A/N: For those of you still disturbed by Branch Appreciation Day, you're not alone! I thought it was pretty weird, too, but it's a holiday made by a middle-school-aged kid who everyone called a liar. Besides, Poppy goes over the top sometimes (Trolls Holiday, glittering Debbie in TWT, the list goes on).

Edit: Fixed typos and added missing details.

The party went until nightfall. Bridget was called off by Chef for work in the middle of it, but, once the fireworks were over, she did put the tank back on the table and lock the lid. During the party, Branch took the ridiculous gifts and headed to a corner of the tank as far away from the party as he could get. He'd take advantage of the distraction to do what he wanted with those dumb gifts.

Meanwhile, Poppy didn't notice this. She was busy trying to have fun while simultaneously realizing that she looked like a lunatic. How, exactly, did her attempts to get everyone to forgive Branch come to this?

The first Branch Appreciation Day had been a small event—she baked a chocolate cake and organized a fireworks display. She also decided to recount the tale of how Branch had saved her from the birds because trolls loved a good scrapbook. As a bonus, she even decided to perform the song that would become the holiday's anthem.

Branch opened Poppy's gift first and found a tennis racket with sharp spikes lining the edges of it. The spikes were made out of rocks glued into place. Clearly she'd made this recently, considering she'd only recently learned that toys could be weapons.

He stared at it for a second, surprised—he actually appreciated that. "Huh."

As Poppy thought back to that first Branch Appreciation Day, she remembered how poorly it went over. Her story was met with protests that Branch had tried to kill her (despite her insistence that someone who wanted her dead wouldn't have saved her). Sky Toronto refused the fireworks when she told him they were for a celebration of Branch. She wasn't even able to finish singing her anthem, even though she didn't ask anyone else to join. Nobody wanted the cake she'd baked to mark the anniversary. If it was meant to honor Branch, they wanted nothing to do with it. So she had to make a new flavor, something everybody would love, something irresistible.

Branch found a batch of cupcakes with chocolate icing and cherries in the gift from Biggie. He wasn't a big sugar guy, but at least Biggie had used chocolate frosting.

The cake had taken hours of experimentation to create, but, once she was done, she'd come up with something that was so delicious that everyone in town loved it. They loved it moderately less, however, when she told them it was Branch Cake—an unoriginal name from a 12-year-old girl. Then they refused to eat it yet again. She persuaded them by using their favorite frostings on each piece. It was more manageable to just use the different frostings than to bake individual cakes of different flavors for everyone. Each cake needed frosting, anyway, so why not?

The gift from DJ had a bright blue shirt in it. Practical, but not necessarily something Branch intended to use.

The anthem was a no-brainer—at 11, she'd written that song to remember the occasion. Trolls had anthems, and they sang songs for special moments. Maybe the lyrics were a little bizarre, but she was only a kid at the time. She wasn't claiming it was perfect.

Branch opened the gift from Satin and found a brown and green scarf. It was soft and warm.

Of course, the weirdest part of her celebration was definitely the Hero Altar and the gifts. If she could think of a better way to do it (or thought the others wouldn't panic if she deviated from her tradition), she'd change that immensely. She really shouldn't have read so many fantasy books when she was a trolling. The way you offer gifts to a god or king is not appropriate for offering gifts to a hero, and she knew that now. The "altar," as she called it, was really just meant as a stand-in for Branch, and it didn't appear until the second official Branch Appreciation Day. She wanted everyone to appreciate him, and giving gifts as an apology had made sense to her as a child. But she shouldn't have called the cardboard Branch an altar...

Creek's gift contained a purple Trollma doll. It vaguely looked like Creek's face, although the nose was red.

Burning the gifts, again, had made sense. If the whole village had to give something, they couldn't just leave them lying around. That pile would get way too big way too fast. Besides, she knew Branch wouldn't accept any of them anyway—he's always destroyed anything she gave him, and that was before he'd been hurt by everyone. Why would he want anything to do with them now? He'd probably destroy them himself if he was there!

Opening the final gift he planned to accept, Branch found a music player and a pair of headphones.

"Huh..."

