A/N: OMG you guys, so sorry it took so long for this update! It took me a while to write this chapter, I was stuck on which way it should go and I ended up making it much different than originally planned. Thank you for the reviews from the last chapter. Hope you guys like this one!

Chapter 14

Poppy got ready for her date after Branch had called her. He said to wear some clothes I didn't mind getting dirty. She thought to herself as she rummaged through her small closet trying to find some clothes she could wear. What Branch had planned, she had no clue. It excited her though, he'd given no inclination as to what they were doing. Aside from school she didn't really know what Branch liked or what he was into. He didn't seem like the dinner and movie kind of guy, and with the clothing request it sounded like they'd be doing something outside. She finally found a pair of old faded blue jeans, older t-shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes that had seen better days. Poppy picked up the headband her friends had given her debating on wearing it but decided otherwise. She didn't want to get it dirty or ruin it.

After getting dressed she patiently waited for Branch to call or text her to let her know he was waiting outside for her. Luckily for her she didn't have to wait long for him to text saying he was parked outside her dorm. She had practically been bouncing in her chair waiting for it and now she could finally go see her man. And there he was sitting in his car, just as good-looking as always as Poppy tried to keep her calm and walk at a normal pace. But she couldn't hide the smile on her face as she reached the car door and hopped into the passenger seat.

"Hi!" She said a little too enthusiastically.

Branch gave her a small smile in return, "Hi." He replied.

"So, what are we doing today?" Poppy asked as she put her seatbelt on.

"It's a surprise." Branch replied as he began driving.

It was nice outside today, there was slight breeze but it was warm for being fall. Poppy loved this kind of weather, perfect to be outside since cold temperatures weren't far off. Poppy looked out the window as they drove through the city. She didn't go out too much unless it was with her friends so she had no clue where they were going. After ten minutes they were headed out of the city and began passing miles of crops and fields on either side of the highway. Poppy began to wonder where they were headed.

She turned to Branch, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see, we're almost there." Branch replied to her giving her a quick glance.

Sure enough after a few minutes Branch pulled off the road in front of a big metal shop like building that had chain-link fence coming off the sides and extended both ways for about a quarter mile. She looked around as they pulled into a parking spot and quickly recognized Guy's car a few spots down. Looking towards the doors that entered the building she saw Guy and Suki standing there. She forgot about where they were doing and waved to her friends who waved back and smiled at her. But then remembered that this was supposed to be a date for her and Branch, what were her friends doing here?

She turned to Branch and asked, "Um, not that it really bothers me, but what are Guy and Suki doing here? I thought this was a date."

Branch sighed and looked at her, "It is, but those two invited themselves after I asked GD if this would be a good idea for you. He's been bugging me for a double date since the day we met, I was hoping they wouldn't actually show up."

"Oh okay, well I'm sure we can all have fun together." Poppy was actually kind of excited to have one of her girlfriends here. Maybe Branch could relax a bit more around her having Guy here too.

"You ready?" Branch asked her.

"Yes!" She said excitedly.

The two then exited the car and Poppy ran up to her friends and gave them both a hug. "Hey guys!" Poppy said enthusiastically.

"Hey Poppy, so you finally got Branch here to go out with you? Only took forever." Guy said to her with a big smile on his face.

"Shut up." Branch snapped back.

"Yeah hope you guys don't mind that we tagged along, but we couldn't let Branch take you to paintball your first time without us." Suki said, slightly guilty.

Poppy perked up at the word "paintball." "That's what we're doing, I've never played before, but it's always looked fun." She looked down at her old jeans and t-shirt, "So that's why you wanted to me to wear these clothes."

Branch nodded, "I figured you'd never played, but the rest of us have."

"I'm so excited!" Poppy said excitedly to Suki as the group headed into the building. Once inside the guys went to get the gear while the girls stayed behind.

Suki gave her a big grin, "It's gonna be so much fun, but I hope you know we all play rough."

"Are we all against each other or are there teams?" Poppy asked since she knew nothing about the sport.

"Usually when it's the three of us we play as a team against others but since there's four of us it could be you and Branch against me and Guy, or girls against boys."

Poppy didn't even hesitate, "Girls against boys!"

