Everyone in the room was frozen in silence. If it was possible, all of their jaws would've hit the floor. They all knew how much Everest meant to the dally. She was one of, if not the, biggest factor in his recovery, and it was obvious that she made him happy, something it seemed no one else could do. Did he really think this was for the better?

"W-what? B-but, of course we can. I-I love you." Everest begged. It was obvious she was on the verge of fully breaking into tears, the poor husky looked so desperate and terrified. This was beyond her wildest dreams.

"But you shouldn't, Everest. I already told you, you have no reason to love me. Please, go and find another mate. Be happy without me. I'm done dragging you down with me. Go give that love to someone who deserves it." Marshall responded.

"But....y-you can't do this. I-I don't want to give my love to anyone else. O-only you. Don't do this to yourself. D-dont do this to us, Marshy." The husky told him, reaching out for him, only for the dally to turn and walk away.

"Well, you'll have to learn to. I'm not letting you suffer anymore because of me. I-I'm sorry, for everything. I'll miss you, my love." He stated as he walked into their room, shutting the door behind him, leaving everyone dazed with shock and confusion.

The second he left, Everest began weeping and hugged Ryder since she was the closest one to her. Her Leader bent down and hugged back, just letting her cry. He figured the husky needed to let it out.

"Hey don't worry, Everest. He's just not fully there right now, he'll come back to his senses eventually. We might just have to give him some time." Ryder whispered, patting her on the back.

"I'm not blind, Ryder!" The husky snapped, catching the boy slightly off guard. "He needs me. I know how important I am to him. Don't you know what happened the last time I wasn't there for him? He tried to fucking kill himself! I-I can't lose him. I-If he t-tries to do that a-again, and I-I'm not there..." She trailed off, her own tears overwhelming her and keeping her from continuing.

Ryder and the rest tried to comfort her, but nothing seemed to be working. No one was even sure of what to tell her. The truth of the matter was, Marshall was already mentally unstable, and she seemed to be the only thing keeping him from losing all of his progress. But now, even that had been jeopardized. There wasn't much they could say without it being a plain lie.

Eventually, Everest managed to calm down a bit, but she was obviously still in distress. She looked broken, almost hopeless. Just like her mate, well, ex-mate now, the husky hated being separated from him, but not because of herself. She knew how it made him feel, and she didn't like being away as she knew it would trigger his anxiety.

With tears still running down her face, the husky turned to face Sweetie, who was still wearing a smirk despite what had just happened. "W-why? Why would you do this? Don't you understand? H-he's in so much pain. He hasn't d-done anything to you. I-I don't get it, just, why h-him?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Because your stupid Paw Patrol ruined my life. You get more attention and love than I ever did. Even my own princess prefers you guys over me!" Sweetie exclaimed. "But now, things are different. I have someone who does love me, and I love them back. Real love, not some stupid fake love like everyone here tries to give me."

"Enough!" The Princess demanded, snapping both pups out of their argument. "Sweetie, I'm sorry that you feel this way, I really am. But you could've just talked to me. Marshall has got enough going on in his life, how was all that necessary?

Everest decided to just back out of this, so she slowly backed out and buried her face in her paws, still distraught over losing Marshall like this. She was still listening, however, ready to hear whatever excuse the terrier would try and use.

"You really think talking would've changed anything? It's obvious no one cares about me. I mean, you said it yourself, Chase is your favorite pup, not me, your very own." Sweetie explained, seeming surprisingly upset herself.

"A-and why does that matter?" Everest called out. The terrier turned around and raised an eyebrow before she continued. "W-what does that have to do with him? My sweet Marshy, w-why bring him into this?"

"Simple, because I'm just finishing what me and D—, I mean, my mate, started." She answered, refusing to give any more details.

"W-who would be stupid enough to be mates with you?! You're a monster! You took my Marshy from me! He's literally fighting a mental disorder, and yet you still did this to him!" Everest started shouting. Ryder had to grab her to stop her from charging at the terrier, but she didn't let down.

