A/N: Hey guys! Here's a new year's treat for you! I'm trying to update as much as possible but since I have to go back to work tomorrow it'll just be as I can. I appreciate all the reviews, keep them coming!

ThayetJade: I haven't decided on Creek's role yet, we shall see as the story develops. Branch will be involved more later!

Guest 1: I'm glad you love it!

mlpfanceline1: Poppy has just moved here, so unfortunately she had no friends starting out, but now she does :)

Guest 2: Thank you for the kind words, glad you love it!

TheSnackPack: Here's the next chapter for ya!

Varghul: Turning them human for this story seemed much easier, I'm glad you're loving it!

Now here we go...

Chapter 3

His day had actually started out good, which was a rare thing for Branch. He woke up in a surprisingly good mood and was even up early. Getting his coffee had been quick and easy with the line being short and the baristas working rather quickly despite the early hour. But it all changed when a pink haired brat had run into him spilling his coffee on both of them. His coffee was one thing you didn't mess with, he let her off easy with a warning and headed to the class he was now a teaching assistant in. It wasn't long into the professor's spiel that he got bored, he'd heard this speech already and didn't necessarily have to pay attention to it. His gaze wondered around the classroom until they met a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

Oh God, he thought to himself, not this girl again.

Luckily the pink haired girl looked away after barely a second of eye contact.

Class was over as quickly as it had begun. He made his way out of the auditorium, but paused when he passed the girl who had spilled his coffee not ten minutes before the class started. She had been talking to Satin and Chenille. Her nervous gaze caught his irritated one as he scoffed at her and continued walking. He made his way across campus to the library, it would be very quiet there this time of morning especially on the first day.

After entering he found his usual spot on the second floor in the corner where there were two empty chairs. He sat down putting his bag on the floor beside him. Branch pulled out his notes for the art class so he could continue working on them. It wasn't long before he heard the cushion in the chair next to him deflate as someone sat in it. He was about to tell the person to leave when he looked up to see Guy sitting there grinning at him.

"Did someone forget how to walk and hold a coffee again?" Guy asked him chuckling.

"You know that was once freshman year, I would never intentionally spill coffee." Branch replied sternly.

"So, what happened then?" Guy gestured towards Branch's jacket.

"Ugh this stupid freshman girl ran into me spilling my coffee on both of us. I guess she was probably late for class. I yelled at her and walked away. Then she's in my first freaking class and I catch her staring at me."

"Damn dude, she hot?" Guy smiled at him.

Branch huffed, "I wasn't really paying attention, I was pretty pissed about my coffee. All I know is she had pink hair."

"Wait, what? Pink hair? Who does that?" Guy asked wondering why in the hell anyone would dye their hair pink.

The black-haired boy shrugged, "I don't know, maybe she just wants attention."

Branch wasn't exactly telling Guy the whole truth, but he figured it wasn't any of his business. He had looked at the girl closer after he had cooled off from being mad about his coffee. She was pretty, really pretty but obviously younger than his 22-year-old self. Plus, she was way too pink, much too naïve looking for him. He might as well forget about her and just move on with his studies.

"Earth to Branch." Guy said waving a hand in front of Branch's face.

Branch shook himself from his thoughts, "What, did you say something?"

Guy shook his head and smiled knowingly, "I can see you thinking about her, don't lie to me man I've known you too long."

"Why would I be thinking about a dumb freshman?" Branch scoffed.

"I don't know, why would you? Unless she caught your eye." Guy replied smirking.

Branch was done talking about this, "So are you ready for classes this semester?" He knew it was a horrible segway to change subjects, but he had to do something or GD would just keep going.

Guy chuckled, "Fine I'll leave you alone about it. Of course not, have I ever been ready for classes?"

"Not that I can remember. " Branch cracked a small smile. He knew GD was never great in school, always procrastinating and putting everything off until it absolutely had to be done. To GD having fun was important than good grades, as long as he passed he was happy.

"Well it's been great talking to you man but I gotta go meet up with Suki, I promised her coffee this morning. She's almost as grumpy as you when she doesn't get her coffee." Guy said giving Branch a light punch on the arm as he stood to leave.

Branch glared at him, but it only lasted a second. He knew GD was just teasing him. "Alright man I'll see you later." He replied.

He turned back to his notes as Guy left, making sure he had everything down that he needed for the class. Why there was a teaching assistant for a basic art class he would never know, but it gave him credit and he earned some extra money doing it.

With not much else to do he put his notes back in his bag and just kind of sat there for a while thinking. He only had one more class today, then he had work, and then tutoring. Slowly his mind went back to the pink-haired girl. Oh man, he thought to himself, why am I even thinking about her? That is not going to happen. I haven't even been with a girl in over a year, no way is she someone I should even be looking at. Much too bubbly and innocent looking. An older guy like me wouldn't attract someone like her anyway.

Branch leaned forward in his chair and rubbed his face with his hands, he had to get some fresh air and get his mind off this. He grabbed his bag and left the library. Once outside he breathed in deeply and started walking. It wasn't as chilly as it had been earlier, but still not quite warm enough to take off his jacket.

Without realizing it he had already made it to his next class, he was super early but went ahead and sat down. Branch pulled out a book from bag and started reading.

Branch, now done with classes, headed home to get changed for work. He drove his beat up older car to his apartment in a somewhat shady part of town. It wasn't a bad place to live, but you were liable to see drug deals especially at night. As long as you didn't look around you too much nobody messed with you. He learned long ago to just keep to himself and not draw any attention, hence the amount of black he wore. Plus it made others steer clear of him, which was exactly what he wanted. He was more a loner, his only real friend was GD. His life has never been easy, and his past still dragged him down so it was easier to just be by himself for the most part.

