time flies when you're having a good time," he lamented.

The drive back to my house was filled with 80's rock. Andy didn't hold back on singing. I joined in and we made our own concert all the way back.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Andy asked as he pulled up to my house.

"Well, my dad is off tomorrow, so I think I'll spend some time with him," I started. Andy's face read of disappointment. "But! Why don't you come over for dinner? I'll check with my dad, but I know he'll agree to it. I'll text you about it."

Andy nodded. "That sounds good. Well, here we are."

I could tell that he didn't want the night to end. I didn't either. It had been such a pleasant night after such an abrupt afternoon. The issue with Spencer seemed like it happened a lifetime ago. My hand instinctively reached for the necklace Spencer had given me. I couldn't keep this necklace.

Andy frowned for a quick second but tried to mask it quickly. It was quick enough though.

"I know," I said with a sigh. "I shouldn't be wearing this."

"I'm not going to tell you not to," he insisted.

"But I'm going to tell me not to," I responded. "This necklace sends a message that 'I'm his' or something. I don't want that."

"What are you going to do about Spencer?" he asked with hesitation in his voice.

I paused. I didn't know how to answer that. "I'm not sure yet," I admitted. "I still want him to be my best friend, but…"

"But you can't have a best friend that doesn't respect your boundaries," Andy finished. "And it makes me uncomfortable."

I nodded. "He made me very uncomfortable today too. I think I'll give him space for now and think about how to address it with him."

I opened the car door and looked up at my house. I knew if I invited him in, he would agree to it. But I also knew what that would insinuate. I may be young and inexperienced, but I'd watched enough movies to know what "do you want to come in" means when you ask at the end of the date you just went on.

"I'll text you," I said before unclipping my seatbelt. "I had a good time tonight."

"Yeah, me too," he said with a smile and watched me get out of the car. I walked up to the front door and unlocked it, turning around to see him still there smiling at me. After I opened the door I waved and watched him drive off.

It was late, so I went straight to my room to head to bed. I glanced out my window and saw Spencer's blinds were down. The lights were on, but he was definitely sending a message. Which was fine by me. I lowered my blinds too. Then I took off the necklace he gave me and put it on my dresser. It truly was a beautiful necklace. Very thin golden chain with a gold framed pendent that was green in the middle. Spencer shouldn't have given it to me in the first place. I knew what he was thinking and I really wish he would have allowed me to give it back to him when I tried.

The next day I woke to the smell of pancakes wafting through the air. There was music coming from the kitchen. When I made my way out there, I saw my dad covered in flour and pancake mix, having a great time. He was smiling and singing and dancing around the kitchen as he made the pancakes.

"Good morning my wonderful daughter," he exclaimed when he saw me.

"How are you so cheery in the morning when you had to work so late?" I said with a yawn.

"Years of being called in early after late nights at the hospital," he responded. "Plus, we didn't have a single casualty from last nights' chaos, so it was a successful night. Makes the day better."

"What made it so hectic?" I asked as I put on an apron and joined him. He handed me a whisk and a bowl in need of mixing.

"There was a train wreck right outside of town," he started. "Two trains collided and derailed both. I couldn't even count how many people came in with injuries. Most were not severe, but a few people needed surgery. A lot of blood. Really fast paced night."

I could hear the enthusiasm in his voice, even if it made me queasy. But that's why he was the doctor, and I was not interested it. I would get queasy every time I skinned a knee or elbow and would bleed. Injuries were common in soccer, so I'd gotten used to it, but I still didn't get as excited as my dad did.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good night," I said as I passed him back the bowl for him to put on the griddle. "Bacon?"

"Yeah, in the fridge," he nodded.

I went over, pulled out a pan and put it on the stove. My dad made the pancakes while I fried the bacon. The blueberry addition my dad pulled out of the fridge was perfect. He also pulled out some oranges and sliced a few bananas. Breakfast was looking delicious and was a great start to the day.

"After breakfast, put on a practice outfit," my dad said between bites. "I haven't tested you in a while. Can't be getting rusty."

I laughed. "Me or you?"

That earned me a light shove and a laugh from my dad. He was an avid soccer fan and player himself. He played recreationally in college (just a club team, he said he was too busy to play for the school) and even a few adult leagues when he was younger. It was always fun to play against him.

The morning was perfect for a pickup game. It wasn't too hot yet, the sun was out, and there was a light breeze. I stretched and jogged around the backyard while I waited for my dad to get outside.

Even though I thought of my dad as getting older, you wouldn't guess it if you saw him on a soccer field. He could give me a run for my money and was the king of juking an opponent.

