Ending 3 - Maria

From the huddle, Maria stepped forward and Davina, wide-eyed and smiling asked, “Maria?”, who confirmed with a “Hi, Davina”.

Davina’s joy turned to guilt when she realised the effects of her deception; years ago, she broke Maria’s heart, and here she was unintentionally toying with it again.

Davina knew it was time to reveal the truth and avoid any further heartbreak; “Maria, I’m sorry, but I can’t, I would love to but I’m not who your think I am, I’m…”.

“Devin. Yeah, we all know”, Maria elucidated.

Davina gasped, “B-but how… W-why…”.

“Well the first sign was how uncomfortable you were around us to start with, but after you made the Purple Rain, and the Cordon Bleu and fudge cake for the cook-off, we were pretty certain. Plus the fact you look like Janet, your name is just a girly version of Devin, and the screaming fits you had at Annie which we could all overhear were a dead giveaway”, Maria explained.

“But if you know who I am why would you all tolerate me being here? Why would you propose?”, asked Davina, getting overwhelmed.

Maria slowly walked over to her fiancée.

“Why? At first we were fully planning to dogpile you, but when we saw how much better a person you were as Davina, we decided to hold off. And through Davina, we actually saw how much you regretted your actions and how you were trying to make up for them. You could have easily turned yourself back, but instead you sacrificed that chance to help us. And you risked your neck to save Rebecca. We all fuck up, we’re all bad people at one point. God knows I’ve done some horrible shit. But you’re not that person any more. You’re smart, funny, courageous, kind, empathetic; you’re a good person. And seeing you bloom into this wonderful creature makes me want to be better. That’s why I fell in love with you. So let me make it clear, Devin, Davina, whoever you prefer to be; with all my heart, I love you”.

Maria stood directly in front of Davina, taking her hands in her own, while Davina tried to process everything she just said.

‘A better person, me? She’s gotta be kidding. I mean, sure, when I’m with her and Rebecca and Stacey I feel more like myself than I have in years, but that couldn’t be due to being Davina, could it? And love? I love my friends but do I love-love Maria? I do feel safe when I’m with her, protected, cherished; being with her I want to be my best self, for her sake. But that doesn’t mean—Oh…’.

Davina looked up at Maria and smiled with a tear in her eye, finally admitting “I love you too”, and gave Maria the most passionate kiss of her life, wrapping her arms around her neck, while Maria cradled her tiny waist.

The conglomeration erupted into a chorus of cheers, for their hard work had paid off; Devin was finally no longer a womanizing douchebag.

Their kiss was interrupted by Patrick shouting “Hah, what a couple of fucking dykes!”, and Maria broke off the kiss with murderous intent, only for Patrick to be sent careening to the ground by a face punch from Trey, much to Davina’s surprise.

Hand in hand, the couples made their way to the beach’s wedding alter, where Annie was ready as registrar, smirking at the last-minute choice of Davina’s fiancé.

With Rebecca as Maria’s maid of honour, and Stacey as Maria’s, the two signed the marriage certificate, said their “I do’s”, exchanged rings, and kissed again, as did the other couples.

“And with our couples happily married, and a shocking twist finale, that brings this first series of Desire Archipelago to a close! We’ll see you all back on the beach next season!”, the hosts announced, before promptly leaving, desperate to “get off this motherfucking island!”.

The ceremony over, Annie walked up to Davina, telling her “Well, a deal’s a deal. Let’s get you fixed up”.

“Wait a minute, Annie. I just wanted to say thank you, for making me realise how much I hurt people and helping me see the person I could be. But I’m gonna have to turn down your offer; I like myself a whole lot better as Davina”, Davina revealed.

“Wow… Thank you. Huh. You really sure about this? Well do you want any other procedures? I’ve got some hypnosis programmes if you wanna completely eradicate Devin”, Annie offered.

“Thanks, but I need to stay as I am and continue to work on myself”, confirmed Davina.

“Well… I guess that’s everything then. I finally succeeded in getting rid of Devin. Man that feels good…”, Annie said as she walked off, free from the burden of Devin.

Trey was the next person to talk to her.

“Hey, Devi-- I mean, Davina. I know I was really hard on you back in high school, and that probably messed you up in a whole load of ways, so I just wanna say I’m sorry, I don’t do that shit any more, and I wanna try and make it up to you”.

“You know, I’ve been wanting to hear that for years. And as much as I’ve thought about what I could make you do as revenge, the best thing you could possibly do is work on yourself and try and be a better person. Alright?”, Davina suggested.

With everybody gone, it was just Maria, Davina, Rebecca and Stacey left, the latter two of gushing over the now-married couple.

Stacey - “So where you two like going for your honeymoon?”.

Rebecca – “Somewhere far-flung and exotic, I imagine?”.

Maria - *To Davina* “Wherever you want, babe”.

Davina – “Anywhere, so long as it’s with you, lover. But not a fucking island!”