The snow flew around a bit as Poppy was skipping over to her boyfriend's humble abode, not even being able to keep her balance as she was very excited to go see him today. She was excited to see him everyday, but today she had a surprise for the Blue troll. Something he'd probably never expect from her, either.
And that's just what made it so much more surprising.
She stopped abruptly when she reached the rock across from the door, just standing there for a second with her 'surprise' behind her back. Yes, she was holding it behind her back, in one of the picnic baskets they'd had on their date. She still felt kinda bad for multitasking during what was supposed to be their date, especially without telling him at first, despite making up for it with a second date after the gift giving festivities were over, so she decided to hide her surprise in one of the baskets, which was a spare she found laying around in her closet, as a bonus. It was a good thing Branch didn't mind her enjoyment of multitasking for the most part, it was something she did out of instinct and he'd grown to get used to it, despite his still confusion towards it sometimes in certain situations. He would only really stop or protest against her doing it if he saw it was stressing her out, which it only did on rare occasions, such as planning big events like weddings.
After standing there for a bit of a while she finally knocked, and it was in a certain rhythm that she only did with him, smiling. They came up with their own little rhythmic knock together while hanging out one day, the idea sparking from a certain conversation that came up. It wasn't much of a big deal, but Poppy thought and Branch eventually agreed that it was a cute idea, for them to have a certain knock they only share with each other when going to one or the other's home.
A week or two after the gift exchange, they'd been spending much private time together, even going as far as having sleepovers, which for a lot of trolls, was a pretty commonly big step in the relationship process. But they both believed they were comfortable enough to be able to partake in such activities.
One of those sleepovers involved her helping to get his previously permanently glued fingers unstuck which took approximately three hours. Them being right next two each other made it all worth it though.
She'd asked him on another date and he happily accepted, saying he'd be free all day and anytime was perfect for him, which of course overjoyed the queen. So she decided she'd spice things up today with a little gift added to it.
While she waited she noticed a small little scribble near the wording on the mat on his door which read "please go away," and immediately grew curious.
She walked towards it slowly to get a closer look and knelt down, squinting a little even, and her eyes widened slightly when she realized what it said.
'Except for Poppy.'
She stood back up quickly and felt her face heat up, the grip she was holding on the picnic basket loosening slightly.
Oh my gosh when did he write that?
And when was he gonna tell me?!
Out of some random instinct the pink troll burst into a short fit of laughter and giggles, not because it was funny, but because she thought it was the cutest thing ever. She'd just only wished she knew about it earlier. Maybe he was planning to tell her about it but didn't know when or how to, who knows. Branch was a pretty mysterious guy.
Her mysterious guy.
Her thoughts were cut loose when she heard the door on the ground fidgeting and she quickly got up and moved back, a wide smile forming on her face as she practically swung around with excitement.
Finally.
And once it opened up out popped the most beautiful and wonderful troll she would ever know, as he looked up and stared at her with a warm smile. That warm, sweet smile she adored more than her own.
"Hey!" He said as he climbed out, walking towards her.
"HI!" She greeted back, almost shouting, but she kept her cool, surprising herself that she was even able to do so.
They just stood there smiling at each other for a few seconds in silence, looking around or below them a few times as they tried to muster up what to say. Yes, they've been dating for almost a month and they're still adorably awkward with each other.
"So I g-"
They both said at the same time, then laughed sheepishly as they stared only at each other now, enjoying each other's presence despite not even being able to talk much.
"You first." Branch gestured towards her with a side smile, stuffing his hand in his pocket.
"No no you, I went first yesterday." Poppy insisted, swaying with the basket again.
Branch stared at her with a raised eyebrow and playfully scoffed and decided not to poke back, continuing from where he, or more technically they, started.
"I got a lot planned for us today, I know I say this everyday but this time I went bigger,"
Poppy's mouth formed into an "o" as she looked intrigued.
"I promise you you're not gonna be bored."
Poppy looked slightly confused and tilted her head to the side, to the alert of the Blue troll standing in front of her.
"But Branch, I'm never bored with you," She took a step closer, causing the now hitched despite quiet breathing of her boyfriend as he felt his face grow slightly hot,
"Hanging out with you is my favorite thing in the entire world. I mean hello?! Why do you think I come here almost every single day?"
Branch shrugged a little and looked over to the side with a sheepish smile,
"I guess I feel boring sometimes."
His little smile disappeared as soon as he felt Poppy press her lips against his cheek and pull back slowly, staring at her and watching her smile her own warm, sweet smile of hers.
"Well you're not."
Branch fought back the feeling of wanting to faint as he held his cheek, the same one that Poppy kissed him on the first time.
Quickly though, he regained his posture as he finally mustered up a smile back, not moving his hand away from his cheek, feeling something rise in his chest as he slowly reached for her right arm with his other hand and gently pulled it away from the handle of the basket she was holding, sliding his hand down to hers and grabbing hold of it gently.
Poppy found herself squeezing her small hand in his large one after this, stroking the back of it with her thumb as the distance between them became shorter and shorter.
They stayed like that with the most loving looks in their eyes for a few minutes, as Branch started to lean in towards her closer and closer.
He almost pressed his entire face against hers as he softly pressed his lips against her cheek back, staying like that for a few seconds as he pressed soft, gentle kisses against her cheek, squeezing her hand back as she did so.