He'd have absolutely no use for that since he didn't even like music, but he supposed it was the thought that counted.

The last bit—bowing low to the ground and crying out about their lack of worth to be in Branch's presence—was to make them feel bad about how mean they'd been to him. People sometimes bowed to heroes after they'd been saved, especially in those books she used to read. It had made sense to her at the time! Really, most of the ceremony became a celebration by a maniac by the time she was 13. Her friends bad-mouthed Branch so much that she frequently tried to remind them of what she'd said—what they had believed for a few months after the incident but started to doubt as the older trolls all insisted they were wrong. The fireworks, obviously, were part of any troll party. The custom-made ones just helped send the message home, that was all.

All in all, if Poppy could change one thing about her childhood, it would be the creation of Branch Appreciation Day. But, now, she was in so deep, she figured she might as well keep looking like a maniac. It wasn't like anybody thought she was sane when she said Branch wasn't a traitor, anyway.

"Well, that's it for that stack. Now onto the ones I don't want," Branch said, glaring at the four he'd definitely rejected.

He picked up the one Guy Diamond had given and tossed it into the air, swatting it with Poppy's gift. It flew right past Guy's head, missing him by centimeters. Too absorbed in the party, Guy didn't even notice.

An hour later, everyone was settling down for bed. Bridget finally came back into the room and walked over to the tank.

"Hey, I found some fabric for you," she said to the twins as she opened the tank and placed a bundle inside. "I couldn't find all of the ones you asked for, but I did find some fleece, denim, and cotton. There's also a few different types you didn't ask for."

The twins started looking over the fabric, testing the quality.

"These will do," Chenille said.

"Thank you, Bridget."

The two got to work, making fleece blankets at rapid speed. They were sick of not having blankets at night, so they wanted to get this done quickly.

Bridget missed this unusual skill of the twins', though, as she placed a small box of sparkle melons inside the tank. "And here's some sparkle melon for Smidge. Sorry, I haven't found any weight-lifting equipment yet."

She wasn't sure if trolls usually lifted weights.

Smidge gaped at the box. "Oh, my ga! You guys actually had some of those?" She looked at Bridget in shock.

Bridget nodded, not sure what the big deal was. The kitchen was well-stocked, even if this was an unusual ingredient. "Uh-huh. I don't know why. Bergens don't usually eat that."

Smidge leaped for joy. "Oh, my ga! Thanks!" She tossed a sparkle melon to Biggie and said, "Thank you so much! Now we can make more sparkle melon frosting without the yucky cake attached!" She cast a disgusted look at the strawberry-frosted piece that still sat in the middle of the floor, untouched.

"Yes, that was why I wanted some," Biggie said. "I'm glad you're happy, Smidge!"

Obviously Branch Cake tastes about as good as it looks, Branch thought, glad he hadn't eaten it.

Poppy yawned, walking by the piece of cake. Her eyes widened, and she backtracked. Somebody had actually left it? She stared at it in confusion, then looked questioningly at Branch, hands on her hips and a hint of annoyance on her face. What was his aversion to sugar, anyway?

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head. Then she closed her eyes and shrugged before picking up the cake and eating it herself.

Now Branch was confused—Poppy looked to be enjoying that stupid cake. He pushed that aside, figuring it was just Poppy being herself.

Satin and Chenille finished up with the blankets and chose that moment to start handing them out. Chenille started to walk by Branch, but Satin prevented that. She walked over to him tentatively and held out a simple green fleece blanket. "Here, Branch," Satin said.

Stunned, Branch looked at the blanket. She was giving him one?

"You know Branch Appreciation Day's over, right?"

Still a stupid holiday. Obviously it was made by a hyperactive kid with no idea what makes a good holiday.

"I know," Satin answered him. "But this isn't for Branch Appreciation Day."

He couldn't believe she actually wanted to give him something. Maybe Satin wasn't so bad, after all.

Branch stared at her for a second before answering, "I've got my own blanket. Thanks."

Normally he wouldn't bother with a thank you of any kind, but she didn't need to do that for him.

