An Australian Love || A Robert Irwin Story

F I V E

TWO YEARS LATER

MARI

"God I am so glad to be back with you guys." I smiled, knowing that we all felt the same.

"I missed you guys."

"Ditto."

The group had gotten smaller over the last two years, and so now it's just Grace, Jaxon, and a new guy, Jhayden. Anthony moved to New Mexico for his dad's job.

"I actually have something to tell you guys. I'm gonna start going by my middle name. Mari."

Jaxon smiles and grabs my hand. "Okay, that's fine, wanna tell us why you wanna go by your middle name?"

I look towards the floor, feeling embarrassed. "Here goes nothing," I mutter. "I identify as non-binary. And my pronouns are they/she." 

Jaxon lifts my head softly and smiles at me. "Don't be ashamed, we love you no matter what." 

"Yeah, you thought we'd be mean about it? Have you met us?" Grace smiles and laughs.

I guess I did overthink everything.

"Thanks for being so understanding."

Jhayden punches my arm and asks, "Why wouldn't we be? We're the four muffins." All of us look at him confused.

"The Four Muffins?" we questioned.

"Don't act like you don't imagine yourselves being in the Dream SMP."

We all nod before falling into laughter.

THIRD

A lot has happened in the last two years. 

For everyone involved in this story. 

Sanai and Justin, for example. 

They put all of their love into him, and for every one hundred drops of love she put in, they only got ten back. 

She bought him gifts, showed him what it was like to celebrate holidays, and loved him relentlessly.

She loved him when he ghosted her once.

She loved him when he ghosted her twice.

She loved him when he ghosted her a third time.

She went against everything his family stood for, and even know they didn't know her, his family would try and get him to leave her.

She stood by his side as he grew his relationship with his father. She stood by his side as he realized how his cousin manipulated him and helped him relearn everything he knew. She stood by his side as kids picked on him.

She taught him love, how to love, what love is, what love isn't.

Loki said it best, "Love is a dagger."

It wasn't until he had told her that he would let other people touch her, just because. All he wanted from it? Some money and the chance to meet a famous YouTuber.

Even after he said all the names he could think of, people from multiple different professions, she still loved him. She stayed up late that night, hunched over the toilet bowl, crying and releasing meals from that day, and probably even the day before that. 

Not only did she cry, she mourned.

She mourned the three years of life she had lost.