Poppy closed her eyes and practically buried her face in his neck, nuzzling it affectionately with a small smile, despite how flustered and heated up she was right now, as she took in all the warmth and love she was feeling in that moment, not even wanting to move at all.
Eventually, to her dismay, Branch pulled back but very slowly. She didn't move though, she stayed right where she was, loving every single thing about him right then and there. And Branch didn't complain one bit.
"I missed you angel." He muttered quietly, leaning his head against hers from the side, his heart warming up as he swore he could hear a soft giggle emit from her.
"Missed you more." She whispered, rising up from his neck to nuzzle her face into his, and he happily returned the gesture, wanting nothing more than to just scoop her up and hold her forever and ever.
He wanted to carry on with the day though, so while not wanting to, he ended off their little moment of affection with another kiss to the nose, still smiling.
After that though, his attention fixated on the basket she was holding. He'd been meaning to ask about it but his angel was all he could even focus on those first few moments.
"What're you holding behind your back by the way?" He asked, still in a soft voice but a little louder this time, and immediately Poppy turned to look at the basket she was holding with only one hand now, and turned back to him with a smile.
"A surprise." She said casually.
"Surprise huh." Branch raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
"Uh-huh!" Poppy nodded happily.
"Ah." He just stood there, staring at it for a few seconds.
"Can I look at i-"
"Nope!" She said casually again but with a more upbeat tone with it, still smiling as she walked past him into his bunker.
Branch blinked a few times and turned towards the door where his girlfriend was waiting inside.
Slightly skeptical, he raised his eyebrow but followed her inside, standing next to her as he closed the door above him, pulling the lever to lead them towards the bunker.
~
Poppy just stared outward as she hummed many songs, one of them being their song, true colors, making the Blue troll want to smile when he heard it, but he fought it back, still deeply curious of what Poppy was hiding, especially in one of the baskets they'd used on their first date.
He let out a deep sigh and looked towards her, who seemed to be paying no attention to him as she still kept her smile, swaying back and forth yet again, forcing him to fight back another smile.
She's messing with me!
"Poppy are you sure I can't-"
"Nah uh." She shook her head, still not looking at him.
The way down to Branch's bunker was slow as Branch was so focused on what could be inside that he lost focus a few times on even pushing the thing, Poppy having to nudge him on the side to get him to keep going.
"But whhhyyyyyyy?" He groaned impatiently.
Poppy giggled,
"You sound like me."
Pfft, I do. To be fair though we're always around each other so..
"Poppy-"
"Branch."
"Poppy,"
"You can wait a little bit can't you?"
"I'm not big on surprises," He stared at her with a certain look, hoping it would change her mind, but it didn't.
Finally, she looked at him.
"Not even from me?" She said casually again, but her expression changed a little.
Branch stopped complaining after that, and he fell silent and looking the other way, huffing quietly as he saw heard her snicker and smile goofily from the corner of his eye.
She really knows how to hit me in the gut.
Poppy stopped her teasing and smiled warmly at her grumpy boyfriend now, nudging her shoulder against him, swaying once again.
Branch exhaled and tried to force back one more smile, but he failed this time and allowed her to win, smirking with a raised eyebrow as he nudged her back playfully, a giggle escaping her lips as she nudged him again, and they kept at their playfully little act.
"Woah-"
They stopped as Poppy nearly dropped the basket in her hands, sharply leaning over to retrieve it quickly, Branch cautiously and instinctively reaching out to her in case she herself fell with it.
"Be careful, you might drop it." She giggled softly as she stared up at him innocently, then looking back down at the basket.
Branch raised an eyebrow but smiled back and huffed a warm breath from his nose.
"You started it." He chuckled, his hand leaving the handle that led them to his bunker as they reached their destination and walked off of it.
"That I did." She chuckled back and she followed him from behind, looking around at one of her favorite places to be in. At first being in here would slightly unnerve her, but overtime she grew to get used to it, and he had arranged it a lot since then, and now with them dating she was in here more than often anyway. Branch would even also make sure to find ways to make sure she was comfortable inside, seeing as it was much more different than the normal pod a troll lived in. She grew to like the stocks of sweat and tools surrounding her on shelves.
"Hey Branch have I ever told you how comforting this place is? I can see why you love it so much."
"Really? Thanks," He said a little shyly, gushing over the fact that Poppy enjoyed being in his bunker, watching her skip around from place to place.
"Hey you still have the Christmas lights I gave you put up!" She blabbed on as she walked over to where they were hung up, a wide smile on her face. Branch walked next to her chuckling.
"Yeah. They looked so nice up there I didn't wanna take em down. Plus, it takes me back to when I got ready for our first date."
"Awww." Poppy nudged his shoulder again. "I bet you were really excited. You seemed really confident when I came to pick you up."
"Yep, sung in the shower and everything."
Poppy laughed as she looked at him with a smile.
"What did you have planned today by the way?"
"Hm let's see here," He took a list from his hair and Poppy tilted her head with a confused but adoring look.
He made a list? Does he really think I'll get bored of him? Gosh when will he listen to me and believe I won't.
"Playing games that I found while cleaning up one of my rooms a few weeks ago, watching movies that I also found while cleaning up, cooking some old recipes that I found from my grandma- I picked out the desserts though, know how much you love your sweets."
Poppy put her hand on her heart on the last one, recipes by his grandma? Now that's just the sweetest. Pun not intended.
