Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In a quiet corner of Troll Village sat a cozy little coffee shop known as “Hugs N Mugs”. Rain gently tapped across the ground, progressively getting stronger. It was an unassuming Sunday morning, no lights on in the shop. Other than the rain, it was positively peaceful.

Unable to handle a moment of peace, Poppy’s bright yellow rain boots splashed down into a puddle.

She sloshed her boots intentionally through the rain, enjoying the ripples and splashes that resulted. That’s kind of Poppy to a tea, honestly. The quiet, while nice, quickly drove her crazy and she often needed to splash to keep things interesting. She spun around, skipped, and danced on and off benches.

A brick path led to the shop, and Poppy hopped from brick to brick with the comfort of someone who had been working there her whole life. Technically she had. Her father Peppy had owned the shop since they moved here, and even as a child, she loved to help out and serve drinks to all the town trolls. She wasn’t exactly fond of coffee, she much preferred the chocolate and sugar-laced drinks, but she loved the shop with her whole heart. It was her community, her people.

Her shop keys clinked musically as she awkwardly opened the door while balancing her umbrella. The door let out a “ding”, announcing her arrival to no one as she shook off the umbrella while still halfway out in the rain. She tossed the polka dot umbrella into a convenient umbrella stand, pulled off her rain boots, and tiptoed across the cold floor to a closet holding rain-proof mats. She dragged them all over their floor, turned on the lights, and smiled to herself. She loved rainy Sundays and internally hoped the rain would bring in all her favorite customers desiring a cozy warm drink to get them through the day.

She began to work - setting up the tables and cleaning the counters. The door let out a DING, her pink hair and face popped over the counter to see her pal Biggie enter. He did a little shake to get the rain off his body, “Good morning, Poppy!”

“Good morning, Biggie!” she hummed back, “How was your day off?”

“Oh, it was nice! I took Mr. Dinkles to the park. Have you started any of the baking, yet?” He walked behind the counter, putting his apron on.

“I started the croissants, but still lots of work to do!”

Biggie nodded, “I’m on it!” He disappeared into the kitchen just as the door went DING once again.

“Good morning,” a familiar voice called out, “I see you’re early again!”

“Dad! Hello!” Poppy jumped over her freshly cleaned counter as her father Peppy hung up his raincoat. Poppy leaped at him with a hug, bouncing in place.

“Whoa there, whoa there. Don’t knock me over again,” He chuckled, patting her on the head, “I know what you’re really after.”

Poppy played innocent, and pouted, “A loving hug from my dad is all I ask for, I have NO idea what you mean.”

Peppy smiled knowingly, pulling out a folder from his briefcase, “Here’s the new schedule.”

Poppy squealed, “Thaaaank you, Dad! I’ll go put it up now!” Poppy dove over the counter and SLAMMED the kitchen door open, revealing a startled Biggie.

“I DIDN’T EAT THE CROISSANTS!” He formed a defensive pose, and Poppy laughed as she went to the team bulletin board and began to unpin the old schedule. Biggie relaxed, “Ooooh, new schedule day I see!”

“Yep!” She smiled, straightening out the new schedule, and carefully pinning it to the wall. She held her breath and she investigated the print, searching for her name, and comparing it to others, “New schedule day is my favorite, it’s like I can plan out a whole month full of conversations and friendship building!”

“Mhmm, and make sure you’re working with Branch,” Biggie smiled.

“Pfft - BRANCH?!” Poppy gasped, “Branch WHO?”

“I’m pretty sure we only know one Branch.”

Poppy scoffed, “Maybe.”

“Sure, Poppy-”

Poppy cut Biggie off by grabbing his display of croissants, “I’m gonna go put these out to date-I MEAN DRY. TO DISPLAY. TO MAKE OUT. PUT OUT,” Poppy face turned a deeper shade of pink as she smacked her palm to her face. Biggie was in hysterics, laughing on the floor at her, as she let out one final huff, “NEVERMIND!”

She swiveled harshly through the kitchen door, smacking directly into - Branch.

The croissant display clattered to the floor. Time froze.

Branch held Poppy in his arms, protecting her from the fall. His hair, drenched from the rain, let a single bead of water drip down his face. In that moment Poppy would have sworn they both stopped breathing. She felt so instantly safe, being in his arms, losing herself in his eyes. Both of their faces formed into red hot blushes.

Muffled in the background you could hear Biggie cry, “My croissants!”

Time suddenly started to speed up, and all at once, a startled Branch quickly dropped Poppy.

Poppy crashed to the floor, “Yipes! Branch!”

“ACK! SORRY!” He ran to the back kitchen, past Biggie, who was cleaning up and mourning the croissants on the floor.

The kitchen door swung open and close, Poppy turned to see Branch ringing his hair out in the sink, cursing himself in process. Biggie blocked the view as he started to pick up the ruined croissants, “Hmm,” he looked Poppy in the eyes, as though to say, ‘Yeah that Branch’.

- - -

The day progressed as normal, Biggie continued to bake, Peppy continued to manage, Poppy handled customers with her sweet demeanor, and Branch made the coffee. Everyone seemed intent on ignoring the earlier kerfluffle.

Poppy dramatically leaned over to Branch, “BRaaaaanch, one medium Unicorn Sugar Latte, covered with sprinkles, with two pumps of chocolate - to go!”

Without looking up, Branch mutters, “Hi Smidge.”

“Don’t short me on the pump of chocolates this time, I know you only used 1 ½ pumps last time, buddy!” Smidge sniped at Branch.

“I’m just trying to save your arteries,” Branch shrugged, handing Smidge the insane drink order, “I’m going to start stapling a business card to a local dentist anytime I have to make one of these.”

Poppy chimed back in, “Oooh helping small businesses, I like it!” Branch rolled his eyes and Smidge gave out a laugh as she waved goodbye.

“Seriously. Sprinkles don’t belong in coffee,” Branch stated as Poppy gasped.

“Sprinkles abSOLUTEly belong in coffee!” Poppy she held up the jar of sprinkles to her face and whispered, “Don’t you listen to him. He’s just jealous.”

“Me? Jealous of sprinkles? STOP stroking the jar!”

Poppy stuck her tongue out, “NO! I will not stop stroking this jar!”

An elderly Troll watched the two of them go back and forth for a bit.

“Sprinkles are just going to melt in the coffee and leave a weird plastic-y goo in there. It’s gross, it doesn’t belong.”

“Sprinkles are a garnish, they’re like the caviar of coffee!”

“Excuse me?” The elderly raised her hand.

“Caviar of coffee is the grossest thing you’ve ever said.”

“I didn’t say put the caviar IN the coffee, duh Branch!”

“EXCUSE ME!” The elderly Troll erupted.

Poppy and Branch paused awkwardly, now realizing that Poppy had completely taken over Branch’s personal space, gesturing wildly at him. He cleared his throat, and they stepped away from each other instantly.

“Yes, ma’am? May I take your order?” Poppy laughed, pushing her bangs out of her face.

“Uhm, bathroom key, please?”

Poppy nodded vigorously, handing a key attached to a brick. The elderly Troll dropped a few inches when it landed in her arms, made a huffing noise, and walked away.

Branch and Poppy went back to an awkward silence. A small smirk came across Branch’s face, “Caviar in coffee,” Poppy giggled in response, he gave her a light shove, “That’s so stupid.”

“Hey don’t knock it till ya try it,” She smiled back.

The rest of the day went by comfortably. Occasionally Poppy and Branch would bicker, and occasionally Poppy and Biggie would gab about the town gossip. A friend would pop in and everyone would greet them with cheers (except for Branch).

Eventually, Peppy closed up shop for the evening and said goodbye. Branch stayed in the front, cleaning the various coffee and espresso machines. Poppy and Biggie stayed in the kitchen, working together on the dishes and prep for the next day.

“So,” Biggie began, eyeing Poppy from the corner of his eyes, “When are you gonna fess up, Poppy?”

Poppy gave him a look, “I didn’t eat that cookie dough package if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Oh, no, I definitely saw your dad do that.”

“I knew it!” She smacked her fist to the counter, immediately regretting the impact.

“I’m talking about you and Branch.”

Poppy paused, and for once took a moment to be quiet, working away cleaning the croissant trays. She finally shrugged, “There’s nothing to fess up about.”

Biggie shrugged, “Want to go get drinks after work? You could … invite Branch to tag along.”

Poppy’s eyes lit up, “Biggie you’re a genius!”

He smiled in response, “Why thank you Popp-eh,” Poppy dashed out of the kitchen immediately, leaving Biggie with all the dishes.

Back in the main room, Branch wrapped up his apron, getting ready to quietly leave work. He pulled on a raincoat, looking outside to acknowledge that the rain was pouring harder than earlier. Poppy popped up behind him, “Where you off to, slick?”

Branch yelped in surprise, “POPPY! Stop that!”

Poppy laughed, “Sorry, sorry. I keep scaring you today.” She punched him in the shoulder, “Join Biggie and I for drinks tonight?”

He cleared his throat and pointed towards the exit, “Oh, no, I’ve gotta head out, but thank you.”

“What you got a hot date?” She snorted, not looking at him.

The awkward silence that followed was shattering. Poppy’s laugh faded, her eyes glanced to Branch, but his eyes looking everywhere but at her.

“I mean, yeah, I’m going to see my girlfriend.”

For the second time that day, time stopped. Lighting flashed. Poppy’s face went blank.

“G-girlfriend?”

Chapter Text

Poppy blinked back to life and fell into a laugh. Branch’s eyes narrowed, “What’s so funny?”

She held her belly to prevent herself from toppling over, “You definitely don’t have a girlfriend, I don’t believe you.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Branch shoved his hands into his coat jacket, he turned to leave, and Poppy slid between him and the door.

“Sorry, sorry. How long have you been dating her?” She tried to save face, but Branch’s frown became tighter.

“You kidding me? I’ve been with her for three years.”

Poppy shook her head, “Ok, no way. Absolutely no way.”

“Do I need to repeat - the hell is that supposed to mean? Is it so hard to believe that someone could love me?” His eyes quivered, not entirely certain if he wanted an answer to that question.

Poppy held her breath, suddenly aware of her close proximity to Branch’s face. His eyes looked tired and broken. Her heart so badly wanted to scream. OF COURSE he could be loved, but how could he have had a girlfriend all this time and never told her? Something just didn’t add up.

“It’s just - I’ve never seen a photo of her, I’ve never heard you mention her casually in conversation, I don’t even know her name. We’ve been working together for so long,” Poppy felt a small pang of betrayal. She thought she knew Branch quite well, but clearly she was wrong.

Branch rolled his eyes, “You know, not everyone needs to broadcast their life every single second of every single day. Some of us like to keep things private,” He looked away and muttered, “I have to go.”

She finally stepped away from the door, “Have a nice evening.” He put up his hoodie and pushed through the exit, a sad DING from the door announced his departure. She watched him walk away in the rain, her eyes narrowed. No way he has a girlfriend, absolutely no way.

She barged into the kitchen once more, startling Biggie who was putting away dishes, “POPPY you have got to stop doing that!”

“BIGGIE - does Branch really have a girlfriend?” She dove for her own jacket pocket, pulling out her phone and immediately started to scroll.

Biggie caught his breath, “What? Not that I’m aware of.”

“This makes no sense, absolutely no sense,” She muttered under her breath, “Branch says he’s been dating some girl for three years. I’ve known him for so long, how could I have missed this?”

Biggie put the last dish away, getting a little nervous, he walked over to the panicked Poppy, “I’m sorry Poppy.”

“Sorry about what? I want answers,” she scrolled more intensely, “What kind of boyfriend doesn’t post about a girlfriend? His relationship status is empty. He has no selfies with her. No birthday posts. No declarations of LOVE!”

“I guess some trolls prefer to keep that stuff private,” Biggie offered, starting to feel awkward, “I think our friends should be heading over to get drinks right about now, do you still want to go?”

“Mhmm,” Poppy started texting furiously, grabbing her coat, “Let’s go.”

Biggie let out a sigh as he followed Poppy out the door, whispering to himself, “Just wait till Mr. Dinkles hears about this.”

- - -

Poppy sat in the corner of a large booth with Biggie, Smidge, Satin, Chenille, and Cooper. She was downing a ridiculously overzealous milkshake, scrolling through her phone, and primarily ignoring everyone. Her friends definitely noticed, and would occasionally make eye contact with Biggie, gesturing to their pink friend, and mouthing, ‘What is going on here?!’ To which he would shrug.

“How was work, Poppy?” Satin finally offered, stirring her drink absentmindedly.

“Fine,” Poppy didn’t look up from her phone, “Right Biggie?”

Biggie held on biting into his dinner, “Perfectly normal. Poppy and Branch ran into each other and my beautiful croissant display landed on the floor.” Poppy’s eyes darted up to Biggie, she tensed up slightly, now realizing the subject of Branch was going to commandeer this conversation.

“Oooh,” Chenille’s eyes perked up, “How IS Branch, Poppy? I’m always hoping he’ll join us.”

“Yeah! You should invite him next time!” Smidge smirked into her drink.

Poppy gave a casual laugh, “Oh, Branch really wouldn’t be into this place. Too crowded, too loud, too FUN.”

“Really?” Cooper took a slurp through a wild crazy straw.

She sat up confidently, “Yep! No way you’d ever catch Branch at this fine establishment.”

“That’s funny, cause he just walked in,” Cooper made a LOUD slurp sound through his straw as Poppy froze in place. Everyone’s heads instantly turned to the door. Sure enough, Branch was there, holding the door open for … another troll.

“Who is he with?” Satin put her elbows on the table and rested her head on her palms.

“A girl …” Smidge blinked, looking at the others.

“Oh, she’s pretty!” Chenille chimed in, before Smidge elbowed her, “I mean - pretty bland.”

Poppy’s face turned red, she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to turn her head back to her phone, but she was deeply curious about Branch’s date. Her eyes glanced to the door, but her eyes went to Branch instead. He looked so handsome in his slightly dressed up attire - a nice button-up and slacks. He was laughing sweetly at something while he began to take off his raincoat. She knew the exact moment that he saw her because he was clearly mid-sentence when his jaw slacked and his eyes looked like a deer in the headlights. He blinked away his disbelief, as the girl that was with him made a comment. He shrugged his shoulders and walked towards their table.

Poppy had the briefest moment to decide what to do, and clearly everyone around the table was trying to follow her lead. If she ignored Branch, they all would, but she didn’t really want to do that.

She took a deep breath as Branch cautiously walked up to the table. Everyone looked to Poppy for direction.

