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"Branch does too have a fun side!"
"No, he doesn't, Poppy," DJ Suki said, shaking her head. "I don't know what you think you see in him, but it's not a fun side."
"Yes, it is! He's got a fun side and a romantic side and an emotional side, just as much as a serious side!"
"More like he's serious, overprotective, and antisocial all the time," said Guy Diamond, frowning. None of the Snack Pack was exactly happy right now, despite their Trolliness. Recently, Poppy had been spending a lot of time with Branch - which would've been fine, but they wanted her to be happy. They did not want her to be heartbroken. And it didn't matter what Poppy told herself - Branch had no fun side, which was the one thing they knew Poppy always wanted in a lover.
"He can be all of those things, but please, you guys, take my word for it. He's also fun, romantic, and emotional. Also trustworthy, honest -"
"More like brutally honest," muttered Smidge, interrupting the young queen. The small yellow Troll couldn't stand hearing Poppy sing Branch's praises like a lovestruck teenager - like Bridget - when they all knew they were nothing like each other. Poppy would flee, heartbroken, before any of them knew what was happening.
Poppy shot her an angry glare, a trick she'd picked up from none other than Branch. "You guys barely spend any time with him at all - how would you know any of this stuff? He's changed since he turned blue, you know. A lot nicer than he used to be - but it doesn't look like you're willing to give him a single chance," she retorted, her tone as angry as her glare. She'd most certainly learned that from Branch, too.
"Not a single chance, but a chance at being single, maybe," Chenille said under her breath. She exchanged a glance with Satin, the only one who'd heard her, and both sisters smirked.
Poppy might not have heard the wisecrack, but she saw their smug half-smiles and stamped her foot. "You guys! Come on, he's really nice! I don't have any clue why you hate him so much, but please! Just give him a chance!"
"We tried, Poppy, remember? When you two first saved everyone at Bergen Town?" Biggie reminded his friend a little more gently than the others in the group. "But he ignored us and always left as soon as we started a conversation."
"Yeah," Satin said. "Chance over, man."
Poppy sighed. "Well, that's 'cause he barely knows you! You have to warm up to him first, you know, like I did during the trip to Bergen Town!"
"We tried and failed, alright? He failed," DJ said, crossing her arms.
Poppy crossed her arms, too. "If you're gonna have that attitude, I don't want to talk to you. Come find me when you're ready to approach this with an open mind - like you're supposed to as Trolls." From her expression, she knew her words were biting ones. "Listen, I have a date with Branch in a few minutes, so if you change your minds, you'll know where to find me." With that, she stormed off.
"Pfft. Change our minds?" Guy Diamond said, as though the very idea was ridiculous.
"No way!" chorused the rest of the Snack Pack.
A few hours later, the Snack Pack was bored out of their minds.
They leaned against a tree trunk, staring into space, nothing to do. There was no holiday today - it must have been one of the only days on the Troll calendar with no holiday to celebrate - so it was way more tranquil in Troll Village than it should've been. Poppy was on her date, so she wasn't hosting a party they could go to, nor was she spicing things up in any other way. So the Snack Pack had absolutely nothing to do.
And with nothing to do, they couldn't stop their minds from wandering back to the memory of their argument - one of many they'd had on the subject - with Poppy.
Finally, Smidge said, "I feel kinda bad about what we said to Poppy."
All the Trolls averted their eyes, denying that they felt the same.
Smidge stood up, facing her friends. "Oh, come on, you know you were all thinking it!"
Biggie sighed. "Smidge is right, you guys. Poppy's our best friend. We can't let something silly like Branch come in the way of that."
"Yeah, I guess so," DJ said. "We literally let a boy come in the way of our friendship with her!"
"We've always been friends -" Satin started.
"- why let that be destroyed?" Chenille finished.
"We've got to make up with her!" Cooper said enthusiastically.
Fuzzbert grunted his agreement.
All the friends turned to Guy Diamond, the only Troll in the Snack Pack yet to agree. He was known for having a great deal of confidence, but it was often accompanied by a great deal of pride.
