Chapter 77

Each time Hefty was close to dozing off, Branch would move. The first time could be played off as adjusting his position, the second time could be the same but the third time, it was obvious: Branch was anxious about something.

Turning to his side, Hefty better secured his arms around Branch, "What is it Siren?"

"Nothing," Branch tried to roll away to no avail.

Hefty kissed Branch's forehead, "I can," kissed his temple, "do this," kissed his cheek, "all day". He proceeded to kiss Branch lightly and then continued to smother kisses all over Branch's face and neck.

A light huff escaped Branch's nose, "You do realize that kissing me like this makes me want to talk less, right?"

There was only a slight pause of kisses on Hefty's end, "I realize nothing."

This time Branch chuckled lightly with a fond, "Doofus," accompanying a returned kiss.

When they parted, Hefty smiled warmly and caressed Branch's cheek with his finger, "Talk to me."

Branch sighed, "I'm not exactly sure how to phrase it."

So, there was something, Hefty hummed and ran his fingers backward to cradle the back of Branch's head, "It doesn't have to be adequate as long as you get it out. We can work on it from there."

Mulling this over, Branch looked away, still trying to think of the words. When he looked back, he asked, "Is it okay to be happy?"

Hefty blinked, "What do you mean?"

"With everything that's happening," Branch started, paused to think, then pressed on, "With Creek and everything he's dealing with it feels like," he nibbled his lower lip, "Like it's not wrong but like I shouldn't be happy. Like I should feel sad because my friend is hurting. Not being happy with you and," he cleared his throat with a blush, "enjoying sex."

"You feel guilty," Hefty surmised.

"I guess," Branch shrugged.

Swallowing, Hefty played with the back of Branch's hair, trying to think of what to say, "I'm not an expert, you may want to bring this up to Therapist at your next session, but I think it's okay to be happy. I mean, Creek cares about you, he wouldn't want you to be miserable. Plus, if you keep feeling bad because he feels bad your negativity would just feed off each other and make it worse."

Branch sighed, "I know but it still feels," he took a deep breath, "Off."

"Emotions aren't a switch," Hefty kissed Branch's cheek, "We all need to learn how to adjust on how to help Creek without ignoring our own emotions or drowning in them."

"That sounds easy," Branch grumbled, watching Hefty smile at Branch's sarcasm. He kissed Hefty's cheek and settled down closer to his mate, many questions still buzzing at the edges of his mind but feeling like they were ones he shouldn't ask.

Hand moving from Branch's hair, down his back, Hefty could feel Branch, even while resting closer, looking at him, or rather watching him as if trying to see into his head. He stroked back up Branch's back and said, "You can talk to me about anything, you know."

"Even if it's not about me?" Branch asked, knowing full well most of their relationship was Hefty dealing with Branch's problems and emotional baggage. He had only had peeks of Hefty's own pain behind his persona of strength.

There was hesitation, but, Hefty nodded, "Anything."

Cautiously, Branch sat up a little, running his thumb over Hefty's tattoo, feeling the barely discernable remains of the rune that had been carved underneath. There was so much he wanted to know about that time, when the rune was fresh and Hefty was hurting but keeping the secret to himself, Papa Smurf and Therapist Smurf. Branch understood that Smurfette wasn't in the picture at the time but Hefty didn't share his pain with Clumsy or Brainy, whom seemed to be his best friends, or Handy who Hefty seemed to have the closest brotherly bond with. And though Branch wouldn't be born until decades later, he lamented not being there when Hefty needed it.

The pain wasn't fresh anymore but it was still healing.

"You have questions," Hefty stated, staying laying down and watching Branch.

Branch nodded, keeping his eyes on his thumb, rubbing over Hefty's tattoo, "I don't want to ask for more than you're willing to share."

Keeping his eyes on Branch, Hefty pulled him back into his arms, kissing him once Branch looked towards him again, "I can't say that it will ever be easy to talk about but I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me or ask me something. If it gets too hard, we can always stop, right?"

"Of course," Branch quickly assured Hefty with another kiss.

This made Hefty smile a little, "So, what do you want to know."

"Everything is probably a bit too broad," said Branch, relieved when it made Hefty smile a little more, "Can I ask why you never told the others outside of Papa Smurf and Therapist?"

