First Kiss

"Hold my hand, Poppy. You're almost out." Branch could barely see her hand in the middle of his gigantic hair, but he could follow the way his hair was frantically moving around in one specific spot.

"I can't believe it!" Poppy groaned in frustration, kicking her way out of his hair and grabbing his hand for a helpful support. "It's even bigger than my hair!"

With one last pull Branch managed to get her out. The pink queen looked a mess after rolling down a huge hill with him. She looked a little pale and was holding her head, trying to focus on her boyfriend's sympathetic look.

"Do you really love it?" She asked suspiciously and, the way his face fell, it was obvious that he had lied as well. Apparently, nobody could be sincere enough to face the consequences of turning the sugary Holly Darlin' into a sour bull. "Okay, let's get your hair back to normal."

Branch's hair didn't fit in any of the bunker entrances and he couldn't get inside Poppy's pod without risking structural damage because of the weight of that huge hairstyle. So, he had to sit down outside her home and patiently wait while she cut and combed his hair back to normal.

It was funny… the way Poppy patiently ran her fingers through his hair, carefully pulling the bigger knots out before undoing them with her own brush showed a level of dedication and care that was completely new to him. Not that his girlfriend hadn't shown patience before, but she knew just how to work through the strands without pulling a single one. Her level of perception to his own pain was mesmerizing.

"I'm sorry I got you guilt-tripped." He heard her saying after long minutes of full concentration on his hair.

"I've got your back." He chuckled playfully, but sitting with his back turned to her, he didn't see that his words had made her feel responsible for the whole situation.

"Yeah... you could have said the truth and spared yourself. But you didn't." Her voice was so quiet that he could feel the way she breathed out the words, thrillingly close to his ear.

"That's what boyfriends are for." Branch closed his eyes, feeling them heavy. Her bewitching fingers were indulging him to sleep. He barely noticed that it was the first time he said he was her boyfriend out loud. Even if it was between them, a wave of heat went through her and went unnoticed by him.

"Well…" recomposing herself, Poppy finished getting his hair back to normal, "I must pay your kindness back," with a small tap on his shoulder, she silently showed him she was done and so he could stand up. "What about a cake?"

"You don't have to do anything…" Branch started saying, but she held her hand up, stopping him.

"I know I don't have to. I want to. You've got my back so I've got yours." She explained and Branch nodded, so she continued, "I don't know if I told you, but I have talked to everyone in the village about thundering into your bunker."

She started walking, talking the familiar way to his home and Branch was quickly on her heels, curiously listening to her revelation.

"I know how you feel about trolls barging in and I've been trying to explain it to our fellow trollstopians, but you know how trolls are stubborn sometimes. They just… get blinded by their emotions and forget boundaries."

"Are you talking about Holly, here?" Branch asked, stepping by her side on the elevator so they both could get down.

"Yes. I mean, even I got bothered by the way she came inside. It doesn't matter how upset she is, she can't invade your home like that." Poppy kept talking and her boyfriend relaxed, seeing how she paced around, switching from mad to sunny then back to mad again.

Like he usually did, he went to the kitchen, feeling Poppy still chatting and closely following him. He poured her some lemon balm tea (which now he had always freshly made in a thermos) and some coffee for himself. He got used to her outbursts and he learned that caffeine would only make her get even more excited. Lemon balm, on the other hand, made her slowly calm down.

Poppy sat down on the couch, next to him, holding her cup with her two hands. Branch watched her with a side glance, sipping his coffee. She closed her eyes to enjoy the taste. The way she pursed her lips to the cup made him wonder if it wasn't about time he kissed those lips.

"I think I need a different approach with Holly." Poppy continued, meaning the several minutes she remained quiet, her thoughts were running wild. "Words don't seem to work with her, she may need to be proven that she'd bother you if she walked inside that way again."

"How do you prove something like that to her?" Branch asked, finishing his coffee. Poppy gave him her empty cup as well, but he didn't bother standing up to take it to the kitchen. He just set them aside on the coffee table and got surprised when she snuggled against him, pushing her legs up to curl under her. His arm instinctively went around her as he looked down to the top of her pink head.

"I don't know…" Lifting her eyes, Poppy blinked at him a few times. It was that kind of blink with her long eyelashes that bordered seduction, even if he had a feeling that she did it unintentionally.

She was so close he could count her glittery freckles and she seemed to be coming closer. Was she inching up or was he bending down? Whatever it was, their lips seemed to be pulled to each other like magnets. Poppy closed her eyes and her head slightly tilted to the side. His own eyes closed…

"Branch!" Holly's voice screeched through the couple's ears, causing them both to groan in frustration. The elevator started moving up to bring the country girl into the bunker.

Poppy tried to push herself up, to sit straight on the couch once again, but at the same time she adjusted her dress, Branch's lips formed a devilish smile.

"I may know just what Holly needs to respect our privacy."

He didn't give Poppy a chance to ask what he meant. Immediately he grabbed her by the waist, surprising the queen when she ended up straddling his lap. Blush immediately colored her cheeks and his fingers dove into her hair to grab a handful of her pink locks. He pulled her down in a surprisingly domineering kiss that made her eyes grow wide.

"... I came to give you an apology gif- Oh my Hair!"

By the way she sounded, Holly had just witnessed the couple making out. Poppy tried to push herself up, but Branch couldn't resist but wrap his free arm around her waist and bring her even closer, causing the queen to blissfully close her eyes and open her mouth in a gasp.

Just before Branch lost himself, he broke away, watching the way Poppy's lips were still parted, with the corners curling up in a dreamy smile.

"I'm so sorry!" Holly said, causing both Branch and Poppy to turn to face her, but either moved from their embrace. "I didn't even know you guys were together!" The centaur girl said, covering her eyes. "I'll just go. Leave the gift for later. Bye." And the elevator went up so fast it almost catapulted her out of the bunker.

"What did you do?" Poppy tried to sound angry, but Branch's smug grin was so irresistible that she ended up giggling. "It totally worked, didn't it?"

"It did." He noticed she was still in his lap, with her legs comfortably on which side of his. His right hand was still on her hair, and his left one was still on the small of her back, keeping her in place with a gentle caress.

"Can we do it again? Sometimes…?" Poppy said, not trying to hide her burning cheeks.

Branch could almost hear the angels playing trumpets in the background.