She wondered what his grandma was like as well. Maybe while they do cook together, she could ask him things about her, if it didn't make him uncomfortable of course. She knew he still missed her too. After reading off the list he looked up and and saw Poppy's longing stare, Branch started up again.
"So- whaddya wanna do first?"
"Oh- we're not doing them in order?" Poppy asked.
"Uh- no I just- made a list of things we could do it's not.. that.. kind of.."
They were quiet again as they stared at one another, then-
"Sorry! That was random I don't know why I asked tha-"
"We can do that though if you wa-"
They spoke at the same time again, forcing lighthearted laughs out of them as they both raised hands behind their necks with sheepish smiles.
"How about we watch a movie." Branch offered with a smile.
"Yes!" She jumped towards him happily and took his hand.
"Come on, they're all organized in my lounge room for you to pick o-"
Suddenly, what sounded like an alarm began to ring, causing Branch's ear to twitch twice as he looked behind him, Poppy doing the same as she tried to look for the source.
It was an alarm clock sitting on a small table next to a nearby couch.
"What's that for?" She asked.
"Ohhhh no I completely forgot how could I forget?!" Branch smacked his forehead as he marched over to turn off the alarm.
"Did you have other plans today?" Poppy asked again.
"No no, I just- I completely forgot I was gonna do some cleaning around my bunker again. I've been going from room to room but I wanted to just finish the entire place today."
Poppy formed a "o" with her mouth again, nodding slowly.
"It's- it's completely fine though! I can reschedule to another day-"
"Hey, no, wait!" she quickly placed her hands on his shoulders.
"But Po-"
"Branch this is perfect!"
Branch blinked, completely and utterly confused. What was that supposed to mean?
"If.. that's your way of saying you wanna leave then-"
"What?! Of course not!" She moved her hands to his hands.
"I can help you clean up!"
"No. Nooooo no no no no no." Immediately Branch shook his head and let go of her hands.
"Why not?"
"This is a job for me and only me Poppy. Only I clean up around here."
Poppy got a slightly skeptical look of her own, putting a hand on her hip.
"I can be tidy Branch. Maybe even.. organize-y too."
Did she think I was calling her unorganized?
"You know that's not what I meant." He reached out to her shoulders and squeezed them, "I don't want you under the stress of cleaning my home, something that's my own responsibility. Plus, I already planned our entire day!"
"Oh Branch," Poppy held his hands that were holding her shoulders, "but I know how much your bunker and cleaning is comforting to yo-"
"You're comforting to me!" He suddenly blurted out, nearly snatching his hands away from her shoulders to cover his mouth. Instead he turned away quickly, his face flushed with a light tint of purple.
Poppy stared at him with a slight look of surprise, smiling slowly as she felt her heartbeat increase by a few seconds. Oh how she loved and adored this troll so much.
She gently reached under his chin and lifted his head for him to face her.
"Please let me help you clean, Branch. You do a lot around here already, a helping hand wouldn't hurt. Plus, the thought of cleaning with you sounds fun!" She spread her arms out excitedly.
Branch thought about it for a bit, looking the other way again before looking back at his angel. His sweet, precious angel.
Wanted to help him clean.
What in the world did he do to deserve such a gift from the gods, he thought that over and over.
"Okay, if you.. really insi-"
"I do!" She interrupted, not even realizing she did, too overcome by excitement.
Branch chuckled.
I've never seen a troll be this excited about having to clean. Maybe it's only because she's helping me and doing it with me. Can't argue about that, helping her is one of my favorite hobbies too.
"I have one condition, though." Branch put a finger up.
"Yes?"
"If you get tired don't hesitate to take a break or help yourself to a drink. You know where my refreshments and snacks are."
Poppy smiled.
"Sure Bran-"
"I mean it, by the way. You tend to overwork yourself, don't let me catch it."
She rolled her eyes but still kept her smile and leaned against him, resting her chin on his shoulder.
"I won't, Branch, I promise."
"Thank you angel." He muttered as he pressed his face into her soft, silky hair.
She hugged him from his waist and he happily returned the hug, rubbing her back. This wasn't how he'd planned the day, but it might still be fun like Poppy insisted.
"SO!" She pulled away from him and clasped her hands together,
"Where do we start?!"
"Well I was gonna finish up cleaning up my bathroom first, but you can start by cleaning off some of my pictures I have in my game room," He pointed to a room to the left, "I also found those while organizing but kinda forgot to make do with them."
"Okay! You have a duster?"
Branch smiled and took one from his hair and handed it to her.
She was about to skip off to start her task until Branch stopped her by grabbing her arm.
"Ya might need this too," He handed her a cloth with a cleaning spray that had a Lavendar scent to it, "there's a few stains on some of them. I cleaned behind where they were taken out of already so you don't have to worry about that."
Poppy smirked playfully.
"You really are weirdly prepared for everything aren't you."
"Mm, guess so." He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek again, almost like before but a little more swiftly this time.
"I'll see you soon okay? Let me know when you're done."
Poppy smiled goofily and couldn't hold back the urge to kiss his cheek back.
"See ya!" She perked and held all the material she was given and hopped off to Branch's game room.
Branch chuckled again and started to walk away to start his own cleaning, when he saw her basket, or better yet 'surprise' , on the table nearby.