He stood with his arms crossed. "Branch has no fun side and he will break her heart one day! He's so overprotective and suppresses Poppy! You're really gonna let him get away with that?"
"'Overprotective and suppressing'?" Smidge challenged. "Sounds a lot more like you right now, Guy."
"That's different!"
"How so?" asked DJ, matching his arms-crossed position.
"Well, he - I - I'm not -" Guy sputtered, then sighed in defeat. "Fine. I do feel bad about what we did to Poppy. Maybe we should go apologize?"
The Snack Pack smiled and nodded. "Definitely!" laughed Cooper happily.
DJ led the group as they approached the hill where Branch and Poppy had most of their dates. She stopped when the couple came into view and earshot and watched and listened for a moment.
"Oh, Poppy, I swear -!" Branch cried, chasing after Poppy with one arm reached out toward her. For a moment it looked as though he'd catch her, but then she swerved and evaded him. "Poppy, give that back!"
She was holding something, DJ realized, something supple - wait, was that Branch's vest? Suki did a double take and looked back at Branch, who she now noticed was bare-chested.
"Not a chance!" Poppy cried playfully, then raised the fist holding his vest as she ran. "MINE FOREVER!"
"It is NOT yours!" Branch said, and stuck his tongue out at her - not that she saw, of course. "I'm serious! Give it back!"
But he didn't sound serious at all.
"In your dreams - aah!" Poppy shrieked as Branch caught her, and in one swift motion, spun her around, pulled her close, and pressed their lips together. DJ Suki watched as they both melted into the kiss, then Branch reached up and grabbed his vest out of her hand.
As soon as he took it, Poppy separated their mouths but didn't pull out of his grasp. "Hey!"
Branch leaned in close enough that from the distance Suki was at, they could've been kissing again, but then she saw the blue Troll holding her friend smirk and whisper something she couldn't hear.
Suki continued to watch as Poppy's arms traveled up to the back of his head and pulled him in, connecting their lips once more. Branch kissed her back, both their eyes closed . . . and then DJ saw what the young queen was doing.
Her hands slowly left his head and felt around his body, undoubtedly looking for the vest he'd taken back from her. At first, Branch didn't seem to notice anything, or at least thought her random touches were normal, but then her hand blindly landed on his face.
Suki watched as he pulled back, releasing his hold on her. He stared at her for a moment, then lunged for her again, to which she shrieked and started running away for the second time. Only then she seemed to notice her friends watching and turned toward them, stopping in her tracks.
Branch saw too late and collided with her, landing right on top of her. Suki saw his lips reach for hers, but the young queen shoved him off of her body and sat up.
Poppy waved to the Snack Pack. "Oh, hey, guys! What brings you here?" She got to her feet and jogged over to them, as though she'd already forgotten about Branch, whom she'd left on the ground - but knowing her, she probably had.
DJ Suki gaped at her. "B-Br-Branch has . . . a fun side," she stammered, trying desperately to comprehend what she'd just seen. "And - and a romantic side, since he kissed you, too."
Poppy grinned ear-to-ear. "Wha'd I tell you? C'mon, why else did you think I'd be dating him?"
"Y'know, Poppy, we came to agree to disagree -" started Satin, just as shocked as Suki and the rest of the group.
"- but I don't think we even have to disagree anymore," finished Chenille.
"So we're all on the same page, then?" Poppy asked hopefully. "You'll give Branch a chance?"
"How could we not?" Guy said, shaking his head in utter disbelief.
The young queen clapped her hands happily. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" she said, spinning around and giving them one big group hug. "I promise you won't regret it!" She turned around and skipped back to Branch, throwing her arms around him. "Yay!"
He hugged her back, a confused-but-happy expression on his face. "Yay, what?"
"My friends agree you have a fun side! They're giving you a chance!" She broke the hug and gave him a long, enthusiastic kiss, then pulled back and danced around happily. "WOO-HOO!"
And as the Snack Pack watched her so deliriously happy, they wondered how much sooner they could've stopped all the arguments if only they'd agreed to give Branch a chance.