The First Kiss

"WHOA, TMI! Boundaries! That is a lot of feelings!" They both laughed, oh how he loved when Poppy had a witty remark. All of a sudden something came over her. Was it because Branch was finally starting to open up to her, the rush from Floyd surviving the torture of velvet and veneer, or seeing Brozone sing together for the first time in years. Maybe it was all three. Whatever it was, Poppy was overwhelmed with joy! Before Branch could respond to Poppy's sarcasm, she immediately grabbed his vest and pulled him in for a kiss. She felt him hesitate for a second but then she smiled into the kiss when he kissed her back. The warmth of his hands on hers intensified the butterflies in her belly.

Sure maybe live on a jumbo screen in front of thousands of people and their siblings wasn't what Poppy had in mind for their first kiss, but after what she and Branch had been through she didn't want to wait a second longer! Then it registered in her brain "THIS IS OUR FIRST KISS! WE KISSED!". When they finally came back to reality, Branch didn't know if this was a dream that he was about to wake up from. Then he saw his hair braided and his girlfriend laughing and knew this was real. He rolled his eyes and offered a sarcastic laugh before being pulled in by his brothers for a group hug!

"Woooo way to go Bitty B!"

"I can't believe our baby brother is a man now!"

"You sure know how to pick 'em!"

Branch blushed a lavender color hearing his brother's teasing him. He was still processing what happened. He and Poppy had shared kisses before but it was only on the cheek or forehead. This however was different. This felt magical for both of them, a big step. Branch wished he could've been more expressive towards his girlfriend when they kissed, but she caught him off guard. There was also the fact that they were being watched by thousands of people. Still, their first kiss was everything he had hoped it would be. He dreamed many times about it in his youth, but it didn't compare to the real thing. Now he just wanted to do it again. It would have to wait though, he wasn't sure if he could take anymore teasing for today. On his right, he noticed that Floyd had tears in his eyes.

"Floyd? What's wrong?" Branch asked.

Floyd sighed. "It's just-. One minute you were in diapers, now you're kissing girls. I can't believe so much time has gone by"

Branch shrugged in response. "Yeah well, I never thought I would ever have my first kiss".

This caught the attention of the other brothers who started to listen in.

"Why?" Floyd asked.

Branch sighed. He started to stutter until he met Poppy's gaze. It was like she was telling him he could do this. He could open up to his brothers. He smiled back at her and took a deep breath.

"Because…after Grandma died, I lost my colors. I was grey for 20 years. I hid myself in our hideout we were going to build and didn't sing for a long time. I didn't think I was capable of having anyone love me. That was until…Poppy helped me find my voice again."

The brothers looked at one another, their eyes softening. They weren't expecting a response so deep. Their little brother had grown up to be such a wise troll for his years.

"I'm so sorry, Branch, for everything" Floyd said with a sniffle. " Especially since…I broke my promise to you. I told you I would come back but I didn't. I failed as a solo artist and I hid for years too. I felt so ashamed. I didn't know how to go back home and face what I had done. I knew you and grandma would be disappointed in me. My depressed self kept telling me that you wouldn't have remembered me anyways because you were so small when I left and if I had gone back it would've done more harm than good. I didn't know the Bergens attacked and Grandma died, so I'm so sorry you had to be left to fend for yourself". Floyd being the true sensitive one started to cry. It was the first time any of the brothers had seen him like this. Floyd was finally letting all the guilt he carried around out through his tears. Seeing this, Branch hugged Floyd tightly and forgave him. Hearing his brother acknowledge Branch's pain was all he ever wanted.

JD cleared his throat. " I think I owe you all an apology too. I didn't mean to be so bossy back then. I could feel we were starting to drift apart, so that's when I started obsessing about Brozone being perfect. I thought if we were perfect then the band would keep going and-I let that get to my head. It wasn't easy taking care of 4 younger brothers while trying to keep the band together, but I could've been a better brother and listened to you guys. So to that, I'm truly sorry".

There was a silence before Clay started to chuckle.