Suki lifted her hand for a high-five, "That's my girl! I can show you everything you need to know about taking the guys down."

"You girls are going down." Guy said to them as he and Branch returned. "We're not gonna take it easy on you just because your girls."

Suki just looked at Guy amused with her hands on her hips, "Bring it on."

Poppy looked at Branch, "Sorry Branch, but you guys are going down."

Branch gave a slightly wicked smile, "In your dreams Poppy."

"Losers buy dinner!" Suki shouted throwing her hands in the air.

The group exited the building after their strenuous game of paintball. All of them were dirty, sweaty, and had paint on them. Well, except for Branch.

"OMG you guys that was so much fun!" Poppy exclaimed, exhilarated from her very first paintball game. She'd been confused at first, but once Suki had shown her how to use the gun and how to properly hide – whether it was behind a tree, boulder, small hill, or the random vertical pieces of tin in the field – Poppy had had so much fun. She'd run after Suki, following her lead as her friend had shown her the basics of hiding from the enemy while continuing to move around the field. "You don't want to stay in one place too long." Suki had said to her, "You gotta keep moving so it's harder for the enemy." Poppy at the time had simply nodded and followed her friend. But she wasn't the first to get shot that day. Guy had gotten Suki first after half an hour and Poppy had been left on her own. Luckily Suki had shown her to shoot just well enough that she was able to get Guy back and left a big pink paint mark on his safety gear. But she was no match for Branch. Just when she thought she'd hid well enough behind a big tree and began looking around for him something had hit her right below her chest. A big blue paint splatter covered the black of the safety gear. Some of it had even splashed onto her face. She hadn't even seen Branch when he'd shot her, but soon enough he came out from behind one of those pieces of tin smiling victoriously and holding his paintball gun against his shoulder.

"Yeah, but we lost." Suki said, sounding defeated.

Guy put his arm around her, "Hey babe it's okay, now you and Poppy get to buy me and Branch dinner."

Suki swatted his arm away playfully and the two laughed. Poppy smiled at the happy couple and looked at Branch who just shook his head. "I had a lot of fun today." She said to him.

Branch turned to look at her, "Good, but we're not done."

Poppy pulled her eyebrows together in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Losers buy dinner, remember?" Branch replied with a devilish smile.

"We're going now?! Like this?!" Poppy gestured to her clothes sounding a bit alarmed. She was absolutely filthy covered in sweat, dirt, and paint. No way was she going into a restaurant like this.

"Aw come on Pinky, what's wrong with a little dirt and sweat?" Guy teased her.

Suki lightly smacked Guy on the chest then looked at Poppy, "No way are we going out like this girl. We're all gonna go home and shower before we get dinner."

Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank goodness. I so didn't want to go out like this."

"No worries, can you be ready in about an hour?" Suki asked the pink haired girl.

"Definitely." Poppy replied proudly putting her hands on her hips.

"Great, we'll see you guys then." Suki said to them as she and Guy headed towards his car.

"Come on." Branch said to her as he headed towards his car.

Poppy followed and got into the passenger seat. Branch began speaking as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the city, "So I'll drop you off first and then come back and get you in an hour, okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Poppy replied. As much fun as she'd had today she still really wanted to get a shower and get the grime off of her.

The two were quiet for the rest of the drive, each lost in their own thoughts. Poppy figured if Branch wanted to talk he would, and she was actually kind of tired from the outdoor activity. She was hoping her second wind would hit before they went out again so she could have even more fun at dinner.

Before she knew it Branch had pulled up to her dorm and parked. "See you in an hour?" Branch asked.

Poppy nodded, "Yes."

Branch leaned over and his lips met hers for a brief kiss before Poppy got out of the car and headed to her room with a big smile on her face.

An hour later Poppy felt much better after a shower and putting on clean clothes. She put her pink hair up in her signature ponytail before putting on just a hint of make-up. Branch had seen her without make-up several times so she wasn't worried about getting too fancy for a dinner with their friends.

Thirty minutes later the four of them were headed into the semi-crowded bar and grill. It had red brick walls, hardwood floors, and contemporary lighting. All the lights and fixtures looked new as well as all the tables, chairs, and booths. The bar itself had several stools that were attached to the floor and the countertop looked to be real black marble. About seventy feet from the front door there was a decent sized stage set against the center of the back wall of the building that was empty now but looked like it could be used for bands or maybe comedians to perform on.