“Hey guys,” Branch offered a small wave.

“Heeeeey,” the rest of the group chanted together, unsure.

Poppy snapped into - well, Poppy mode, “Hiiii Branch, so funny running into you here! And who is this beautiful mystery lady?”

Next to Branch was a pink troll, she had purple streaks in her hair and a sparkling dress. She was looking at her phone, hardly interested.

“This is Lolli, my girlfriend,” Branch introduced, resulting in a collective inhale from the rest of the group, but Poppy let it slide.

“So nice to meet you Lolli. You’re a lucky girl, Branch is the best,” Poppy leaned forward and lightly punched him in the shoulder, and for a moment Branch looked at her with appreciation in his eyes. She cleared her throat, “I’m Poppy, Branch and I are co-workers - and this is part of our Snack Pack - Biggie, Smidge, Satin, Chenille, and Cooper.”

Lolli looked up momentarily, “Cool. Seeya,” and she walked towards a table.

Branch hesitated, looking at Poppy, he whispered, “Thanks,” and followed his girlfriend to their table.

The Snack Pack was silent, and as soon as Branch and Lolli were out of earshot, they all huddled into the table.

“WHAT. WAS. THAT!” Satin erupted.

“Branch has a GIRLFRIEND?!” Cooper added.

“Poppy, you are SO brave to put on such a kind face,” Chenille reached out and pat Poppy on the wrist.

Poppy laughed, “What are you talking about?” But as Poppy denied this, she was already back on her phone, scrolling through various Troll social media to see if she could find evidence of Branch and Lolli’s relationship.

Biggie looked at the others and shrugged, “I dunno, it’s always seemed like you’ve fancied Branch for a very long time.”

She continued to scroll, Smidge reached over and forced Poppy’s phone down, “Are you ok, Poppy?”

Her eyes glanced up at Smidge, and bounced to her other friends, each wearing faces with their own degree of concern.

“I’m - gonna get another drink,” she quickly ducked under the table and popped up on the other side, “Be right baaaack!” The others all continued to look at one another in disbelief.

Poppy slid up to the bar and slammed her fist on the table, “Gimme the strongest milkshake you got, bud.”

The bartender nodded and got to work on her drink, “Howdy to you, Miss Poppy.”

Poppy sighed, “Hey Hickory.”

Hickory gestured towards Branch’s table, “Rough night?”

“Not the fun kind,” she muttered as his eyebrows raised and he put her drink down.

Poppy glanced in the direction of Branch and Lolli, their interactions didn’t seem special to her. Branch was looking at the menu while Lolli kept on her phone. Was that really what Branch wanted out of a romantic relationship? Someone to just sit near, with minimal conversation? The more she thought about it, the more she figured that fit Branch. It was sorta a disappointing revelation.

“You ever gonna tell him?” Hickory asked, cleaning another glass.

Poppy looked up at Hickory, mentally decided she could trust him, and shrugged, “What’s the point? I’m clearly not his type.”

After a moment, the bartender shrugged, “Some people don’t know their type, till their type hits them on the head,” he smiled.

Poppy finished the last of her drink and smiled thoughtfully, “Perhaps.”

Another troll slid up to the bar next to Poppy, “I’ll have what she’s having.” For a moment, Poppy was ready to roll her eyes, but she turned and spotted a familiar face, and gasped with delight.

“Leif! How are you?” Poppy crashed into the handsome green troll, giving him an enormous hug. She stepped back to admire him, Leif had been an old friend, “I thought you moved out of town to be closer to your family?”

Leif accepted his drink from Hickory, and smiled at Poppy, “I’m back in town for a while, doing some work for Sky Toronto. How long has it been, Pops? Feels like too long.”

“Oh I guess a year or-”

He cut her off, “You know you’re just as beautiful as the day I left.” She blushed slightly, a little surprised at the comment, and unsure it was actually a compliment or not. She always thought Leif was attractive, but he had never been so forward when they were friends in the past. Part of her was kind of enjoying the moment of attention in contrast to the day she had been having.

“Thanks, Leif, you’re uh, looking great yourself,” She replied awkwardly.

“So I’ve heard,” he winked, “You free tomorrow night? I’d love to take you out.”

Poppy blinked in surprise, this was not how she expected the evening to turn. Her eyes glanced to the side for a moment, happening to notice that Branch was heading towards the bar.

Her mind went in a couple of different directions - part of her wondered if she should go on a date to clear her mind of her messy complicated feelings about Branch, part of her wondered if maybe it could make him a little jealous, and part of her was just kind of wanting a little attention. Before should could answer Leif, Branch approached the bar.

“Oh hi Branch, nice to see you,” Leif waved. Poppy was now in between them.

“Hey Leif, been a while,” Branch glanced at Poppy. There was an awkward silence for a moment, and Leif let out a laugh.

“Oh man, am I sorry, did I read this wrong, Poppy? Are you dating Branch now?” Leif gestured between the two of them.

Poppy blurted out a, “NO,” before Branch could even register what was happening, “No, Branch and I are co-workers. I’d love to go on a date with you tomorrow.”

Branch froze, processing her words.

“Amazing!” Leif grabbed Poppy’s phone and interested his contact info, “I know this classy place, text me and I’ll send you the details. 7 PM work for you? Yeah, actually, that’ll probably work best with my schedule,” he handed Poppy back her phone, grabbed her hand and kissed it, “See you tomorrow, gorgeous.”

Leif left in a flash, leaving a stunned Poppy and Branch. Hickory just eyed the two of them, quietly amused at the drama.

Poppy cleared her throat, “I better get back to my friends. See ya later,” she made no eye contact and headed back to the booth.

Branch stood there, stunned. Hickory approached him, “Howdy Branch, get ya something to drink?”

Branch slammed his fist down, “The strongest milkshake you got, bud.”

Chapter Text

Poppy returned to her seat with her friends, all of whom were watching her carefully.

“I’m baaaack, you guys miss me?” Poppy squished into the booth.

“Heeeeeyyyyy,” they all replied with the same awkwardness they gave Branch and his date earlier.

“I ran into Leif, you guys remember Leif?” Poppy shrugged, “He asked me out.”

The others exchanged glances.

“I really need you to slow down on this emotional rollercoaster, Poppy,” Satin exhaled.

Chenille nodded in agreement, “I think I’m going to be sick from the whiplash.”

“It’s just a date guys,” She shrugged and saw Branch out of the corner of her eye. Just a date, not a big deal.

- - -

Branch sat down next to his girlfriend, placing a drink in front of her, and sipping on his own.

“Thanks,” Lolli took her eyes off her phone to readjust her drink so she could take a photo with it. She posed in the photo, not offering Branch a chance to enter it, not that he cared.

Branch’s mind was off in the distance, thinking deeply, while Lolli typed away, finally looking up to say, “What’s the deal with that pink girl?”

“Hmm?” Branch looked at her, “Poppy? I’m sure I’ve told you about her before. She’s my co-worker, we’ve known each other since we were kids,” he smiled to himself, “I didn’t tell you about work today, but it was pretty funny. We got into an argument about sprinkles in coffee-”

“Gross,” Lolli made a face.

“Hah - right? So I said - sprinkles don’t belong in coffee, and she said that sprinkles were like the caviar of coffee,” he gave a half-laugh, immediately realizing that the joke was not landing with Lolli.

“Caviar in coffee also sounds gross,” Lolli frowned, and Branch nodded. She continued, “That girl is way too high energy for me, I don’t know how you put up with that.”

Branch bit his straw, “She can be a bit much, but she’s pretty fun the more you get to know her.”

Lolli rolled her eyes, and went back to her phone, “Sure, whatever.”

Lolli continued to scroll and text, Branch sipped his drink silently.

- - -

The next morning Poppy had an early shift, which she knew would briefly collide with Branch’s evening shift. Perhaps she could convince her dad to let her leave early, or maybe Branch would be late (who was she kidding, Branch was never late).

The crossover time would be about half an hour, and then she’d go home to get ready for her date. She definitely could deal with a brief bit of awkwardness.

She hoped.

The workday went as normally as Poppy could expect, Biggie was helping make drinks and their conversations were warm and entertaining as usual. Biggie was considerably nervous and quietly analyzing every single movement made by Poppy, especially as the day leaned closer to Branch’s shift.

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Poppy finally asked as she reorganized the condiment station.

“Like what?” Biggie played innocent.

“You look like you’re looking at me like I’m gonna break in half any second now!”

Biggie sighed, “I just don’t understand what’s going on with you lately.”

“I’m working and being my normal happy self!” She accidentally snapped a coffee stick in half.

“I don’t know Poppy, one minute you’re drooling all over Branch,” he started.

Poppy glared, “DROOLING?!”

“Next you’re becoming an internet stalker, and suddenly you’re going on a date with a fancy rich dude, it’s like a soap opera I can’t keep up with!” He sulked, “And Mr. Dinkles and I love soap operas.”

Poppy exhaled, “I don’t know Biggie, I’m just trying to ride this weird wave I’m on.”

“Well just make sure you don’t completely wipe out, my friend,” he patted her on the shoulder and left for the kitchen to continue baking.

The front door let out a DING, announcing Branch’s arrival. Poppy snapped another coffee stick involuntarily. Her eyes lifted up to see Branch tying his apron. A small draft of wind blew his hair, he stretched momentarily before gently greeting an elderly couple. Lord, this idiot was too handsome for his own good. Poppy wondered if she could just take Biggie’s place in the kitchen for the next half hour.

“Hey Poppy,” Branch interrupted her thoughts, prompting her to snap a third coffee stick with a small squeak. Time to back away from the coffee sticks.

“Heeeey Branch, just testing the durability of our coffee sticks. I think we need to order more durable sticks, these ones keep breaking,” She rambled, quickly tossing the broken sticks into the trash.

“Noted,” He eyed her and started to work on an order.

About fifteen minutes went by with no bickering and minimal interaction. Poppy would handle the guests, Branch would make the order. While it looked fairly normal for any other coffee shop, Poppy began to feel a chill in the air, and silently wished for the clock to go faster.

Branch started another latte, “So - did I hear that correctly last night? You’re going on a date?” He didn’t look at her, knowing the answer, but wanting to hear it straight from the pink troll’s mouth.

She bit her lip and turned her eyes to the clock, cursing whoever invented the concept of time, “Yes, yes I am. With Leif.”

“Right, right. That guy who works for Sky Toronto,” Before Poppy could continue, Branch added, “Sorry, by the way.”

“For what?” Her eyes drifted to Branch.

“I know I said I wasn’t interested in going out for drinks. I really wasn’t in the mood, but Lolli decided she wanted to take photos of those fancy milkshakes,” he shrugged.

“Oh! That’s fine,” she shifted awkwardly on her feet.

Branch faked interest, “So where is Leif taking you?”

“We’re going to that fancy restaurant up in the treetops,” she smiled, “I’ve always heard nice things about it, but couldn’t, yanno, really afford anything like that.”

Branch smiled at Poppy’s smile, “I hope you have a nice time. He’s a darn lucky guy, and I hope he knows that” He finished making a drink, “Well I think your shift is about over - I wouldn’t want to keep you,” he handed her the drink.

Poppy blinked in surprise, “What’s this?” She looked down to see the drink he made, it was covered in sprinkles in the shape of a heart. Her smile grew instantly, “What’s this for?”

He shrugged, “To keep you awake, not that you’re ever low on energy,” he chuckled.

Poppy smiled, “Thanks Branch,” she walked away, taking her apron off and heading towards the door, “Have a good night.”

Branch winked at her as she left. As the door let out a DING, his smile slowly faded.

- - -

Poppy flipped through her dresses - not entirely sure which outfit would be the most appropriate for the evening. Leif mentioned the date would be fancy and looking up the location he sent her, it was definitely fancy. As she had told Branch, it was a popular expensive restaurant up in the treetops, definitely a place Poppy was interested in trying out, but not exactly practical with her paycheck.

Purple? Pink? Black? Nah. Nothing seemed to fit, till she spotted a shimmery mint green dress, it complimented her skin quite nicely. She put her hair into a big bun and twirled in front of her mirror. She wasn’t really sure what she wanted out of this evening. A nice conversation? A kiss? A new boyfriend? She barely knew Leif, and certainly had no idea how long he planned to stay in town. She’d give him a chance though, and if nothing else, she hopped she walked away with some sort of confidence boost. Her complicated feelings towards Branch were seriously messing with her.

She arrived just in time for the reservation, at the bottom of the tallest tree in Troll Village. At the base of the tree, a sign sparkled with glowing letters to spell out, “The Firefly”. Leif was at the entrance, in a stylish suit with tie. For the first time ever, Poppy realized she felt like she was going on a date with a proper “grownup”. Prior dates to wannabe boyfriends took place at local pizza joints or bars. There was nothing wrong with that, this just felt different. It felt weird, honestly. Poppy mentally shrugged it off and decided to just let herself enjoy the evening.

She approached Leif, who smiled widely as she arrived, “Hello beautiful,” he gave her a hug, which she returned, “Just you wait till you see the view, it’s out of this world,” they hopped onto a lift that carried them up the tree.

Poppy admired the ride up, “Thank you for inviting me, I’ve never been here, but heard great things.”

“Really? Princess of the town hasn’t had men lining up to take her to the nicest restaurant in all of Troll Village?” He scoffed, “You haven’t lived until tonight.”

“Well I don’t know about -”

“When I’m traveling with Sky Toronto, we’re eating at places like The Firefly all the time.”

They landed at the top of the tree, greeted by a host who clearly knew Leif and immediately took them to a secluded table towards the edge of the treetops. The view was as astounding as Leif had promised, you could see the entire village. The sun was setting, leaving a golden glow for miles around. The waiter arrived and handed them both menus as fireflies started to float softly around the entire tree top.

Poppy opened the menu, her eyes burned at the sight of the dollar signs, and immediately realized she probably wouldn’t be returning to this restaurant anytime soon. Before she could open her mouth, she realized Leif was ordering everything. He ordered a bottle of wine and what seemed like half the menu, without so much as consulting her.

As quickly as she had been handed the menu, it was taken out of her hands. Leif leaned forward and placed his hands where the menu had been.

“I hope you don’t have any dietary restrictions, but I have been here so many times, I just know the best of the best at Firefly. Trust me.” He winked and squeezed her hands, finally letting go.

“Yeah, sure. No dietary restrictions,” She gave a half hearted thumbs up, “So, what are you doing in town?”

“Oh yes, Sky has me on a special glitter project, very top secret,” He smiled brightly, “But I tell you, we are working on some special glow in the dark glitter for next Halloween, it’s going to be a smash.”