"Do I get any peeks at my-"
"No!" Poppy yelled from the other room.
"Oh come on!" Branch huffed.
Silence. Other than a quiet stifle of a laugh from the Pink troll across the room.
"Then when?" He added after.
"Don't you have a bathroom to clean sweetheart?" Poppy added, trying to sound quick-witted, a small smile forming on her lips, despite Branch not being able to see it, but he was all flushed from the new nickname either way to even think about if she was or not.
Then he snapped back.
"At least tell me when!" He protested.
"Fiiiine," She gave in, then went silent as she thought.
Huh.. I don't think I actually thought of that. Hm, maybe when he's done in the bathroom and I'm done here we can take a lunch break and I'll give it to him then. it's perfect!
"After we're both done with our rooms. It's still a little hot so that'll give it time to cool off." She answered her impatient but adorable boyfriend. She wasn't scolding him too much about it since she herself was admittedly impatient sometimes too.
"Hm.. okay, works for me." Then he realized what she said at that last part.
"Wait, what do you mean it's still-"
"Great, now go, shoo, clean!" She insisted as she shuffled through the framed pictures below her, snickering quietly. She knew he'd get confused.
He stared at her from behind for a few seconds, a befuddled look on his face, before it switched to a small playful smirk reaching his lips,
"Says the one who hasn't even started yet," he replied with a sly remark, and reached in a nearby closet to grab a few materials of his own that he needed.
"Oh but- I was about to start! You distracted me!" She sputtered. That was partly true, but she was also looking down at the pictures.
"Glad to hear it worked then." He added slyly again, closing the closet door he had opened.
"See you soon." He reiterated, a genuine smile on his face as he finally walked away to the bathroom, leaving his now flushing girlfriend kneeling there. His intention wasn't to distract her, really, he just added that line to tease her.
It was fun having playful banter with her every now and then.
Poppy quickly pulled herself together as she came back to what she meant to be doing, while also taking in what just happened.
She realized that he'd actually gone now and immediately missed his presence, but knew she had work to do. And it wouldn't be long until they would be together again, as long as none of that time was wasted. So she got right to it.
She picked up a picture of Branch as a baby, smiling wide.
Oh my GOSH look at how CUUUTEEEEE-
She wanted to run up to him with the picture and squeal over how precious he looked and ask why he didn't show her these before, but she held back and did what she was assigned.
She grabbed the duster and dusted the dust particles that were lingering on it, then put it down and grabbed the cloth and sprayed the cleaning spray on it and scrubbed it until it was squeaky clean.
She smiled more once she finished. It's like after she cleaned it he looked ten times more happy than he already was in the picture. Almost like magic.
She would bombard him with this adorable picture later.
Putting it to the side she grabbed another one, and it was one of him with his grandma, and she immediately reached her hand to her chest again, a lovestruck look on her face.
She looks so sweet! No wonder Branch loved her so much. She would be so proud of how much he's accomplished.
She dusted and cleansed that one off as well, putting it next to the baby picture, exhaling a small breath and she turned to look at the rest of the pictures.
There were exactly forty five left, but she didn't hesitate to get straight to work.
~
After almost an hour or two of cleaning, there were at least two left. She pouted out her bottom lip, she was kind of hoping there'd be more. She loved seeing more of her sweetheart from his days before he turned Grey.
They were all from his childhood which would explain why they were in such condition, they were probably old and haven't been touched in a while. But all were different places and just an experience to look at. They seemed like sweet and fun memories.
She'd hoped she'd get to know more about all this. One of the things she said to herself when they first started dating was that she would bond with him over past memories that he held close to him.
Carefully stacking the pictures next to one another together, she got up and looked at them all aligned, nodding, proud of herself. After staring them for minutes more, she eventually skipped over to the bathroom where her boyfriend was. At least she believed he was still there.
Once she got to the bathroom she saw half of the Blue troll's body inside of a cabinet, most likely organizing some things around in there.
Blinking a few times, she finally spoke.
"Hey Branch I'm finished!"
"Wh- OW-" He bumped his head as he slowed himself down and eased the upper part of his body out of the cabinet.
"You- you okay?"
"Yeah, uh huh."
She noticed how he kept taking quick glances back and forth at the unfinished and slightly cluttered cabinet.
Quickly he told her,
"Um, you can go check out some of my games while you wait." He began to kneel down again.
"Are you sure? I can continue cleaning! I told you I wanted to help." Poppy smiled sympathetically.
"Geez, you aren't tired yet?" He said in a rusty tone, though he was honestly joking.
"Nope, now what should I do next?"
"Honestly Poppy, I'm almost done, you can just wait for me." He insisted, but Poppy smirked playfully again while putting a hand on her hip.
"Hmm, you're not overworking yourself are you?"
"Uh, yeah, always."
He said that as if it was obvious, but then blinked when he realized-
"I-I MEAN- of course not! You know me I'm always organizing things."
Poppy frowned after that. She had only been joking at first, she didn't know he was actually doing it.
"Branch, you told me not to overwork myself, why would you think I'm okay with you doing it to yourself?" She said in a different, almost somber tone.
Branch stopped everything at that, and removed himself from under the cabinet again, except quicker than before, catching her slightly upset expression.
He didn't say anything but just walked towards her, taking his gloves off and dropping them on the floor as he hugged her gently.