Branch was the only one to refuse. Everyone else took the blankets, loving the warm, fuzzy material and the exquisite designs. Smidge's was various shades of pink all swirled together, Cooper's was green striped, Biggie's looked just like Mr. Dinkles, DJ's was midnight blue with colorful music notes all over it, Fuzzbert's was a diagonally-striped rainbow, Guy's was red with glitter woven through it, Creek's was turquoise and faded to a lighter shade halfway down, Satin's was a vibrant shade of purple with silver swirls, Chenille's was silver with purple swirls, and Poppy's was blue with pink flowers...and a special surprise woven discreetly into one corner by Chenille.

Smidge held her blanket up, smiling, and said, "Oh, my ga! It's softer than I thought it would be! Thanks!"

"You're welcome," Chenille said. "It's good to know that somebody appreciates good work." She eyed Branch pointedly.

Guy beamed in excitement, holding his up. "Well, I don't know about that guy, but I sure love what you ladies did! Look, DJ! This is what our kids will look like! All ruby red and gliiiiiittered!"

Poppy gaped, stunned. What!? Guy and DJ? But I thought for sure he'd pair up with Chenille! They have more in common even!

That made absolutely no sense to her.

DJ grinned, looking uncomfortable. "Well... uh...yeah. That's cool, I...guess."

Poppy stared at the two, now a bit disturbed. Did she know her friends? "How...?"

"Oh, Mr. Dinkles, look!" Biggie cried, showing his blanket to the worm. "It's you!"

"Meep!" Mr. Dinkles answered. It sounded like he approved.

Creek smiled at the twins and said, "Thank you, ladies. You did a fine job on this one."

Right. Right, the blankets. Poppy decided she'd worry about her friends' love lives later. "I'll say!" she agreed cheerily. "These look great! And you even made one for Branch!"

Granted, he hadn't taken it, but at least an effort had been made to include him. That was all she'd wanted this whole time. Why did she need a "Poppy's a lunatic" celebration to get anyone to listen?

Chenille closed her eyes and hitched a thumb at her sister, saying, "Blame Satin."

"Either way, that was—Hey, wait a—" Poppy cut off as she saw something green woven into the corner—the words "I love Branch." "What's this thing here?" She looked at the twins suspiciously.

Satin waved her hands in front of her, saying, "Don't look at me, Poppy! Chenille made yours while I was working on Branch's."

"Hey, it's true," Chenille said. "We all know it."

Poppy gave her a lame look. "Uh-huh. Thanks, Chenille. I really appreciate it," she said. First DJ and now Chenille. Who's next? Cooper putting my name on top of a Branch Cake inside a heart?

Everyone grabbed a pillow from the supplies Bridget had tossed in earlier and started finding places on the floor to settle down for the night. Biggie and Smidge lay down side by side, earning a jealous glare from Guy. He then headed over to DJ and plopped down with her. The twins looked at Creek expectantly, waiting. Cooper and Fuzzbert settled down on the floor by themselves.

However, that didn't quite work for the troll on the other side of the tank, still pressed into a corner. Branch lashed out with his hair, whipping Cooper. Cooper jumped up, crying out, and looked to see what had hit him. Everyone else looked, too, gasping. Their eyes widened in worry.

"Oh, my ga!" Smidge cried.

Biggie got in front of Smidge protectively as Branch glared at Cooper.

"Hey, what was that for?" Cooper asked.

"Too close," Branch answered shortly. "Move."

Poppy groaned, tossing her head in exasperation. She walked over to Branch and said, "Oh, come on. Branch. No troll here's gonna hurt you. So just chill out and go to sleep already!"

Branch ignored her, still glaring at Cooper. The loud-mouthed giraffe troll scurried over to the other side of the tank, where he lay down. Branch settled down once Cooper was as far away as he could get.

He'd been debating trying to get out tonight, but he wasn't sure if Bridget was a heavy sleeper. He'd need to find a way to get her out of the room for awhile. Glancing her way, he saw the bergen slipping out, most likely heading for a bathroom. Probably not a long enough absence. He'd come up with some task to get her out of here for a good, long time in the morning.

Poppy closed her eyes, sighing. She just couldn't do anything with him, could she?