Not long into us playing, Spencer's mom peeked her head above the fence.

"Good morning Rick, Kaylee," his mom said. There was something off about her, but I couldn't pinpoint it.

"Good morning, Tracy!" My dad called back with a smile.

"Any chance I can steal you away for a moment?" she asked.

My dad nodded and passed the ball over to me. "Practice your shots while I'm gone," he instructed and walked out of the gate over to Spencer's mom.

I felt uneasy about the situation but focused in on scoring and pretended there was a goaltender in the goal.

When my dad returned, he definitely did not look at happy as when he left.

"We need to talk," he said and headed inside.

I kicked the ball up to my hands and headed inside. It was probably something about yesterday. I could just feel it. It would be horrible of Spencer to tell on Andy, especially since he started it. I had no idea what he would have said to his mom.

My dad was heading to the kitchen, so I followed, and he handed me some water and an orange.

"So, what happened yesterday?" He started.

I sighed. "It's kind of a mess."

"Tracy sounded pretty dramatic about it, so yeah, it sounds like it. But I want to hear from you what happened."

If I were talking to my mom, I might try to change some of the details. But I always felt like I could tell my dad everything. So, I did. Every single detail. His face got angry when I talked about Spencer kissing me, and didn't spare the detail about not being able to get away from him. His face turned fearful when I mentioned Andy's arrival. His face was a bit unreadable for the rest of the story. I didn't go into detail about Andy's anger issue history, but touched on the details that it wasn't the first time he'd been in a similar situation and restrained himself.

My dad was silent for a minute after the explanation. It probably was a lot to take it. It was a bit scary to actually be there for the whole thing.

He got up, came over to me, and gave me a hug. "Oh Kaylee, I'm sorry this has happened."

I nodded but didn't know what to say.

"Tracy did tell a little different of a story," he started. "Mainly she left out why Andy went after Spencer. She also embellished what Andy did by a bit. I'm sure Spencer wasn't too keen to tell her all of the details."

"I'm so angry with him," I blurted out. "He's supposed to be my friend. My best friend."

"TiMERs do weird things to people sometimes. I've known people who completely stop being friends because their TiMERs didn't end up matching."

We talked about people my dad knew growing up and their TiMER stories for a while. It actually sounded common that childhood friends didn't end up as soul mates and that would cause problems. I mentioned how I knew my mom and Spencer's mom were upset about it and my dad said that it wasn't uncommon for parents to have preconceived ideas about who their children's soulmate would be. He said he didn't have any expectations and that he'd never seen any hints that Spencer would have been my soul mate. He did admit that he'd known the two moms talked about the possibility often. He tried to stay out of those conversations. When I asked why, he said he didn't want to build any kind of expectations beforehand and wanted to build a genuine relationship with whoever my soul mate turned out to be.

"I was a bit nervous when your TiMER said six days," he admitted. "I thought I'd have more time to prepare for you having a soul mate. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not ready to just hand you off to Andy. No, it isn't his age that I'm worried about. I'm just not ready to let you go yet."

"Speaking of Andy," I said. "Would you be okay if he joined us for dinner tonight?"

My dad smiled and nodded. "Sure! That sounds great."

I smiled back and texted Andy to let him know.

"Now," my dad said with a serious face. "We need to talk about your soccer play."

My dad was a very analytical guy and could pinpoint where someone could make improvements. It was always constructive feedback and suggestions on what could be done better. He was sure to complement some things I had felt I'd improved on, so it was nice to see my hard work improving.

Around four-o'clock in the afternoon the doorbell rang. I wasn't expecting anyone and shrugged when my dad asked. But, since the person was more likely here to see me than my dad, I went to get the door.

I was surprised to find Andy on the other side. He had our local professional soccer team's jersey on and a big grin on his face.

"Can I come in?" he asked after I just stared at him for a moment. I laughed and let him in, taking him to the kitchen where my dad was.

"Someone's a little early for dinner," my dad joked.

"Actually," Andy started. "I was wondering if you two wanted to go to a Hawks game tonight. One of my college friends is now on the team and can get me tickets."

"Absolutely!" my dad responded. "I don't even need to ask if Kaylee wants to, she's a huge Hawks fan. We even have jerseys."

My dad ran off to go put on his jersey, leaving Andy and me in the kitchen.

"What a nice surprise," I commented, giving him a hug. "You know, you don't have to win more points with my dad, but this doesn't hurt."

Andy chuckled. "Honestly, I wasn't sure if your dad was as big of a soccer fan as you, but I figured he must be somewhat into it since he's pushed you so hard. We can meet the team afterwards if you want to."