“Oh I love glitter! Me and glitter and like two peas in a-”

“Of course you love glitter, it matches your sparkling personality,” he laughed, and Poppy smiled politely, “But you know, it’s so different working on the business side of glitter, it’s not all fun and games.”

“Really? Well I-”

“Every year scrapbooks across the world are using trillions of pounds of glitter, and my team has to be sure every speck is flawless. Pristine. Perfect.”

“I’m sure-”

“Just like you, Poppy,” he tapped her on the nose, she blinked in confusion. The wine arrived, a well timed distraction from the conversation.

Poppy took a sip, and made a bit of a face.

“Is something wrong?” Leif asked, as he swirled his wine and sniffed it.

“Oh, I’m just used to sweeter wine, that’s all. It’s lovely,” she drank some more, trying her best to shield her face with her glass.

Leif chuckled, “Ah yes, sugary childrens dessert wine, so basic. I’ll make sure to help you refine your taste in no time.”

She slurped her wine down, gonna need more of this, and he added, “Ah - no slurping!”

The evening went by excruciatingly slow. Poppy, normally the light of any conversation, began to feel drained.

By the end of the evening, they walked towards the exit. Although Poppy had eaten plenty, her insides felt painfully empty.

“So, back to my hotel?” He winked as they exited the lift.

Poppy blinked, realizing that Leif definitely could not read her, “I have work in the morning, but thank you for dinner.”

- - -

Poppy slowly walked through her town, the lights were dimming in all the shops. She didn’t completely want to go home, but she wasn’t sure where to go. The place that her mind went back to was the coffee shop. It was her real home, a place that felt magnetic to her. The shop would be closed by now, but she had a key, she could always sit in there and stare at the ceiling or something. Anything sounded better than a blah date with a guy who couldn’t stop talking about himself.

She trudged towards the shop and kicked at some stones on the ground, not particularly paying attention to her surroundings, she knew where she was going. Or at least, physically she knew where she was going. Her heart wasn’t really sure.

So long she had this thing about Branch, she never really knew what to do with it. They were so different, so frustratingly different. Sometimes she wanted to scream, but most of the time she wanted to laugh. She wanted to tackle him with a hug, and never let go. She wanted to cry and kick and punch. So many strong emotions bubbled up in her, and she wasn’t sure where they were coming from.

She kicked a pebble towards the door of the shop, finally arriving, only to look up and see Branch locking up for the night. She instantly stopped, immediately terrified he was going to turn around and see her. She had nowhere to go, so she froze. Branch turned around, his eyes lit up and he smiled, “What, done with your date already?”

Poppy pressed her lips tightly together and looked away.

Branch’s eyebrows raised, “You ok, Poppy?”

She shrugged sadly, kind of scared to open her mouth for once in her life.

Branch put his hand through his hair, trying his best to quickly think of something to say or do, but his mind was coming up blank.

“I’m fine, it’s nothing, I’m sure you’re trying to go home. I just felt like stopping by the shop and just,” she hesitated, feeling suddenly aware of how overdressed she must look, “I don’t know. I was just gonna sit in the back and throw a baseball at the wall or something.”

“Actually, I wasn’t going home,” Branch put his hands in his pockets, “I was invited to this thing … an art show. I invited Lolli, but she didn’t want to go. Do you want to come with me?”

Poppy’s eyes lit up instantly, “That actually sounds - really fun. I’d love to go.”

Branch smiled in response, “Great. Yeah. Did you want to change into something more casual or -?”

Poppy shrugged, “Nah, I’m out here already, gonna own it,” she struck a cute pose and they both burst into laughter.

Branch bowed deeply and gestured towards the town center, Poppy gave him a curtsy and they headed into the night.

Chapter Text

“So what kind of art show is this?” Poppy skipped slightly ahead, surprised at her resurgence of energy, “Weird naked troll art? Abstract art? Sculptures?” Poppy spun around, walking backward as she faced Branch.

“Uhm, none of those things,” he shrugged, “Landscape paintings.”

“Are there naked trolls in these landscape paintings?”

Branch laughed, “What do you want to see naked troll paintings?”

“I’m just asking for clarity here, I never expected you to be a gallery show guy,” she bounced, “Hey let’s grab dinner!”

Branch gave her a confused look, “Didn’t you just have dinner?” Poppy frowned and nodded.

“Yeah. You know fancy restaurants do this thing where they charge you an arm and a leg for their food, and the portions are somehow smaller??”

“I wouldn’t know, honestly,” he smiled, “So you’re starving?”

“YES!” Poppy pointed finger guns at him, “I also chugged a lot of gross tasting expensive wine, so I’m starving, a little drunk and I want PIZZA!”

“Yes ma’am, let’s go feed you,” he laughed as they popped into a small pizza shop. Poppy pressed her face right up to the glass protecting a spinning plate of pizza. She tapped her finger against the glass, “That one. I want two,” her face made a ‘pop’ sound as she removed it from the surface, to the chagrin of the employee, who immediately sprayed the glass and wiped it down.

“Sorry,” Poppy whispered with a giggle as she and Branch took their slices outside. The pizza was a fine cheap greasy mess. Poppy tried her best to inhale her slices, Branch warned her about choking, she let out a small burp and they both laughed. It felt childish, and it was perfect.

They arrived at the gallery, a small shop at the corner of town. Branch gave a fist bump to a troll at the entrance. Poppy quickly realized that Branch must have been a regular, she never realized he had such a specific interest in art. Let alone specifically landscape painting.

The troll at the entrance smiled at them, “Oh that’s nice you brought a friend this time.”

That sorta broke Poppy’s heart, how many times had Branch come here alone? Then again, maybe Branch preferred to come here alone. She momentarily worried, maybe he was just inviting her along out of pity? But - they were having fun. At least, she hoped they were having fun. She shook her head, trying to not spiral.

Branch started up a small conversation with the security guard, as Poppy began to investigate the art pieces. As soon as her eyes hit the canvas, she gasped. They were gorgeous - all of them. Various views of some of her favorite spots in town, with light bouncing off the trees and shops like a magical fairy tale. Each one made her stomach do flip flops. Some of them were oil, some acrylic, and a few watercolor. Each piece seemed to tell a little story, and it completely warmed her entire heart. She could see why Branch liked coming here, though she noticed quickly that he wasn’t paying much attention to the art.

He quietly walked up behind her, “What do you think?”

“What do I think?” She gasped, “They’re gorgeous,” she looked closer to see the price and -.

“WHAT!” She sharply turned to Branch, “YOU?! You painted these??” She jabbed her finger into his chest.

“Ow!” He whacked her finger away with a chuckle and shrugged. She shook her head, “I can’t believe I had no idea you painted, these are magnificent.”

“Thank you,” he said just above a whisper.

“You know, I bet my dad would love these in his shop. I mean I’d love them in my pod. I think everyone would love them,” and then she paused, seeing Branch’s discomfort, “What’s wrong?”

He shrugged, not really sure how to answer. Poppy thought for a moment, and her brain clicked.

“Why the HOPSCOTCH isn’t your girlfriend here? Shouldn’t she be supporting your gallery opening?” Poppy puffed up, almost ready to fight.

“It’s not her thing,” he answered quickly, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t do this for her - it makes me happy.”

Poppy stared at him in disbelief, before she could follow up, he jumped in, “I’d rather not talk about it, if that’s ok.”

She pressed her lips together, searching his eyes, “Ok.”

Branch seemed to sense that the mood had shifted, he offered a small smile, “More importantly, I’m really happy that you’re here.”

She smiled, “Me too.”

They both were silent for a moment, some additional guests started to enter the gallery. Poppy looked at Branch, “I dunno about you, but I could go for some dessert.”

He thought for a moment, “Ice cream?”

“HAIR YES! How about that waffle house where you can get that tower of waffles with the insides cut out, filled with ice cream, and covered with cotton candy and macarons?” Poppy was bouncing now, grabbing Branch’s arm and pulling him towards the door. Branch blushed at the contact of her hands on his arm.

“That’s incredibly specific,” he pointed out as they headed out the door. He waved at the troll at the entrance, who gave him a thumbs up in return.

“Specifically, it’s delicious, let’s go!” They ran down the street, laughing together. Branch let Poppy lead since he had no idea where they were going.

Troll Village was a considerably small place, but new places were popping up all the time, and Branch didn’t exactly have the time or spare money to go try out every new dining location. Occasionally at work, Poppy would ramble about some crazy new thing she tried to eat. She was always more adventurous than him, and for the evening, he was thankful to be on this little adventure with her.

They sat down in a quiet corner of a small cafe, Poppy scooted closer to Branch to share the menu with him and discuss what they were going to eat. The dessert offerings were huge and as a result, they would have to share one.

“Do you want chocolate ice cream in the middle?”

“I kind of prefer a chocolate vanilla swirl if that’s ok?”

“My favorite! Yes, that’s perfect. We can get some sprinkles, mochi, a little bit of a chocolate drizzle too?” Poppy read things off, and the two of them worked together to agree on the perfect monster dessert.

“Do you want a drink?” Poppy eyed him, as she pointed out the alcohol menu. He nodded, pointed out a cutesy sugary cocktail. She smiled, and ordered one as well.

As they waited for their dessert to arrive, Poppy internally noticed that she had never moved her seat back once they no longer needed to sit close to share the menu. Her heart started to beat a little faster, and she decided she didn’t mind being so close to him.

“This place is cute,” Branch looked around at the decor, “Kind of like being inside one of your scrapbooks.” Poppy smiled.

Their massive crazy dessert arrived, Branch took one look at it, “This is already giving me a toothache.”

“You don’t have to eat it,” she teased.

“Oh I am definitely eating it,” he laughed, they both reached for their spoons, fingers slightly grazing one another. They both pulled back as though they felt a shock, and exchanged glances. Poppy changed paths and took a sip of her cocktail instead, as Branch reached for the spoon again.

“So - that date didn’t go so well, eh?” Branch tested the waters, as Poppy sipped a larger gulp of her drink.

“UGH, Branch,” she gave him a look, “It was so BLEH,” she made a face as he relaxed.

“Well, what makes a bleh date for Poppy? Not enough sparkle?” He teased.

She shook her head, “NO! Too much sparkle! He wouldn’t stop talking, he interrupted every word out of my mouth! It was like he was on a date with himself,” she sighed as Branch let out a laugh. Poppy took a moment to think, and continued, “To be honest, this has been the nicest uh - not-date date I think I’ve ever been on.”

Branch was taken aback by that, “How many bad dates have you been on for this not-date to be the best?”

The alcohol Poppy had sorta kicked in, “I’m still single, aren’t I?” Poppy snorted, “I always thought I’d end up with someone who had the same sort of energy as me,” she shrugged, “Maybe it’s better to find someone you balance with.”

“Yeah,” Branch kept his eyes on their nearly finished dessert, deep in thought. Poppy was quiet now too.

“Branch,” she started, “You know it’s funny, I know we have to get the check, and I know it’s pretty late, but I don’t really want to stop talking to you. Is that weird?”

He lit up, “I feel the same.”

“Let’s pay, and keep talking?”

Branch nodded, moments later the check appeared and they split it evenly. They walked out the door quietly into the night. They kept chatting about random life things, sharing various funny stories, and laughing about their weird friends. Branch couldn’t remember the last time he talked so much and definitely couldn’t remember the last time he spoke this much and actually enjoyed it. They wandered the village, as the town center clock struck midnight. They glanced at each other but kept the conversation going, neither of them wanting to stop.

As they wandered, they found themselves naturally walking towards the Hugs N Mugs.

Poppy laughed, “We always end up here, eh?”

She paused for a moment, “Do you want to go sit inside? It’s cold and my legs are tired, but I want to keep talking.”

Branch smiled and pulled out his keys.

Chapter Text

It was initially sort of weird to be entering the coffee shop at such a late hour. Poppy dimmed the lights slightly, admiring her home in this new light. She had been coming here every day for most of her life, but never recalled being here past midnight. It felt a little different. A little magical.

She started to peek through some of the back cabinets, “I wonder if my dad hid alcohol in here,” she laughed, “Maybe an Irish Coffee would keep us awake?”

Branch snorted, “Like you’d know how to make one.”

“Hey now!” She glanced at him with a smirk, “I know an amazing barista who will do it for me.”

“Is that so?” He faked surprise, “I dunno if it’s the barista I know, he doesn’t work for free.”

“Hmm, good point. I wonder how I could repay him?” She laughed. He stood next to her now, and she bumped her hip against his. He playfully bumped her back.

Her smile was infectious, just a small smirk warmed his entire stomach and filled through his entire body. He couldn’t get enough of it, and he wondered why things felt so different compared to every day of their employment together. Granted, of course flirting on the job is frowned upon and, yes, he had a girlfriend.

Ah - right. Lolli.

She swam into his mind briefly, and his insides instantly chilled. He shuddered from the sudden cold, and Poppy arched her eyebrow at him with confusion.

Lolli was his girlfriend. Poppy was his co-worker. All of this should feel wrong, and certainly, Branch didn’t plan for anything to happen between him and the coffee shop Princess, but his guilt started to poke at him. Was this cheating? They weren’t going to kiss. They were just hanging out like good friends. Lightly joking around. Borderline flirting. Sitting next to each other at a cafe, sharing a dessert. Talking for so long, that his voice was nearly gone. Did he want more?

Well. That technically didn’t matter. Because of Lolli.

Lolli, who had not texted him all evening to check on why he hadn’t come over after work. Lolli, who would probably ignore him for her phone as soon as he stopped by. Lolli, who would ask him to take her to the mall, use his credit card and promise to pay him back, and then never would. Lolli, his girlfriend of three years.

Poppy’s voice brought him out of his spiral spell, “What’s wrong, Branch?”

He blinked back to life, “Nothing, nothing.”

She pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the back of the cabinet and gave him another smirk, “How much will this cost, barista boy?”

He chuckled, “For you?”

He took the whiskey and started putting a drink together. As he worked, Poppy softly sang, “Braaaaanch the latte boy - give me java, give me joy!” He covered her drink in whipped cream and gave it a healthy amount of sprinkles on top.

She gasped, “You remembered my love of sprinkles.”

“Poppy, you talk about sprinkles all the time. I know your sprinkle addiction like the back of my hand.”

Poppy took the drink and frowned at the comment, she sat down on the floor, leaning against a cabinet. Branch followed with his own drink and sat next to her.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

Poppy looked at him with sad eyes, “It’s just - you know so much about me, but I didn’t know you were in a relationship for three years. I’m an awful friend.”