Creek moved toward Poppy and pulled her over by the shoulders. Satin and Chenille sighed and lay down without him.

"Ignore him, love," Creek said. "You've got more important matters to attend to."

Poppy gave him a curious and slightly concerned look.

Creek took her hands, solemnly saying, "Poppy. Seriously. The only reason they're allowing us to live in the first place is because they need us to help bring back Trollstice by having children. Everyone else has done their part already, and your aura's right in the start of its season, too. What do you say? Will you let me help you remain safe as well?"

Branch glared at Creek. Couldn't he tell Poppy didn't want to do that right now!? "She will be safe, Creek. Knock it off."

Creek looked at him lamely for a moment before turning back to Poppy. "Look, Poppet. I know you have a lot of faith in him, but we mustn't go putting all our eggs in one basket. You saw how well his plans worked out. Now why don't you try giving mine a go and do what you know is best?"

Poppy looked from one to the other, definitely uncomfortable now. There was no mistaking what Creek was suggesting, and she knew he thought it was in her best interests, but... "I, uh..."

Creek put a hand on her cheek, giving her a loving look. "Trust me. It's the only way..."

Branch got up and walked over. "No, it's not the only way. You didn't see how well my plans work out—you saw how well Poppy's plans work out!"

"What!?" Poppy protested, indignant. "Branch—"

Creek dropped Poppy's hands and crossed his arms. He looked at Branch with annoyance and asked, "Oh, and I suppose you could do better?"

"Yes, actually, I could! Especially since the only reason we're still here is because everyone would rather stand around hugging and talking than escape!"

"Oh! So now it's our faults we were all caught!?" Creek asked, a hand to his chest. He was glaring at Branch now.

Poppy watched this exchange, eyes wide. She wasn't fully aware of what was going on yet.

The words that clued her in came from Branch's mouth right then. "Well, it definitely isn't mine!"

Blame. That was the problem.

Poppy ran between the two, putting a hand on each boy's chest to push them apart. "Whoa, guys! Chill out! It's no one's fault we were all caught." She turned to Branch and said, "Branch. I know you don't like being accused of wrong-doing, but this is Creek we're talking about. He's not your enemy, so stop freaking out."

"Poppy—" he started.

She turned to Creek and added, "And, Creek, I'm sorry. But I have to give Branch the benefit of the doubt. I mean, he saved me countless times before. So I'm sure he can do it again."

Creek crossed his arms, looking jealous. "You know, I'd love to believe you, love, I really would. But I'm afraid I can't believe you because I can see something I should have seen all along. And that is that you've chosen him instead of me."

Poppy's eyes widened. "What are you talking about!? Creek, that's—"

He turned away from her, bitter. She'd been in love with Branch for years—long before she'd started dating Creek, and he knew it. "Oh, no, no, no, no, Poppy. It's fine, really. Go on and do what your heart's been trying to tell you all along. Besides all that, it isn't as though it would work out between us now, anyway. I mean, I've got Satin and Chenille now, right?" He walked off to join the twins.

Poppy reached toward him. She could feel her heart breaking. "But...Creek, that's not—" She cut herself off. I don't believe this! Creek hooked up with both Satin and Chenille? But I thought he loved me!

Who was he to complain about her cheating? He probably had two kids on the way. At least Poppy could definitely say she wasn't going to bear Branch's child.

"Well, the two of you had best get on with that, then," Creek said as he lay down with the twins. "After all, we wouldn't want any bergens believing you're as worthless as he is."

Poppy pulled her hand back, staring at him sadly. "...Creek..."

She didn't love Branch. She didn't love Branch.

Branch watched this, feeling awkward. He might have just caused a break-up. Poppy sighed and walked off. She looked at the green stitching on the blanket and groaned slightly, annoyed.

Branch watched for a moment before going after her. "Hey, Poppy, don't...don't worry about that," he said, feeling uncomfortable. He wasn't normally one for cheering someone up—why was he doing this? "He'll calm down, I'm positive. I mean, it's not like that was true." He looked at the blanket, read the corner, and added, "You know that's not true."

