sighs I ship them (E who reviewed transparent, if you're reading this, here's your answer)
that being said, the following is totally gen.
"Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting."
― J.M. Barrie
The dorm is quiet as Caleb watches Peter shuffle around, neatly stacking all the possessions he'll never need again. The finality of is unnerving. Peter rolls up the maps that have been a constant presence for the past days, with stickers and scribbled in labels and scrawled red circles, and Caleb is sure he'll never be able to touch an atlas again as long as he lives.
'Don't do this,' he says, helplessly, wondering why it even matters to him - No, he knows why, and it has everything to do with Peter being the only friend he has left. Peter gets to his feet, and shoots him a look as he grabs his coat.
'Not going to change my mind,' Peter says as he pulls it on.
Caleb tries again. 'There are better ways of starting over.'
'This is the only way,' says Peter, doing up the buttons, and Caleb's heard that line countless instances by now, but it still manages to hit him in the gut every time.
This is happening. He crosses his arms and tries to come up with something, anything that will work, but only draws a blank. What use is it being Erudite when his brilliant mind always fails him for the things that matter? He watches Peter's hands drop to his pockets, keen eyes surveying the room one last time, and the magic words that will change his mind remain far out of reach.
And then Peter glances at him, catches sight of his expression. Something registers in his green eyes, and for a second, he just looks at Caleb. 'Come and find me after,' he says. 'When this whole mess is over. I mean, if we survive.'
It's the closest he'll ever come to an apology.
Part of Caleb says, Tell him about your suicide mission. The other part reasons, He wouldn't miss you anyway.
He finally manages a wry almost-smile. 'Yeah,' he says. 'Okay.'
'Right.' Peter takes one more look at him, then turns on his heel and walks out of the dorm.
Goodbye, Caleb thinks.