He worked in a factory that cut wood and particle board that made cheap furniture. It wasn't the best job, and probably not the healthiest, but it helped pay the bills and kept him in shape. And they worked with him for his college schedule and other activities. It wouldn't be a long shift today since he had other priorities.

His thoughts however would not leave him in peace. Try as he might he could not get the girl out of his head. This has to stop, he thought. He turned back to his work running his machine and concentrated.

After a few hours he left to go home once again and change. Now he could move on to a more enjoyable part of his day. For not being a nice guy to most people, he actually enjoyed tutoring kids after school. His old elementary school allowed him to come in after school was over and help kids who were having trouble. He'd had to prove himself to them by way of testing before they allowed it, but once they knew he understand pretty much anything that an elementary student needed to know they were fine with it. They didn't pay him for it, but he liked it too much to give it up. There were so many kids out there that needed help that didn't get it at home.

He thought about the little girl he tutored almost every day after school. She was much like him, but much more friendly. She hasn't had an easy life, starting in a broken home then being forced into foster care when she was no longer being cared for properly. He knew how that was having been in the system as well. She didn't have many friends because she was shorter than the other kids and had a deep voice for a girl. This was off-putting to other students since she was also a little badass and didn't put up with anyone's crap. She always stood up for herself, and others when necessary. She was almost like a little sister to him, he wasn't supposed to play favorites with the students he tutored but he couldn't help it.

It was 3:30 when he got to the school, he walked into the building and down the hall where the tutoring room was. When he reached the classroom, he looked in to see the girl already working on her homework. There were a few other kids in the room as well and he would help them out too if they needed it. She looked up just as he entered.

"Branch!" She yelled excitedly, running over to him to hug him.

He normally wouldn't accept a hug, but he made an exception for the young girl.

"Hey Smidge, how are you today?" He asked her, calling her by her nickname. Her real name was Sarah, but he had always called her Smidge.

She smiled up at him, "Good! No one made fun of me today."

"That's good to hear. Are you ready to work on your homework?"

With a slight pout she replied, "Yeah, it's math though. You know I'm not good at it."

This made Branch chuckle, "Oh come on now, it's not that hard."

They headed over to the table she had been sitting at and sat down. Branch looked at the homework she had been working on, the math was very easy for him but for a 9-year-old it could be challenging. She was working on multiplication and basic division. Some of it was already done but the harder questions were still blank.

"Your answers are good on the ones you did, but do you understand how to find the answers to these?" He pointed to the questions she had skipped.

"I know they showed us in class but I forgot, could you show me?" The young girl asked.

"Yeah, here." Branch replied. He began showing her how to multiply the two double digit numbers together.

"You see how I did that?" He asked.

She looked slightly confused but confident, "I think so, let me try."

Branch let her try it herself. It wasn't long before she was done and had the correct answer.

"Good job." He told her.

"Thanks." Replied the young girl and she moved on to the next equation.

The afternoon went much like this. Some of the other students would come and ask Branch for help in subjects like science or English. They were more hesitant around him than Smidge was, he knew he looked off-putting but he was never mean or rude to kids. It was just adults that bothered him.

Once it was getting to be about 5 Branch knew he had to go, the students weren't allowed to stay any longer without special permission or if an event was occurring.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He said to the young girl.

She pouted, "Okay."

Smidge gave him a quick hug and headed out the door where her foster parents were waiting for her in their car. He always hated watching her get into that car. Some foster parents were nice, some not so much. He didn't know if these were good or bad, Smidge always seemed a little hesitant to go but she never looked like she was treated badly. He knew there was no sense in dwelling on it, it wouldn't help anything if he did so he headed to his car and went home.

Once home Branch ate dinner while reading his book. He didn't watch much tv, he would watch movies when GD invited himself over but mostly he preferred to read or listen to music.

Before he knew it, it was already 10 and he needed to go to bed soon. He showered and got ready for bed. As he headed to his bedroom he passed the closed door to the spare bedroom. Branch hadn't been in there in a while so on a whim he decided to go in. Obviously, it looked the same as it had before. There were bookshelves lining two walls, a window on one wall, and the other wall contained a part of his past he wished he could just put behind him. He went over to the wall and looked at it. Thread connected pictures and newspaper articles from the past 10 years. The newest article however was two years old.

Branch sighed and put his hand on the wall over the article that covered his grandmother's murder, "I'm so sorry grandma…"

He did not have time to deal with this right now, so he pulled his hand away from the wall and wiped the unshed tears from his eyes. He could now allow himself to think about that, he had studies and other priorities to take care of. Maybe one day he would get closure for the incident, but until any new leads showed up he would continue to be left in the dark. It was one reason he had a hard time letting anyone new in, losing someone you loved was difficult and sometimes very hard to get over. He should know, his grandmother's death still bothered him after 10 years. Shaking his head, he left the room and headed to his own bedroom. Before he was able to fall asleep his thoughts ventured from the past to where they didn't need to: the pink haired girl.

The next morning Branch awoke and readied himself for classes, dressing in his usual all black getup and raking a hand though his jet-black hair. He took a look in the mirror and shrugged; his hair was disheveled but his clothes were clean so it was good enough. Deciding he didn't want to cook this morning he drove to the college and went to the cafeteria for breakfast. He took his seat after putting scrambled eggs, bacon, and some grapefruit on his plate. Branch had always been a healthy eater, despite not making the best money.

He was eating quietly and looking at some notes for a few of his other classes. when he heard someone call his name. Looking up he saw GD walking towards him. Branch was about to wave and say hi but realized someone was behind his friend…. Oh no, it's the girl.