Poppy sighed again, turning the blanket's corner to face him. "Tell that to everyone else..." she said.

Branch stared at the blanket, eyes widening slightly. Seriously? I was hoping I was reading that wrong! This day just got worse and worse. "...Are your friends always like this?"

Poppy sighed, nodding her head sadly. "I don't get it. I start up one measly little holiday celebration, and everyone's like—"

She cut herself off. Sure, it was one crazy celebration, but kids did weird things, right? Some details of it embarrassed her these days, but she didn't want a Poppy 911 being called because she wanted to make changes to it—Poppy wasn't exactly known for going against tradition.

"Poppy..." Branch said, looking upset himself. Looking away, he rubbed his head and said, "I'm sorry. I should've stayed out of it."

But he didn't really want to watch anyone talk their friend into doing something she wasn't comfortable with just because he thought it would keep her alive. As far as he was concerned, that was assault—Creek could do whatever he wanted to Poppy if she agreed. But not if she agreed out of fear for her life. Besides, she was going to be perfectly safe—Branch would see to that.

The door opened, and Bridget came in wrapped in a towel. She went to get ready for bed, ignoring her trolls for now.

"Branch... I—"

"Oh, my ga! It is true, isn't it!?"

Poppy's eyes widened. "Huh!?" She turned to see Smidge sitting on Biggie's lap, looking at her with her hands to her face in wide-eyed horror. Biggie was looking at them with concern, too. Come to think of it, most of her friends were.

"Are you two...an item?" Biggie asked.

"What!?" Branch backed away from Poppy, saying, "Don't be ridiculous! I'm only here to make sure she doesn't get herself eaten by anything!"

Guy looked at them suspiciously and said, "Hmm... I don't know... You guys have been acting—"

Her face flushing, Poppy cut him off, throwing her arms out to the sides. "Hey! I'm only trying to keep Branch alive and keep him from hurting someone! He's got a mad temper 'cause of—"

"Sorry, Poppy, but I'm not buying it," Chenille cut her off. "You talk about him a lot."

"I think you only started dating Creek because Branch was gone," Satin added.

Poppy gave a start, looking disturbed. "What!? No, I didn't!"

"Yeah... Now that ya mention it, ya do get a little uptight whenever anyone says somethin' bad about him...or hits ya up with a rad jam about your feelin's for him." DJ fluttered her eyebrows slyly.

All the others, save Creek, nodded in agreement. Creek tuned everyone out and went to sleep.

"Or any time anyone mentions him at all. Like a few days ago when I was asking for barium chloride for the Branch Appreciation Day fireworks!"

"Oh, come on! She's not interested in me!"

Sure, she seemed to have a hero-worship problem with him, but Branch seriously doubted they would ever work as a couple. She was positive, he was negative, she brought happiness wherever she went, and he brought misery.

"I wish!" Chenille said. "Poppy can—and has—done so much better. But she can't seem to let you go!"

"That—" Branch cut off, startled. He looked at Poppy and asked, "Why is that?"

There was nothing about him worth holding on to. Why couldn't she see that? What did she think she saw that he didn't?

Poppy grew even more flustered, face growing brighter. She tapped her hands, clenched into fists, together in her face, nervous. "Uuuh... Well, I, uh..."

Bridget glanced at the curtain over her bed and sighed wistfully. Romance. Clearly Poppy had as much trouble with her love life as Bridget did.

"Look. I don't have a crush on Branch. You guys are totally overthinking things 'cause of the stressful weak we've all had," Poppy said as she walked to the other side of the tank—closer to where Cooper was. She needed to put as much distance between herself and Branch as possible right now. "So why don't we all just get some rest so that tomorrow we'll be able to—uhh..."

She cut off, seeing Bridget.

Feeling eyes on her, Bridget's head snapped toward the troll tank. "Oh! Um, do you need something, Poppy?" she asked, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Uuuhh..." Poppy looked around at her friends, feeling awkward. Then she looked back at Bridget and gave a sheepish smile. "No, thanks. I'm..." She started to lay down, crying, "Let's just go to bed already! WE can talk about this more later!" Glaring in annoyance, she lay down on her side and hid herself in her hair.