"I'm sorry Pops. It's always been an old habit of mine. Catches up to me sometimes, even while cleaning." He chuckled lightheartedly while rubbing her back, "I do try to get past it mostly."
Poppy didn't say anything, but just hugged him back and nuzzled her cheek onto his shoulder to let him know she was listening. She felt awful he had to deal with that for such a long time, and she was definetly gonna keep helping him with it.
Branch smiled at this gesture and gently stroked her hair.
"I appreciate you looking out for me." He added.
Poppy reached up and kissed his cheek sweetly.
"You're there for me. Of course I'm gonna return the favor."
And with that they both smiled at each other, just inches away from each other again.
Come on Branch.. she's right there, just..
To somewhat both a relief and disappointment to his internal self, she started to talk again.
"Huh, I thought with you wanting to see my surprise you'd rush to get this bathroom clean." Poppy joked, nudging his shoulder again.
But Branch just replied in the same tone.
"No, I really do like cleaning Poppy. I do wanna see your gift but I won't rush my way there. I do intend on cleaning up thoroughly in here."
With that, she put all jokes aside and smiled understandingly and nodded, taking his hand and squeezing it.
"What else can I do?" She asked again.
"I told you, I'm almost done, you can just wait." He told her as he let go of her hand and put his gloves back on as he knelt back down to the cabinet.
"Oh, but but-"
"I'll be out in a few minutes, I promise!" He said from inside the cabinet as things could be heard being shuffled around again.
Poppy just stared at him, not saying another word after that. After contemplating if she should say something else she instead just rolled her eyes and walked out of the bathroom, sighing.
I can help, I wanna help! I'm not gonna sit here and enjoy myself while my boyfriend is working.
Frantically she looked around while walking past rooms, trying to find something else she could clean up or fix.
After a few minutes of this, she stopped and her face lit up as if she was looking at a giant humongous cake.
She'd walked into a room which happened to have a few of his stocked shelves, and from the looks of it they seemed disorganized, some of the items even being on the floor. He'd probably forgotten to finish working on this room too.
Poppy remembered what she said earlier about being "organize-y", and took this as a chance to prove that. Maybe she wasn't the same kind of organized like Branch, but she could still make it work in her own way.
She started off with a shelf full of.. collectables? There were rocks, sticks, pinecones, any part of nature you could think of.
Still my crazy prepared man.
She put the rocks on one row, the sticks on another row, and the pinecones on another, the same going for any of the rest of the stuff that was on that same shelf.
She smiled to herself as she looked at the now reorganized shelf, backing up to admire more of her work at a distance.
That was much easier than I thought. I'll be done in no time before Branch finishes! Now to just move on to the next-
Her thoughts were cut when she exclaimed from bumping into something behind, and she quickly turned around only to see it was another shelf but with what seemed like glass material like vases or mugs on it, and it was now wobbling.
"Oh no.. no no no no no-" She muttered quietly, and instinctively she reached her hair up to it to stop it from falling, grunting.
She used all of her strength to try and push it back up but it was so heavy from all the glass stacked on it.
"Come- on! Just-"
She felt her heart drop when she saw the glasses on it start to slowly slide down from the shelf, beginning to panic which caused her to nearly lose her balance.
One fell after the other and that's when she finally lost it.
She shut her eyes so tightly that tears even began to squeeze out of them, starting to lose her balance even more as more glasses collided with the floor.
"BRANCH!"
She shook in fear as she called his name three more times, but to no avail.
What's the use, he can't hear from all the way over he-
But she gasped quietly and opened her eyes when she suddenly felt all the weight being put on her become lighter, turning to see a certain Blue troll holding up the shelf with her with his own hair, straining.
Immediately Poppy helped him and began pushing the shelf back up again, and it finally sat back up steadily like it was before, except now almost all the broken pieces of the glasses and souvenirs that were once covering the shelf were now covering the floor.
Poppy slowly released her hair from it's grip on the shelf, feeling like she sprained it a little with all the pressure that was put on it, panting as she rubbed it gently.
After coming to terms with what just happened, she slowly turned to look at Branch, who to her own fright was already staring at her, not with an upset or disappointed look like she thought he'd have but more of a shocked one. Then after a few seconds his gaze went straight to the floor, holding that same expression, where all the shattered glasses were.
"Branch, I-"
"What did you do?"
That was enough to make her heart drop.
Branch just stared at the mess around him, feeling a mix of disbelief and confusion.
Poppy began to tremble quietly, hoping he hadn't heard her shaky breathing.
"Branch I'm so sorry! I didn't mean- I-I just didn't see where-"
"Wait," He started again, and Poppy immediately stopped, looking more nervous than confused.
"Where is it," He mumbled, kneeling to the ground and searching through broken glass pieces, "where is it?"
"Where's what?"
"My mom's necklace!" He almost shouted, and Poppy felt even more terrible now.
"Your.. mom's?"
"It was the one and only thing I had left from my family before I lost them for good. My grandma gave it to me after she found it while we were cleaning her pod and I kept it since. She forgot she even had it but thought I deserved it more since I barely even got to know my family."
Branch didn't even realize he was rambling on as he was more focused on finding that necklace, and wiped his tears quickly, hoping she didn't somehow see and just kept searching through the glass.
"Branch I.. gosh I'm so sorry.. really I am sorry I didn't mean for any of this to-"
"Ah- ow, ow," he had gotten a few tiny cuts from moving his hands through so much glass, hissing quietly.
