floyd's pov:
it's been a couple days since we've seen our baby brother. everyone was worried sick but no matter how hard we looked for him we couldn't find him.
we knew he didn't have any of his meds. who knew what kind of crazy shit he would do? i wanted to trust that branch would make the right decision but he has been really unpredictable lately.
me and my brothers were sat on the couch with our phones out. we knew we wouldn't find him even if the whole village was out searching for him so it was just better to wait for a text or a letter or something.
"guys maybe we could at least try to look for him." clay groaned while placing his phone down.
john dory rolled his eyes. "i'm not spending the whole day looking for a brother who will never show up. but you guys can go ahead. be my guests."
clay opened his mouth to argue but shut it closed. everyone was kind of in a bad mood. the whole room was tense so it was better to shut up before a fight was started.
i sighed miserably and slumped down in my seat.
why does branch have to worry us so much?
branch's pov:
jules had woken me up. my eyes darted open defensively before realizing who it was. i sighed in relief.
"it was getting kinda boring waiting for you. so i took manners into my own hands." she giggled while getting up from the log and stretching.
i yawned tiredly before getting up as well. "i don't know about you but i'm starving."
she gave me a mischievous look. "i know a good place. you want to dash and dine?"
"is that even a question?" i returned her mischievous look, a slight smirk on my face.
at this point stealing more wouldn't be any worse than what i had already done. i basically threw my whole life away for this random girl i just met.
but i had no regrets.
yet.
30 minutes later
we had already been seated at a diner called 'trollio's pizza'. we had ordered a large pizza with sprinkles on it for the both of us to share.
jules rubbed her hands together excitedly. "this has been my favorite place to eat ever since i was little."
"really? i haven't ever eaten here." i chuckled.
jules' eyes widened with surprise. "what kind of troll hasn't eaten at trollio's pizza!!? it's a classic!"
"a troll who's been living in a bunker their whole life." i shrugged and took a sip of my water.
instead of there being an awkward silence like there usually would be, jules replied to me almost as if what i had said wasn't unusual at all.
"tell me more." she announced excitedly.
"well.. ever since my brothers left and my grandma died i just kinda secluded myself from troll village." i replied trying to keep the tone casual.
i felt like i could talk to this troll about anything.
"is that why your colors are grey?" her tone of voice changed to apologetic.
"well.. kind of? but i regained my colors. i just recently lost them again." i shrugged.
"do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
i shacked my head. "no.. not right now."
just then the pizza had arrived. the waitress placed it on the table.
jules licked her lipes happily. "this looks good!" she announced, changing the topic.
i really appreciated her for that.
"sure does." i smiled before grabbing myself a slice.
"so.. i told you about myself. it's your turn." i prompted.
jules nodded energetically. "i grew up in a huge family but we only had our pops to take care of us. that's basically where i learned all this stuff. being broke really brings out the worst in you, y'know? but with him dying we all had to take care of ourselves. we lost the house soon after. things just went down hill from there."
she said it all so casually. for a second i couldn't tell if she was being serious or not.
"i'm so sorry.." she cut me off there.
"no worries! it's all in the past. gotta focus on the future y'know." she said cheerily while taking a huge bite outta her pizza.
'focus on the future'.
maybe she was right. maybe i should focus on the future. but right now wasn't really the right time to have any deep thoughts.
"yeah i think i know what you mean." i smiled.
i heard jules reply but i blocked it all out because what i saw horrified me..:
poppy and viva walking into the diner together.
"don't turn around when i tell you this. but.. my girlfriend just came in." i whispered and slumped down into my seat.
jules immediately turned around. "that pink troll?"
"turn around!.. but yeah. the pink troll." i half shouted half whispered.
jules turned back to me immediately. "why are you hiding from her..?"
"you can ask questions later. but let's focus on getting the hell out of here first." i ordered.
jules nodded her head understandingly. "let's go."
those words seemed to summon something inside of me because we both full on sprinted out the diner.
unfortunately poppy seemed to notice me.
"branch?? BRANCH!" she yelped before starting to run after me.
i just ran faster. me and jules were on our way back to the forest.
i couldn't help but turn around. tears were covering the entirety of poppy's face. she was not just crying, she was ugly crying.
"please branch!! let's talk!" she whined.
i didn't bother to reply. i was such a bad boyfriend!! but i couldn't go back. i couldn't face her. or my brothers. especially because i was with some strange troll they didn't know about.
but before i had time to react viva swung herself in front of us, wrapping us in her hair.
she huffed proudly.
"let.. go!!" i demanded while squirming around in her grasp.
"not until i call your brothers." viva stated firmly while pulling her phone out her hair.
poppy had finally caught up, she was breathing heavily.
"who's this troll!?" she demanded with tears still crawling down her face.
busted.
thats the end!!!! i'm having more fun writing this series ever since i introduced jules 😋💪