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

"Annabeth!"

Annabeth's head snapped towards the voice calling her. She stopped walking and looked around. Students walked by her, but no one seemed to be paying her any mind.

"Annabeth!" the voice called again.

She twisted around, following the source of the noise. Hazel was slowly jogging up to her with one arm raised in a wave and the other pulling along the guy Annabeth had seen her with last Saturday.

"Hazel!" Annabeth said, smiling. "I like your hair."

Hazel's hair was done in twists and studded with rings of gold. Hazel's face lit up and she broke into a grin. "Thank you! I got it done over the weekend." She pulled on the hand of her partner, bringing him in closer. "This is Frank, my boyfriend."

Annabeth smiled politely. "Nice to meet you."

Frank broke into a sunny smile. He had high cheekbones and a round face, which contrasted with his close-cropped, almost military haircut. He was tall and stocky, but obviously strong. He seemed to be around the same age as Annabeth, maybe a little bit younger. Definitely older than Hazel though. He put his arms around Hazel and she stepped into him.

"And then this is Annabeth," Hazel said, gesturing to Annabeth. "She's in creative writing with me and Percy."

"It's nice to meet you," Frank said.

"So, what are you doing? Are you coming from a class?" Hazel asked her.

"I'm coming from the library," Annabeth said, pointing at the building behind her. "Just going back to the dorm to decompress."

"Oh, you live in the dorms? You're a junior, right?" Frank asked her.

"Uh...yeah. I live in the upperclassmen dorms. There's a building a little bit—" Annabeth pointed past Hazel and Frank and to the left. "Over there."

"Oh, okay. That's cool," he said, looking to Hazel. Annabeth nodded her head, and the small group fell into an awkward silence. At Frank's look, Hazel cleared her throat.

"So Annabeth, would you like to come with us for lunch?" she said.

Annabeth looked between her and Frank. "Oh, no, I wouldn't want to intrude…"

Hazel laughed. "You wouldn't be intruding! We're just going to the cafe I work at for some coffee and food."

"Um, then, sure. I'd love to." Annabeth shot Frank an apologetic look, but she was surprised to see that he didn't seem unhappy that she had intruded on their date. Instead, like Hazel, he seemed excited.

Annabeth let herself be led along by the couple. They walked off campus and through the surrounding town until they got to a small cafe that was nestled in between a pet shop and a boutique. It was furnished with earth tones: warm browns and earthy greens. It was a little dark and most of the furniture looked slightly old and well worn, but there was a lit fireplace and the whole place smelled comfortingly of coffee.

Annabeth waited behind Hazel in line, not that there was much of one, and looked at the menu. There wasn't very much, just the usual—house blend, espresso, mochas, and a short tea list. She went to sit next to the couple by the fireplace, where Hazel and Frank had taken a soft brown leather loveseat. She sank into one of the plush, moss colored armchairs and wrapped her hands around her cup.

"What did you get?" Hazel asked, eyeing Annabeth's drink curiously.

"Chai latte," Annabeth said. "You?"

"Ooh, a tea person. I thought you might be," Hazel said. "I got the house blend and a turkey on rye."

Frank looked up from where he had been staring into the fire. "Hazel's like a coffee psychic. She can know your order just by looking at you," he said. Hazel preened.

"Just comes with the job," she said.

Annabeth laughed. "How did you get this job, anyway? You're barely a month into your first year and you seem like you're already settled in." Annabeth was a little jealous. She'd wanted a job, but her busy schedule made it hard to find an employer who would accept her hours. At some point it didn't seem worth it—she'd only have it for a few months anyway.

"I saw a flyer outside during orientation and applied straight away," Hazel said. She smiled ruefully. "It's not super exciting."

Annabeth shrugged. "So how is your partner project going?"

Hazel looked at Frank nervously. "It's going alright."

"How's working with Leo?"

Hazel winced as Frank turned to her.

"It's going fine," Hazel said tentatively.

