Sweet Summer Sunsets- A Robert Irwin FanFic

Robert

I lay in bed and debated on whether or not I wanted to call Ashley or text her. I decided to call.

Butterflies danced slightly in my stomach as the phone rang. It's amazing how I can feel so comfortable, so myself, with Ashley, but she still stirred up the butterflies and made me nervous at times. I looked forward to every chance I go to be around her or even just to talk to her. I couldn't get over the fact that our paths crossed, in such a way that just couldn't be a coincidence.

"Hello?" Her voice came through the phone, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hey love, did I wake you?" I asked.

"No, I was just watching The Book of Boba Fett."

"Oh, that's a good show!"

"Let me guess, you already finished it?" She said, laughing slightly. The sweet sound of her laughter made me smile.

"You know me too well."

"Both a blessing and a curse, Tarzan."

I glanced at the clock on my nightstand, it was still early, just before 11.

"So, when would be good to pick you up tomorrow?"

"Any time, I don't even know where you're taking me," she laughed again.

"11 work then?"

"Sure! Are you gonna tell me where we're going or are you going to leave that as a surprise?"

"Well, you know how much I love surprising you! But I'll tell you, cause I'm not 100% sure if you'll want to go here or if it would be too much walking for you since your leg is still healing up, and I have two options for you," I explained, nervous that I didn't have a solid plan.

"And what would those options be?"

"Well, I figured we could go to the Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha, and then find a good picnic spot when you're ready, and then afterwards go to the lookout there and watch the sunset. Or we can go Gardner's Falls and hike up to a waterfall and eat and maybe swim." But what I didn't tell her, was I planned a picnic in Bindi's Treehouse, and I'll steal her away later in the evening to surprise her with that. 

"Hmm well, let's go to Gardner's Falls, I think that'll be a neat adventure,"

"Waterfalls it is! Remember to grab a swimsuit, a picnic blanket, and of course your water bottle, I'll take care of lunch."

"Sweet as," she said.

"Sweet as," I said softly.

"Robert, it's so amazing what we do, with the animals. I'm so glad we get to help so many of them."

"Me too, Ash. We really do make a difference, and I'm so glad to have you on our team. Even if things don't work out with us, although I'm sure they will, I hope you still work with us at the zoo and continue to help animals with us. We only have one planet and it's our job to protect it."

"Oh, definitely. I love all we do and even if things don't work out, I'll always be your friend and I love your family so much, I'm not going anywhere," She said, chuckling softly. "but, how do you cope with the pressure and the media and everything?"

I thought back to the scars I saw on her wrist the day before her graduation party. Is that how she copes, by harming herself?

"Well, I surf and ride my bicycle or the dirt bike. You know I love photography too, so that is another outlet for me. And my family and I do lots of hikes and little adventures, so being outdoors is great. But honestly, I find it sort of therapeutic to be around the animals and work with them. It is so rewarding to watch them heal and recover, and to be able to release them back into the wild. And the ones that can't be released, stay at our zoo or one of the conservation properties, and we get to see them all the time and that's wonderful. I love being around animals."