"Branch, no you're bleeding! Stop looking through the-" She stopped herself as she started looking right and left and found a nearby broom and quickly grabbed it.
"Here, just.. let me clean up all of this, I caused it so I should-"
Branch got up though and slowly took the broom from her, not looking at her, but she could still tell from his side view that he had a forlorn look on his face, before he turned back around.
"I think you've done enough already, Poppy."
He didn't say anything else as he began to sweep away at the glass on the floor, careful not to step on any of it.
Poppy didn't say anything else either, her eyes burning with tears as she slowly began to back away from out of the room, and walked away from it completely.
Her face was coated with hot tears as she had to continuously reach up to her face every second to wipe them.
She didn't even realize until she started walking she herself had tiny cuts from the glass on legs from it falling and breaking, feeling small amounts of pain with every step she took.
She stopped walking and wiped her face again as she realized she was across from the exit out of the bunker and was thinking about going, but she quickly turned away from it.
Even though she couldn't face him right now with all the shame she was feeling, and with his subtle indication that he needed space, she didn't want to leave him in all his distress either, so she just decided she would hide away in a nearby closet or small room somewhere until she felt like he wasn't too upset anymore, which she feared would be a long time.
She turned away to another direction and started walking again, just walking anywhere at this point, finding herself in a room with a small desk and lamp and a few other necessities and just decided to stay there, losing all of the energy she had from crying and walking on her slightly cut legs.
She inhaled deeply and exhaled with the same energy, her bangs flailing a bit from the breath she blew from her nose and mouth as she closed her eyes and pressed her back against a nearby wall and sat against it, sliding down slowly with her knees up against her chest.
She opened her eyes again quickly when she felt something fuzzy-like fall on her hand, and she looked to see what it was, her mouth gaping open along with her eyes widening.
Is this.. my invita-
Slowly, she opened it up only to hear it sing,
"Ceeeelebrate, freedom from, the bergens!"
Poppy gasped quietly. She remembered the exact day she gave him this invitation! The day they left on their adventure to save their friends from the bergens!
But he destroyed in right in front of her! How was this even possible?
Her thoughts were cut loose when she another invitation slowly fall, and it was one that seemed to be inviting him to a winter party.
She picked it up and opened it, hearing it say,
"Hey hey frand you're invited to the most sparkly snowy day ever!"
She giggled quietly as she noticed the writing was a bit sloppier, but still stared in shock.
She made that one from when she was only just about to become a teenager.
Everytime I gave him one he destroyed it right in front of me.. how is it possible that he-
Then she stopped and looked above her from where the invitations could possibly have been falling from, and she saw a small curtain that obviously seemed to be covering something. How was she just now seeing this?
Immediately, she got back up and stared at it, starting to feel slightly anxious.
Normally, she would never go through anyone's things knowing how wrong such a thing was, but these were things of hers she was seeing. Having being hidden away from her for so long.
This was the moment of truth.
Slowly, she reached her hands over to the curtains, and without hesitation yanked them open, just, like she hunched, to find every single invitation she made for Branch over the past few years all crammed in there.
She didn't think her eyes could get any wider right now.
~
Branch finished cleaning up the pieces of glass that were on the floor, sighing as he just stood there holding the broom in his hand.
For whatever reason he'd expected Poppy to come back but.. she didn't.
He started to get worried that she left the bunker after he unintentionally told her he needed to be alone. Despite all those glasses taking a while to collect and put away and having one of his family heirlooms inside, he knew she didn't mean to so that's why he wasn't too upset.
He needed to find his sweet angel and apologize profusely and tell her everything was okay while holding her and never letting her go. He would work on finding that necklace later, at least he knew it was around somewhere. Right now his girlfriend was more important to him.
He dropped the broom to the side without thinking twice about and immediately began to search for her, hoping she would still be in there somewhere.
~
Poppy was literally on the floor curled up against the wall with all of the invitations that were in that little cubby huddled in her arms or just laying overtop of her.
She wasn't asleep, but there were fresh tears coating her face once again as she kept opening one invitation with another, listening to the little voices she gave them. And it wasn't even because of the invitations she was still crying. Well, it was, but for a completely different reason now.
She missed him.
She wanted nothing more than to be in his arms right now, but she'd done a horrible thing and now he didn't even want to look at her. At least that's what she thought.
Her ear twitched as she swore she could hear footsteps approaching, knowing exactly who it was, but not bothering to move from the spot she was in.
She just internally prepared for the worst.
"Poppy?!" Was the first thing she heard, and that just made her want to cry even more.
"Poppy I'm so sorry I didn't mean to make you feel li-"
He stopped once he realized what she was holding, and what was covering her, and he took a few, slow steps back once it hit him.
She.. she found them.. ALL of them..
He thought he was going to pass out right then and there, feeling all the tiny hairs on his skin go bolting upward. What did she think of him now knowing he hid all of this? After he'd previously stepped all over them right in front of her years ago? Was she angry? If she was she had absolutely every right to be.
His brain cut away his thoughts and all he could focus on was her as soon as she finally began to turn around, the tears on her face looked like they were beginning to dry up, and her hair was slightly messy, possibly from moving around while laying on the floor.
He gulped very, very slowly as she began to stare at him, despite it not being of anger or disappointment. It was one of those calm, casual looks you'd normally see anyone have.
