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Golden afternoon sunlight spilled across Pop Village in warm shimmering waves while music drifted lazily through the air from distant speakers and dance circles scattered throughout the streets. The weather was perfect, the village unusually calm, and for once everyone had managed to gather together without some kind of world ending musical emergency interrupting them.
Poppy sat comfortably beneath one of the giant glitter trees near the center of town beside Branch while Viva, Clay, Floyd, Bruce, and John Dory lounged nearby sharing snacks and stories. Branch sat close enough that his shoulder rested lightly against Poppy’s, one hand absentmindedly tracing small circles against her knee while she talked animatedly about some future wedding decoration idea that he clearly wasn’t fully listening to because he was too busy staring at her instead.
“You’re doing the thing again,” Poppy teased softly without looking at him.
Branch blinked. “What thing?”
“The staring thing.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“You absolutely do.”
Branch smirked faintly while Poppy laughed under her breath, leaning a little closer against him anyway. Across from them, Floyd noticed immediately and dramatically clutched his chest.
“Oh, he’s gone,” Floyd whispered emotionally to Bruce.
“He’s been gone,” Bruce corrected.
John Dory snorted. “The guy looks at her like she personally invented happiness.”
“I probably did,” Poppy joked brightly.
“You definitely think you did,” Branch replied.
Before Poppy could dramatically gasp at him, loud shouting suddenly echoed from farther down the village path.
“MOVE!”
“WE FOUND IT!”
“THIS IS A HISTORICAL MOMENT!”
Everyone looked up just in time to see Smidge sprinting toward them at terrifying speed while Cooper, Biggie, and Guy Diamond struggled to keep up behind her carrying a large dirt covered wooden box between them. Cooper was somehow tripping over absolutely nothing, Guy Diamond sparkled aggressively in the sunlight with every movement, and Biggie looked one emotional sentence away from crying already.
Smidge skidded dramatically to a stop in front of the group and pointed triumphantly at the box.
“We found the time capsule!”
Poppy gasped instantly and jumped to her feet so fast Branch nearly lost balance beside her.
“No way!”
“The WHAT capsule?” Viva asked immediately.
“The old one!” Cooper announced excitedly while accidentally dropping one side of the box. “Ow. Emotional damage.”
Clay blinked. “Wait, you guys actually found that thing?”
Biggie nodded enthusiastically. “It was buried behind the old dance pavilion exactly where we left it!”
Viva looked completely confused already. “You all made a time capsule?”
“Years ago,” Guy Diamond explained dramatically. “A sacred preservation of memories, emotions, and fashion.”
“Mostly fashion,” Smidge corrected.
Poppy dropped to her knees beside the box immediately, brushing dirt off the lid with sparkling eyes while Branch sat beside her looking considerably less enthusiastic all of a sudden.
Which Smidge noticed immediately.
And grinned.
“Oh,” she said slowly. “Interesting.”
Branch narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t.”
“I haven’t even said anything.”
“That’s what worries me.”
The brothers exchanged suspicious looks while Viva leaned closer curiously.
“What’s happening?”
“Something embarrassing for Branch probably,” Floyd answered confidently.
“Almost definitely,” Bruce agreed.
Branch sighed deeply. “I already regret this.”
The old wooden lid creaked loudly as everyone gathered around. Dust floated softly through the warm sunlight while Poppy carefully opened the capsule, revealing dozens of colorful objects packed tightly inside.
The reaction was instant chaos.
Cooper screamed first.
“MY HAT!”
He lunged into the capsule with enough force to nearly knock Clay over while pulling out an old floppy cowboy hat covered in faded glitter stickers.
“I thought this was gone forever!”
“You cried for weeks over that hat,” Smidge reminded him.
“It understood me spiritually!”
Meanwhile Biggie carefully lifted out a tiny blue bow tie while visibly trembling with emotion.
“Mr. Dinkles…” he whispered.