"No way!" I exclaimed.

"What are we no way-ing?" my dad called from the hallway.

"Andy says we can meet the team after!" I called back.

My dad entered the kitchen with a smile on his face. "That's awesome. Definitely a cooler plan than my idea of dinner being fajitas."

"Oh, then maybe we should postpone going to a game," Andy joked. I punched him in the shoulder lightly and my dad laughed.

I wasn't overly worried about leaving the two of them together while I showered and changed. They seemed to get along alright, and both had a sense of humor. And I knew my dad was excited at getting a chance to know him a bit better.

As I was coming back to the kitchen, I overheard my dad say, "You just need to be careful."

I stopped, curious about what they were talking about. There could be any number of things that Andy should be careful about if it involves me, which likely it does.

"I understand, sir," Andy said in a serious tone. It was the same tone he used when talking to the principal the other day. That made me shudder a bit. "I have been working on my anger management quite a bit, and not just for Kaylee of course. It wouldn't be good for a teacher to snap on any student, even if I feel it is warranted."

"Do you have a therapist helping you with this?" my dad asked.

"Not here, unfortunately. I had one in college. It was mandated by the school that I see someone. But since I've moved here, I haven't found anyone yet."

"I've got a few acquaintances from my line of work that I can recommend to you," my dad responded. "And I won't tell them our relationship or anything so they won't feel pressured."

I'd known about Andy's anger concerns of course but hadn't known the school had mandated him see a therapist about it. Could there be more than one incident that I haven't heard about? Or was there more to that story he told me about? He hadn't lied to me, I just hadn't asked. I couldn't bring it up now. Not without sounding like I had been eavesdropping. Maybe there would be a natural time in the future to ask more questions around it. Or maybe Andy would mention it. But I'd let it be for now.

I waited another moment before entering the kitchen to not intrude on the end of that conversation. My dad didn't seem like he was judging Andy and offered to help connect him with a therapist, so I took that as a positive sign.

"Alright, let's go!" I exclaimed as I walked into the kitchen.

Andy offered to drive to the nearest rail parking and then we would ride the tram into the heart of the city to the stadium. I let my dad sit up front with Andy so they could chat more. Andy kept checking in briefly through the rearview mirror and I'd taken to making different faces at him every time he did.

I'd been to a handful of Hawks games and absolutely loved watching professional soccer. Sure, the team wasn't a major league team, but it was still professional, and I still took great mental notes of the game. I would pretend I was a scout and track certain players throughout the game. Some people went to games to be social, but I went to the game to see the game. I knew I didn't have to warn Andy about that though, he knew my dream of becoming a professional player.

The game was fantastic. The Hawks won 3-2 in overtime, and it was such a suspenseful game. Andy pointed out who his friend Grayson was, who coincidentally played striker. Grayson had scored two of the three goals and had scored the winning goal.

I was practically bouncing when Andy said Grayson gave the green light to bring us down to the pitch.

First, Andy introduced us to Grayson. Or, more like, Grayson introduced himself. When we reached the pitch Grayson ran to Andy and picked him up in a hug. Andy introduced my dad and myself after Grayson put him down.

"Kaylee, I have heard so much about you," Grayson said and instead of shaking my hand gave me a hug.

"You have?" I questioned. I guess I hadn't thought about who Andy would tell about me.

Grayson nodded. "Every time I talk to Andrew, he mentions something about you and when he said you were a soccer player I've been trying to get him to bring you out. Since I joined the team in May I've tried to get him to a match, but every time he turns down my offer of free tickets," Grayson said as he shook his head. "So, thank you two for convincing him to come out."

My dad complemented Grayson on the game and mentioned a few plays, which made Grayson raise his eyebrows. "The whole family likes soccer?" he asked.

"My wife Beth isn't a huge fan, but we did meet at a match she came to, hoping she'd meet her soul mate at," my dad responded.

"You played?" Grayson asked.

"Never professionally, no. But yeah."

That got the two of them talking and Andy came up to me and put his arm around me. "Grayson was my roommate freshman year," he said. "He knows me better than most people."

"Is watching a professional match hard?" I asked.

Andy grimaced. "You picked up on that?"

"Well," I started. "When you said Grayson was on the team, and just now that he was your freshman roommate, I sorta made the connection that he was scouted at the match you missed."

Andy looked away from me. "That was a good inference."

"Does he know?" I asked.

"We never talked about it," Andy responded.

I hugged him tighter.

Grayson introduced us to the rest of the team and the team signed my jersey for me. I was completely fan-girling, but no one seemed to mind.

