day 14

my leg was almost healed, only a red line and some scabbing was left, so i was good to go on my trip. we would be going to a conservation property they had about 10 hours from here. we were leaving after lunch, so the drive would go late into the night.

i packed my bags that morning, all my khaki, plus some normal clothes, a swim suit -just in case, hiking shoes, sneakers, pajamas of course, and boots along with all my toiletries.

"so remind me again why y'all aren't coming?" i asked my parents as i lugged all my luggage down stairs.

"Florence, you're gonna be gone for a few days, you're not moving back to New York." my dad scoffed at my suitcase, duffel bag and backpack.

"it's really not that much." i replied, sitting down on the couch next to them.

"we're not going because we're swamped here." my mom typed something on her ipad.

"what do y'all do all day?"

"keep one of the worlds most famous zoos running." my mom returned.

"it takes a lot, especially when it had been closed for so long." my dad added.

"well, good luck with that." i stood up, "i need a ride to the zoo." i smiled.

"got it." my dad stood up, grabbing the keys from the side table.

"bye honey, have fun! please don't get eaten by anything." i gave my mom a hug.

"or scratched." my dad chimed in.

after a few more hugs me and my dad were off to the zoo. i waited in the wildlife hospital for everyone else to get ready.

"hey Flo." Bindi walked up behind me.

"hi Bindi, you ready?" i stopped what i was doing and turned to her.

"yeah! Robert and Chandler are just pulling the cars around." she smiled, grabbing my backpack.

"thank you," i grabbed the rest of my stuff and we started heading to the door, "so what exactly are we gonna do there?"

"oh you know, go hiking, go swimming, check up on the property. stuff like that." we made it outside.

"oh, okay, cool." Robert pulled his car up in front of us.

"all right! everyone ready?" Terri pulled up in a golf cart with Grace, "hi Florence." she gave me a side hug.

"i'm ready." i looked at her, then around to everyone.

"yep, let's go!" Robert patted Chandlers back and they both headed towards his car.

"uh, uh, uh!" Bindi protested, "Chandler, you are riding in the car with me, and Grace -who has been very cranky this morning." she gave him a smile, one that wasn't very friendly.

Chandler stopped in his tracks, "right, yes. of course love."

"who's riding with me then?" Robert asked.

"Florence of course." Terri patted his back.

"oh." we both said in unison.

"let's not be any more late and get on the road. Robert help Flo with her bags, please."

"sure." Robert sighed.

i grabbed my backpack from Bindi and my duffel bag.

"it's really okay, i can get it." we walked to the back of his car.

"i got it." he picked up my suitcase and put it in the trunk.

"thanks." he took the duffel bag and backpack from me.

we hopped in the car, letting Terri, Bindi, and Chandler go first. we shortly followed behind them.

"if you plug my phone in it'll start playing music." he nodded to his phone sitting on the console.

"okay." i grabbed his phone and plugged it into the aux, the first song that started playing was 'super bass' by Nicki Minaj.

"oh- um, y-you can skip that. im not sure why that's playing." Robert struggled.

"are you a barb?" i asked, laughing.

"no- give me that." he snatched the phone out of my hands.

"i mean it's okay if you are, i just didn't expect that from you." i tried keeping in my laugh.

"i'm not." he looked at me sternly.

i put my hands up in defeat, "whatever you say, Irwin."

he skipped the song, but the next one that came up was 'all too well' by Taylor Swift.

"oh my god, you're a swiftie too!" i put my hand over my mouth, containing my laughs.

"okay, so what? she's a lyrical genius." Robert snapped back.

"no, no, i agree." i nodded.

"really?" he looked at me shocked.

"yes! i love her. i just didn't think you would too."

"oh, well, don't tell anyone." he glanced at me again.

"why? you afraid Toby will never let you live it down?" i smirked.

"that's exactly why." he kept one hand on the steering wheel and another on the windowsill.

i chuckled to myself.

there was silence for about an hour before 'getaway car' came on. being one of my favorite songs i couldn't resist bursting into song. Robert laughed at me as i recited every one of the lyrics perfectly. about halfway into the song he started too. soon after that he rolled down the windows, letting the wind blow into the car and make my hair fly every which direction.

"don't pretend it's such a mystery, think about the place where you first met me
ridin' in a getaway car
there were sirens in the beat of your heart
should've known i'd be the first to leave
think about the place where you first met me"

we screamed the lyrics at each other, laughing while doing so. i was actually having a good time with Robert, that was shocking.

once the song ended Robert rolled up the windows and turned the music down a bit. i fixed my hair in my phone camera. the next few hours were spent listening to music or having random conversations.