Mr. Dinkles squeaked dramatically from Biggie’s shoulder while everyone else immediately understood this was becoming a whole thing.
Guy Diamond gasped next and pulled out a sparkling silver microphone.
“My performance microphone!” he cried emotionally. “The voice of a generation!”
“It made feedback noises half the time,” Branch muttered.
“It made art.”
Smidge proudly held up two matching sweatshirts with giant glitter hearts across the front.
“YES,” she announced triumphantly. “Milton and I are reunited.”
Viva stared at the sweatshirts in confusion. “You buried matching couple clothes?”
“Love is eternal,” Smidge replied seriously.
Poppy laughed brightly while continuing to dig through the capsule until suddenly her expression softened.
“Oh.”
Everyone looked toward her.
She slowly lifted her old crown from the box, brushing dirt carefully from the glittering surface while memories clearly flooded back into her expression.
“Aww,” Viva said softly.
Poppy smiled warmly. “I forgot this was in here.”
Branch watched her quietly beside her, his entire expression softening automatically just from seeing her smile.
And unfortunately for him…
Smidge noticed that too.
“Oh this is getting good,” she muttered.
Poppy continued sorting carefully through the box before suddenly freezing completely.
Her eyes widened.
“…Wait.”
Branch immediately knew.
“Oh no.”
Poppy slowly lifted a small stack of folded colorful paper from the capsule.
Invitations.
Her invitations.
The ones she used to hand Branch constantly years ago before they became close. Invitations to parties. Hangouts. Festivals. Tiny handwritten notes asking him to spend time with her.
Poppy stared at them in complete disbelief before turning very slowly toward Branch.
“…Branch.”
The entire group instantly went silent.
Branch looked like he wanted the earth itself to swallow him alive.
Poppy blinked at him. “I saw you rip these up.”
“I can explain.”
“You literally ripped them apart right in front of me!”
Branch rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly while avoiding eye contact entirely. “Technically I ripped up different paper.”
The brothers exploded immediately.
“NO WAY.”
“YOU LIED?”
“BRANCH!”
Viva looked delighted. “Oh this is juicy.”
Poppy stared at him in shock. “You kept them?”
Branch sighed heavily in defeat. “…Yeah.”
“Why?”
Smidge burst into laughter so hard she nearly fell over.
“OH MY GOSH THIS IS MY FAVORITE DAY.”
“Smidge,” Branch warned weakly.
“No, no, she deserves to know.” Smidge grinned wickedly before turning dramatically toward Poppy. “He was way too in love with you to throw them away.”
Branch covered his face immediately while everyone around him completely lost control.
“HE WAS WHAT?”
“I KNEW IT.”
“THIS IS ADORABLE.”
Poppy’s face turned pink instantly. “Branch…”
He groaned softly behind his hands. “Can we all relax?”
“No,” Floyd said immediately. “Absolutely not.”
Poppy looked back down at the invitations carefully. Some were bent and faded now from age, but they’d clearly been protected all this time.
“You seriously kept these?” she asked softly.
Branch lowered his hands slowly, ears completely red now. “I tried not to.”
That answer made Poppy’s heart melt instantly.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means,” Smidge interrupted gleefully, “he carried one around for like two weeks before finally hiding them in the time capsule.”
Branch pointed at her dramatically. “How do you know everything?”
“You’re emotionally obvious.”
Bruce burst out laughing while Clay looked moments away from crying from happiness.
Poppy stared at Branch with growing disbelief and affection. “You actually kept my invitations all these years?”
Branch shrugged helplessly. “Couldn’t help it.”
Then Smidge’s grin somehow became even more dangerous.
“Oh!” she announced loudly. “Tell her about the bet.”
Branch froze instantly.
“No.”
Poppy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What bet?”
Smidge pointed triumphantly at him. “Years ago I told him eventually you’d find out he secretly kept all your invitations.”
Poppy blinked.
