[ 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ♪ 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐘 ]

pure energy | 6

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          Branch suddenly woke up in a cold sweat, his head pounded the moment his eyes opened. His vision was blurry but he was still able to make out the room. It was his room. he was at home, in his bunker.

It was familiar. Always dark and dimly lit, clutter in every corner but so much opened space. There was always some papers or books on the floor beside his bed.
Not a very known fact, Branch loves to read and write. Write poetry, songs, letters, essays, anything.
A classical reader, penguin classics, but modern romance is a guilty pleasure.
His chest rose and fell rapidly, he dug deep in his brain nugget and only recalled a faded memory of the night before. The concert was clear as day but everything after was a blur.
His memory came back in dusty flashes. The deep kiss they shared, Viva's embrace, hearing Poppy yell for him, his nails scraping the paint off the wall, his soggy shoes, black.

He breathed hard. Then how'd I get here?

Just as the thought entered his mind, four voices got slowly louder as they descended down the elevator.
Branch watched from his bed as they all grumbled about how little space they had on there. They reached the ground floor and immediately noticed Branch was awake.

"Branch!" they all said different variations of his name in unison. JD walked in with a big paper bag of breakfast and a hot coffee in hand.

"How are you feeling, B? you knocked out pretty hard last night." JD handed his brother the coffee and pulled a to-go box of breakfast out of the bag.

Branch took a large sip of his hot coffee. "Honestly, I don't remember the most of it." he shrugged. "The concert yeah, and I had a bit of a freakout at the end and then I woke up here." he said nonchalantly.

"A bit of a freakout?" Clay sat on the edge of the bed. "Dude, we found you knocked out, covered in puke and your leg wedged in between the door. I thought you died!" his eyes widened.

Branch's ears flushed red. How embarrassing. All that over Poppy, too. "Oh..." he pursed his lips awkwardly.
"Did Poppy see?" he glanced nervously.

"Thank GOD she didn't!" Floyd rolled his eyes. "That would've been so embarrassing. We couldn't let that happen."

The youngest grinned softly. He felt much better than last night, thankfully. If he hadn't passed out, he would've ended up actually killing himself.
"Thanks for the breakfast, guys." he smiled gratefully.

"Don't mention it." JD smiled.

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Viva was left picking up the pieces, as Poppy wouldn't go down without a fight. She insisted on seeing Branch before she left and that led to a small WWE match happening in the dressing rooms as the band had to haul Branch out while simultaneously hiding him from the wrath of Poppy.
After a long night of tussling, Poppy gave in, not because the almost fatal headlock Viva had her in, but because it was way past her bedtime.

Poppy and Viva ended up crashing with Barb at her house, much closer to the venue and a lot bigger than Poppy's little shack.
The moment they made it to Barb's, the rock queen ripped her shoes off and let out a blood curdling scream of rage.

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING?!" Poppy yelled over her.

Barb sighed. "I'm soo tired..." she yawned. "How do you guys wanna do this? One in my room and the other in the guest or... one in the guest and one on the couch—?"

"We'll sleep in the guest room." Viva muttered tiredly.

The rock queen let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank god. I didn't wanna share a bed with either of you guys." she placed a hand over her chest. "Goodnight, love you ladies.." Barb yawned and headed to her room.

"Wait where is-" Poppy spoke until Barb's bedroom door slammed shut and they could hear her jump onto the bed.
Poppy sighed.

After a bit of rummaging they managed to find the only other room with a queen sized bed and some spare sleep clothes in a random drawer.
"So how are you gonna tackle this Branch situation?" Viva asked while slipping into a band shirt.

Poppy groaned in response, making her sister laugh. "Ugh, I wish this hadn't turned into such a big thinggg..." she whined, letting her hair down from the ponytail it was in and shaking her scalp free.
"I guess I had to tell him about Creek eventually." she flopped onto the bed.
"I just never wanted to."

Viva paused, hesitating. "Do you miss him?"

A thick silence filled the air. A Chef's knife would struggle to slice through. Poppy swallowed hard. "S-Sometimes..." she admitted shamefully. "He's a part of the past now, though. I shouldn't be thinking about him."

The thing with Creek was complicated. his betrayal to the kingdom was unforgivable, but Poppy couldn't help but mourn him. She knew he passed on the night of trollstice. She knew there was no possible way he was alive, yet everyday after, she passed his house. She passed his yoga class, his spot by the river,
hoping by some miracle he'd be sitting in the woods like he always did.

He liked to meditate outside. The energy was so clean, as he'd say. She joined him a few times but couldn't sit still and never found it interesting, but she was always welcome to join.
She scrapbooked as he sat quietly with his fingers pinched.

Or he sat in his living room with the lights out, the golden light shining directly on him like a sunflower.
He was a gentle soul, Creek.
Poppy mourned his death, not only as his girlfriend, but as someone she could trust.
Just like that, he'd left her to die. Nonetheless, she'd walk to his grave every sunday evening. It was his favorite time of the day, because the sun was still golden and warm, and everybody seemed to stay quiet around this time. She brought him poppies. Not egotistical, but they were his favorite flower because they held a piece of her.

He'd come over and sage her place once a week to keep her safe from spirits. He left crystals in every crevice of her home. She knew where every crystal was and there they stayed. Rose quartz, for love, on what used to be his side of the bed.

Adventurine in the bathroom, on top of the mirror cabinet, for confidence, optimism.

Jade on her windowsills to keep abundance flowing and nature's energy balanced.

and obsidian around her neck, to keep her protected.

Poppy clutched her necklace softly. "Goodnight, Pop." Viva mumbled, her eyes fluttering shut.
Branch always bought her jewelry. He liked to give her bracelets and necklaces occasionally. She'd say thank you, she loved them, she'd keep them on display and never wear them.
Her excuse was that she didn't want to ruin them because they were so pretty, but she knew it wasn't true. She knew he did too.

The truth was that she knew Branch and Creek couldn't coexist. It wasn't physically possible. Branch lives in her heart, but Creek went to live on forever.
There wasn't Poppy without Creek and there wasn't Branch without poppy. There wasn't a possible universe where it wasn't her fault Creek died.

It lingered in the back of her mind. If she never threw the party, the bergens never would've come. She wouldn't have had to save anyone. Creek wouldn't have had to sacrifice everyone for himself. Creek would never have died.
But it's all in the past. Branch is her present and future.

But it never hurts to hold on longer.

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