"H-he needs me! W-Without me, h-he's gonna be so s-scared. He's a-already in s-so much p-pain. And I...I n-need h-him too..." She slowed down and started sobbing into Ryder once again, who just started lightly petting her, even though he knew it wouldn't do much.

"Jeez, you're almost as pathetic as he is, and that's saying a lot." Sweetie scoffed. The husky clearly wanted to say something to defend herself, or more likely to defend Marshall, but she wasn't able to. Her cries stopped her from doing much of anything.

"Sweetie, I don't know what has gotten into you, but this needs to stop immediately. Don't you think you're going too far? If you keep this up, I'll have no choice but to kick you out. Is that really what you want?" The Princess asked.

The terrier eyed her carefully and then simply shrugged "Alright, if you want me to leave, I'll leave. I'll just see myself out, you good for nothing princess." Sweetie barked. With that, she turned around and marched towards the castle doors. The Princess called out to her, but no one dared to follow her.

After realizing the pup wasn't coming back regardless of what she did or said, the Princess turned to the rest with a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm so sorry everyone, especially to you Everest." She apologized, still a bit in shock after all that had happened.

Everest weakly nodded and left Ryder's side, not paying the most attention to the Princess's words. She walked over to the door that Marshall had previously entered and gave it a small knock.

"M-Marshy? Are y-you awake? Please talk to me, I-I just want to help you." She said, There was no reply, although she could've sworn she heard crying from the other side. She tried to open the door but to no avail. It was locked.

"L-let me in Marshy, p-please." She continued, pulling on the door harder as if she expected it to somehow open. The others only watched helplessly, knowing there was nothing that could be done.

"Hey, you wanna stay in my room tonight, Everest?" Ryder offered. He was positive that she would be stressing out over Marshall all night, so he figured it would probably be a good idea to stay with her, just to make sure she would have someone with her to reassure her.

"B-but...I wanna sleep with Marshy." Everest complained, clearly disappointed. No one was surprised by that answer, she was still determined to get to him, even though it clearly wasn't happening tonight.

"I know you do girl, but I just don't think that's gonna happen right now. I'm sorry, I'm sure it hurts to not be with him. I promise we can talk to him in the morning." The boy responded.

"No. I-I'm not just gonna wait. You have no idea what he's going through. What's gonna happen if he has a nightmare? Those stupid dreams terrify him. Yes, he's getting better, but they still hurt him so much. We both know he needs me when that happens." Everest shot back.

Ryder wanted to counter with something, but he couldn't. The husky was completely right. Marshall would be suffering without her, and if something were to happen, he'd be alone and forced to cope with himself alone. Everest filled an irreplaceable part in not only his recovery but just his life in general.

"You're right, I know he needs you more than anything. But again, there's nothing we can do tonight. We'll talk to him tomorrow. Don't worry, you'll have him back with you soon. For now, let's just sleep." Ryder insisted.

"Y-you guys can go ahead, I-I'm not moving unless it's with him." She replied, laying her head down on the floor, emphasizing that she really wasn't going to leave.

The boy sighed, seeing how determined she was to help her loved one, even if it would end up hurting her. "Is there any point in trying to get you to come to bed?" He asked, despite already being aware of what she'd say.

"Nope." The husky simply refused.

"Fine, but eventually you have to come to bed. You're not staying up all night trying to wait for him. I know you're worried about his health but that doesn't mean you can ignore yours." He explained. Everest nodded but didn't show any other signs of caring. The others looked at each other, then slowly went off to bed, still wondering what would happen in the following hours.

◾◻◻⬛◻◻◾

Despite the drama that had happened just a few hours ago, most everyone seemed to have a decent sleep. Ryder woke up and looked around his room, curious to see if Everest had listened to him and came to bed.