“And Branch,” Smidge continued proudly, “said you’d figure it out before the time capsule got opened.”
The entire group slowly turned toward Branch.
Branch sighed dramatically. “…I owe Smidge a cupcake.”
The brothers absolutely lost their minds.
“I’M CRYING.”
“THAT’S INSANE.”
“OUR BROTHER IS PATHETICALLY ROMANTIC.”
Poppy actually had to cover her mouth because she was smiling so hard.
“You made a bet about me finding out you were secretly sentimental?”
Branch looked deeply exhausted now. “In my defense, I thought you’d notice sooner.”
“Notice WHAT sooner?” Viva asked excitedly.
Unfortunately for Branch, Poppy asked the same thing at exactly the same time.
Branch hesitated.
Which was all Smidge needed.
“He has a room.”
Silence.
Poppy blinked. “A room?”
“Oh no,” Branch whispered.
“A whole room,” Smidge continued gleefully, “full of things Poppy gave him.”
The screaming that followed could probably be heard across the entire village.
“WHAT?!”
“BRANCH!”
“YOU ARE DOWN HORRENDOUS.”
Poppy looked completely stunned now. “You kept more stuff?”
Branch looked like he was physically suffering. “It’s not as dramatic as she’s making it sound.”
Smidge laughed so hard she snorted. “You organized it alphabetically.”
Branch immediately buried his face in his hands again.
Viva grabbed Poppy’s arm excitedly. “Your boyfriend has a secret shrine!”
“It’s not a shrine!”
“It’s absolutely a shrine,” John Dory informed him.
Poppy stared at Branch with wide sparkling eyes while her expression softened more and more by the second.
“You kept things I gave you?” she asked quietly.
Branch peeked through his fingers before sighing in surrender. “Yeah.”
“Like what?”
“Stuff.”
“Branch.”
He finally lowered his hands completely and looked at her properly.
“Everything important,” he admitted softly.
The sincerity in his voice completely destroyed her.
Without warning, Poppy launched herself directly at him.
Branch barely caught her before she wrapped both arms tightly around his neck and kissed him hard enough to shut the entire conversation down instantly.
The group erupted.
“YES!”
“GET HIM, POPPY!”
“TRUE LOVE!”
Branch laughed softly against her lips while pulling her fully into his lap, kissing her back warmly despite everyone screaming around them. One hand settled securely at her waist while the other gently cupped her cheek, and Poppy melted against him immediately.
When they finally pulled apart, she was smiling so brightly it almost hurt to look at.
“You giant sap,” she whispered affectionately.
Branch smirked faintly. “You seem into it.”
“I’m extremely into it.”
Floyd actually wiped away a tear. “I can’t handle this.”
Clay nodded emotionally. “He kept invitations.”
Bruce pointed accusingly at Branch. “You pretended to be cool for YEARS.”
“I never pretended to be cool.”
“That’s fair,” John Dory admitted.
Poppy laughed softly before kissing Branch again quickly, unable to seem to stop herself now that she knew.
“You seriously saved all of those?”
Branch looked at her like the answer should’ve been obvious. “They were from you.”
Poppy’s entire expression melted.
“Oh my gosh,” Viva whispered dramatically. “That was disgusting. Do it again.”
Branch snorted softly while Poppy buried her face against his shoulder laughing.
Then Smidge crossed her arms smugly.
“So,” she announced proudly, “I’d like everyone to acknowledge that I won the bet.”
Branch groaned. “You are never letting this go.”
“Correct.”
“And now I owe you a cupcake.”
“Also correct.”
Poppy looked up at Branch teasingly. “You know, I definitely want to see this room now.”
Branch’s face immediately turned red all over again.
The brothers screamed.
Smidge nearly collapsed laughing.
And Branch just sighed dramatically while pulling Poppy closer against his chest as she continued giggling and kissing his cheek, completely charmed by the realization that the grumpy Troll she fell in love with had apparently been hopelessly sentimental about her for years.