Chapter 4

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12:00 Midnight
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     Unfortunately... even though it had been six long hours since the couple was supposed to meet... Branch was still waiting outside of Che Dante for Poppy to arrive for their first date, his heart sinking sorrowfully in his chest as he lowered his head, his ears drooping down in despair...

"She... she didn't show up..." he muttered softly to himself, a single tear escaping his eye as it slid down his slightly greyed cheek, his dark blue hair now more of a black once again...

     "B... Branch?" he suddenly heard in a little voice coming from behind him.

     He turned just enough to see who was talking to him, instantly spotting Dante hovering just a few inches away...

     "We're... uh... closing for the night," Dante informed softly, his voice sounding extremely sympathetic, knowing the heartbreak the light blue pop troll was going through right now...

     Branch sighed at the words, looking away from the little Classical troll...

     "Ok..." he finally said softly, trying his best to hide the overwhelming despair causing his heart to ache painfully inside his chest. "I should... probably be getting home anyways... it... it's late..."

     Slowly, he started to walk away from the restaurant, dropping the bouquet of flowers he was holding to the ground as he sighed in despair, his head low as he headed back to his bunker, ready to lock himself inside once again... forever...

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     Branch rode down his elevator, his head low as he listened to the soft sound of the gears turning...

     "Hey, Gary..." he said sadly, stepping off the elevator as it reached the bottom level, the young troll instantly heading towards his room to go to bed. "I'm home..."

     'How'd the date go?' Gary 'asked', Branch sighing at the sound of his son's nonexistent words...

"I don't want to talk about it..." Branch answered sadly, walking right past the remote control that sat perfectly still on his dining room table...

'Ha! I told you so!' Gary laughed right in the heartbroken troll's face.

"Shut up, Gary..." Branch retorted, finally entering his room as he slammed the door shut behind himself...

The darkness of the area was somewhat fitting to how he felt right now, so the little pop troll didn't even bother turning on the light as he walked slowly forwards, his feet shuffling across the dirt floor, making it so he almost tripped and fell three times on his short journey...

     "Ugh..." he groaned, his heart aching as he flopped face first onto his bed, just wanting this night to be done and over with...

What was supposed to be the best night of his life... turned out to be the worst...

     After a few moment, Branch slowly raised his head, looking over at a picture he had on his night stand that showed him and Poppy together on the first day of Trollstopia.

It showed the two of them wearing country outfits after Poppy had forced him to wear a different costume to welcome each separate tribe 'properly' as she described it...

He couldn't help but gaze at the beautiful pink troll in the photo, thinking how adorable she was in her outfit, the two of them gazing lovingly into each other's eyes despite Branch's initial denial of the idea...

     He couldn't help but gaze at the beautiful pink troll in the photo, thinking how adorable she was in her outfit, the two of them gazing lovingly into each other's eyes despite Branch's initial denial of the idea

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He even eventually agreed to wear the rock costume, that was seriously too tight for him... After all... he would do anything for her...

     Slowly, he sat up, grabbing the picture gently in his hands as he looked at it sadly, a single teardrop escaping from his eye

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     Slowly, he sat up, grabbing the picture gently in his hands as he looked at it sadly, a single teardrop escaping from his eye...

     "Why... why didn't you show up..." he mumbled softly to himself, lookin right at the little Poppy in his picture as if talking straight to her...

     Suddenly, his sadness turned to anger as he stood up out of bed, getting ready to chuck the picture across the room, ultimately smashing it to pieces...

     But... he froze just before he could...

     Slowly, he looked back down at his picture, gazing at Poppy once more, his love for this one special troll overpowering his anger...

There had to be a reason she didn't show... right?

Branch sighed, looking away from the picture sadly as a million horrible thoughts swam through his mind...

What if he was the reason? Did she not want to be with him? Had he done something wrong?

Slowly, he looked back at the picture, wiping the tears from his eyes to try and stop his emotions from showing... but it was no use...

 but it was no use

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     He loved her... he loved her so much... but... what if she didn't love him back?

     Unable to stop his tears from pouring down his cheeks, Branch hugged the picture tightly in his arms as he plopped back down onto his bed, slowly crying himself to sleep...

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