Branch shook his head, “I mean, I didn’t tell you.”

Her voice got small for a moment, “Why?”

He held his drink closer to his chest, feeling the warmth and thinking. Why had he never told her? Certainly, he didn’t really think of her as a close friend until recently. Perhaps the truth was, he just never felt like it was an exciting thing to tell her about.

“I don’t know. It never came up.”

Poppy nodded, “I guess I am the one that talks a lot during work,” she took a moment to consider how much she was willing to push the envelope, “Are you happy?”

“Happy?” He laughed, “I don’t know, not as happy as you.”

“I mean are you happy in your relationship?”

Branch stopped laughing and looked at Poppy for a long time. Branch went back to his drink and sipped it slowly.

“Happy? Maybe? When Lolli and I started dating, things were pretty great. They felt great. She’s so chill and I thought, that’s the kind of person I need in my life. Someone who had the same energy level as me,” he sighed, thinking for a moment. Poppy rested her head on her knees, watching Branch carefully.

“Does it still feel great?” Poppy whispered.

Branch pressed his lips together tightly, eyes looking out towards the other side of the room. His mind replayed his relationship in his head. His mind echoed to moments of the past, things that started out wonderful, that later turned mundane.

“That’s a good question.”

Poppy nodded, “You don’t have to answer.”

He shrugged, “Part of me keeps thinking - I know this sounds awful, but maybe this is what love is. The thing no one talks about. You grow older, and you just sorta co-exist. One day you get married, you buy a home, have kids, sleep in separate beds, and that’s it. The romance stuff is at the beginning, and it slowly evaporates as the relationship goes on. Nothing lasts forever.”

“Branch, that IS awful,” Poppy sat up.

“I didn’t say that it wasn’t, but it sure feels like the truth,” he tapped his foot, “You know, early on, she didn’t even want to tell her parents about me.”

“What?!”

“Seriously. She was embarrassed, said I didn’t make enough money and wasn’t what her parents were expecting, so she wanted to hold off telling them. It took two years for her to tell them, and when she did, they were pretty disappointed,” he let out a chuckle, “They just assumed I was her friend, possibly gay, and that she would have higher standards.”

“Bull. SUGAR.” Poppy snapped.

Branch glanced at Poppy, he was taken aback to see her fists balled up, a storm starting to brew inside.

“What? I mean they’re not wrong-”

“They are absolutely wrong. Branch. BRANCH, hair I am so PISSED,” She slammed her fist into her own knees, “You - you are,” she tightly gripped her dress, her anger rolling through her body. She let out an ugly sob, which took Branch aback. He never expected Poppy, of all people, to start crying about HIS life. He awkwardly took his hand and patted her on the back.

“There, there? It’s ok Poppy, really-” he started with a small smile, before she cut him off.

“Branch you are so damn wonderful, any girl would be lucky to be with you,” tears rolled down her face, “And not just BE in close proximity to you because you’re dating. You deserve someone who is passionate about you, every piece of you, everything about you. Love doesn’t have to fade, it might change over time, but you deserve to wake up with someone who sees you as the extraordinarily kind, smart, handsome and loving troll that you are. You deserve to have someone look at you with love every single day of your life,” she wiped her tears off her face.

Branch blinked in astonishment, “Poppy, I-”

“Sorry, I’m not done. You deserve to be with someone who is PROUD to show you off to their parents, and doesn’t keep you a secret. I know, I know you might judge me for being an open book. I get it. You like to be private. But goodness, Branch, if I had you - or someone like you - in my life, waking up in my bed, holding my hand, kissing me through good or bad times, I wouldn’t be able to stop joyfully yelling about it for the rest of my life,” her face flushed a deep red, and she immediately turned away to wipe more tears off her face, terrified to see his expression. She sniffled and continued to sob lightly, “It’s what you deserve.”

Branch wrapped his arms around his legs, “No one has ever said anything like that to me before.” He watched her as she continued to cry, wondering why this pink troll was so passionately crying about his life.

Poppy sniffed, “There’s something I should probably tell you.”

“Yeah?” He asked softly.

Poppy turned back around, though still didn’t quite look at Branch, “After you told me about having a girlfriend, I started digging into the internet. Searching on social media for proof. I don’t know why it just fixated into my brain,” she sighed, “And I know you talk about being a private person, but Lolli really isn’t. She posts a lot. And she never posts about you.”

“Yeah, I’m aware of that,” he shrugged.

“I just don’t get it. She literally and figuratively crops you and evidence of you out of her life.”

Branch smiled at the flustered and frustrated pink troll, he took his hand and pushed back some wild hair behind her ear. “For people like me, being included in the big picture is kind of a fantasy.”

She captures his hand with her own, holding it against her face, and looking him in the eye. They both melt for the moment, looking into each other's eyes. Time freezes. Poppy’s heart beats wildly, and for a moment she realizes she wants to be the one to wake up with Branch and scream for joy every day of her life. She wants it so badly she could burst. She wants to kiss him and never let go, her entire body screaming with fire. Why has it taken her so long to admit this to herself? What is wrong with her? What is she so afraid of?

Their noses lightly graze each other. Poppy’s eyes aim for his lips.

Branch blinks first, and leaps back, breaking the spell-like he's been struck. He stammers, getting to his feet, “I - I have to go.”

Oh. OH. No no no. This is what she was afraid of. The rejection. Had she been a fool this whole time, thinking maybe something was going on in his heart as well? Had she read the signs wrong these last few moments? She never for a moment thought that she could pour her heart out like a symphony, only to crash and burn so massively.

Branch scrambled up, slipped, and got up again, “I’ll see you at work. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”

He burst through the exit, and Poppy crumbled to the floor.

Chapter Text

By the time Poppy crawled into her bed, it was time to wake up for work. She eyed her phone, which she now realized had a swarm of unread messages from the Snack Pack, each of them asking how her date with Leif went. That date felt like five years ago, so much had happened in the last twelve hours. Poppy felt sick, ready to cry, punch, and throw up all at once. Unfortunately, she also had to be at work in a couple of hours.

She rubbed her tear-stained eyes and went through her messages, quietly hoping maybe one would be from Branch. No such luck.

Oh, but of course there was a message from Leif. “Had a great time yesterday, would love to see you again tonight. ;)”

Ugh. She hadn’t completely declined Leif at the end of their date, and clearly, he thought they had a wonderful time. She put a pause on acknowledging him and texted her friends to let them know she was ok, and that she’d see most of them at work. She wasn’t entirely certain how to explain what happened.

She wasn’t entirely sure what happened, honestly!

She had a perfectly drab date with a self-absorbed Troll, she left and ran into Branch. They went on a not-date and had an amazing time and never wanted to stop talking. Branch opened up to her about his relationship issues, she poured her soul out to him like an idiot, almost kissed him, and then he panicked.

Poppy wasn’t sure what she was thinking, almost kissing him. Her excuse would be that her body was moving independently of her mind, but her mind also really wanted to kiss him too. Her brain started to waterfall out of her head. She had always wanted to kiss him, and now she had messed everything up. Possibly irreversibly. What if he quit working at the shop because of her? Or asked to not work with her anymore? The anxiety drilled into her mind.

Going through the morning motions felt like slogging through the mud. A shower, fresh work outfit, and some food took much longer than usual. Poppy was normally bouncing from task to task, often with a song in her heart. There was kind of a sad and emotional ballad going on in her heart at the moment, not great for upbeat mornings.

Poppy hobbled into work like a defeated warrior, one who hadn’t slept all night. She lay her head on the counter as Biggie cautiously walked up and poked her.

“Rough night, I see?”

“Oh Biggie, you have no idea,” she sighed as he left a cup of coffee with extra whipped cream in front of her.

- - -

Branch woke up in his bed, to zero texts. This wouldn’t normally hurt him it was pretty typical of his life. Something he wouldn’t have felt positive or negative towards on a regular morning, but today it felt like a stab in the heart.

He wasn’t sure if he should text Poppy or not, he was still swimming in his thoughts about how he felt. She did not reach out, and he couldn’t blame her. He spent a whole evening giving her the wrong idea. Or maybe it wasn’t the wrong idea? Or maybe it was the right idea at the wrong time? He didn’t know! It was all a mess in his head. A pounding headache from his sleepless night. Luckily for him, he was working a later shift than Poppy today. So - why was he still awake?

No one had ever told him he should want more out of his relationship, he felt lucky just to be in one, even if it was fairly mundane at this point. Nothing in his life had ever indicated that things could be better, they just exist and you meander along until one-day things just stop. And then Poppy had to happen.

By most standards, Poppy was too much for Branch. She was every bit of energy that he lacked. She was the entire sun next to his cold moon - never meant to be seen together at the same time. So - why did he care about her more than anyone else in the world?

More importantly, he decided to refocus, why did he put up with Lolli?

Branch had no easy answer for this. Dating Lolli was like sitting in a pot of water that has slowly started to boil, and accepting that you are too comfortable to get out until you are suddenly cooked into pasta.

The weird part was that this comfortable thing wasn’t even all that fun. Lolli had her own set of friends, and she would often exclude Branch. Even though he wasn’t particularly enamored with the Snack Pack, Poppy and her team of pals always welcomed him. Lolli would plan full vacations without him, and perhaps if they did happen to have plans, someone else would usually join them. Sometimes Branch wondered if Lolli knew they were dating.

Branch sipped his coffee, staring off into his own home, wrestling with his thoughts and emotions. He pulled out his phone and typed, “Hey, can I come by?”

- - -

Poppy sipped the last of her coffee, “And that’s what happened last night. Crazy, huh?” Poppy looked up and blinked in surprise to find not only Biggie but all of her other friends had somehow popped into the shop while she told her story. She must have been truly out of it.

“How’d all of you get in here? Are we even open yet?!”

“Biggie let us in,” Smidge answered, and the others nodded. Poppy groaned and dropped her face in her hands.

Satin and Chenille patted her on the back, “There there.”

“I just don’t know how I can face Branch at work ever again.”

Smidge shrugged, “I mean can’t you ask your dad to rearrange the schedule so you never work at the same time?”

Poppy considered this and it just made her feel worse, “I love working with Branch.”

The others glanced at each other. Satin quietly commented, “I think you love a lot more than just working with him,” to which Chenille elbowed her, “WHAT! it’s TRUE!”

Cooper offered, “It sounds like you both care a lot about each other, maybe you gotta learn how to work together to move past this awkward situation.”

Poppy popped her head up to glance at Cooper, “I know you’re right, Cooper. I just wish I knew how to make things better.”

“I can’t believe you almost kissed him IN THE CAFE,” Bigge shook his head, “I eat on that floor, Poppy.”

“Why are you eating on that floor, Biggie?” Poppy snapped.

“It’s comfortable down there!” Biggie defended.

Poppy held her hands up, “Ok ok sorry. I’m just a little moody from the lack of sleep.”

Cooper turned to the others, “That reminds me of a joke about eating cupcakes …”

“Cooper,” Poppy glared.

“What?”

- - -

Branch stood outside Lolli’s home, pacing back and forth. He had never been more terrified in his life. Ok, perhaps that was a lie, a lot of things terrified him. Perhaps even more terrifying was a future where Lolli dumped him, and Poppy stopped talking to him because he was an absolute idiot, dooming himself to a future of eternal loneliness.

No pressure.

Maybe this would go differently? Maybe in these moments he will talk to Lolli and realize she’s not as bad as he made her out to be. Maybe she will be loving and sweet and caring tonight? He thought back to early on in their relationship when he received more attention from her. Why did it stop? Was he the awful boyfriend that made her turn away? Was he actually the problem here? Would he take his dumb self and turn it into a worse relationship with the wonderful Poppy? Too many questions clouded his mind.

He knocked on the door (because of course, he didn’t have a key to the home of his girlfriend of three years) and Lolli opened the door fairly promptly, though hardly looking up from her phone. She glanced up to see Branch, and her bored facial expression didn’t change, “Oh hey,” she walked back into the house as he followed.

“Hey Lolli, how are you?” He considered making himself comfortable to appear normal, but the truth was Branch was incapable of acting comfortable around her. Lolli slumped onto the couch.

“I’m fine, just chillin,” she shrugged, “Kayla and Trolli stopped by last night and had a great girls night. Nails, gossip, movies, etc.”

Branch sat next to her on the couch, easing into the conversation, “That’s nice - how are they doing?”

Lolli rolled her eyes, “Ugh! Drama! Kayla is with Molly’s ex now, so everyone is all drama! Drama! Petty comments! Passive-aggressive posting! It’s so annoying. So much better when everyone is single.”

In another world, Branch would have taken that as an opportunity to suggest that maybe they should try being single! But he was not so bold, and just continued to listen, suddenly realizing he had no solid reason to break up with Lolli. They just existed. Perhaps this wasn’t the worse way to end up?

They sat there in silence. He quietly wondered if she was going to ask him how he was doing, or how work was, or what else was going on with his life. No such questions came. He thought about how anytime he went to work with Poppy, that she would practically tackle him with overly personal questions. And she meant every single one. She was so fascinated with his mundane life. She truly cared. His heart was full every time she asked about his day, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

He took a deep breath.

- - -

Poppy’s shift was almost over and everything was fairly normal, although she definitely had less bounce in her step. It was noticed by most customers, who quickly asked if she needed to lie down or go home. She would provide a fake cheery smile and say that she was fine.

Until she wasn’t.

She was cleaning a table when she suddenly realized a pair of hands wrapped around her into a hug. Her mind blanked out and she quickly turned around to see - Leif.

“Hey babe, you didn’t reply to my text, so I thought I’d ask you in person. Ready for round two tonight?” He winked. She had a long hesitation, trying to come to grips with what was happening, and he suddenly frowned, “Is something wrong?”

Poppy blinked and shook her head, “Sorry, I didn’t reply, I’ve been busy at work all day,” she hesitated and her eyes searched the store. Biggie wasn’t around, no one was close enough to pull her out of the situation.

“I’m thinking a movie date,” he winked, “I’ll take you around six?”

The door to the cafe let out a DING, announcing an arrival. Poppy immediately wanted to use it as an excuse to get back to the register. Her mind short-circuited as she looked up to see who was at the door.

Of course it was Branch, and he was looking right at them.

Leif interjected again, “So I’ll pick you up at six?”

“Sure,” she whispered, almost unaware of her own words.

“Great!” He fist pumped into the air, “I’ll make sure it’s a night you won’t forget.” He patted her on the head and turned around to see Branch, “Oh hey buddy! Good to see you!” He winked as he exited.