One side of him felt terrible and wanted to pick her up and hold her close to him, and the other was terrified of what she must be thinking of him right now.
"How did you.. know where to find them?" He asked quietly and nervously.
Poppy didn't answer at first and just kept staring at him, then looked down at some of the invitations she was holding, slowly getting up while careful not to drop them.
Branch hesitated where he was standing when he saw her wince a little at the small cuts on her legs. That must've obviously been from the glass falling.
Now he felt like an even bigger jerk.
"I didn't," she answered, "I was.. looking for somewhere to hide away for a bit while I let you be alone and reconcile so I just hung out in here since it was small enough. Then I ended up.. somehow revealing myself to them."
Branch had no idea what to say now. Gosh she wasn't supposed to find out like this, especially since she was already upset from their little accident earlier. He couldn't imagine how much more upset she must be now.
"Poppy-"
"How could you, Branch?"
Immediately his ears lowered towards the floor and he had a look of shame.
Yup, that was it. He was done for. She was gonna leave him and never talk to him agai-
"Why why why why would you- why would you keep these from me! My whole LIFE I thought you hated my invitations since you'd always rip them apart in front of me!"
His ear twitched when he heard her change of tone. And.. she started to sound more like herself again. It was like she was still upset but at the same time she at least sounded somewhat close to her normal happy self.
He felt a little better with responding now.
"Gee I'm sorry Pops, I- you weren't- gah,"
Poppy tilted her head, waiting for him to finish.
He raised a hand behind his neck and rubbed at it shamefully.
"You weren't supposed to find out like this.. I swear I was gonna tell you, but.. I needed to find a really good day to do it a-and even if I did I still could never muster up the courage to tell you. I would always panic over you possibly leaving me because I hid this for so long, right after breaking them in front of you everytime."
Poppy looked down at the invitations again bit her lip to hold back more tears, she was tired of her eyeballs constantly leaking waterfalls out of their sockets.
Branch noticed this and just wanted to scoop her up and hold her tight against him forever, but for the very first time he felt like he couldn't even do that.
He felt his insides begin to gurgle with all the uncomfortable silence and felt as if he was his own remote control gary who had just been turned on 'panic mode.'
"Look I-I get it, you're probably real upset with me and don't wanna see me anymore and that's completely okay- I mean no it's not of course it's not I'll be devastated but you know if it makes you happy then I can find a way to live with i- OOF-"
His lips were immediately zipped when he was nearly met with the floor, wobbling here and there, not before a certain pink troll ran towards him and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck tight.
She pressed her lips against his cheek and placed a bunch of kisses on it, mumbling in between,
"You're rambling again."
She moved her lips to press her nose against his cheek now, nuzzling it.
Branch didn't say anything, nor even hugged her back. He was too afraid to even do a thing right now. This was one of those moments he thought he'd screw everything up just by making one move.
Poppy slowly pulled away from his cheek and stared into his eyes, moving her hands slowly to touch his adorable, chubby cheeks and stroked them with her thumbs gently.
Branch hadn't known what suddenly got into him, but his hands slowly started to finally caress her as he gently pulled and held her closer to him, so much relief waving over him at this moment. He missed her, so so bad, in just a matter of nearly thirty minutes. And she was hurting while he was gone. He'd cursed himself internally for ever making her cry so much.
The thought of it was starting to make him tear up himself.
"Poppy-"
"Shh." Was all she said, still stroking his cheeks, before leaning in to press her lips against his softly, feeling him unhesitatingly kiss her back, caressing her entire body now.
After about a minute of a sweet and loving first kiss, they pulled away, goofily staring at each other with the biggest smiles as they leaned their foreheads against each other.
"I.. seriously needed that." Branch muttered in a joking voice, though he definitely meant it, and Poppy giggled softly in response.
"I'm not going anywhere." She reiterated in a sweet but also bit of a firm tone from when he was rambling on earlier, wanting him to know she was completely serious.
"But.. the invitations," Branch said.
"Okay, yeah, sure, I was kind of upset about just now finding them, but it's not something that would ever make me leave you. Leaving you is just something I could never get myself to do, Branch. Even during your gray days! I never gave up on you not once. I knew there something inside of you that no one else saw. I wasn't gonna let you be alone no matter how much you pushed me away, no matter if you even weren't the nicest person most of the time."
She kissed his nose.
"I love you way, WAY too much. You own the biggest spot in my entire heart!" Poppy perked up.
There was his sweet angel he knew and loved so much.
Branch smiled and hugged her tightly, caressing her hair gently.
"And I'm so grateful for that."
Poppy smiled and leaned on his shoulder, hugging him back.
"And hey, at least I know now that all this time you really did care." She mumbled, squeezing him gently.
Branch kissed her hair again and just held her, rocking her gently as she sighed
happily in his arms, closing her eyes.
He then frowned again as he leaned against her back, remembering earlier.
"Poppy, um- about earlier I just-"
"I'M SORRY!"
Branch nearly jumped in his spot as Poppy shouted instantaneously and jerked her head off his shoulder when he brought up the incident from before.
Branch chuckled and linked his hands with hers, shaking his head.
"No sweetheart, I'm sorry." He insisted.
Poppy raised an eyebrow, staring in confusion while squeezing her hands in his.
"Sorry for what? I'm the one that broke everything and lost the necklace."