——

"i could see you being a gold digger." Robert shrugged.

"you what?" i laughed.

we had been talking about a show Robert had once watched about gold diggers tactics.

"i mean out of the two of us you'd definitely be the gold digger." Robert suggested.

"but, i'm the one with the gold, so wouldn't you be the digger?" i looked at him.

he paused for a moment, "good point."

——

"i mean if i had to choose, i'd definitely rather go to space then be in a submarine." i nodded confidently.

"you're insane." Robert shook his head, "you would rather go, in a rocket ship, to space, then just float around in nothing? with no air?"

"there's no air underwater either." i looked at him slowly.

"well- i- yeah, okay i guess there's not."

"dumbass." i muttered under my breath, smiling.

"hey!" he reached over and smacked my arm.

"ow!" i laughed.

——

"you know, i once met Chris Hemsworth." he said smugly.

"you know, i once met Harrison Ford." i returned the smugness.

"how?" he looked at me, shocked.

"you meet a lot of celebrities when you live in New York City." i looked at him, grinning.

"yeah, whatever." he rolled his eyes.

——

the sun was about to set and we were over half way through our trip. i could tell Robert was getting tired so i tried to entertain him best i could to keep him awake. yet, i was tired too, but forced my eyes open.

i grabbed the snacks we had gotten from our last gas station stop. i wasn't sure what most of them were, but Robert swore by them. there was a few bags of some sort of chips, a couple candy bars, two sodas and an ice cream bar.

"do you want your ice cream now? it's gonna melt soon." i held it out to him.

"oh yeah, i forgot about that. thanks." he smiled, grabbing the bar and ripping the wrapping open with his teeth.

since the ice cream was partially melted it was very messy.

"oh my god, it's getting everywhere!" i laughed as Robert tried to eat the bar.

it was already smeared across his face and dripping down his shirt. i laughed even harder as i stuck my hands underneath the bar and let all the melted ice cream fall into my hands. Robert tried not to choke from laughing with his mouth full -which just made me laugh harder.

suddenly his phone started ringing, i looked down to see that it was Emma calling. he quickly ate the rest of his snack, whipped off his hands and answered the phone.

"hello?" he finished chewing.

his phone was still connected to his car, so i could hear what she was saying.

"hey!" she replied.

Robert tried to unplug the aux, but couldn't do it with one hand. he looked to me for help, i held up my hands that held up melted ice cream. he stifled a laugh, trying to keep his voice neutral.

"whatcha doing?" he asked Emma.

"nothing really, just calling to check in on you. you're still on the road?"

"yeah, a couple hours past half way. we stopped a few times which slowed us down." he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

Robert nodded to the center console, i opened it to find lots of napkins.

"are you driving? or Chandler?"

she doesn't know i'm driving with him.

i glanced at Robert, a flash of panic showed on his face.

"uh, i am." he looked to me,

don't lie Robert.

"and Chandlers riding in the other car with Bindi and mum. i'm with Florence." he tapped his steering wheel.

why is he nervous about telling her he's driving with me? i mean one day we'll be running the zoo together, what's a road trip?

there was a pause. i awkwardly whipped my hands off.

"oh! fun! how old is she again? 14?" i knew she knew how old i was.

i almost said something, but Robert saw it coming. he reached across the car and grabbed my hand, holding it.

"15, almost 16. only a couple years younger than me."

he handled that a lot better than i would have

"but still, younger sister vibes, right? a cute little sibling road trip." she giggled.

"uh- no. not really." his eyes quickly darted to his hand that was holding mine.

he gave me a 'don't start anything' look, i nodded. with that he slowly let go of my hand.

"oh,"

"hey, we're almost there and the roads are gonna get choppy, i should probably concentrate. i'll talk to you later?"

"yeah sure. bye!"

"bye." he hung up the phone.

that was weird.

we were not almost there and the roads were fine. i looked at him.

"don't." he sighed.

"wasn't gonna."

when we got there it was dark out, and we were both absolutely exhausted. everyone was. Chandler and Bindi took Grace to bed straight away, not bothering about their luggage. me and Robert grabbed out stuff and took it inside.

"you and Roberts room is down the hall." Terri pointed.

"room? as in singular?" i looked to Terri.

"there's two beds don't worry." she giggled.

i looked at Robert, he only sighed and continued down the hall.

roommates! yay!

i followed him down the hall, starting to regret my decision to join the Irwin's.

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a/n
hi guys!! thank you so much for 500 reads!!<33