"You're partnered with Leo? Why didn't you tell me?" Frank asked, hurt.

"I know how you feel about him. If I told you, you wouldn't want me working with him."

"Of course I don't want you working with him. He's a slimeball."

Hazel huffed. "He's not a slimeball, he's just going through some stuff right now.

"Uhg, excuses. I think it's pretty slimy to hit on someone else's girlfriend," Frank countered.

"It's an explanation, not an excuse," Hazel said. "And he's not hitting on me. Not really." Then to Annabeth, who had been carefully keeping silent: "Sorry, we do this every time he's brought up." She narrowed her eyes at Frank. "And that's why I didn't tell you. Leo's my friend."

Frank held his hands up in a gesture of ' I give in.' "And you have a right to that. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

"Have you all known each other long?" Annabeth interrupted.

Frank took an indignant sip of his coffee. Hazel just smiled apologetically at Annabeth. "Oh yeah, we've known each other for ages. Since high school, actually. Leo, Frank, Percy, and I all went to the same high school."

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, leaning forward.

Hazel's eyes glittered. "Yeah, although only for his last year. And he was a few years above me."

Annabeth leaned back and took a sip from her tea, trying to appear casual. "So you've both known him for a long time."

"Yeah, sort of. We didn't really know him in high school, but we got closer once we came here," Frank said. "How do you know Percy?"

"I'm doing the project with him," she said, pointing to Hazel, "In our creative writing class."

Hazel crossed her legs and sat up. Annabeth felt slightly discomfited by her mischievous grin, something that seemed a little too crafty for her kind face.

"And how's that going?" she asked.

Annabeth shrugged, feigning apathy. "It's alright."

"He can be a bit of a handful, huh?" Hazel said. Frank laughed.

"Well, actually, he's really been on top of everything," Annabeth defended. She'd been surprised, but Percy really was a dedicated worker.

"Ohhhhh...he must be trying to impress you then. Classic Percy. Has he invited you to a swim meet yet?" Hazel giggled. Annabeth ignored her comment.

"It was a bit bumpy at the start," she said. "And he's got a bit of a sweet tooth. He keeps having us meet at ice cream and candy shops."

Hazel nodded. "You must've met Sally, then." At Annabeth's blank look she elaborated. "Percy's mom."

"He brings everyone to meet his mom," Frank said. "I think she's Percy's favorite part of himself." He and Hazel laughed.

"Yeah, I met her briefly, but we had to go work on our project."

"Oh? What's your story idea?" Hazel asked.

Before Annabeth could think better of it, she said, "Timers."

The mood quickly shifted as Hazel took in a sharp inhale. Frank and Hazel shared a look and Annabeth was reminded of the bandage around Hazel's wrist. She pushed on ahead.

"Yeah, Percy came up with the idea. We wanted to write a story everyone could see themselves in." Annabeth became acutely aware of the feeling of the hard plastic of her timer pressing against her leg.

"Annabeth," Hazel said tentatively. She shared another look with Frank, but it was somehow different from last time. Instead of hiding something, it was like they were having a whole conversation with just one look. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Annabeth leaned forward, intrigued as Hazel held out her arm.

"I know you've noticed that I wear this bandage around my arm." As Hazel said this, she began to unwrap the cloth. "I want to show you why. I think it might be...relevant to you." As the bandage unfurled bit by bit, the tension within their little circle increased until it was almost unbearable. Finally, Hazel removed the bandage completely and displayed her timer.

At first, Annabeth didn't see anything wrong with it. There was no gaping hole where it should be, no blank wrist. It looked just like hers. But then she realized what was wrong. The timer was completely zeroed out.

Annabeth looked up at Hazel who was looking at her worriedly. Frank frowned at Annabeth, studying her for a reaction, looking threatening for the first time. Annabeth looked back down at Hazel's wrist, trying to understand what she was seeing.

"How is it… how long has it been like that?" she asked.

