Hello! Please read!

This chapter is the reason this story is rated for teens. There is talk about depression, paranoia, and a hint at suicidal thoughts.

I hope you enjoy reading it! I don't own trolls, but Rose is my OC.


Everyone froze. Their eyes wide as they turn to Branch, who was glaring at them. As he spoke, the anger in his stomach bubbled. "You all have been disagreeing with each other for the last hour! I can't take it anymore! You're all acting like you know, and understand how she's feeling and what she wants. None of you have even asked her how she feels! None of you understand! Have any of you even had a grey troll in your colony before?!" He growled, his knuckles becoming paler in colour from how tight his fists were. When no one said anything, he realized they never had a grey troll like him before. "The entire hour you all argued, I've been asking Rose what she thought would help. I think she has a pretty good idea, but none of you would know because you haven't asked how she feels about all of this." He said, his anger slowly subsiding as he spoke. He could feel his chest getting heavy as they all stared at him.

Poppy stared at Branch in shock, before looking down sadly. She gently placed her hand on top of his but didn't speak. Branch looked around, seeing them all staring at him in shock, he looked down embarrassed at his outburst and let out a shaky sigh, looking down at the table before he stood up straight. "I'm sorry. I was out of line." He slid his hand out from under poppy's and turned to leave. "I'm just going to go." He said before he tried to make a quick exit.

"Stop right there young man!" Essence's motherly voice boomed, causing Branch to freeze in his tracks. She stood up, looking at him. "You can't yell at us and just walk away without explaining why you are so upset." Her voice softer this time.

Poppy stood up and looked at the others. "One moment everyone." She said before she walked over to Branch and stood behind him. "Do Feel better now, Branch?" She asked, seeing him nod slightly. "It's been a while since you snapped like that." She walked around him and stood in front of him. She saw the regret and sorrow on his face. "Oh Branch, Don't look so sad. You said stuff that needed to be said." She whispered softly as she placed a hand on his cheek.

He avoided looking at her. "I shouldn't have yelled." He muttered under his breath.

"But you did. That got their attention." She moved her hand to his chin to try to get him to look at her. "I know it's hard Branch, but they don't know why you're affected by this so much. If they know, they will understand. I know it's hard for you to talk about, but it would help them to understand. It may even make you feel better to talk about it." She smiled at him softly. "If you don't want them to know, then you don't have to." Poppy wrapped her arms around him tightly.

Branch relaxed into her hug, his arms going around her to bring her closer. He buried his face in her shoulder, taking a deep breath. He was about to speak but jumped in surprise when he felt something on his leg. He pulled a bit away from Poppy and looked down to see Rose leaning against his leg, her headphones hanging around her neck. "You heard the whole thing, didn't you?" Branch saw Rose nod, looking up at him. "I guess I should explain. If I don't, someone else will tell them eventually." He sighed in defeat.

Poppy kissed his cheek. "Don't worry Branch, I'm right here if you need me." She pulled away and held his hand before going back to the table. "Branch is sorry for yelling, but he does have a good reason to be upset. Please, hear him out." She requested, seeing the others nod and Queen Essence sit back down.

Branch picked Rose up and slowly walked back to the table. He placed her towards the middle of the table, seeing her watching him. Branch glanced at Poppy who offered him a seat but he declined. He glanced at everyone and looked down, still embarrassed about his actions. Branch took a deep breath, not realizing he was shaking until he looked at his hands. He saw Poppy move her hand and placed it back on top of his, smiling at him.

"Twenty years, ten days, eighteen hours." He started, getting confused looks from everyone. "For twenty years, ten days, and eighteen hours I was grey." He declared, hearing a gasp from most of the leaders. "Back when the pop tribe was still being locked in Bergen town, I lived with my grandmother. It was a week before trollstice, and everyone in the tree was getting ready to finally escape. I was about 4 at the time, and was singing my heart out in the tree like all the other kids did. I was so lost in song, I didn't hear my grandmother yelling. When I finally heard her, she was running towards me. I turned around and saw a giant hand coming towards me, then I was pushed out of the way. My grandmother was captured and killed because of me. She was the last troll to be taken." He said, his chest heavy as he spoke. He felt as if he was going to throw up, his anxiety building as he spoke.

He glanced up, seeing Rose staring at him intensely. He glanced around the table and saw all eyes on him. "Why were you grey for so long?" Trollex asked quietly.

"Everything after that wasn't in my favour, I guess. I don't remember everything. I remember Peppy told a family with one of my friends at the time to look after me until we get out of the root tunnels to safety. I could tell right away they didn't want the extra burden of taking care of me. While we were running I got left behind from that family, but thanks to Peppy I made it out with everyone. Once we found a place to live, there was so much to be done. Everyone had to find food and build their homes, no one had time for a grey troll. A lot of it is my fault, for pushing people away." He said, finally looking up. "I was placed in one home after another, all of them didn't want me. I didn't want someone who didn't want me. So eventually I ran and lived in a hole in the ground under the main tree. From what I figured no one would miss me, so I started making my bunker away from the village."

"But why twenty years? That's so long." Barb asked.

