Stirring from my sleep, I open my eyes and stare up at the ceiling. Ow… My throat is killing me! What the hair is wrong with me? I feel so cold, too… And to make things worse and rain even more on my happy parade, my head's hurting like crazy! What is up?! I crawl out of my bed, shivering and heading for the stairs. I feel like a Popsicle. Heh, heh, Popsicle.

I don't even feel like eating breakfast... Wow, something's seriously wrong. I walk down the stairs, out of my pod, and toward the pod next to mine. If anyone knows what to do about this problem, it's Branch: the bestest, wonderfulest troll in the whole wide world! Who also happens to be my boyfriend—just thought I'd mention it. My spirits uplifted a bit at the prospect of his sweet face looking at me, I knock on the pod.

"Branch?!" I try to yell and end up in a coughing fit. Jeez, that's not working. I knock harder so maybe he'll hear me without my yelling. Suddenly, part of the pod opens and I see the one guy I need the most. I look into those beautiful blue eyes as he stares at me. I probably look like a zombie.

"Poppy?! Are you okay?" I force a small smile.

"No, not really-ACHOOO!" I sneeze loudly into my arm. Ow, that hurt my throat.

"Come here, let's go inside so you can rest." I wraps an arm around me and I cuddle into his embrace, loving the feel of his warmth surrounding me and making me feel safe. Wow, Branch is just so amazing.

I follow gladly as Branch guides me to his bed and pulls back the quilts for me to get in. I hesitantly let go and curl up under the blankets. He places his lips on my forehead and they linger there for a moment. That's nice. I'm going to need to get a problem more often so I'll get free and easy kisses.

"Hmm. It feels like a fever. Poppy, do you have a sore throat?"

"Yeah," I croak and wince at the pain that speaking brings me. Maybe I should just shut my mouth however impossible that may be.

"Does your head hurt?" Branch asks as he turns and walks through the doorway to the bathroom. I wait for a second and Branch pokes his head back into the bedroom. I nod at him in response to his question earlier. His head disappears and I hear him rummaging through something. Gee, whiz, all I wanna do is rest. It'd be really nice if he'd stop and just lay down beside me. I just need a cuddle…

I watch as Branch walks out of the bathroom with some disgusting looking liquid in a spoon. He extends his arm to me, offering the liquid for me to drink. I give him a disgusted face and I angle my face away from the spoon. He sighs.

"Poppy, open your mouth." I shake my head, frowning. "Poppy." I pout and look into his eyes. Branch looks at me for a moment. "What will make you drink this?" I put my hand to my chin and think. Hmm… Ooh! I got it! I grin at him evilly, despite my terrible feelings on the inside. I hear him gulp.

"Sing," I whisper quietly, so it wouldn't hurt my throat so badly. He groans but smiles anyway.

"Yeah, leave it to you to want me to sing when you're lying here sick," Branch says. "What exactly do you want me to sing?" he asks. I consider it for a minute and easily think of the song that will make me feel better.

"'True Colors,'" I say. He nods and takes in a breath.

You with the sad eyes

Don't be discouraged…

Oh, I realize

It's hard to take courage.

In a world full of people,

You can lose sight of it all.

The darkness inside you

Can make you feel so small. He smiles and moves the spoon closer to me. I shake my head and motion for him to go on. Branch rolls his eyes at me but continues anyway.

Show me a smile, then.

Don't be unhappy

Can't remember when,

I open my mouth out of habit to sing with him and I feel him shove the spoon in my mouth. I close my lips around it and he pulls it out. I grimace as the liquid slides down my throat. Oh my troll, this stuff is absolutely disgusting! He chuckles and heads for the bathroom, presumably to rinse the spoon off.

"Poppy, I'm afraid you've got a cold." My eyes widen. A cold? I can't get one of those! What time am I going to have to catch up on all the singing and dancing I've missed since everyone moved back to the Troll Tree?!

Branch walks back into his bedroom and grabs a chair from his desk then sitting down next to me.