Branch and Poppy exchanged looks. Branch looked mortified, and couldn’t hide it. Poppy cleared her throat, “I gotta go, my shift is over.” This time she was the one to run out the door. Branch grabbed a nearby chair and sat down, his face crumbling into his palms.

Chapter Text

Branch sat in that chair for a while, knowing he needed to start working but finding it impossible for his body to move. He had just left Lolli’s home, he had not summoned the courage to break up with her. He felt like a failure in that act, and then immediately seeing Poppy accept a date with that terrible troll just made him feel like a double failure. In an alternate universe, maybe he had broken up with Lolli, he could have burst through the door before Leif arrived and told Poppy how he truly felt about her. They could have immediately made out and left the cafe work to Biggie.

That wasn’t what happened though, and now Branch had to move forward. He was terrified of Lolli and what might happen, but he also realized he couldn’t rely on Poppy to wait around for him. If he was going to break up with Lolli, it had to be because he was ready to accept that he deserved to truly fall in love, and be loved in return.

The truth of this stung and scared him. A shadow fell over Branch, he looked up to see a concerned Biggie, giving him a look.

“Are you ok, Branch?” Biggie asked politely.

“Yeah I’m fine, just wrestling with my inner demons,” Branch shrugged.

“Cool so - there’s a line …” Biggie gestured to the line of customers nearing the door.

Branch nodded, pulled himself together, and got to work.

- - -

Poppy wore a much more casual outfit this time around. She wasn’t terribly excited about this date but figured a movie theater at least meant she could enjoy a movie in the process, and maybe it would all end tonight. She could tell him she wasn’t really interested in pursuing this into something deeper, but appreciated his friendship and hanging out. Even though she really didn’t appreciate hanging out and their friendship seemed incredibly one-sided. Details!

She waited outside her home, her stomach tying in knots, and not in the fun “butterflies in my stomach” sort of way. She could get through a couple of hours, she convinced herself. She wouldn’t even have to talk to him for most of the date, honestly a perfect way to go.

Leif eventually arrived, a bit more dressed up than she was. “Hello gorgeous,” he kissed her on the cheek before she could deny him, then eyed her outfit.

“Hey Leif, it’s nice to see you again. I’m looking forward to this movie,” Poppy crossed her arms as he offered his arm to her, but she laughed it off and walked ahead towards the theater.

This was going to be a long movie.

As Poppy headed towards the box office, Leif stopped her, “My fair lady, I’ve already purchased our tickets, best seats in the house,” he winked.

“Oh! Thank you, that’s very kind of you,” she gestured to the snack stand, “I could grab snacks if you’d like?”

He laughed, “I’m quite fine, you’re the only snack I need,” he grazed a finger across her chin, resulting in an internal grimace.

They headed into the auditorium, the lights were already dimmed as previews started. Poppy aimed for a nice middle seat, but Leif grabbed her wrist.

“Oh no, these are assigned seats. We’re back over here.” Leif gestured to the back of the auditorium. Poppy blinked in disbelief. Leif pre-bought these tickets, the theater was practically empty, and he intentionally picked ones toward the back. Her ears began to burn in embarrassment.

This wasn’t just a movie date, he wanted some teenage back of the theater makeout session. Her stomach ached, she wasn’t sure how much of this she could tolerate any longer.

Poppy was polite to a fault. At this point, Leif hadn’t done anything absolutely awful to warrant her storming out. In her heart, she knew she didn’t really have to give a reason, but her auto mode was to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, regardless if they deserved it or not. Her heart pounded, echoing in the back of her head. If this jerk tried any funny business, she could simply go to the bathroom and never come back.

She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The movie started and the auditorium remained fairly empty, with a couple of trolls seated closer to the front. Poppy allowed herself to relax while remaining somewhat on guard. She really did want to see this movie, but at the moment her focus was a little disjointed.

Her mind wandered to Branch and how much nicer a movie date with him would be, yanno, if he hadn’t run away from her the other night. They would get a lovely dinner, chatter about the weird things going on in town, or Branch’s latest painted masterpiece. They would pick a movie they were both excited about, and fight over the best snacks to eat during the picture. Eventually, Branch would have gone with whatever sweet treat Poppy insisted on. They would have sat in the middle of the theater for optimal viewing (Branch would have checked every seat to figure out the most comfortable experience). They would watch, laugh, and cry. Maybe if she felt bold, she’d hold his hand and give it a squeeze. At the end of the night, they would laugh for hours, avoiding going home, until they finally gave in and cuddled on the couch mumbling something about ridiculous plot holes.

She felt warm and safe, her heart full in this fantasy. If only Branch were the troll sitting next to her.

Leif did an extremely awkward stretch, dropping his arm across her back and holding her tight. Her warm feelings immediately catapulted out of her. He slowly started to massage her shoulder.

“This is pretty boring,” he whispered. There was an epic battle going on, what was he even talking about?

“I’m enjoying it!” She replied sincerely, hoping he would get the hint that she actually intended on watching this movie.

His nose started to nuzzle her neck, “You’re the only show I want to watch,” she gulped. Was this a good exit time? Too obvious? Too early? Why couldn’t he just watch the darn movie?

His other hand went to her knee. Poppy inhaled sharply, crossing her legs to try and push him off.

“I really do want to watch this movie,” she smiled with a bit of a bite in her voice.

He nodded, “Me too.”

He was not picking up on this. Or maybe he didn’t want to. His hand continued to travel, circling little strokes on her inner thigh, “I can’t wait for the climax,” he winked. Poppy was ready to die. This was too much. He nuzzled back into her neck, starting to kiss it.

She jolted up quickly, “Bathroom! I forgot to go! Sorry!” She pushed past Leif’s legs and made her way towards the exit. Her face was bright red. That was enough, he pushed too far and it was time to go home.

Poppy rounded into the bathroom just to appear that she actually went. She stood at the bathroom mirror, breathing heavily with her hands on the counter. She could get through this. She could get home and never talk to this creep again.

She touched her brow, suddenly realizing it was covered in sweat. She felt so disgusted that this creep made her lose her cool. She inhaled, exhaled. Head straight for the door and go home.

To her absolute dismay, Poppy opened the bathroom exit to find Leif waiting for her. She took a sharp intake of breath.

“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost,” he smiled, took her hand, and pulled her into a rough kiss.

With every ounce of strength she had, Poppy pulled herself away, “I don’t feel well. I think I’m going to have to head out.” Before he could blink, she bolted for the door.

- - -

Branch turned the “open” sign to “closed”, and let out a huge exhale. Another day finished. He pulled out the weekly checklist and grumbled when he saw “mopping” on his duties list.

“Typical, Peppy always leaves the fun stuff with me,” he chuckled as he prepped the mop and bucket. He would be lying if he said he hated closing the shop alone. Truthfully he excelled in the quiet and did some of his best cleaning work without his coworkers gossiping around him. His second best evenings were always nights he was lucky enough to close with Poppy. Though her stories were often distracting, he lived for every joke and laugh to come out of her mouth. It was weird to think of how quiet the shop would be once they worked together again. He dreaded it, actually. He hoped he and Poppy could make amends somehow, because his heart was only full when he could make her smile from a dumb joke. The moments when she got him to smile in the middle of a crazy and stressful shift. They brought out the best in each other.

Branch took his mop and twirled it around. In his mind the mop became Poppy, still dressed in her cafe outfit, she laughed and twirled as he danced and cleaned around the floor.

If they could continue their dear friendship, he truly hoped he could convince her to dance like this at the end of a shift. Her small laugh and delightful dancing could cure a thousand broken souls.

Branch hums to himself, continuing his dance cleaning and feeling the slight bliss of his imagination. For a moment his eyes opened and the vision of this imaginary Poppy faded. Outside, through the glass, he could see the real Poppy.

“Poppy?”

The mop dropped to the floor. Even from this distance he could see Poppy looked terrified, with tears cascading from her eyes.

Branch burst through the door straight for her. Her sobs completely shattered his heart. What the heck did Leif do to her?

He slowed his approach, hoping to not scare her, or leave her be if she didn’t want to see him either. It’s not like they were on great terms the last time they saw each other. He hoped he could do something, or at least help her get home or to safety.

“Poppy?” Branch’s voice was just above a whisper. Her head shot up out of her hands, tears still actively rolling down her face. Upon seeing a concerned Branch, she gasped and dove into a hug with him. They held each other tightly, as the rain started to drip out of the sky and surround them. He pulled back only to see her face, “Do you want to go home? I can take you. Anything you want.” He tried to lightly push a tear off her face, only for it to be replaced by drops of rain.

Poppy sniffled, “Can we go hide in the cafe? I’m a little worried he might have followed me.”

Without a word, Branch nodded and took her hand and led her back into the cafe. Their safe haven.

Most of the floor was still wet from Branch mopping, so they quietly tip-toed towards the backroom, “You wanna hang out in the kitchen for a bit? Do you need something to eat? Drink?” Poppy shook her head and just completely flopped to the floor.

“I just need to sit down,” she flopped to the floor.

Branch stood there, completely unsure of how to proceed. Should he ask her about what happened? Was it too raw to talk about? Should he call her dad? Should he go find Leif and beat him to a pulp? He quickly walked away and brought her back a cup of water.

She took it wordlessly and drank the whole thing. She handed the cup back to him, and he put it in the sink.

“May I sit next to you?” He asked quietly, and she nodded. Branch sat down, giving her some space, but still watching her carefully.

Poppy placed her hands in front of her face and made a loud groan into her fingers, “Branch I make the stupidest decisions. All my decisions this week are the worst. I can’t believe you’re even talking to me right now. Beware! I might do more stupid things!”

“You’re not stupid, in fact, you’re definitely the opposite of that,” he smiled, “Just so you know.”

Poppy shrugged, “Maybe.”

They both sat there in silence for a moment.

“Hold on a second,” Branch whispered, he got up and left the kitchen, and returned a moment later with a warm drink. He sat down and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she whispered, taking a sip, her eyes going wide, “Pumpkin spice? But it’s not even Fall yet!”

He gave her a small smile, “I have a secret stash of syrup,” he laughed as she punched him lightly in the arm.

“You HID THIS STASH FROM ME? Betrayal!” She chuckled, the mood of the room lightened just ever so slightly. She sipped quietly for another few minutes. Branch waited patiently.

“I thought I could just - put up with this guy for another evening. And it was way worse this time around,” she started, “I’m sorry for disrupting your evening.”

He shook his head, “Hey I was just mopping the floor. You disrupted nothing important,” his voice softened, “Do I need to go beat the sugar out of this guy? I’ll do it.”

Poppy smiled, “Maybe. Raincheck?”

He nodded. They were quiet again. Poppy finished her drink and set it aside, laying down on the floor. She mumbled, “I don’t know what to do.”

Branch hesitated, “May I lay down next to you?”

She nodded, “Sure.”

He slowly stretched out next to her and laid on his back. They both silently looked right up at the ceiling. Branch searched his mind for the right words to say.

Poppy beat him to it, “We went to the movies and he wouldn’t stop touching me,” she grimaced, “He even made us sit in the back. What kind of idiot high schooler pays that much money to sit in the back of a movie theater to try and make out? If I really wanted to kiss him, I would have just done it at my own house. But I didn’t want to kiss him, I just wanted to watch a movie. I don’t even remember what happened. And he got too gross and I tried to hide in the bathroom, and then he was waiting outside the bathroom and KISSED ME,” she let out a sob into her hands.

“What the chocolate fudge Poppy,” Branch sat up, “I’m going to throw him into a river, be right back.” Poppy grabbed his arm as he tried to get up.

“Please, Branch,” she hiccuped, “Please don’t go out there. I just don’t want to see him ever again. But I don’t want you to get hurt either.”

Branch, a storm of emotions at this point, laid back onto the ground. Clearly a million thoughts of murder bumbling through his head. His eyes glanced over at Poppy, who was now slightly turned to face him. She reached out and touched his arm, as though to calm him down. He closed his eyes and took a moment to breathe.

He reopened his eyes to see her concerned face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He muttered.

“I appreciate how much you care,” she replied simply.

He pressed his lips together tightly, “That dude deserves to have his stomach kicked in,” he exhaled, “But I won’t touch him, unless you change your mind.”

She gave a slight smile, and squeezed his arm for reassurance, “Thank you,” she was thoughtful for another moment, “Your constant care for my well being really means a lot.”

He snorted, “I’m awful, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he looked her in the eyes, “I’m sorry for running away yesterday.”

She frowned, searching his eyes as well.

“I’m sorry for … making you feel uncomfortable,” she whispered, “Feeling that today with Leif, I must have made you feel awful …”

“Poppy. Absolutely not!” He gently reached out to her arm, “It’s different. I need you to understand that.”

“How is it different? Both situations someone tried to kiss another troll, and that troll ran away,” Her eyes welled up with tears, “I hope … I really am sorry if I made you feel the way Leif made me feel. It’s a horrible disgusting feeling.”

“Poppy, there’s a huge difference,” he shook his head, holding her arm just a tad tighter, “The difference is that I wanted to kiss you with my whole goddamn soul and being. You weren’t harassing me,” tears started in his eyes too, “You could never make me feel like the way Leif made you feel. We respect each other. At least, I hope we do,” he sighed, “I’m so sorry for running away and making you think that. I was so scared.”

She pressed her lips tightly, “I shouldn’t have been trying to kiss a troll who was taken, that was unfair on my end, even if you say you wanted it.”

Branch’s eyes studied her for a while, “May I hug you?”

Without another thought, Poppy dove into Branch’s arms, hugging him tightly. Her face buried into his chest, as he held her tightly as they continued to lay on the cold floor. He softly touched the back of her head, slowly stroking her hair. Her hair scent of strawberries and rain filled his senses, making him feel warmth. Poppy began to lightly sob.

He pulled back, “Are you ok? If you need me to back off, let me know.”

She shook her head, “Please, no. I just,” she sighed and held him tighter, “I just wanna stay like this for a bit, if that’s ok.”

“Of course,” he whispered.

They continued to speak softly, whispering some light jokes and telling stories, until their eyes became heavy, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Chapter Text

A light pumpkin spice scent filled Branch’s nose, he inhaled and sighed blissfully.

Branch’s eyes opened softly, he was surprised to find pink hair in his face. He pulled back to realize he had fallen asleep holding Poppy on the floor of the kitchen of the Hugs n Mugs. Branch blinked numerous times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He pulled his phone from his pocket to confirm the time, which was 3 AM. This week was truly testing his sleep schedule.