The group was seated at a booth in a corner by an overly friendly female waitress. Poppy got in first with Branch sitting beside her and Suki sat across from her while Guy faced Branch. The waitress handed them menus and took their drink orders before bouncing back to the kitchen to retrieve their drinks.

"So, what did you think of paintball Pinky?" Guy said to Poppy.

"It was so much fun! We seriously have to go again sometime." Poppy replied smiling wide, though she'd almost forgotten about the nickname.

Then Guy turned to Branch, "And I can't believe you really shot your own girlfriend, that's low man." He gave his friend a smirk.

Poppy saw Branch tense at the word 'girlfriend,' but quickly he recovered and crossed his arms, "She chose her side," Branch shrugged, "She was the last one standing, I had to take her out."

"You should have let her win." Suki commented.

"We would have been there for hours for her to even get a shot close to me, easier to end it." Branch replied nonchalantly.

"Hey! I could have hit you…..eventually." Poppy interjected.

Branch turned to face her with an eyebrow raised, "With the way Suki trained you to shoot, not a chance."

Poppy turned to look at Suki, trying but failing to hold in a giggle. Suki had her jaw dropped before scowling at Branch. She gave no reply but crossed her arms and looked away from all of them. Guy put his hand on her shoulder and muttered something to her that Poppy couldn't quite hear. But just a few seconds later Suki turned back to face the group with a smile on her face, it was as if she was never upset at all as the four continued talking.

Soon enough the bubbly waitress returned with their drinks and took their orders before skipping away again. And Poppy thought she was happy. "She's awful bubbly ain't she?" Suki said staring after the waitress.

Poppy turned to see Suki giving her a look and Poppy just smiled in return. The guys just looked at the girls confused, as if they didn't understand what the small interaction was about.

It wasn't long before they had their food brought to them and the four ate while they continued chatting. Poppy noticed Branch didn't talk nearly as much as the rest of them, but he seemed to listen. Every now and then he would reply when something was directed at him, but otherwise he stayed silent. He seemed to be enjoying himself though, he was more relaxed than Poppy had ever seen him. Branch almost looked….happy. It was odd when comparing him to his normal grumpy self. But Poppy liked this Branch, she hoped this side of him would come out more often.

After dinner Suki ran off as the other three sat in the booth. Poppy looked after her confused. Guy gave her a mischievous grin, "You're in trouble now Pinky."

Poppy furrowed her brow in confusion and turned to Branch for clarification. He looked at her and shook his head indicating that he didn't know what was being planned either.

"What do you mean?" She asked Guy when Suki ran back to the table.

"Come on girl!" Suki said rather excitedly to Poppy.

Branch got out of the booth to allow Poppy to get to her friend. "What is going on?" Poppy asked.

Suki began dragging Poppy towards the stage and that's when Poppy understood. She hadn't really noticed but sometime during their meal karaoke equipment had been set up. Poppy wasn't shy to sing, but she really hadn't sung in front of a crowd before.

"Suki, I've never sang karaoke before." Poppy told her shyly.

"Don't worry Poppy, we'll choose an easy song and you won't be up there alone. Besides you'll have to sing in front of lots of people for your music project." Suki told her encouragingly.

Poppy thought about it for a minute, then got a determined look on her face. She could do this, and Suki was right. Might as well get this small crowd out of the way before she had to get up in front of a huge audience. "Let's go." She said to Suki and the two of them walked confidently towards the stage.

The two picked a pop song to sing together, it wasn't really a duet but neither of them cared. Poppy hadn't heard Suki sing before, but she could definitely keep up with Poppy as the two followed the words on the screen.

As they finished the song people in the crowd cheered and clapped for the two girls. They made their way off the stage and heard several compliments like "That was awesome!" and "You two are great!". Finally, they made it back to their table where Poppy saw a look on Branch's face she'd never seen before. It was mix of awe and confusion. He slowly got up out of the booth and allowed her back to her seat near the wall.

"That was awesome Pinky! I didn't know you could sing like that." Guy said to her looking awed as well.