Bridget blinked, then, deciding to ignore the troll, she turned her attention back to the curtain and her miserable, miserable life.

Smidge looked at Biggie with concern and said, "Oh, she's got it bad, huh?"

Biggie nodded, looking a bit worried himself. He may have accepted that Branch wasn't as bad as everyone in Troll Village said, but the fact remained that he wasn't any good for Poppy.

"I don't see why," Cooper said. "I mean, he's not even nice!"

Branch glared at Cooper before heading back to his corner. His back to all of them, he lay down under the blanket he'd brought.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, DJ said, "Maybe we should do what Poppy said and catch some z's, y'all. It's gettin' kinda tense up in here."

"Good idea," Guy agreed. "That way, we'll all be wide awake and ready to slap some sense into her. I mean, we all already know he can't be trusted!" He held DJ close and glared at Branch.

Branch's shoulders tensed. It wasn't anything new. It wasn't anything he shouldn't have expected. It wasn't like he couldn't add Guy Diamond to the list of trolls he planned to clobber when they got out of here.

Satin and Chenille looked at each other, one agreeing with Guy but the other merely worried about the heartache Poppy and Branch would feel when inevitably separated because of his banishment, then they both lay down to sleep with Creek between them. Everyone else followed suit, but the second Cooper's head hit the ground, his long neck—and Branch's bad mood—caused more drama.

Angry and in need of some excuse to vent out his frustrations, Branch glanced over his shoulder and lashed out, hitting Cooper in the head with his hair. Cooper cried out, then backed away and tried again. Branch's hair struck him in the nose this time.

"Oh, come on!" Cooper cried out, lifting his head. "What do you want from me!?"

Branch sat up and glared at him, answering, "You as far away from me as you can get!"

Cooper scooted further back until he was completely in the corner of the tank opposite Branch. He lay back down, eyeing Branch as he did so.

Poppy watched this whole thing from under her hair. She looked around at all the others, seeing the concerned stares they were giving Branch and Cooper.

Branch turned away, laying back down with his back to everyone again. Safe, Cooper closed his eyes to sleep.

While her trolls may have been going to sleep, Bridget couldn't after all of that—she had her unrequited love on the brain. Once she thought everyone was asleep and nobody would see, she pulled back the curtain over her bed. Behind it was a mural to her secret crush, King Gristle. Bridget had been collecting things of Gristle's for a long time—If it resembled her king, she wanted it. The mural was made up primarily of magazine clippings, some of which she'd altered so that he and she were together as a couple.

"Oh, Gristle... Why can't you look at me the way I look at you?" she wondered quietly, trying not to wake the trolls.

And then Bridget did something Poppy didn't know a bergen could do.

She started to sing.

"I've been alone with you inside my mind," Bridget sang, pulling out a magazine with Gristle's picture on the cover. She started cutting the picture out. "And in my dreams, I've kissed you lips," she sang as she kissed the picture on the lips, "a thousand times. I sometimes see you pass outside my door." She held the picture at arms length with one hand. "Hello. Is it me you're looking for?"

Poppy poked out of her hair ever so slightly, watching in awe. Not only was she singing, she had a great voice.

"I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your smile." She smiled at the picture as she taped it onto a pillow. "You're all I've ever wanted, and my arms are open wide."

Once her picture was secure, Bridget leaped off her bed and, holding the pillow, danced around the room, singing, "'Cause you know just what to say, and you know just what to do. And I want to tell you so much..." She leaned in and whispered to the pillow, "I love you."

Poppy stared, feeling a bit amazed. Now she was dancing, too. However, Poppy also felt a little sad for her. Aw. She's in love with the king...

"I long to see the sunlight in your hair," Bridget sang, imagining Gristle and her out on a romantic picnic in a bright, sunny, litter-strewn park nearby. "And tell you time and time again how much I care."

Oh, she'd tell him that every day. In fact, in her head, she was telling him that for the 50th time on their date.

"Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow... Hello."

Bridget pictured herself trying to approach the king, to talk to him, tell him how she felt. "I've just got to let you know 'cause I wonder where you are, and I wonder what you do..."