He took a moment to appreciate the spot he was in. Poppy was quiet and breathing deeply. That she was so comfortable being so close to him, truly warmed his heart. If this were his own home and not a dirty kitchen floor, he could safely say he would want to wake up like this every morning. The girl of his dreams snuggled up close, occasionally readjusting to hold him a little bit tighter.

He carefully scooted out from her arms, she made a sad sleepy little whine that could break your heart. He so badly wanted to crawl back in there but resisted. Hair knows if he did, he’d fall asleep again and this time be woken up by Poppy’s father Peppy. He’d definitely prefer to not be fired from his job, or risk looking terrible in front of his crush’s father. Or worse, Biggie would find them, take a photo, send it to the entire Snack Pack group chat, and never hear the end of it from their friends.

Branch walked back into the main cafe to groan as he remembered he never actually finished his closing duties. He quickly finished mopping and put everything away. Quietly kicking himself for not doing this sooner, and remembering his next shift was hours away.

He poked his head into the kitchen, to see Poppy still curled up on the floor. He quietly tiptoed over to her and lightly tapped her shoulder with his finger. She grumbled something in response, moving her shoulders around slightly.

“Hey Poppy,” he whispered, “Time to go home,” he tapped her again. She yawned in response, let out a slight stretch, and looked up at him with blinking eyes.

“Mmm no,” she mumbled back, drifting back to sleep.

“You can’t sleep on the kitchen floor,” he laughed lightly, poking her, “May I take you home?”

“Mmmph,” she mumbled.

Branch looked around for her phone and keys but quickly realized they were probably in her pockets, and he wasn’t sure how comfortable he felt poking around there. He cleared his throat and whispered, “I’m going to take you to my place, you can rest there till the morning. I hope that’s ok.”

He carefully scooped her into his arms, carrying her bridal style. She sleepily nuzzled into him and gave a comfortable sigh.

Branch slowly walked through town, being careful to not be seen by others, for fear the small town gossip would come back to haunt them. Unsurprisingly, the entire center was ghost quiet at 3 in the morning. Not a soul was out, the rain had stopped, and time stood still once again. It felt like the entire planet was asleep. It was actually a wonderful space for Branch, someone who hated the hustle and bustle of the loud and hot summer afternoon. The slight breeze and silence was a dream come true. He wished Poppy was properly awake so she could enjoy this moment with him. Perhaps holding his hand, and kissing him under a tree.

But he enjoyed holding her too. She was just the right size that it wasn’t particularly strenuous to carry her. She seemed to be softly humming, her hand reached out and she softly touched his face, “Thank you,” she whispered, before falling deeper into sleep. His heart did a little spin.

He crossed a bridge and started to hum a little song back to her. She smiled into his chest in response. Every little movement from this girl set off fireworks in Branch’s heart. Why had he waited so long to accept this crazy pink troll into his heart? Why hadn’t he accepted this sooner? Technically, he still didn’t officially accept this. They were just co-workers. Just barely friends.

He neared his own home towards the furthest corner of the village and thought about the future. His heart ached, knowing that he couldn’t rightfully have these moments with Poppy without finding an answer to his situation with Lolli.

Oh, Lolli. She wasn’t a bad troll, truly. Lolli just didn’t love Branch, and in his heart, he knew it. He didn’t love her either. They existed in a comfortable place that started off great and was now burning out. Branch’s mind wandered - would the same thing happen between him and Poppy? Could that happen again? What if he ended his relationship, only to dive into another needlessly loveless relationship? Maybe they were rushing things. Maybe this wasn’t meant to last.

But, maybe it was worth it to find out.

Branch entered his home, standing at the entrance and wondering what to do. He felt bad about taking Poppy to his own home, but he also didn’t want to head over to her home off the chance Leif was waiting for her. Every option seemed less than great, so he opted for his house, silently hoping she wouldn’t judge him for his lack of pink.

He let her have his bed, knowing it was the most comfortable sleeping space he had to offer. He tucked her in, silently dreaming of the day he could snuggle in next to her. For now, he left her alone and went back to his living room to sleep on the couch. It was now nearing 4 am, and his mind was wired. Sleep was impossible. He needed to talk to Lolli.

- - -

Poppy yawned into a pillow, inhaling the scent of strong coffee. Despite working in and being close to a coffee shop for most of her life, she never drank coffee, but she loved the smell of it. Her eyes fluttered open, realizing this was not her normal pillow, her pillow never smelled like coffee. She quickly sat up to gain her bearings. Where was she? What time was it? Why wasn’t she in her own bed? Did she go home with Leif? She shuddered instantly at the thought, and then gasped, remembering the second half of her evening. She looked over to the nightstand next to the bed, seeing a freshly made cup of tea and a note that said “Poppy” on the top. She grabbed the note first, immediately recognizing it as Branch’s handwriting.

“Hey Poppy,

We fell asleep in the kitchen at work last night. I didn’t have access to your keys, so I let you take my bed for the evening. I hope that’s ok. I’m out running an errand, but I’ve left you some tea. I hope it’s still warm by the time you wake up.
If you leave before I come back, I’ll see you at work.

-Branch”

Poppy gave a sigh of relief. She was in Branch’s home, arguably the safest home in all of Troll Village. She folded the note into her pocket and picked up the tea, sipping it cautiously, and adjusting herself to snuggle deeper into his bed. She looked around and for a moment imagined that this could be a regular morning someday if they were ever able to start dating. She could wake up snuggled next to a handsome coffee-scented troll. He would make her tea, she would banter with him, their banter would slowly melt into kisses. They’d laugh, get ready for work together, and spend the day cracking jokes with their friends at the Hugs N Mugs.

At the end of the day, she could come back here, or maybe he’d visit her home. They’d gab about the events of the day, although honestly, she’d gab considerably more, while he listened patiently. They’d make dinner together, make out on the couch, fall asleep after an evening of giggling, and hugging to their heart's content.

She stared into her tea. She honestly thought that sounded like a dream life. She wasn’t sure if it was what Branch wanted, but she hoped soon she’d have the courage to let him know.

She didn’t want to be with someone like Leif. Leif was all about himself. She wanted someone that looked at her the way Branch looked at her, and cared about her deeply. She wanted someone that she cared about with her entire heart. She pulled out her phone, to see another array of texts from her friends asking about her date and what was going on.

Her heart froze upon a text from Leif, “I’m sorry about yesterday. Let’s talk? <3”

Her face scrunched up into a very un-Poppy-like scowl. How dare he offer a heart after putting her in the most uncomfortable position of her life. She knew she’d have Branch and Biggie around at work today, as long as they were there, she figured she’d have protection. She also knew that she really needed to put a stop to this creep once and for all.

She stretched, rolled out of her hazy loving daydream, and prepared herself to head home and get ready for work.

- - -

Lolli opened the door of her home, in a bathrobe, giving Branch a scowl, “Do you have any idea how early it is?”

Branch shrugged and walked past her, “6 or 7 am?”

Lolli rolled her eyes and followed him, “I’ve never believed in 6 am.”

He nodded, “It is a pretty weird hour,” and started pacing the room. Lolli crossed her arms and watched him.

“Branch, you look insane right now. Like a wind-up toy ready to explode,” she snorted at him.

Branch paused and stared at her, “Why are you always like that?”

This took her by surprise, “Like what?”

“Like,” he gestured at her, “Always putting me down. You could ask why I’m flustered or tired or whatever. You could ask me about my day, or about my friends, or my dreams and aspirations.”

She scoffed, “You work at a coffee shop, what’s there to hear other than reports of a customer being mad about the temperature of their drink?”

Branch frowned, and just looked at her for a while, trying to imagine how he managed to put up with this for three years, “You belittle me every step of the way, you cut me out of your photos and your life,” he crossed his arms, “It never used to bug me, because I felt like it was all I deserved.”

Lolli was taken aback but didn’t respond.

“I know I just work at a coffee shop, and it’s not something exciting to tell your parents about, but it’s my real life. It’s not some fake perfect looking milkshake to throw online to impress people you’ve never met. It’s real. And maybe I want to go back to school, or move up to manager, or move away from this town, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you’ve never asked me,” tears formed in his eyes, “Three years. You’ve never asked. You’ve never cared.”

She was silent, crossed her arms, “You never told me you wanted me to ask,” her eyes looked away.

Branch stood up straight, “I don’t think I should have to ask my GIRLFRIEND,” he emphasized the word, and Lolli turned her head to look straight into his eyes, “to CARE about her BOYFRIEND.”

Tears formed in Lolli’s eyes now, “I don’t know, Branch. We seemed content. Happy to do this thing and be around each other,” she shrugged, “It was comfortable. I don’t know. I had no idea you were so unhappy.”

He shrugged, “I didn’t know I was unhappy either,” he held his breath for me a moment, “I realized, I deserve to have someone that cares,” he walked closer to Lolli, and took her hands, “And Lolli, you honestly deserve to have someone that truly cares too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think we’ve both been unfair to each other,” he gulped, “I think in the beginning we had a really great and comfortable thing, and over time, we’ve just existed with each other. But love isn’t about that. Love is putting your whole heart into someone, through the good and bad times. And I think I finally have realized that - that isn’t what we have. And I don’t know if that’s out there for me, but I think I deserve to find out,” he paused, “I truly think you deserve to find out if someone out there cares about you as much as you deserve,” he squeezed her fingers briefly before letting go.

Lolli walked away and sat down, she looked off in the distance for a moment, “So - we’re over?”

Branch hesitated for a moment, then moved to sit next to her, “I think it's been over for a long time,” Lolli turned to look at him as he continued, “I think we’ve both been too scared to admit it.”

She nodded, looking down at her hands, “I think you’re right,” she broke into a soft cry, wiping tears out of her eyes.

“I’m … I’m truly sorry,” Branch muttered, tears started to roll onto his cheeks as well.

“No, no, thank you,” she sobbed slightly, “I … I think I need this. To start over,” she looked at him, “But, please know that I really did enjoy our three years. I know I’m kind of,” she shrugged, “Not the warmest person, but I did like you a lot. I feel like we understood each other, at least understood each other's sarcastic natures. Not a lot of trolls in this town really get that, yanno? It was nice to have someone else who was the same way. But, you’re right, it's never really felt like love,” she sighed, “I’m … I’m sorry too.”

They both hugged and cried for a while. It was a good cry. It was happy, sad, and emotional. Three years were over, but now was the beginning of something better, for both of them.

Chapter Text

Biggie walked into work thinking it was going to be a perfectly normal day at the Hugs N Mugs, completely lost in thought about how nice his upcoming vacation with Mr. Dinkles would be. Upon entering his beloved coffee shop, he was quickly proven wrong about the normalcy of his day by the chaotic energy of Poppy.

“Biggie, I don’t know what to do,” she was vibrating all around the shop, cleaning every counter and reconfiguring every table and chair numerous times, “Nothing feels right. Everything needs to move. I’m thinking about tearing down that wall, I mean, I should ask my DAD first since this IS his store, but I figure he’ll be fine with it.”

Biggie looked concerned, “Are you ok, Poppy?” He followed her around, moving the tables and chairs back to where they belonged.

“Absolutely,” she turned to Biggie with a big smile, he didn’t look convinced, “Not. Absolutely not,” she smashed her face into her hands.

“What happened last night?” Biggie pulled up a chair and allowed her to sit.

Poppy whined into her hands and took a seat, “My date with Leif was awful, he wouldn’t stop touching me, he kissed me even after I said no, and I ran away,” she made a frustrated noise.

“That’s awful! I’m so sorry, Poppy.”

“And then - I came back here crying, and Branch helped me and we fell asleep while cuddling on the floor,” she sniffled, “He was a perfect gentleman, he let me sleep on his bed,” she sobbed, “Why does he have to be dating that awful girl?”

Biggie sighed, “First of all, you guys need to stop canoodling all over my floor - second of all - gross, there are germs on that floor, thirdly - what if your dad found you guys?!”

“I know,” she shrugged.

“Third - no wait - FOURTHIFER, you are going to have to get over Branch if he’s not breaking up with his girlfriend. It’s only hurting you. It’s messing with him. And you don’t want to be ‘the other girl’, you deserve better than that, Poppy. You deserve to be THE girl. And, of course, by a guy you’re actually interested in - not like that creep Leif,” Biggie patted her on the shoulder.

“Leif, oh god, he keeps texting me too! I’m scared he’s going to show up here and I won’t get a word in and suddenly I’ll be MARRIED to that creep,” she shuddered.

Biggie shook his head, “If Leif comes in, you can hide, I’ll protect you. But, you really should find a way to give closure. Text him back and say it’s over.”

Poppy frowned, “I tried, but he took it as an invitation to COME OVER,” she shook her head, “And yeah. I know you’re right about Branch. I keep hoping he’ll break up with her, but,” she shrugged, “That’s not for me to decide. And even if he does, who knows if he’d want to date me after such a traumatic three years.”

Biggie shrugged, “I guess you’ll have to ask him yourself.”

The DING of the front door went off, Branch was putting on his apron, “Good morning.”

Poppy squeaked and fell out of her chair. Branch fumbled with his apron and rushed over to her, “You ok?” He held a hand out, helping her up.

“Yeah, yeah, you just surprised me,” she gave a half-laugh, enjoying the connection of holding his hand. She quickly let go of his hands, brushing invisible dust off her apron, “Thank you - for helping me last night.”

Biggie rolled his eyes, “I’ll just be over here - doing my job,” he called.

Branch cleared his throat, “Of course,” he hesitated, “I’m sorry I couldn’t drop you off at your own house, I didn’t want to reach for your keys and have you freak out. I hope that’s ok. I was hoping it’d be comfortable enough.”

“It was perfect,” she said simply.

They looked at each other for another moment, before simultaneously muttering, “We should talk,” before freezing in terror at their own words.

“Customers are coming,” Biggie yelled from the kitchen as he brought the daily croissants to their display case.

Branch and Poppy looked at each, waiting to see who would move first. Branch let out a small, “After work?”

Poppy nodded, “Yeah. Sounds good.”

The two of them joined Biggie in finishing setting up the shop, changing the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’, and warming up the espresso machine. For Biggie’s sake, they decided to try and keep things as normal as possible.

As the hours ticked by, Poppy grew more comfortable and largely forgot about the things stressing her out that morning. Someone would order, she’d tell Branch, he’d give a snarky comment, she’d banter back, he’d give the customer their drink. It was almost like putting on a show. The customers would laugh, drop a tip, and head out. The way Poppy and Branch bounced jokes off each other became its own ballet, they were having the time of their lives.

