Controlled Chaos

Admitted

Poppy was nervous.

Like, really, really nervous.

Any minute, Guy and Smidge would come back with a small yet seemingly huge group of trolls so that she could confess the hardest thing she had ever admitted.

What was she even going to say? 'Hey, guys, the reason I've been acting so weird lately is because I have a mental health issue, and it's only getting worse by the day!' Oh, of course not.

What if they got mad? What if they thought that she couldn't be a good queen or tribal leaders with all of the anxiousness? Would her closest and longest friends think about the anxiety every time they saw her?

Would this make it worse?

Poppy started to push the thoughts away, but they kept thundering down on top of her. Every 'what if?' and 'would it?' made her sink deeper into her hole of dispair. She wanted to cry, or scream, or shut herself back in the closet.

Branch studied her face as she scrapbooked aggressively, sending papers flying across the room. She was getting better at hiding her urge to have a complete meltdown, but Branch could still tell that something was up.

Poppy snipped away at her paper until she felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder. She turned around and looked at Branch, whose face looked like it was about to burst from concern. He rubbed his hand around her neck gently.

"Poppy, are you okay?"

But that was it. She cracked. The sound of his voice, ringing out to her ears in a melodically sincere way, made her fall apart and crumble into his arms.

Poppy never knew how much four little words could affect her so much. She wanted to kick herself for it, but she just felt numb instead. Her head felt hazy and her vision was fuzzy as she clung to his vest, pouring out her soul thru her eyes.

"Branch.. " she cried, her voice muffled but trembling. Branch shushed her quietly and stroked the back of her head, where he felt a small bump. He didn't mind it much, though, as it wasn't important to him.

Branch needed to comfort her, but the question was, how? Then he had an idea. He started to hum a familiar tune, to which Poppy peeked her head out a bit to look him in the eye. He almost stopped when he saw her eyes. They were bloodshot red and tears clung to her black, runny lashes.

But instead, he simply started singing.

"If you every find yourself stuck
in the middle of the sea,

I'll sail the world
To find you

If you every find yourself
In the dark and you can't see,

I'll be the light
To guide you,"

Branch lifted up her chin so she was looking up at him.

"And we'll find out
what we're made of,

When we're called to help
a friend in need~"

He sat her up so that she could look him straight in the eye. He rocked her a bit and continued to sing softly.

"And you can count on me
Like one, two, three,
I'll be there

And I know when I need it,
I can count on you,
Like four, three, two,

You'll be there,
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do,
Oh yeah,
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah, yeah

You'll always have my shoulder
when you cry~"

Branch rested her head on his shoulder and she hugged him tightly. He hugged back, still singing and rocking her.

"I'll never let go,
never say goodbye~