"For a long time," Hazel said. She began wrapping it back up and Annabeth watched as the timer disappeared behind the cloth. "I was supposed to die when I was twelve. Then I didn't."

"Your timer just ran out?" Annabeth whispered. Frank leaned in closer to hear her and to block their conversation from the people entering the shop.

"I'm not sure. I had an accident. Everyone thought it would kill me..." Hazel sighed. "All I know is that I'm technically not supposed to be alive."

Frank put a reassuring arm around Hazel's shoulders. Annabeth looked at her own wrist, at her own numbers and counted down with them. She imagined what it would be like if the promise they made, that she'd been living for, wasn't kept. But she already had thought about that, thanks to Percy.

"Why are you telling me this?" Annabeth asked, but she already started to suspect why.

Hazel grabbed her hand, turning it over so that Annabeth's timer was facing up. "I've seen it," Hazel said. "Your numbers don't always look like this. Not when we're in class together."

Annabeth took her wrist back, turning it back over. "I don't know why it does that. It only changes when—"

"Hey! Do y'all need anything?" a new guy from behind the cash register, not the same one who had helped them before, called over. The group startled, staring at the counter.

"No, we're good, Lee!" Hazel called. She leaned back, away from the group, and grabbed Frank's hand.

Annabeth was about to tell them about Percy, but as soon as Lee disrupted the careful atmosphere they created, she clammed up. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell Hazel and Frank that her timer only changed around him. He was their friend. They might tell him about her timer, or they might stop her from being around Percy, although that didn't really seem in line with what Annabeth knew about them. Either way, she couldn't risk it.

"I think I have to go," she said. A flicker of disappointment flashed across Hazel's face, but she just smiled and leaned comfortably into Frank.

"Okay, I'll see you in class!"

Frank smiled at her as well and waved with the hand that wasn't wrapped around Hazel's waist.

Annabeth left the warm shop and walked back to her dorm. She realized that there was a lot about the timers that she hadn't known. She also realized that she had gotten careless. If Hazel had noticed, who's to say that other people hadn't, or wouldn't, as well.

As soon as she got back to her room, she brought out a roll of athletic tape and covered her timer. Silena, who sat on her bed, writing a letter, raised her eyebrow but said nothing.

:::

Annabeth tapped her pencil anxiously. She chewed on the skin around her fingernails, a disgusting habit that she had yet to kick. She looked at the clock on the wall behind the professor's desk. It was thirty minutes past the start of class and Percy still hadn't arrived. Percy always came to class. Even when he was sick, he just miserably sat in his seat loudly blowing his nose as they all learned about short-form storytelling.

Annabeth didn't know why she cared so much. She tried to reason with herself. Maybe he is at a swim meet. Maybe he didn't do the homework. Maybe he's just playing hooky. It was no use. She stared at the door as another minute ticked by, ignoring Professor Cavan's lecture.

She felt a nudge to her right and a piece of paper landed on her laptop keyboard. She looked at Hazel, who was glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

Notes? Annabeth mouthed silently. Really?

Hazel shrugged and nodded at the note before turning back to the front of the class and staring straight ahead resolutely.

Annabeth opened the note slowly to avoid crinkling the paper too loudly.

You ok?

Annabeth looked back at Hazel, who was trying very hard not to watch Annabeth. She sighed and took out a pen from her bag.

I'm fine alright

She passed the note back to Hazel, who looked down at it for a second before writing something back.

Percy's not here

Annabeth glanced at the empty seat next to her, and then at Leo who was craning his neck to read what was on the note. When he noticed her looking at him, he gave her an impish grin before turning back around.

No, he's not. Annabeth wrote, once she was sure Leo couldn't see. And then, because she couldn't help herself, she added Do you know why?

She passed the note back to Hazel, feeling foolish. She watched as Hazel opened it, all pretenses of paying attention to class dropped. Hazel looked back at Annabeth and gave her a regretful shake of her head. Annabeth huffed in annoyance and sat back. She hated not knowing things.