Smidge popped by, which made Poppy’s morning delightful. Before Smidge could even open her mouth, Branch slid next to Poppy, handing Smidge a coffee cup.

“What’s this?” Smidge looked in the cup - to find it full of pure sugar and sprinkles.

“It’s what you normally order!” Branch laughed, to which Poppy and Smidge giggled in return. Branch pulled out her regular order, “I’m kidding. Have a good one Smidge,” Branch gave a smirk and went back to cleaning up the espresso machine.

Smidge wiggled her eyebrows at Poppy, “I don’t know what you’ve done to him, but keep it up.”

Poppy laughed, “I haven’t done anything.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Smidge sipped her drink as she waved goodbye.

Poppy slid over to Branch, “So I’ve been working on a brilliant new menu item.”

“Alright. How likely will it send me to the hospital?” Branch smirked.

“Well, there’s nothing explosive in it!”

Branch laughed, “I could still wind up in the hospital without explosives.”

“Just let me show you, ok?”

“Fine, fine, do your thing,” Branch gestured towards the coffee machine.

After a few minutes of Poppy pressing some buttons, digging up various food items, and throwing too many sprinkles at her surprise drink, she turned around and shoved a spectacular mess in Branch’s face.

He burst out laughing, before turning to a stern, “No.”

Poppy held up a dramatic looking fancy latte, with a stick of pizza, a hot dog, and some little sparklers going off on it, “I call it a Poppy Potluck Latte Surprise.”

“That’s going to send you to the hospital,” he smirked, “We don’t even sell pizza here, where did you get that from?”

Poppy snorted at Branch’s comment, “That’s part of the sur-,” her eyes casually glanced up to meet his eyes, “-prise.” Her breath halted. At the corner of her eyes, she could see a shadow entering the cafe. He was holding the door open, not looking in their direction. She gasped, Branch moved to turn and see what she was looking at. Without a moment to spare, Poppy threw her weird drink to the side, grabbed Branch by the collar and yanked him down to the ground. She shoved them both under the counter.

“The hair, Poppy-” Branch was halted by Poppy’s finger, pressed up against his lips to silence him.

“Shhh shh,” she whispered and mouthed “Leif” as she gestured to above. Branch’s eyebrows narrowed, moving to get up, but getting held down by Poppy. It would be an incredibly alluring position for the two of them to be in, in any other circumstance.

Biggie hovered nearby, glancing briefly at them with confusion. He looked up, and immediately connected the dots upon seeing Leif, “Hello, how may I help you on this fine morning?”

Poppy and Branch could barely hear the order, safely snuggled close under the counter. They exchanged glances. Poppy removed her hand from Branch’s lips. He softly reached out and touched the tip of her fingers, until she softened and held his hands. He gave her hands a short, reassuring squeeze. She smiled, and let out a small sigh.

“There’s something I should tell you,” Branch whispered, she shook her head, and gestured to the above counter.

“That’ll be $4, thank you, Leif, it was nice to see you again,” Biggie made a point to emphasize Leif’s name.

“Thank you, Biggie. Have you seen my gal Poppy?” Hearing her name made Poppy grimace.

“No, I don’t think she’s scheduled for today,” Biggie forced a smile, “Here’s your order,” he pushed it towards Leif, “Have a splendid day.”

“Thanks,” Leif replied, and Poppy could hear the displeasure in his voice as he walked away.

The DING of the exit went off, indicating that Leif had left. Biggie looked down, “You should probably text him that you’re not interested, Poppy, otherwise this is getting a little scary.”

“I know, I know, but this guy won’t listen and won’t take no for a-” Poppy popped up from under the counter, only to turn around and scream. Leif hadn’t actually left, Biggie had been distracted and hadn’t noticed.

Leif leaned on the counter, “Hey babe,” he winked.

“Leif,” she replied with a bitter taste.

“Sorry Poppy,” Biggie whispered.

Branch stood up instantly, taking his place next to Poppy and very sternly adding, “Hi Leif.”

“Oh hello, Branch. If you’ll excuse us, the lady and I have something to discuss privately.”

“No, we don’t,” Poppy insisted.

“Leif, I believe it’s time for you to make like a tree, and LEAF,” Branch smiled slightly at his own pun.

Poppy lightened up briefly, “Ooh that was good,” they high fived.

“Thank you, I’ve been thinking about that one for a while now,” Branch blushed.

Leif did not look amused, he looked between Poppy and Branch briefly, “Ah, I see what’s going on here,” the three employees stopped to look at him, “Branch thinks he can win over Poppy by suddenly being a big protective friend,” he leaned closer to Branch, “But let me tell you, Branch, it won’t work. Poppy will never date someone like you. She deserves a higher class, something you can never give her.” Branch’s face weakened, he opened his mouth to reply -.

Smack.

Branch turned in shock, to see Poppy scowling, her hand still red from smacking Leif on the cheek, “How dare you.”

“What was that for?” Leif growled, holding on to his cheek.

“It’s what I should have done yesterday,” Poppy stood tall in that moment, “Make like a tree and LEAVE. I told you no numerous times, you wouldn’t listen to me then, but you better listen to me now.”

“Look, Poppy, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but I thought it was what you wanted,” he shrugged, “You seemed eager for attention, I was only trying to make your wildest desires come true. Fancy tree top dinners, a handsome wealthy boyfriend, a sexy evening.”

Branch grimaced, “You really don’t know anything about her, do you?”

“What, like she would talk to you if she didn’t have to work with you?” Leif bit back, Branch huffed. Poppy softly touched Branch’s arm to calm him down.

“Leif,” Poppy smiled sweetly.

His eyes perked up, “Yes, gorgeous?”

She pulled out her phone, “Speaking of who we work with, you know who I’m actually good buddies with?”

Leif blinked for a moment, “No?”

She opened her phone to her contacts and shoved a name in front of his face - SKY TORONTO. Leif’s eyes bulged momentarily, “Oh.”

“You know, I don’t think your boss Sky would take to kindly to sexual assault and harassment,” she smiled, “Especially with that potential promotion coming up, the one you mentioned no less than five times in the span of one dinner,” she cleared her throat as she shoved her phone into her pocket.

He rolled his eyes, “Fine. You want me to leave you alone, then?”

“No, actually,” she batted her eyes, “More than that. Leave me alone, but if you ever harm another woman, I will sure as hair make sure Sky knows about it, BABE.”

Leif scowled, “Fine. You’re not even that hot anyways,” he turned to Branch, “You crazy losers deserve each other.”

“Aw thank you, now go be a tree!” She shooed him away, “And please do let the door hit you on the way out,” she blew a kiss as he threw his drink to the ground and stormed out.

Poppy exhaled, nearly all of her energy sucked out of her body from the intense interaction, she slumped forward slightly, and Branch caught her in his arms, and Biggie joined them for a massive group hug.

“Poppy! That was amazing!” Biggie cheered.

“I’m so proud of you,” Branch whispered in her ear, “But I’m still willing to beat the hair off that guy, anytime.” She gave him a reassuring squeeze back.

“I’m hopeful that’ll be the last we hear from him,” she sighed into the hug, “but I appreciate the back-up.”

Chapter Text

The sun was starting to set, Poppy began to put away her apron, exchanging a small smile with Branch, she gestured towards the exit, “Ready to go?”

He nodded quietly. Biggie waved goodbye. The ding of the exit bell went off as they left.

Poppy yawned and gave a stretch, “Is it only Wednesday? Man, what a weird week it’s been. I went on two bad dates, had the best not-date date with the best troll ever, barely slept, slapped the worst troll ever.”

Branch smirked, “I think it’s Wednesday. I don’t know. I haven’t slept much either,” he paused, “Best troll ever, eh?”

“I’m of course talking about Mr. Dinkles,” she winked, and Branch snorted, shoving his hands into his pants pockets.

They both walked aimlessly, quickly realizing they weren’t sure which path they should take, in more ways than one. Poppy turned to Branch, “Pizza?”

He nodded, “As long as you don’t press your nose up to the display case this time though, I think that’s a little bit of a health code violation.”

“Pfft you’re a health code violation,” she combated.

“What?”

“Race ya there!” Poppy took off, Branch was taken by surprise and decided to chase after her.

They stuffed pizza into their mouths, completely unaware of how starved they had been.

“Man I can’t believe you slapped Leif, I’m so proud of you,” Branch chuckled into his drink.

She faked a little curtsy, “Thank you, thank you,” she smirked and softened, “But thank you for the support. I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel like you and Biggie would have tackled him down if things went south. I’m glad it didn’t have to go that far.”

“The offer is still there!”

She laughed and paused sadly for a moment, “I’ve been on so few dates, yanno. It really stings to waste two dates on such a gross guy.” Branch frowned at her comment, remembering her words discussing how their hang out was actually her best date ever, even though it wasn’t a date.

“You deserve so much better than that,” he sighed, “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged, “Nothing for you to be sorry about,” she paused. This could easily be another evening of fake dating, and her insides were conflicted as heck. She could talk to Branch all night, non-stop, but there would always be a painful reminder that he didn’t belong to her. Was it worth it for a moment of feeling special? Perhaps it was. Nothing HAD to go further, she could curb herself, she could hold back and simply enjoy him for his company. It was a wonderful company and she wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the world.

She finished up her last pizza, and took a swig of her alcoholic cider, she looked at him again.

He gave a laugh, “What are you lookin at?”

Poppy took a moment to respond, before deciding internally, screw it, she was going to make the best of this evening, “Do you - like to dance?”

Branch snorted, “Why?”

She grabbed his hand and looked him dead serious in the eye, “We are going to go dance.”

Once again, he followed her, although this time a bit more skeptically. They were still in their work outfits, not particularly great dancing outfits, but Poppy didn’t seem to care about that. They found themselves in another corner of town that Branch did not frequent. He felt a little anxious, completely unsure of the kind of dancing they were going to come across. Was this a dance club? Loud music? Sweating? Grinding? He wasn’t sure if he was up for that sort of thing.

They came up to a quiet unassuming door, Poppy knocked in a special way, and the door opened. She pulled him in, waving at the security guard. Inside was a bit unexpected - an entire team of swing dancing trolls, boppin’ and jazzin’ along to old time music. They were swaying and spinning and lifting in perfect harmony. Poppy waved to a few friends before dragging Branch to a quiet corner to watch.

“You swing dance?” He said with surprise.

“A little. I mostly like to watch,” they stopped by the bar and ordered a couple of drinks.

Branch laughed, “This must be how you felt to find out I secretly painted,” and she smiled in response.

They watched the others dance around, Branch tried his best to watch their moves and understand what was going on. He started to sip at his drink, “Do you have a regular dance partner?”

She shook her head, “Nah, I dance with anyone that’s free,” she eyed him mischievously, “Would you like me to teach you?”

His face turned red, “It’s kind of intimidating next to all these pros.”

“No ones gonna judge you, especially if you stick with me!” She held her hand out and he took it reluctantly. A spark was ignited in her eyes and he couldn’t help but smile as she spun him out onto the floor. She came in close to him, “Ok you’re going to follow my steps.”

They danced closely at first, he watched her every move carefully. Her hips swayed, she took some steps and he tried his best to match her. His heart pounded faster every time she came close to him, whispering instructions in his ear, trying to make sure he could only hear her voice amongst the loud music and noisy crowd. He was clumsy, occasionally bumping into another couple, or tripping over his own feet. His face turned red, he almost walked away in embarrassment, and Poppy would grab him by the arm, and pull him close.

“You got this,” she whispered, and his face was red all over again.

Step, step, step, spin, turn, step, step, he was starting to follow along. He was starting to have fun. He stopped noticing the others and was transported back to daydreaming about dancing with her in the coffee shop. Perhaps one evening at closing, maybe she would continue teaching him in the privacy of the coffee shop. His heart fluttered at the thought of it. Thoughts of alone time with Poppy melted his heart.

He should tell her that he’s single. He should bring it up. But when was a good time to drop that information? She was certainly avoiding mentioning Lolli. No moment felt natural to bring it up, and he was terrified of throwing off their groove. Worse, what if she was just enjoying hanging out with him, and had no interest in pursuing anything else? If he had just suffered at the hands of a harassing jerk, he might swear off dating, he could see her losing interest, even if it was in his own head.

The music sped up, but Branch couldn’t tell if it was only in his mind, or in real life. He spun her and swayed and picked up speed, but his head started to spin. As the music came to an end, she spun right back into his chest. Their noses softly grazed each other. He held her, their eyes locked, they both gasped for air.

The next song started up, which brought Branch to blink first, immediately he was flustered, “I need some water,” and she nodded in agreement. They went back to the bar. They were both quiet as they gulped down their ice water.

Poppy looked at her glass, examining it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. This dance was a bad idea, this was just setting herself on fire. Every movement made her want him so badly, and every movement her mind flashed to Lolli, who probably didn’t care where Branch was. Lolli, who had probably seen more of Branch than Poppy would ever see. Lolli, who as far as she was aware, was still dating Branch.

“Do you wanna head out?” Branch asked quietly, feeling the tension between them.

She nodded, they paid their tab and headed out the door.

But once again, neither wanted to head home. Even the awkward quiet silence between them felt more comfortable than being around anyone else. It was weird. It was both warm and terrifying. They wandered the streets, saying nothing.

“We probably should talk,” Branch muttered finally.

Poppy nodded, “Where?”

“Probably not the cafe,” he laughed, “I’m terrified one day we’ll run into your dad,” he thought about it, “Let’s walk over to my place? You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to. But at least it’s a little private.”

She nodded, “Ok, that works for me.” They were silent as they walked back.

Branch looked around and suddenly remembered carrying her back to his place. It certainly wasn’t as quiet as that walk, but it was still fairly peaceful. He still daydreamed of holding her hand, but that would have to wait. He would need to tell her about Lolli first.

They reached the outside of his door, he pulled out his keys.

“Branch,” she whispered softly. He looked at her, searching her eyes.

“Poppy I-” Branch started, but she cut him off.

“I’m sorry, Branch,” she hesitated, “I feel like I’ve been messing this up for both of us.”

“Messing up?”

She gestured to him, “I care about you so much, and I know you are taken and I need to respect that, but this. This is starting to hurt,” tears started to form in her eyes, “I don’t … I love working with you, and hanging out with you. I always have, more than anything. And I think I can be ok with our friendship just being that, but the more time I spend with you, the harder I fall, the more I worry I’m going to slip up and ruin your relationship. Doing this little dance,” she shrugged as tears slipped down her face, “It hurts a lot more than I thought it would.”

She slumped against a nearby tree. Branch put his keys back in his pocket and walked up next to her.

