Poppy's POV:
I adjust my rainbow headband on my head before looking at myself in the mirror. I smooth out the ruffles on my dress, and I take a deep breath. I couldn't believe it, but my sister was getting married! If anything, I always thought that it would be me getting married first, but I guess Viva was first.
I'm looking down at my dress when I feel a pair of hands covering my eyes. I smile, already knowing who it is.
"Who is it?"
I pretend to think for a moment.
"Hmm... I wonder who it could be?"
I pretend to be stumped, and I hear him getting a little upset, so I decide to put him out of his misery.
"Oh, come on, Branch. I knew it was you the moment you put your hands over my eyes."
I feel him move his hands off of my eyes and take my hands.
I smile at him while looking at his bright blue eyes.
"What?" He asks.
"I'm just wondering how I got lucky enough to have you as my boyfriend."
"You helped me get my true colors back, that's how. Now, let's go get our siblings married."
Branch starts to exit my pod, but I grab his hand before he fully exits.
"Branchifer?"
He looks back at me.
"Yes, poppifer?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
I give him a knowing look before he realizes what I mean.
"Oh, right!"
He walks over to me and gives me a quick kiss on the lips before smiling at me.
"That's better. Now let's go!"
I run ahead of him before grabbing his hand and jumping onto my bug and beginning to sing.
"Keep it, comin' love, keep it,
comin' love, don't stop it now, don't stop it
no,
we don't stop it now, don't stop"
"Everyone can see, we're
together
As we walk on by"
"And we fly, just like birds of a
feather. I won't tell no lies (we are family)"
"All of the people around us,
they say,
can they be that close?"
"Just let me state for the record
(we are family)
We're giving love in a family
dose (push it real good)"
Branch takes off from me to go help Clay, and I go to help Viva.
Viva and I sing while I help her get ready.
"I do my hair toss, check my
nails"
I chime in at this point.
"Baby, how you feelin? (Feeling
good as)
"I do my hair toss, check my
nails"
"Baby, how you feelin? (Feeling
good as h*ll)
"It's me, he's lookin for
I can see it in his eyes"
Viva takes a moment to admire herself in the mirror once I'm done with her, and I've never seen her happier.
"I'm so happy for you veevs."
"Thanks, Poppy. I can't wait for your wedding one day!"
I think about it for a moment, but quickly shove the thought away.
"Let's not focus on me right now. Let's just go get you married!"
I fly to where Branch and his brothers are, and I let them know it's time.
"Come on guys, it's time!"
Branch follows me as we make our way to the isle.
"We are family (yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
"I got all my sisters with me (oh-
oh, yeah)
"We are family (uh, uh)
"Get up, everybody and sing
(get up, get up, get up)
"We are family (yeah, yeah)
"I got all my sisters with me
(feelin' good as h*ll)
"We are family
"Get up everybody and sing
I look up in the air, and I see Viva floating in on her own bug.
"Sing it to me, sing it to me, sing it to me."
Viva makes it down to the ground, and I can tell by Clay's expression that he knows that he made the right decision in marrying Viva.
She starts walking down the aisle as I gently grip Branch's arm while smiling. I feel him kiss my forehead, and I instantly get butterflies.
Viva eventually makes it to the other side of the aisle, her smile becoming bigger and bigger.
Clay and Viva made the decision to have Spruce officiate, because he was the brother Clay was closest with growing up.
About an hour later, Viva and I are talking about how surreal all of this is when we hear Branch and his brothers say our names while in conversation.
"Evesdrop?" I ask.
"Evesdrop." Viva replies.
We slowly and subtly get closer to them, careful to keep our distance. We hear John Dory speak first.
"But seriously, Branch. When are you gonna put a ring on poppy seed?"
Viva and I give each other a look before listening closer, eager to hear Branch's response.
"I don't know, I'll just have to see what happens in the next few weeks."
"Yeah, but haven't you two been for like, 8 months?"
"8 and 1/2, but yes."
"Well, you are gonna have to at some point, otherwise I'm gonna do it for you." John Dory says.
Viva and I walk away once they all start talking about other things. My mind is filled with a lot of emotions, mostly anger, sadness, but also understanding.
"Hey, you okay?" Viva asks me after a minute.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's not keep thinking about that. Let's just have a good time together before you leave for your honeymoon tomorrow!"
The rest of the night was amazing, filled with laughter and fun.
After a while, we all head back to our pods. Branch and I are walking together in silence, so I decide to try and bring up the conversation I heard earlier.
"Hey, Branch?"
"Yeah, Poppy?"
"Uhm, so, earlier, Viva and I may or not have eavesdropped on your conversation with your brothers."
"Wait, what? You eavesdropped on my private conversation with my brothers?" I can feel Branch start to get angry.
"Well we heard our names, so we just wanted to see what you guys were talking about."
"Well what did you hear?"
"The...part about when you were going to propose to me."
"Oh my god, that was the worst part! Poppy, that is seriously an invasion of privacy!"
"Well maybe if you were more open to me about this sort of thing, then you wouldn't have had to have that conversation!"
"Be more open? Well, here's me, being open! I WISH WE WERE NEVER DATING!"
I stand there in shock, my heart shattering.
I feel tears form in my eyes and a sob form in my throat.
Suddenly, Branch realizes what he said, his face softening.
I turn to walk away from him, but he grabs my hand.
"Poppy, wait. I didn't mean that."
"It's too late for that."
And with that, I run away from him and into my pod, the tears threatening to fall.
I close the door, and I just break down right there on the floor. Branch and I had had fights before, but never like this.
I think about all of the things we'd been through together, the good and the bad, and that makes my cry even harder.
I eventually fall asleep on the floor, wishing I was with Branch.
The next morning, I hear someone knocking at my door, and I immediately jump up, hoping it's Branch, but to my surprise, it's John Dory.
"Hey, JD, what are you doing here?"
"So, Poppy seed, this isn't the best thing to wake up to, but, uhm."
"Well? Spit it out!"
"Well. Velvet and Veneer broke out of prison, and they took Branch last night and they're holding him in a diamond prison on mount brodacious."
I stand there for a moment before saying something.
"WHAT!?"