"I-I blamed myself for what happened to my grandmother, so I pushed everyone away. For years, I thought that if I ever got close to anyone, and cared for someone they would get hurt. Rumours were spread when I was a child that if you touch a grey troll, you turn grey as well. For years I believed that, because whenever someone saw me they would frown and walk away. It's not true, but it felt like it was. I started hating the idea of being touched because of it, I refused being hugged hoping the others would get the hint and leave me alone. I started being a jerk to everyone on purpose, hoping they would leave me alone. I ripped and stomped on the invitation I got, and yelled at everyone for singing too loud. Poppy was the one troll who never gave up on me. She came by every day, no matter what anyone said or what I did to her invitations." He looked at Poppy who smiled at him, gently rubbing his lower arm to help comfort him. He smiled sadly at her, his fingers intertwining with hers.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "Being grey for as long as I was, it felt like every day I was nothing. If I was in the middle of town, surrounded by trolls, I always felt alone. I would always watch parties from the treetops, and listen to so many songs. I always wanted to go down and join in, but my head always said I couldn't. Everything got under my skin so easily after a while. Over time I hated the happy songs and the glitter, everything just reminded me of what I thought I could never be. Every day, I would close my eyes and I could see the hand coming towards me. When I got older I stopped sleeping because the night terrors were too much, so I thought if I kept myself busy everything would stop. It worked for a little bit, but then the hallucinations came. I thought I could actually see Bergen's." He admitted, causing Poppy's eyes to widen.

"So when you came running to the village warning us…" she stopped, seeing Branch nodded slightly.

"I thought everyone was in danger. I scared everyone so badly that first time, that when they realized there was no danger I was yelled at. With every hallucination I had, the others started getting more and more annoyed with me." He paused for a moment. "I only really found out a year ago, but I suffered from psychological trauma." He stopped. He took a moment, feeling Poppy squeeze his hand. "From the trauma, I became severely depressed and became extremely paranoid. The paranoia was always eating away at my head, always thinking of what will go wrong. I was never able to relax, I always feared the worst. When I was around 17, the depression got worse. My mind was always telling me I should leave, the other trolls don't need me, I'm a burden, I'm the village grump. It kept telling me every night that I should have been the one that was taken, that I shouldn't be alive. At one point, I wished it was true." He whispered. His ears dropped more, hearing everyone in the room gasp. "I was never able to do it, no matter how much I thought I didn't deserve to be alive."

Branch stopped when he felt Poppy remove her hand from his and soon felt her arms wrap around him tightly, feeling her head against his chest. He looked down at her and held her close. He felt drops on his shirt, realizing she was crying. He held her closer, rubbing her back. "I don't think like that anymore. There's no way I'm leaving you." He whispered in her ear, keeping her close. He turned back to the others and continued while he held her. "Because I was grey for so long, it still affects me today. I'm still paranoid, my mind always thinks of what the worst thing that can happen. I still have days where I don't want to sing and party, I will just stay in my bunker and calm myself down. It even affected my appearance. My ears are deformed because they were always dropped down." He took a moment to look around at everyone. "But all of that is in the past. The other trolls now are more accepting than they were back then." He looked at Rose. "Rose, It will be hard at first, and there will be some trolls who don't understand. But it's okay to be sad. It may take a little while, but you will find something, or someone that makes you happy. After twenty years, I did." He looked down at Poppy, who refused to let him go. Poppy tightened her grip on him, causing him to smile and kiss her head.

He heard a sniffle and looked up to see Trollex wiping a tear away. "That was deep man. You went through so much."

Branch looked at him, before he looked around. He saw Rose still trying to process what she heard, but what made Branch stop was Delta Dawn. She was smiling. "Thank you Branch, for telling us." She said when she saw him looking at her. "Thank you for opening up to us. It must have been very hard to talk about." She walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know, everything you spoke of makes you who you are." Her words made Branch look at her confused. "When we first met, I knew you were different from the other pop trolls. You were always a little careful, and worried over everyone's safety. You always had a plan, Don't think I didn't see that hole in my jail after you escaped." She teased slightly, seeing him blush slightly. "Now that the trolls are all got together, you are the first troll to join my country songs and enjoy them. Then you would jump into a rock song like it was nothing! You are the only troll I know who adapted to every music, every song with ease." She said, seeing the other leaders nod.

King Quincy spoke next "You're paranoia helps keep the others safe. You never ran and hid from the Bergen's, you ran back to warn the others so they would be safe. That shows you care more for your village than yourself. And from what Queen Poppy told me, your bunker was big enough to hide all of pop village when they did come attack. I have to question if you made it that big on purpose so they all had somewhere to stay safe."

Branch stared at him, shocked slightly. "I never thought of it that way. I just didn't want anyone to get hurt." He whispered.

"That's what makes you a good leader." King Quincy smiled at him.

"You're a strong troll. You overcame so much. You learned from your past, and want to help the future." Queen Essenes smiled at him, before motioning to Rose who was writing quickly in her book.

Rose looked up to see she was being looked at. Her eyes dropped from all the eyes on her, but she stood up and walked to Branch to give it to him.

Branch kept one arm around Poppy and used the other to open the book. 'Will that happen to me? Will I be grey for twenty years?' He read the two questions out loud, seeing the page full of questions. "No, you won't be grey for twenty years. What I went through and what you are going through are similar, but also different. When I first turned grey, I felt like I had no one. You on the other hand, you aren't alone. You have all these trolls here, and more outside who want to help you." He placed the book down and gently placed his hand on her head. "I can't say it enough, you are not alone." He smiled at her. "Besides, you already have two trolls who want to look after you." He gently placed his hand on her back and turned her to King Quincy and Queen Essence.

"Actually," Queen Essence spoke. "We won't be looking after her after all."

Branch's eyes widened, staring at her confused. Poppy moved her head, looking from Branch to Essence. "What? I thought…" Branch started.

"Don't get us wrong. We would love to take care of her, we were ready to in a heartbeat." She spoke again, smiling at Rose. "We talked about it while we were with Doctor moon, and she agreed with us. Rose would not have been comfortable with us."

Branch looked at Rose, who was now holding his hand confused on what was happening. "I don't understand. Then who will look after Rose?" He asked.

"You will, Branch."