A/N: Hey guys! Back in time for this month's update, hope you guys like it!

When Luke breaks up with her, she's silent. Silent as she gathers her things, silent as she pulls on her shoes, silent as he avoids looking at her face, and silent as she simply leaves.

She makes her way home.

The silence lets her think, and as the yellow streetlights blur by she remembers. Remembers the laughs, the fights, the times he told her he loved her.

But most of all, as she stares at the red traffic light, she remembers when they met.

Broken down from the family she had left on the golden coast, stress and anxiety at an all-time high, and he…he had made her laugh. She decided to see him again because she liked the feeling of laughter.

And he had been broken too, out of a relationship that hadn't been healthy and she had the common sense to not treat him like shit. He said that she helped him.

Two broken people, meeting, leaning on each other, patching their way up to a…break up?

For the first time since she's left his place, her eyes start to water. She pulls into her parking spot and blinks back silent tears.

After so long, this, she had been sure, was supposed to last.

And yet, as she gathers all his things into a bag and walks back into the night air once more to throw it in the back of her car, it had led to a goodbye.

-.-

She's fine.

She tells Thalia and is met with a raised eyebrow that she can see over the phone.

Green leaves flutter gently in the breeze as she sits in the park. Setting her book down, she sighs, shifting the phone to her other hand.

"I really am," she reassures.

"You know it's okay if you're not."

"I know, but I'm fine."

"Annabeth." She hears Thalia sigh. "I'm here for you."

"I know."

The call ends and she leans back against the tree trunk, setting aside her book in favor of watching the people go by. Before she had met him, she used to think that someday she would meet somebody here.

Maybe it's wishful thinking, maybe it's the book she's reading, or maybe it's the guy in the teal shirt with a frozen yogurt logo on the hat he's pushed on his messy black hair running through the park, but the hope returns.

She likes teal.

She had loved Luke.

She wonders if she still does or if this feeling of silent detachment means that she's let go.

She's pretty good at letting go.

-.-

Michael gets out of a cab and straight into her arms, and time really is a curious thing.

Because he's cute and makes her smile and she sees him again, not because she's broken, but she likes to smile.

They're at a dive bar that reminds him of his hometown when he leans in with those chocolate brown eyes and finally asks.

"Hey, listen, I really like you and I'm hoping that coming here with me is not just you being nice and showing me around…" he trails off, but she knows what he's trying to say.

She's glad she's single as she nods yes.

She's even more glad she's not broken like she was all those years ago, because in six months when he tells her he's going back she just nods.

Or maybe she's just too good at goodbyes.

And so, as she sits staring at the indigo sky by the lake, her thoughts wander back towards the family she had walked away from.

The note she had left on the counter, her only goodbye.

Then Luke found her, broken and hurting and made her laugh until the tears dried and she was able to numbly drop the bag of his things at his doorstop as a silent goodbye.

At least she had nodded her farewell to Michael and watched him leave in the cab he had fallen out of all those months ago.

A string of goodbyes that seems to follow her everywhere.

-.-

The book she read under the green leaves of the tree in the park taught her about the thread of fate. And if she believed in folklore, she might have taken the red wrapped around his wrist to mean something.

Instead, she's hungrily taking in his messy black hair, casual smile, and sea-green eyes that might replace teal as her favorite color.

She's at a different dive bar, a fondness she's picked up from Michael, swaying to music under the dim yellow lights and searching for Thalia among the crowd.

And as her eyes roam the room in search of her friend, his sweep across the audience.

When they meet, she thinks that time is mystical thing.

Because she's been cut open and healed and she's been pushed and pulled out of all the wrong places until she landed here.

In the middle of the crowd, staring at sea-green eyes that make her feel like gold.

He's not supposed to leave his booth, but she watches him fiddle with something and hop down, quickly crossing the short distance to her.

"Do you want to see?" he yells over the music he's left unattended, holding out his hand. The one with the red string and a single bead threaded through it.

She takes his hand, not because she likes to, but because she wants to.

He pulls her through the crowd, helping her hop up to the DJ booth, two steps above the crowd.

Because it's a dive bar, it's small and cramped and not that fancy, but she slots by his side so perfectly it feels like she clicks into place.

"Do you want to see how it works?" he asks, right up against her ear so she can hear him over the noise. Her shivers are probably a good enough response, because he flips some buttons and turns towards his laptop, easing the current song into a new one that's popular enough to cause a cheer.

As he does so, his arm brushes up against her and she leans into the touch, feeling a warmth that even the golden coast had never provided.

He turns to her with a grin, but she can still read his eyes even with the dim lights. They betray his easy-going smile.

"Do you want to—"

She cuts him off with a boldness she didn't know she had. "You. I want to see you."

And she does. She sees the way his eyes darken so much they look brown in the lights, how he doesn't mess with the music more than he has to and turns his attention towards her.

"What's your name?" He's already running a hand up her arm. Instead of backing away, she leans into it.

"Annabeth."

"Percy."

Even their names tie together with an ease like they had been written together long ago by the hands of fate.

"Will you stay?" he asks.

Stay for a little while, until the end of his shift, until tomorrow morning, until the end of time?

The silence abandons her.

"Yes."

So they lean in, and chat over the music and she texts Thalia not to wait up. They walk out hand in hand, after the bar closes and she wakes up the next morning to purple-pink skies and arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Morning." His voice is deep and rumbly and she buries her head in the crook of his neck.

His hands once again roam her back, stopping until they reach her hand, splayed against his chest. She fiddles with the string and bead around his wrist and he explains his little sister had made him a "bracelet."

When she meets his family, she stands by the counter and types out her number in his mom's phone. Her first text is "hello."

Gold leaves rustle in the wind as they walk hand in hand in the park. She's got a book in hand and he's got his headphones as they settle under her favorite tree.

"What are you reading this time?" he asks her, when she pulls it out of her bag.

His eyes are bright and she can't stop herself from leaning in to kiss him. "See for yourself," she says when they break apart.

He opens it to her pastel pink bookmark, and as he reads, she's reminded of the sky a year ago when she had woken up in strong arms.

Time is a wondrous thing.

"The thread of fate?" he questions, looking up and breaking her out of her thoughts.

He's wearing the new and improved bracelet made by his little sister who's old enough now to weave the red string into something stronger. Something more permanent.

Instead of explaining, she just smiles at him.

Because wouldn't it be pretty to think that maybe…maybe the string of goodbyes was really just an invisible golden thread that tied her to him.

A/N: So what did you think? Obviously inspired by Taylor Swift's new song, invisible string. I just loved the concept and felt the need to write a little pensive Annabeth-centric piece on it. (I also had no idea or inspiration for this month's update so the song came out just in time!)

Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this concept, about two people being connected like that! I think this is especially true for Percy and Annabeth so it felt really good to write this for them :)

And as always, thanks for reading!

See ya! :)