Just as he worried, she was nowhere to be found. Knowing exactly where she was, he got up and walked back to Marshall's room. Of course, it was no surprise to see the husky slumped against the door, but it was her physical appearance that threw him off a bit.

Her eyes were open and had small circles under them, signaling that she hadn't slept at all that night. Tears were still flowing down her cheeks, and yet she still had her eyes locked on the door, waiting for Marshall to eventually come out.

Before the boy had the chance to ask if she was ok, a sudden noise caught both of their attentions. The sound of a door being unlocked. Everest immediately jumped up as it slowly began to open, revealing a dalmatian who looked even more washed out than the husky did.

"H-have you been here all night?" He asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes in the process. Everest forced a smile and reached out, caressing his face for only a second before he pulled back.

"Yeah, I-I have been, but that doesn't matter. A-are you ok? Did you get any sleep l-last night?" She questioned, not wanting him to question her decision to stay up purely for his sake.

"Did you?" The dally asked in return, raising an eyebrow. Neither of the two spoke a word for a few minutes, both looking at the other with care and concern. Finally, Ryder spoke up, stopping whatever answers probably wouldn't have left their mouths.

"Hey, you two should go get packed, we're leaving soon." He suggested. The original plan was actually to stay for a few nights, but seeing as the main purpose of the vacation was to be a morale booster for Marshall, and that clearly wasn't the case, so he decided it would be best to just head home early.

Both pups went ahead and got their stuff, along with the others who already ready to go. Since the two were the only ones not prepared, by the time they were, the others were outside in the paw patroller, only leaving them.

"Marshy wait." The husky called out as he started to walk away. The dally sighed and turned around. "A-are you sure this is what you want? I can help you, please just let me." She pleaded.

"No, Everest. For the last time, I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me anymore. Just take care of yourself. I've put you through enough as it is. So yes, this is what I want." He insisted.

"That's not true. You didn't put me through anything. Nothing that happened was your fault. I've told you so many times that I love you, and I still do. Just tell me how I can help you." Everest begged, refusing to let him go as he wanted.

"Well then if you want to help me, just leave me alone! Can't you see I just want to help you!? That all I've done is hurt you!? Just let me do this for you!" The dally demanded, raising his voice louder than the husky was sure she had ever heard.

Everest immediately took a step back after hearing his sudden outburst. Not once had Marshall ever yelled at her, so was a first for her. She was caught off guard, and a bit hurt due to this not being the first time she had been yelled at by a mate, only last time it wasn't Marshall.

"I-I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to yell at you." He apologized, immediately feeling guilty the second the words left his mouth. Of course, she knew that was true. It wasn't like him to yell, and despite him not having acted like himself in months, this was even more out of character.

"I'm not mad at you, it's fine. But, Marshy, t-this isn't gonna make things better. I know you think it will help, but I don't want this." She replied, hoping maybe her point would get to him.

"W-well I do. I want this because it'll make you happier. Maybe not now, but it will. You'll be glad you don't have to worry about me. So don't stress over it, this is my choice, I'm ok with putting you before me." Marshall replied.

Everest felt terrible for him, more than she already did. He really seemed to think that pushing her away was going to make things better for her, but she knew that deep down, he still wanted to be mates. He was just forcing himself to do this because he thought he was doing something good for her, and that made it even more heartbreaking for her.

"F-fine. I'm not gonna force you to do anything. But please remember, I'm always going to be right here, and I still want to help you. I love you more than anything, Marshy, and that's never changing." The husky gave in, wiping away a few tears.

"I-I love you too, and that's not changing either. I just don't want to hurt you any more than I already have." Marshall responded. And with that, the dally turned and walked to the paw patroller.

Everest sighed and followed him. She felt so lonely, like a piece of her was missing, and in all honesty, something was missing. Sure, part of her was glad to hear that Marshall still loved her, but that didn't change the fact of the matter.

Her mate was gone, and she had no idea if she would ever have him back.