She pictured Gristle sitting alone, staring out the window. "Are you somewhere feeling lonely? Or is someone loving you..."

The image of Gristle with another bergen crossed her mind—a total babe with her king.

"Tell me how to win your heart for I haven't got a clue...but let me start by saying... I love you."

During that line, in her daydream, she pulled Gristle away from the beautiful brunette and confessed. Oh, if only she could!

Poppy looked around at her friends, seeing many possible happy couples forming, and her heart sank even lower as Bridget sang on. I can't believe they're all able to sleep through all of this. Then again, she is being real quiet right now. Poppy watched on as Bridget continued dancing with a pillow.

"Hello. Is it me you're looking for?" Bridget sang. "'Cause I wonder where you are, and I wonder what you do..."

She imagined Gristle sitting in a library with reading glasses, studying up on all the things he needed to know to be the amazing king he was.

"Are you somewhere feeling lonely? Or is someone loving you?"

In the imaginary library, that same bergen came up to Gristle, covering his eyes from behind and looking excited. Bridget watched from behind a bookshelf.

"Tell me how to win your heart for I haven't got a clue..."

She darted out from behind the bookshelf, scaring off the imaginary bergen woman, singing, "But let me start by saying... I love you."

Now fully back in reality and out of her fantasy, Bridget flopped down on her bed, hugging her pillow to her face, and cried herself to sleep. It was a very sudden transition—she went from wailing quietly into a pillow to snoring in a second.

Poppy came out from under her hair completely, really feeling for Bridget now. "Wow. She's really torn up about that. ...Hmm..."

They couldn't just leave her like this, could they? She deserved to be happy. She was a wonderful person, even though she was a troll-eating bergen.

That was all the more thought Poppy gave to that for the moment. She quickly turned her attention to the gray troll sleeping alone on the other side of the tank. When choosing places to sleep, everyone had given Branch a wide berth. He was the only one who didn't have someone nearby. Biggie and Smidge were hugging each other; Guy had draped an arm over DJ's side, cuddled up against her back; Creek was sleeping peacefully between the twins, whose hands were linked on his chest; Cooper's head was barely brushing up against Fuzzbert; and Poppy herself was right beside Cooper's body.

That just made the sight of Branch on the other side of the tank, alone and unloved, even harder to bear. She debated for a bit—how badly did she want the teasing to continue? How eager was she to be called crazy again? How badly did she want to argue with Branch again about proximity? She couldn't leave him all alone, but he claimed he wanted that.

It didn't matter what any of them said. After the things her friends had said to him today, Branch needed comfort, she was sure, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She got up and headed over, grabbing the blanket he'd packed for her along the way. Forget about the one that said she loved Branch—she didn't need that confirming everyone's suspicions in the morning.

Branch, for his part, was having a hard time getting to sleep. Not only were the stupid comments from the other trolls keeping him awake, but that bergen had suddenly decided to sing? Really?

Movement behind him made him start. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Poppy laying down beside him, still a respectful distance away. But why was she doing this now!?

"Poppy!" he hissed. "Go away!"

"Good night to you, too, Branch," Poppy answered with a smile, snuggling into her blanket. She was sleepy—this had been a very long day.

"Poppy, your friends already think you're insane! Stop pestering me!"

Really, if he was being honest, Branch thought she was nuts, too—why did she like him? He wasn't likeable.

"Sorry, Branch," she yawned. "Heroes don't sleep alone, remember...?" Several of those words were drawn out by yawns. She closed her eyes and went to sleep, still smiling.

"...Poppy..."

He'd hurt her time and again. He'd nearly gotten her killed. He'd made her watch as he killed two growlbeasts. He was always snippy, sarcastic, and mean to her. Yet she still cared about him. She might have been a little over the top in that weird holiday of hers, but he could overlook that—she'd crafted that stupid holiday as a trolling, after all.

With how everyone felt about Branch—himself included—it felt good to have someone who saw him differently. Someone who saw something good in him and believed in him.

Branch stared at Poppy, sleeping on her back a couple of feet away, between him and the other trolls. After a moment, he rolled onto his back and fell asleep.