Grayson and I even got to talk 1:1 about his position and some tips on how to stay in shape and be noticed. Grayson had gone to boarding school, so he didn't have too many tips from getting from high school to college but shared the knowledge that he did have. I told him I would continue to pick his brain later.

"Some of us are going out to celebrate, you want to join?" Grayson asked, mainly looking at Andy. He looked over at me and then back to Grayson.

"Maybe another time," he responded and hugged Grayson.

"Well, Kaylee. And Rick. Very nice to meet both of you. If you ever want to come back to another match, just let me know," Grayson said and then ran back to his teammates.

The train was filled with Hawks fans, and it was a lively ride for the three stops we were on it. There were people singing, and cheering, and generally being in a good mood. On the car ride home, my dad got a phone call. "It's your mom," he said in a worried tone and looked at me. That made me realize he probably hadn't talked to her much since she left.

"Hey Beth," he answered. "Coming home from a Hawks game. No, it's okay. What's up? Wait, what? Tomorrow? Shouldn't we talk about this more? No. No. Beth. You know what, I'll call you when I'm home, okay? Yes, I will call you. Okay, bye."

His voice seemed tense during the phone call and Andy gave me a worried look through the rearview mirror. My dad didn't say anything after he hung up the phone.

"Everything okay?" I asked, knowing the answer to that was no.

"I'll let you know after I talk to your mom some more," he responded.

I nodded and after a moment Andy turned on the radio.

When we pulled up to the house, Andy put the car in park and said his goodbyes. My dad excused himself quickly but told Andy he had no rush to leave.

After he left, Andy and I moved to the front porch swing.

"What do you think that phone call was about?" Andy asked.

"Nothing good," I responded. "But I have no idea. He said 'tomorrow' but I don't know if that means she is or isn't coming home tomorrow or if it is something totally different."

Andy nodded and put his arm around me. "I hope everything is okay. I hope everything is okay with the two of them."

"I've seen them fight before, mostly when I was little," I said. "Not being able to have another kid puts a stress on them that I never fully understood but learned that they weren't fighting about me or anything. But this time it is about me. So, I don't know, it is weird."

I hadn't told Andy completely about my mom not being able to have another kid. He knew I was an only child, but didn't know that my parents had tried for four years to have another, so we talked about that for a while. I never really got to talk to my parents about the whole situation. I was so small that they tried to fake happy around me most of the time and never took the time to explain any of it. I remembered one time when I was in elementary school they had us do a family tree and talked about siblings during that. When I talked to my mom at that point, she was really quiet and told me a little about what it meant to not be able to have more kids. And my dad talked to me about how special I was. But after that conversation, they never brought it up and I didn't either.

"I'm sorry I'm the reason you couldn't hang out with Grayson tonight," I said after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" Andy asked.

"Well, it's clear that going out means either going to a bar or going to a club. Or maybe even both. And well, I can't go to those things. So, I could tell you felt guilty about having to leave me behind. You can still go out with them. I'm sure they are still out."

Andy chuckled. "You are very perceptive. Or I'm very obvious. Sorry about that. Grayson knows how old you are, so he knew I'd probably say no. And no, he doesn't care. He has a TiMER and gets it. His hasn't gone off yet or anything. I think it's set for next year or something but I can't remember."

"I think he's a cool guy," I said.

"Yeah, he is really cool. Probably one of my best friends," Andy replied.

"So, go hang out with him," I insisted. "Really. I want you to."

Andy smiled and kissed the top of my head. "Fine. Since you insist."

I laughed. "I do insist."

We said our goodbyes and I entered the house quietly. At this point, I was getting pretty good at being quiet and eavesdropping on conversations. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or even when I became skilled at doing it, but it was useful recently. And I didn't feel too bad. I knew the conversation my parents were having involved me, so it's only fair I try to hear some of it.

But, by the time I walked past my parents' room, I couldn't hear anything. The light was off, so it was possible that they had already talked, and my dad was going to bed. I was hopeful that in the morning he would tell me what was going on.

Alright, there's the new chapter.

I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update the story. I don't want to make a promise of weekly, and then not post. But, I will try to post regularly and post any updates if I cannot. I still have a good vision of where I want this fic to go. I don't know how long the fic will be. Part of me wants to do an age jump at some point. Or end it after hitting a few main points and write a sequel that has an age jump. Mainly because I want to write more about Andy and Kaylee's relationship developing and sorry not sorry I don't feel comfortable getting steamy with a 14 year old and a 22 year old haha. TiMER or no TiMER, that's still creepy. Let me know what y'all think about that.