“Poppy,” he reached out and his hands softly touched hers, “I’ve been trying to tell you all day,” he hesitated, “And this doesn’t have to mean anything. Unless you want it to mean something. I don’t know. I was thinking so much about the words you said to me the other day.”

“What did I say?” She sniffed, Branch lifted a hand up to her cheek and pushed a lone tear off of her face.

He smiled, “You told me - you said that I deserved someone who loved me, passionately. And I realized you were right, that person wasn’t Lolli. And I realized Lolli deserved someone who passionately loved her, and that person wasn’t me.”

There was a pause as Branch gathered his strength, “This morning, you know how I said I was running an errand before work?”

She nodded.

“I went over to Lolli’s place. I sat her down and told her it was over. I told her we both deserved better, and she cried and agreed with me,” he gulped, “We broke up. And I know, I know that sounds crazy and so sudden and reckless, but I think it was the best thing to ever happen to our relationship. I sincerely hope she finds someone better.”

“You - you broke up with her? This morning?”

He nodded, “I wouldn’t want to be the sort of person to jump into another relationship so fast, and I wouldn’t want anyone I dated after a three-year relationship to think they’re a rebound. In theory, there should be a gap of time for me to figure myself out and figure out what I want, before committing to another relationship,” he looked her in the eyes, “But damnit, Poppy, I want YOU.”

Poppy’s breath hitched, her eyes wavered, trying to comprehend his words.

He bit his lip, hoping his words weren’t a mistake.

“Oh Branch,” another tear escaped her eye, “I want you too.”

With those simple words, she dove towards him. Her palms grazed his face and pulled him into her lips. He was briefly startled, but his mind caught up quickly and his arms instantly wrapped around her frame and pulled her close. Once again, time froze between the two of them. Their first kiss.

They melted. She tasted like butterscotch, he tasted like coffee. She began to move aggressively, still not feeling like he was close enough. All of her energy went into pulling him into a deeper kiss. He chuckled against her lips, trying to slow her down and allow them to enjoy the moment. Neither could stop smiling. The moment was so perfectly intimate and perfectly them. It might have lasted for hours, neither of them kept track of the time. Slowly and softly, Branch pulled away, still holding her tightly, afraid she might burst into butterflies at any moment. She was still holding his face, her eyes drunk off their kiss.

He chuckled, looking at this perfect pink hot mess, “I guess you like me?”

Her love drunk face briefly turned serious, “NO,” and she gave up the charade almost instantly and burst into giggles, pulling his face closer and peppering it with small kisses, “Can we go inside now? I’m actually quite cold.”

He smiled softly, “Yeah,” and took out his keys.

Poppy made her way in and flopped onto his couch, she burst into laughter, completely beside herself. Branch smiled but gave her a confused expression.

“You ok there?” He asked.

She put her head in between her own knees, holding back laughter, “We’re idiots, you know that?”

“I agree,” he sat down next to her.

She looked up again, “And now we’re DATING?”

“It seems that is the direction we are going.”

She exhaled, “I hope, I hope we aren’t making a mistake.”

He nodded, “You know, I think it’ll be fun to figure that out - together.”

She pressed her lips together into a smile, “I think so too. I - I’ve liked you for so long, I’m kind of having a hard time believing this right now,” she gasped, “I have to tell our friends!”

Branch’s eyes bugged out, “What! Wait!”

“I’m kidding!” She touched his arm, “I can wait,” she winked.

Branch leaned in, “I would like to enjoy this moment, just the two of us,” he held her face and gave her a soft kiss.

When they parted she smiled, “I would like to think this is the beginning of a lot of nice moments.”

He agreed. They kissed again, as though sealing this promise with a kiss.

A new beginning, for both of them.

Chapter Text

One year later.

Poppy lay in bed, dreaming of coffee and cupcakes. Everything felt incredibly cozy. She gave a stretch, snuggling deeper into the bedsheets and softly blinked her eyes open. She found her view blocked by a tuft of thick black hair. This was where she belonged. She smiled lazily, turning her body to face the companion next to her. He was still sleeping, facing the opposite wall. She softly put her arm around him, bringing herself closer to him and inhaling the coffee scent that was sort of just part of him at this point. She squeezed him just a little bit and smiled into his hair. She once woke up in this bed alone and daydreamed about what it would be like to wake up here every morning. It had nearly been a year since that dream became a reality. It was not only everything she imagined, it was far more wonderful than her greatest heart's desire. A time before dating Branch seemed like a lifetime ago.

Most mornings one of them would wake up first, they would snuggle until their alarm went off, they’d make breakfast together and chatter about their expectations for the day. They’d go to work, laugh with their friends, banter and flirt on the job, and then they’d head home for a quiet evening of food, laughs, and smooching. Perhaps it should feel boring at this point, but Poppy and Branch never tired of one another's company. 

Branch murmured something through a sleepy voice, and Poppy snuggled her face deeper into his hair, planting a small kiss on his ear. 

“Good morning,” she whispered. He made a sort of grunting noise back. She couldn’t see his face and assumed he was falling back asleep. He slowly turned to face her, their noses now pressing up against each other.

“Who let you in?” He smirked, rubbing his nose against hers, enticing her to giggle in response.

“This weird guy just lets me sleep here every night,” she shrugged back, “I think he likes me.”

“Hmm, sounds fake.”

She chuckled, “Wow, I see how you really feel.”

“Oh do you?” He laughed, he brought her close and started to tickle at her. She squeaked and started to kick back, giggling like crazy. 

“Stop it! Stop it!” Her arms waved everywhere in protest. Her only defense was to roll off the bed, crashing to the floor.

Branch panicked, naturally. “Poppy! I’m so, so sorry,” he crawled over to peek over the edge of the bed. She popped up and tackled him back onto his pillow. 

She pinned his arms down, gave him a mischievous smile, and whispered, “Oh, you WILL be sorry.” He blinked back in shock. Slowly, she leaned in and gave him a soft and thoughtful kiss. Her tongue grazed his lips lightly, bringing a shudder out of him.

She popped back up, “Make me pancakes!” she declared, giggling once again as she hopped off him and off the bed.

Branch exhaled, completely unaware he had been holding his breath. He watched her run off to get ready for the day, his head smacking back down into his pillow. Eventually, his heart stopped spinning just long enough for him to get up and make the bed. Today was a big day, but she didn’t know it. Today had to be perfect.

So of course, he would make her pancakes.

They ate their breakfast and headed to work. It was raining, not unlike the day that Poppy found out about Branch’s secret girlfriend. She skipped through the puddles in her bright rain boots. Branch held the umbrella, which barely covered her as she would run off to inspect a flower. He held it up regardless, waiting for her eventual return. She would pop back in, “Did I miss anything?” To which he would respond with, “Nope,” make a little pop with his lips, and smile at her.

They reached work early, shaking off the rain and setting up the floor mats as usual. Poppy got started with the bakery items, while Branch cleaned and prepped the various coffee machines. His mind wandered to a year before, which felt like another life. He never imagined he could have such an effortless and loving relationship with a girlfriend, but here they were. Sure, there was always a little work to be done. Sure, they occasionally argued about who needed to clean the dishes, but ultimately it was a world of difference from his relationship with Lolli. Poppy asked him questions about his day, even if she had spent most of the day with him. Poppy cared passionately about his well being, making sure he was comfortable and happy. He started joining some of their Snack Pack hangouts and started to be a little bit more social. She never pushed it though, and he appreciated that. 

She got him out of his shell, as much as he brought her into his own sacred shell. He spent more time at fun dessert outings, dancing occasionally, and being out. She in turn would take a quiet evening to snuggle up with him, read peacefully, and avoid crowded places. 

He hoped he was making her equally as happy. He supposed today was the day to find out.

The door of the Hugs n Mugs let out a DING, shop owner Peppy popped in to say hi.

“Is she here?” He asked, eyeing the kitchen.

Branch smiled, “Yep, working on the croissants I think.”

Peppy grabbed Branch by the shoulders and looked him right in the eye, “You sure it’s gonna be today?”

He nodded, “I mean, I sure hope I don’t back out,” he laughed nervously.

“Back out of what?” Poppy interrupted, carrying the croissants to the display case.

Branch nearly jumped out of his skin, “Back out of work, of course,” he cleared his throat, “It’s so hard to be here on such a nice rainy day. I’d rather be at home, with you.”

Poppy smiled, and nudged him, “That’s sweet, we can enjoy the rain tonight,” and she waved to her dad, “Hi pops! Love ya!” She kissed Peppy on the cheek and headed back into the kitchen.

“Smooth, son,” Peppy winked before getting back to work. Branch wiped his brow. It was too close to showtime for him to blow it now.

Biggie burst through the door, “Have you done anything yet?!”

“Shhh! Of course not, I’m waiting for the rest of the Snack Pack,” he whispered, “Shhhhh!” Waving his index fingers in front of his mouth.

Biggie nodded enthusiastically, before starting to tear up, “Mr. Dinkles and I have been waiting for this day for so long!” He sniffed.

“Hey hey, don’t start crying yet! First of all, she hasn’t said yes, and second - don’t blow my cover!”

“Right, you’re absolutely right, Branch! I must hold it together, for Poppy,” Biggie nodded again.

Poppy came out of the kitchen again, “Sup Biggie!”

Biggie immediately dived into a hug with Poppy, “I just love you so much, Poppy! I want the best for you!” He started to cry. Poppy was startled, but honestly this wasn’t the first time Biggie had burst into spontaneous emotions, so she wasn’t completely thrown off. She patted him on the back and gave him a warm smile before the two of them got back to work. She gave Branch a perplexed look, to which he just shrugged.

Branch thought about what was to happen today and truthfully, it wasn’t completely Branch to ask such a personal question to Poppy out in public, but he knew Poppy was very much all about being public. So the compromise, which they were both quite good at at this point, was to keep it to Poppy’s closest friends and her dad.

Not that Poppy knew anything about this. This was Branch’s decision, and after discussing with her dad and the Snack Pack, determined this would be the best way to go.

He was overthinking now, cleaning every counter till it was spotless. He fiddled with the coffee sticks, pretending to organize them.

“Hey, Branch!” Poppy glided over, he yelped and snapped the coffee stick in half.

“H-hey Poppy,” he smiled with the broken sticks in his hand.

“You’re really on edge today,” Poppy laughed, “Are you ok?” She took the coffee sticks out of his hand and threw the broken ones in the trash.

He nodded, “Yeah, of course, just checking for durability.”

She eyed him suspiciously and went back to their next order.

Slowly, one by one, the rest of the Snack Pack started to arrive.

“Biggie! Look who’s here! Smidge stopped by!” Poppy yelled to the back, which brought Biggie out from the kitchen.

“Got my usual, Branch?” Smidge smirked.

“You bet,” He slid her drink over, sprinkles and all.

“Hi, Poppy! Hi Branch!” Satin and Chenille greeted them harmoniously.

“Hey girls! Love the outfits,” Poppy saluted them, “Practical and stylish, as always.”

“Aw Poppy!” Satin sighed.

“You really know how to make us feel special,” Chenille added.

The twins looked at each other and smiled, Satin added, “We sure hope you feel special today!”

“You look radiant, as always!” They recited, as Branch handed them their drinks, giving them a wink. They giggled as they headed to a nearby table to chat with Smidge.

Cooper walked in, Branch immediately grew anxious, the more friends that stopped in, the more likely one of them might drop a hint. But Guy Diamond and DJ Suki started to show up, and all of the conversations were casual and lovely. Poppy would compliment them, Branch would roll his eyes and slyly slip them their drinks with a smirk. They’d look at him knowingly and go join the other friends.

All of their friends had popped in - and they weren’t leaving like they normally would. Poppy was thrilled with this turn of events.

“Oh my gosh, this is like Friend Day at the Hugs n Mugs or something! I love it! I wish it was like this every day,” She turned to Branch, “Did you know this was going to happen?”

Branch’s heart was slamming in his chest at this point. Was this it? Now or never? Everyone was here, including her dad. 

He lightly touched her hand, squeezed it. She looked at him with curiosity, as he backed away and pulled her to follow.

“Branch?” She asked with a small laugh, “What’s going on?”

Their friends started to gather in a semi-circle around the entrance of the shop. The floor mats were pushed aside to make space. Branch pulled Poppy into the middle of their friends. You could still hear the rain outside, and music started to play.

Poppy looked around, “Ok, seriously. What is going on here?”

Branch held his hand out to her, “Dance with me?”

The twins started to cheer, while the others let out some “woohoos!” Everyone was chanting, “Dance! Dance! Dance!”

Poppy smiled and answered him by taking his hand.

They started to dance to the swing music playing, similar to the night they proclaimed their love for one another, but this time Branch was significantly better at dancing. 

Spin, spin, turn, twist, step, step, step, twirl.

“Hey, you’re getting good! Have you been practicing without me?” She laughed into a spin.

“Maybe I took some extra lessons while you were working on my days off,” he shrugged as he spun her into his chest.

They continued to dance through the song, everyone clapping hands and cheering around them. Poppy laughed and smiled bigger than she ever had in her life. Branch thought about his daydreams of dancing with the mop and pretending it was her. It was even better in real life. His imagination usually left out the finer details, like her smile, the laugh, her cute freckles. Poppy thought about how wonderful and warm being surrounded by everyone she loved felt. But, what was this all for?

Branch brought her in close, and then spun her out one more time. She did her own twirl, and as she turned around to return to him, he got down on his knees and slid right up to her. She was surprised and paused to take in the moment. There was Branch, the love of her life, on one knee, breathing hard, holding a small ring box in his hand.

“Branch,” she said just above a whisper, she immediately forgot she was surrounded by their friends. All thoughts vanished from her mind. Only Branch remained.

“Poppy,” he caught his breath finally, “I know it’s only been a year, but,” he searched her eyes, terrified of what he might find, “You are without a doubt the most important person in my life. I want to spend the rest of my life as your partner - in dancing, in coffee, and in life,” he gulped as he popped open the box to reveal a ring, “Will you marry m-umph?!”

Poppy cut him off, kissing him so hard they fell to the floor in a fit of giggles, she sat up quickly, “YES!”

She dived back into their kiss, surrounded by the cheers of their friends. Their friends started to cry, Peppy hugged everyone in the shop, everyone was yelling and dancing and singing.

Peppy went to the back briefly, “I know the perfect thing to celebrate,” he dug into the cupboard, before pausing, “HEY who drank all the whiskey?!”

Branch and Poppy exchanged looks and burst into laughter.

They lived happily, and caffeinated, ever after.

THE END.