Work Text:
The bells at the top of the door ring to signal Branch’s exit from the hardware store as he juggles three heavy plastic bags filled with parts he needs to fix up a room that’s been trashed by four drunk and disorderly college students on spring break. Empty rooms means empty wallets for Treetop employees, so he has gotten the store as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, that had meant Poppy in tow. It’s not like he doesn’t want to be with Poppy. On the contrary, he definitely wants to be with Poppy, it’s just that, well, she kind of slows him down.
He looks over at the bakery next door, where Poppy had disappeared into instead of joining him in the hardware store and sighs before walking back to his old, beat up truck to deposit the bags on the floor of the passenger side. He’s just about to slam the door shut when there’s a rumble up ahead, and he looks up to see storm clouds rolling in.
A drop of rain falls right in the center of his forehead, and he groans. The last thing he wants to be is soaked from head to toe in rainwater just because Poppy can’t decide what kind of cupcake she wants. So he throws the door shut and rushes back to the bakery to try and speed up the process himself.
Once inside, he finds her at the front, instructing the girl behind the counter to remove a chocolate marshmallow cupcake from the case. Branch watches as the girl carefully places the gooey cupcake into a box with at least six other cupcakes in it and room for five more.
He stands there watching her for a moment. He’d like to say he can’t believe she’s buying cupcakes for the entire town, but he knows her too well, and it’s to be expected. When she bends down to inspect the case again, he approaches her and slides his arm around her waist.
She jumps a little at his touch, but then smiles when she realizes it’s him, leaning up to press a kiss to his jaw.
“How many cupcakes can you eat?” he asks, pulling her to his side. “Never mind. That’s a stupid question. Let me rephrase that. How many cupcakes should you eat?”
She just smiles at him. “And what kind of cupcake would you like, Branch?”
He looks over at the box the girl had been filling for Poppy. She’s moved onto another customer while Poppy is still making up her mind, so he gets a good look in the box. One has pink frosting with strawberry slices displayed on top. Another is light blue with pink and blue sprinkles, and a third has rainbow swirl frosting. He gazes back at Poppy with a soft smile on his face. “You can pick. I like them all.”
The girl has returned, and Poppy quickly makes her final choices, choosing a bacon chocolate cupcake for Branch. It’s different, and Branch isn’t sure he’ll like it, but he knows he’ll eat it because Poppy picked it for him.
Finally, Poppy pays for her cupcakes and is handed a large bag over the counter. Branch grabs her hand to drag her out. He wants to make sure she doesn’t spot something else she absolutely must have, and well, he also wants to hold her hand, so he pulls her along to the door. That’s when he realizes the rain is starting to come down, and the dark clouds have rolled over Telluride and made the streetlights come on.
“Oh no!” Poppy says, tugging on his hand before he can pull her outside.
He knows her too well. Poppy loves dancing in the rain. She’s not worried about the rain. What she’s worried about is getting her cupcakes wet. So he takes the bag from her and wraps the plastic up tight around the box, carefully holding it in his left hand and then smiling back at her. “How’s this?”
The grin that lights up her face is worth it all. She is glowing and radiant and beautiful, and he would protect a million cupcakes and walk through a million rainstorms with her just to see that smile.
“Are we running?” she asks, reclaiming his hand.
He leans towards the window and looks outside. The rain is coming down even harder now, and no question about it, they’re going to get soaked. His truck is about fifty yards from the bakery, so even if they do run, they’re still going to be drenched. It’s nothing that a warm shower and some dry clothes can’t fix, though. “Yep,” he says, leaning back and squeezing her hand. “We’re running. Ready?”
“You know I am!” She pulls him toward the door, and they both push through, tripping out into the storm.
The rain is falling hard them while Poppy tugs Branch along the sidewalk and they break out into a run. It’s falling in his eyes and rolling down his neck and his arms, soaking his clothes and peppering the bag around the cupcakes. Before he knows what’s happening, they’re both giggling and laughing, and the smile on Branch’s face feels wide and genuine.
He almost forgets to pull out the keys when they get to the truck, but he does after fishing through his pockets for what feels like forever in the rain. Finally he pulls them out and opens the passenger door. He holds it open for Poppy, but she doesn’t get in. Instead, she takes the cupcakes from him and sets them down on the seat, sliding them to the middle. He’s waiting for her to climb in after them when she ducks back through the door and closes the door behind herself, standing there, smiling up at him while water drips off her bangs and onto her face.
“What are you doing?” he asks over the rumbling thunder. “Get in.”
She grabs ahold of his wet t-shirt and pulls him a few inches closer. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been in a Telluride rainstorm?”
He thinks for a moment. Maybe it’s been three years or maybe less, he’s not sure.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been in a rainstorm with you?” Her hold on his shirt tightens.
He smiles nervously. “Well, we were in a few snow storms together. I’d call that last one a blizzard, technically. It was pretty dangerous. We really should have stayed inside.”
There’s a flash, and then a loud bang of thunder rumbles through the street. Branch’s arms go around Poppy, pulling her close. He’s considering taking the metal clip out of her hair so she can’t conduct electricity, when she giggles, and he looks down at her face.
“We could sing and dance… and hug,” she says, raising an eyebrow at him.
Branch wonders if she means ‘hug’ in the way she meant ‘sleepover,’ and he swallows hard. He definitely doesn’t want to ‘hug’ on Colorado Avenue. Or any avenue. He’d rather do all that behind closed doors. “Why don’t we go back to my place and take a hot shower?” he suggests instead.
She pretends to think about it. “Maybe,” she says and then meets his eyes again. “If you do what I want to do first.”
“Which is…” he prompts.
“Kiss me.” .She puckers her lips and closes her eyes.
He’s startled for a second, but doesn’t release her. “Poppy, no! Everyone is watching!”
By then they are completely soaked through their clothes and to their skin, so when they both turn to look around them, the water squishes between their socks and shoes. There are two older women on the other side of the street running from a restaurant to their car. The doors slam, and then all that can be heard is the rain falling against the pavement and the rumble of thunder heading over the mountains.
“No one is watching,” Poppy says. “Now kiss me.”
“Can we get in the truck first?”
“No. I want to be kissed out here in the rain.” She puckers her lips again.
He sighs loudly so he can be sure she knows how he feels about it, but he leans down to press his lips to her puckered ones anyway. They are as soft as velvet and taste sugary like the cupcake sample she probably got at the bakery. Before he knows what is happening, her wet arms wind around his neck and pull him deeper into the kiss. He forgets that he’s cold and wet and lets her heat permeate to him through the kiss.
It’s not until another crack of thunder that they pull apart enough to breathe properly. He wipes the rain water from the sides of her face and smiles down at her. “Are you happy now?”
She smiles. “So happy. I have cupcakes, and rain, and most of all--you. I’m not sure what else I could need.”
“Ten friends to feed those other cupcakes to?” he suggests.
“Pfft, don’t worry!” she says, pulling away from him and reaching for the handle on the passenger door of the truck. “I have those, too.”
Branch, thankful that he isn’t going to get stuck eating a ton of cupcakes, lets out his breath and moves around to the other side of the truck. Now he’s looking forward to that hot shower.