"Yo did I hear that correctly?!" Clay exclaimed. "JD actually admitted he was wrong!"

"And apologized!" Bruce added.

JD furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey! I'm trying to be real with you guys! I thought you were serious now Clay!

"I am! Just never thought I'd see the day!" Clay said snickering with Bruce.

JD playfully rolled his eyes. Even as adults the banter between Clay and Bruce was still strong as when they were teens.

"I forgive you JD"

JD looked in the direction of where the voice came from, it was Floyd.

"You-you do?"

Floyd nodded. "It's like our baby bro said, we're not perfect and we don't need to be. It's just nice to be together again".

"I forgive you too JD" Branch added.

Bruce and Clay added in their forgiveness and JD put on a strong front, but he felt himself becoming emotional. Something he hadn't felt before.

"Thank you guys, I really did miss you during my time in the wilderness. You all turned out to become really great Trolls. There's one thing I have to know though". He turned to Branch. "How did Bitty B end up winning the heart of Poppy seed? I mean The freaking Queen?"

The rest of the brothers started joining in. Exclaiming over one another until Branch finally gave in.

"Ok! Ok! I'll tell you!" They all smirked while surrounding him like they were little kids and he was the storyteller. Even Poppy and Viva joined in.

Branch took this opportunity to tease his girlfriend. "It all started when Poppy led the bergens to us by singing relentlessly despite my warnings".

"Hey!" Poppy exclaimed.

Branch chuckled as Poppy playfully hit him. He continued on with the story and his brothers were so impressed. Branch felt like he had earned the rest of his brothers respect. Finally they would stop seeing him as a baby, but instead as a survivalist, a survivor, a hero, and a changed troll. And that's exactly what happened.

It had been a few days since Poppy and Branch shared their first kiss. He thought about it for a while and an idea came to him. He had the perfect way to thank her for everything she had done for him. She wouldn't suspect a thing either, she'd be too excited about joining the band.

After their amazing Family number, Branch took Poppy by the hand and they ran to the backstage area as the crowd was cheering. As soon as they reached backstage, Poppy started to squeal!

"Oh my god. Oh my god! That was amazing! I can't believe I sang with BROZONE! My younger self would've never believed it! Ahhhh and now I'm part of the band! Branch I-"

Before Poppy could finish her tangent of excitement she felt Branch's lips on hers. It was very passionate and longing. Upon realizing what was happening she kissed him back and he pulled her closer and dipped her. They didn't know how long they had been in their lip locking, but when they pulled apart it still didn't feel long enough. Poppy felt like she was in a daze. She stuttered while catching her breath.

" Branch I-You-"

Branch chuckled. He knew what she was trying to say. " I wanted this moment to be with you instead of the world".

Both of them chuckled as they knew some bands always made the crowd roar by kissing their girl. Not Branch though. He was still a private troll.

He continued. "To thank you, I know I haven't always been open with you. Talking about my feelings is something I want to work on, but I wanted to show you another way of expressing how I feel about you".

Poppy nodded but was still in a daze. Branch didn't need her to respond though, her smile was speaking a million words. He offered her a smile back and turned to go back out when the crowd was cheering for an encore. He was stopped by Poppy grabbing his hand, there was a fire in her eyes.

"Show me how you feel again".

He smirked. "I'd love to".

This time it was his turn to growl at her as he kissed her passionately again. This time he lifted her off the ground while doing so as she wrapped her arms around him. They stayed like that for a long time, the crowd still roaring for an encore. Both of them blocked out the sound, they were in their own world. They knew once they went back out there, it would be hard to find another private moment like this again. One thing was for sure though, they would never stop expressing how much they meant to one another.

Hi guys! Long time no see! I know I am not the best with updating my stories, but after seeing Trolls 3 I got inspired again! I am starting "The first" series. Meaning firsts for poppy and branch with their new relationship. I'm mostly going to stick to things that would happen after this film, so if there is anything you'd like to see, feel free to comment!

Hope you all enjoy!

~Ash