Poppy blushed a little, "Thanks Guy."

She turned to look at Branch as Guy began talking to Suki. He was still giving her that same look, but most of the confusion had left his face. "That was amazing." Branch whispered to her and grabbed one of her hands with his own under the table before giving her a small smile.

Poppy smiled back, she loved his smiles. He always looked so much younger when he smiled, closer to her own age. She found herself unable to look away from his sky-blue eyes as the two continued to stare at each other, neither one wanted to look away. Branch started to lean towards her, and that was the moment she finally turned away. It's not that she didn't want to kiss him, but they were in public and she knew how he felt about that. She found that Suki and Guy were looking at the both of them with smiles on their faces like they were waiting for something to happen. Poppy saw Branch look up too and he cleared his throat from embarrassment, but he didn't let go of Poppy's hand. Soon enough Guy and Suki turned back to their own conversation and Branch gave a slight nod of his head towards the door indicating they should go. Poppy gave a small nod in return.

"Well guys, it's been fun, but we're gonna go." Branch said, mostly towards Guy as he and Poppy exited the booth. He quickly pulled a twenty from his wallet and set it on the table. Poppy looked at it in confusion, she thought her and Suki were supposed to pay.

"Alright man, it's been fun." Guy said to the couple.

"We'll have to do this again sometime." Suki said to them as they started to walk away.

Poppy gave them a wave and said, "Bye!" as she scampered off behind Branch.

Branch suddenly stopped and looked back at the table. This took Poppy by surprise as she nearly ran into him. After a few seconds she composed herself and she looked back to Guy smiling at Branch devilishly. Branch flipped him off, grabbed Poppy's hand and dragged her out the door.

"What was that all about?" Poppy asked as they got into Branch's car.

Branch sighed, "Just GD being…well, GD."

Poppy nodded in understanding, knowing Guy could be eccentric. She then turned to face Branch only to see he was staring intently at her. Before she could ask why he reached over and put a hand on each side of her face and pulled her to him as he leaned towards her. When his lips touched her's, a fire ignited inside her. This kiss was so much more intense than the previous ones. She reached a hand up to run it though his hair as his tongue caressed her bottom lip. Poppy let out a light gasp and Branch promptly pulled away. Her hand dropped to her lap as his hands left her face.

After a few breaths Poppy opened her eyes to find Branch about a foot from her.

"Sorry." He said almost inaudibly she barely heard.

Poppy smiled wide, "Don't be sorry, that was amazing."

Branch gave her a small smile in return and started the car. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed back towards Poppy's dorm. Poppy thought about that kiss the whole car ride. It gave her goose bumps just remembering it. Every now and then she would steal a glance at Branch. He looked like he was lost in his own thoughts too.

They pulled up in front of her dorm before Poppy knew it. She unclicked her seatbelt and turned to face Branch to find him already looking at her. Those eyes always made her melt a little, but now they looked like they were smoldering. "I had a really great time tonight." She said to him.

"Me too, maybe next time we could actually do something alone." Branch replied.

Poppy giggled, "Yeah, but they were still a ton of fun."

"Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it they were fun." He gave a small smile.

Poppy then leaned towards him and gave him a small kiss before saying, "Good night Branch."

"Good night Poppy." He said to her as she got out of the car. She gave him a small wave before walking inside and up to her room.

After closing her door Poppy threw herself on her bed on her back and sighed contently. She had such a great day. And that kiss, oh that kiss was amazing. It was probably the best kiss she's ever had, and she's never felt that fire before. She could tell Branch had wanted things to go further than they did with that look in his eyes, but she just wasn't ready. Hopefully one day she would be, but maybe he'd just be patient with her until then. He didn't seem like the pushy type, especially when it came to her. But overall it was a fantastic day, maybe the best day ever.

So I know this first date is not how most people would have written it, but I wanted to be a bit different. It wasn't the intimate (I mean more personal and just the two of them, nothing dirty lol) date I had orginally planned, I had a very difficult time with this chapter. Oh, and also I am so not good at kissing scenes so sorry if it was disappointing or not up to par with some of the better authors on here. Anyway, I hope it was at least enjoyable to read, as always leave reviews :)