"But, Branch, I've got important work to do!" I whisper frantically.

"What kind of 'important work' is it that you need to do so badly?" he asks with a smug yet questioning look on his face. I blush a bit. I don't really want answer that. Hmm… How can I get out of having to answer? Oh, I got it!

I hold my throat and cough a little. Branch stares at me with one eyebrow raised. Ugh, I don't think this is working. He continues to give me the stare. I sigh quietly.

"So?" He asks smugly. Hmmph. He thinks he's so smart.

"Singing, dancing, and hugging," I whisper so quietly that even I have a hard time hearing myself. Branch smirks and pats my cheek.

"That's what I thought," he says and walks out of his bedroom into the conjoined living room and kitchen. I hear the water running and I wait for him to come back. Ahh, his bed is so comfy. Way better than mine. It even smells like him. Mmm… I cuddle one of the pillows to my chest and lay my head on the other. Back at my pod I just imagine one of my pillows is Branch. Now I'm here with the real thing in the other room. If only I could get up and follow him around… But no! The pillows and sheets and quilts are way too cozy! I close my eyes and nuzzle my nose into the pillow.

Soon, I hear Branch's footsteps entering the bedroom and I keep my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. I'm just curious to see what he'll do.

I now hear the creaking of his chair beside me as he sits down. I soon feel Branch's hand touching my cheek and stroking it with his thumb. I try really hard not to react to his touch. It's a little painful because of this "cold" I have that makes my skin hurt to the touch, but it's still enjoyable. He uses his other hand to stroke my arm that's circled around the pillow. Hmmph. I wish this dumb pillow was Branch.

His hand moves up from my cheek to my hair and his fingers comb through it. Ooh, darn it! I can't even keep a straight face hardly!

"I know you're awake," Branch says and I open my eyes to look at him. Pooh, pooh. Well, my only bit of fun that I've been allowed has drained down the toilet. "I came in here to tell you that I put on some tea. It'll help your throat." I look into his eyes. He's so awesomely great. And those eyes are beautiful! What I really wish he'd do is give me a big kiss and plop down here beside me so I could go to sleep. I know it'll make me feel better, that's for sure.

"I'm going to go sit in the living room so that you can get some sleep," Branch says, removing his hand from my hair and the other from my arm. I weakly grab his hand. Gee, whiz, I'm so tired. I give him a pleading look, trying to coax him into lying down beside me.

"Please, stay with me," I whisper, in hopes that he'll comply. Branch looks down at me longingly and I feel my heart beat a little faster.

"I can't, Poppy. You don't want us both to end up sick, do you?" Branch asks and I poke out my bottom lip.

"But I'm cold… Freezing… I need some warmth," I whine as I throw the pillow feebly over my shoulder and behind me while shortly thereafter following up with my arms spread wide open in front of me. C'mon, Branch…

He eyes me carefully for a moment and groans.

"Fine. I'll lie here beside you. But if we both end up sick, I don't know what the hair we're going to do then," Branch says as I pull the blankets back with what little energy I have left. He settles in beside me and helps pull the quilts back over us. I snuggle into his front, pushing my face into his chest and wrapping my arms around him. I soon feel one arm circle around my waist and the other arm resting on the nape of my neck while the hand attached ran itself through my hair. I sigh happily as his head rests on mine gently. "At least we'll be sick together…. You sick puppy, you," Branch whispers. I snort and giggle. OW! Dang it. Throat. I huff and cuddle closer to my Branch. Everything's perfect…

The next day…

"ACHOOOOO!"

"ACHOOOOO!" I sniffle and look up at Branch as he wipes his nose with a tissue beside me in our currently shared bed. Oh, well. We're sick together.

Hi, everyone! This was an awesome suggestion given to me by FrozenTinkerbellPotter-Lover15! Thank you so much! I enjoyed writing this, and I really hope all of you enjoyed reading it! Read, review, and have a super day!