"I think a lot of it was denial," admitted Hefty.

"Denial?" asked Branch.

"Yeah," Hefty nodded, "I mean I told Papa right away but I was still sort of at a loss at what even happened myself. The whole thing was a dazed encounter I could only vaguely recall, sort of like being drugged, I guess. I couldn't believe that it happened to me. I mean, I wasn't as strong as I am now, but I as still pretty strong then. I should have been able to resist, or fight her off and get away."

"You said yourself, it was like being drugged," Branch cut him off, "And it sounded like she had you under some sort of spell. You couldn't even think to fight back."

"It still felt like I should have been able to, though," Hefty looked off into the distance, not really at anything in particular, "I tried to tell myself that it wasn't a big deal. That it was just a really weird, bad relationship that ended quickly. She was pretty, I'm a guy and guys always want sex, so what's the big deal?"

"She took away your choice," Branch held Hefty closer, wanting more than ever to hunt down that bat creature and bring her to a messy end for ever touching Hefty like that and making him think this way.

Almost absently, Hefty kissed Branch's forehead, "I realized that over time with Papa and Therapist's help. And then, finally, really dealt with it, again with their help. But while I was in denial, I didn't think it was a big deal if anyone else knew. Then, when I wasn't, it felt like I had waited too long. That telling others would only upset them and I didn't need to hurt them to make myself feel better. Honestly, I'm not sure why I even told you." He looked off again, "No one ever asked about why I talked to Therapist so much all those years ago."

"Didn't they wander why you were gone for a few days?" asked Branch.

"Sure, but Papa made up a story about me getting lost and that it was nothing worth bothering me about," Hefty shrugged, "Partially true at least."

"I hate that it happened," Branch kissed Hefty, "But I'm glad that you told me. I want to help and support you as much as you help and support me. I love you and I never want you to feel like you have to hold back if you need me."

A slight chuckle escaped Hefty, "Clumsy said something similar. That I always help everyone. I should be able to ask for help from the Smurfs who love me." He kissed Branch, "And Trolls, too, of course."

"Especially Trolls," Branch tried to joke, kissing Hefty again, "Especially this Troll: your mate who loves you more than I thought possible."

Smiling warmly, Hefty nuzzled Branch, "This Troll who's going to marry me?"

"One day," Branch nuzzled back, "I promise."

Absolutely beaming now, Hefty's smile lit up the room, even as his eyes threatened to spill over in unshed tears.

Branch kissed over Hefty's eyes, his forehead and his cheeks before pulling them both into a sitting position, "Come on, I want to show you something."

Though surprised at the sudden change of subject, Hefty followed Branch out of bed, both of them wrapping the sheets around their waists, Branch insisting that they needed it to keep warm during the walk. He didn't complain though, especially when Branch took his hand to walk with him out of the bedroom.

They went deep into the bunker, passed a few rooms Hefty had seen before and then deeper. The got to a hall with none of Branch's artificial lights and then into a room almost hidden by the dark.

"Woah," Hefty almost swore they stepped outside for a moment, for above them was a sky of stars. His eyes adjusted a little better and he could see it was a ceiling of glowing rocks that gave off different shades of blue.

"You can't hear anything above ground here," Branch pulled Hefty further into the room, to the center, to where there was a makeshift bed for them to lay down on. Once they were settled, he moved closer, resting his head on Hefty's shoulder, "I come here to relax when I need to stop thinking for a while or a project to keep myself distracted."

Still gazing up, Hefty put his arms around Branch, "This is your favorite room, isn't it?"

Branch nodded, "It's my sanctuary, not even Poppy knows that the bunker goes this deep." His arm around Hefty gave Hefty a squeeze, "This is our room now, our sanctuary for when either one of us needs it."

Smiling, Hefty tore his eyes away from the ceiling to kiss the top of Branch's head, "Thank you."

Though Branch stayed silent, Hefty could feel Branch's love soaking into him from their embrace and felt a sort of peace that sunk in even deeper to the parts of him he still tried to keep hidden even as he slowly revealed them to his love.

Closing his eyes, Hefty knew he could never truly live without Branch in his life. He never wanted to try.

As he started to drift off into sleep, Hefty wondered where he could find one of those glowing rocks.