The King's Choice - Red Queen Fanfiction

Chapter 38 (Cal POV)

Victoria enters the dining hall and there's a moment of complete silence before she sits down next to me.
"The Queen decided she also needed to use the restroom and is doing that now." She's lying. I can tell, but Maven brushes it off, with no consideration for where Mare might be. He nods calmly and calls for breakfast to be served. Does he even care about Mare at all? It's about five minutes before the doors are pushed open slowly and Mare slips through them. She's holding herself in a different way. She's carrying her head is higher, her students more confident. Her body language doesn't match her facial expression though. Her eyes and red and puffy while her makeup has run off her face. The corners of her mouth are turned down in a barely noticeable frown.  Her brow is slightly furrowed. Maven is completely oblivious. He clearly can't tell she was just crying. Victoria notices and I almost see a hint of a smile pass across her face. What kind of twisted soul smiles at another's sadness? I dislike her more each day.
After we finish breakfast, Maven offers Victoria a tour of the grounds. I shoot a smile at Mare when he suggests it because it gives us more time alone, but she ignores me. It feels like she's off in a different world. They leave while Mare and I take the elevator up to her room. It's my mother's old bedroom. I walk in and she carefully closes the door behind her.
"We need to talk." I sigh. How much more does she want to hurt me?
"Okay. What do you need to say?"
"I can't do this anymore. Pretending like this is gonna end differently than how we both know it will. It's bad for both of us. So I'm gonna do this. It's gonna hurt, but ripping the bandaid off is better than a lifetime of pain."
"Mare, what're you saying? What do you mean?"
"You need to leave. With Victoria. For a while. Most likely forever. Seeing each other is bad for us. I don't care where you go as long as you're safe. But you being here isn't good for you emotionally. So I really want you to leave." She's crying. I'm crying. We're both a mess. The words out of her mouth don't make any sense. She was fine this morning. Everything was fine this morning. Now it's all fallen apart.
"You want me to leave? Why? Did Victoria say something?"
"No. I just realized how much this is hurting you."
"I'm fine Mare. Please just tell me what's really going on."
"I'm ending our relationship is what's happening. Friendship or more than that." I'm going to break down. What's happening to us?
"Mare. I'm so confused. I thought you loved me. I though we were gonna work this out. Do you still love me and want to be with me?" The silence is awful but not as bad as what she says next.
"No."

WELP. That happened. Sorry it's probs gonna get rly depressing for a bit but it'll get better I promise. Excuse the typos as usual. Thanks for reading! - Just Jules