"I didn't mean to push you away like I did. Nor make you cry.." he said the second part quieter, "I know you didn't mean to do what you did. Yeah, my collectables are very important to me, but nothing and no one could ever be more important to me than you."
"Awww.." Poppy began swaying again while smiling sheepishly, her instincts telling her to kiss him again, but then stopped as a thought came up.
"What about the necklace? That was really important to you."
"I decided I'd look for it later. Even if this place is huge it's still obviously in here somewhere so I didn't let myself get too worked up about it. Plus, I was more worried about you to even think much of it."
Poppy had a sorrow look on her face for a bit, but then smiled a little as she thought of something.
"I can help you look for it. We can look together."
Branch lit up a little at that and smiled.
"I'd love that."
Poppy smiled that sweet, warm smile of hers, looking down and the other way while biting her lip gently, then protested,
"Plus, it'd make up greatly for earlier. I'm still sorr-"
"No, please, don't worry about that anymore, okay? I promise you it's okay. You didn't mean it. I can honestly just find some other collections to restock on those shelves."
Poppy nodded and smiled, happy he'd forgiven her.
"Then I'm okay too." She replied, forgiving him back.
"Are you sure?" He asked a bit worriedly.
She nodded again, before leaning into him again, feeling his arms immediately wrapping around her protectively.
"Poppy.." He muttered.
"Yes?" She whispered.
"Your legs.."
"Oh," She pulled back again and looked down at the small cuts she had already forgotten about,
"It's okay, they don't hurt anymore."
"Oh angel," He mumbled softly, and kissed her all over her face gently, "I didn't even ask if you were hurt. I'm so sorry."
Poppy nuzzled her face into his lovingly.
"It's really no big deal.. plus, you still came to check on me and made sure I was okay. That's enough for me."
"Are you sure you're fine? At least let me give you bandages."
Poppy sighed.
"Oh Branch I'm fineeee, seriously," she lovingly squished his cheeks.
"Please Poppy." He did a little puppy eyed look while his cheeks were squished, which she hated but didn't really hate and actually loved but hated because he knew it worked on her.
Poppy groaned and looked away from him but reluctantly gave in.
"Fine." She said in a pouty voice.
Branch chuckled and hugged her gently from behind.
"Come on, I'll carry you."
Poppy's face lit up but also heated up at that. That honestly sounded like heaven in one sentence.
Reluctantly again she turned to him and held onto him, and he picked her up carefully and carried her while looking for his first aid kit.
Poppy said nothing but just pressed her face into his neck, embracing his warmth as she smiled goofily to herself. Branch made her feel like a child!
In the good way obviously.
~
"Andddd done." He smiled up at his girlfriend who stroked at the few bandages covering her legs.
"Ughhhh I'm so stupid-" She slapped her hands over her face, "Everyone's gonna question what happened and it's gonna be so awkward."
"Just- tell them you slipped and fell." Branch shrugged.
Poppy mentally scolded him at how overused and unbelievable that lie was to many, but at the same time she honestly couldn't come up with anything else. Plus, as long as she explained it in a way that made it sound believable she should most likely be fine.
"So uh," Branch started, and Poppy immediately uncovered her eyes to look up at him.
"If you.. still wanna, play games or watch movie-"
"Of course I do!" Poppy shot up excitedly from the couch she was sitting on.
"Hey hey whoa Poppy! Your legs! Be careful!"
Poppy blinked for a second before rolling her eyes.
"Branch they don't hurt, I already told you. I'm okay."
Branch looked skeptical for a second but heard the sincerity in her voice and decided to take her word for it.
"Well.. alright. So do you wanna-"
"WAIT!"
"WHAT- WHERE-" Branch immediately jumped in front of her on instinct and looked around him.
"We still never had lunchtime!" Poppy grabbed his hand and ran over to the room the entered when they got inside the bunker, her basket still sitting on the table.
"Oh nooo it's probably cold now." She frowned walking up to it.
Branch raised an eyebrow while looking at her from behind.
"Okay- first you say it's hot, now you're saying it's cold. Poppy, what-"
And then, finally, she took the basket and opened it up in front of him with a smile, causing him to slur his words as his eyes widened.
"..is, it? You made a pie?!"
"Mhm. Well I had a little help from a troll that loves to bake but I mostly accomplished it on my own. I know how much you love pies and cooking so that's why I really wanted you to wait. Plus, I don't cook much! So I knew it'd really be a big surprise when I showed you and told you I made it!"
Branch nodded slowly, so glad he decided not to sneak a peek at any random point. His angel was so excited to surprise him and he loved everything about it. From this moment forth he told himself that he would be more patient from now on.
"Oh you're just the most lovable troll Poppy." He scooped her in his arms like he'd wanted to do all day and hugged her tight, careful not to put much pressure on her legs.
Poppy giggled and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Mmm I beg to differ." She eyed him after saying that indicating she believed he was more lovable and put a sweet kiss on his forehead after he put her down carefully.
"So what flavor is it?" He asked.
"You'll see." She winked and took it out of the basket carefully and put it on the table, walking off to another room not before saying,
"I'll warm it up some and then we can dig in!"
Branch just smiled as she walked away. He really didn't know what he did to deserve her.
Today was honestly full of surprises. Nothing he at all expected, but the best was still made from it. And her surprise was just the highlight of this entire day.