The piece of paper landed on her desk again. She unfolded it.

Maybe skipping?

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows. But Percy never skips

Not this class. Next to her note, Hazel drew a little smiley face. Annabeth was about to pen her response (a simple question mark- the slip of paper was already mostly full), when she heard the heavy doors at the front of the classroom creak open.

Her eyes followed the sound before she had even processed it. And there was Percy, striding into the classroom and apologising charismatically to the professor, who simply rolled her eyes as she waited for the distraction to end. He inched past Annabeth and collapsed in his seat.

He leaned into her space and whispered, "Can I look at your notes?"

Annabeth didn't even have the presence of mind to be embarrassed by her blank document. Instead, all of her attention was focused on Percy's split lip and the bruise slowly blooming on his left cheekbone.

Percy's face hardened when he noticed what she was looking at. He turned away from her, ignoring Leo who was on his other side trying to get him to talk.

"What happened?" Annabeth hissed.

He shrugged her off. "Nothing."

"Did you get into a fight?"

He just pointed to the front of the class. Annabeth huffed and decided to take a page from Hazel's book and write him a note. She tore out a page from her spiral-bound notebook and scratched out a quick question.

Who did that? And then, remembering her compassion over her curiosity, she added Are you okay?

She handed the note over to Percy, but he didn't even look down. She waited for him to pick up the note, but when he didn't, she turned back to her empty document. She distracted herself by writing the first thing she heard Cavan say. Hemingway's minimalist writing style covers many ideas in very few words. Then, thankfully, her attention was pulled away from the lecture by the piece of paper returning to her lap.

You should see the other guy

Annabeth glared at Percy, who just smirked, wincing as the motion twisted his busted cheek. Trust Percy to joke about this.

Why were you fighting?

She passed the note back.

Never said I was. It was a disagreement

About?

I don't know. He wouldn't say.

Annabeth stared at the note. He wouldn't say? People don't just punch other people for no reason . Percy was obviously lying. Annabeth knew that they weren't that close—they'd never even hung out in a non-class capacity—but she couldn't figure out why he wouldn't just tell her. What was the point of all the secrecy?

What do you mean? she wrote, handing the paper back over. She got it back sooner than she expected. She opened it quickly, but couldn't see any new writing. She looked at Percy, but he just pointed to the front of the class.

"We should probably pay attention to the lecture," he whispered, a forced smile on his face. Annabeth nodded, trying not to look too put out. She faced forward and then looked at her watch. Percy obviously didn't want to talk now, but maybe he would be more open after class. It was five minutes until the class ended, but Annabeth felt the time stretch. She tapped her fingers on her desk.

"Ok, have a nice day everyone. Don't forget about the assignment due next class and your partner project due in two weeks. This isn't the kind of thing you can do last minute!" Prof. Cavan finally called from the front of the room.

Annabeth shoved everything into her bag, not caring enough to try to put things away neatly. She turned to the side to talk to Percy, only to find the space where he sat empty. She spun around and looked at the door where Percy was exiting. Annabeth slung her bag around her shoulder and took off, accidentally pushing into someone and then calling a quick apology over her shoulder.

Why do I care so much? What Percy does with his life- with his fists- is none of my business. So why does it matter so much to me? What am I doing? Annabeth stopped in her tracks. Her behavior puzzled her. They weren't that close. Annabeth had no reason to prevent him from fighting, or to prevent others from fighting him. She watched Percy disappear from her sight, and told herself silently: It shouldn't matter.

She moved slowly and left through the back entrance, walking through the grass behind the building. She needed to distance herself from this. Not just physically, but mentally. She wasn't going to accomplish her goals if she let emotion overrule her head. It shouldn't matter, Annabeth repeated to herself, walking in the direction opposite of where she knew Percy was headed.

It shouldn't matter, but it did.