Watching the two them kiss in front of him took all of Branch's power not to shout STOP but what was the point when she clearly didn't him love at all. What had he done to deserve everything that was happening to him? He had never asked to become grey when they tore away his family from him and to be treated like an outcast. He closed his eyes remembering how when he first turned grey, he tried to buy a tasty treat from the village bake shop with the money his mom and grandma had saved up. He stood in line like a good troll waiting for his turn to pick out something but the moment he got to the front of the line the troll behind the counter gave him a distasteful look.

Branch admired all the yummy looking cupcakes and muffins until his fell upon one that he wanted. He placed a couple coins on the counter and was about to ask for it when the shop owner snapped "What do you think you are doing?"

"I would like to buy that one," Branch said pointing to the berry filled muffin

The troll behind the counter shook his head "Well that's too bad because I'm not selling it to you."

Branch looked up at the older troll wondering why when he enough money to purchase it "But I have enough." he quickly pointed out.

"Yeah but your money is not welcome here," the troll replied

"I don't understand," Branch said tilting his head to the side not knowing what the older troll meant by his statement. But if the troll wasn't going to sell him anything to eat then he might as well move onto another shop. As Branch slowly reached for his money off the counter the older troll quickly snatched it up.

"Hey!" Branch shouted, "That's mine."

"And what are you going to need it for?" the older troll asked, "I mean look around you no shop is going to sell a troll like you anything."

Branch turned back towards the other shops only to discover all the other trolls shared the same look on their face as the bake shop troll did. "Oh," he sighed lowering his head feeling saddened by their reaction to him, he was still the same troll he was a couple days ago when he was there with his family just less colorful. The young troll lowered his head and slowly walked out of the village and back into the nearby forest. A few days later Branch was busy gathering sticks and twigs all while trying his best to ignore the burning hunger inside his belly. He was almost done collecting the wood when he heard sometroll say that Farmer McBud was offering free berries to every troll in the kingdom because he had had a very fruitful year with an abundance of extra berries.

Although Branch knew it probably did not mean him, he thought that maybe he would try anyway. Farmer McBud's field had so many berry bushes that Branch was sure that he wouldn't mind if he took a few since he was giving them away any way. The young troll chose the furthest bush away from the crowd and started picking a few tasty berries.

"What in tarnation do you think you are doing?" Farmer McBud asked as he rushed towards the young troll.

Branch stopped what he was doing immediately "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I thought it was okay."

Farmer McBud glared down at the small troll "Well not for you!" he hissed "Only trolls with color can have berries."

"Sorry," Branch repeated looking at his grey colorless hand.

"Your kind is not welcome here!" McBud snapped before he grabbed a hold of Branch's arm and pulled away from the bush "Now, get off my land!"

By the time Branch had pulled himself out of thought Spruce was gone and only Poppy remained. The way she was staring at him made him so uncomfortable, he knew she was judging him. "Why are you doing this to me?" he asked in a voice much weaker than normal.

"Because," Poppy replied bluntly wishing she was not going to say the next part but couldn't help it "you are nothing to me."

"You didn't have to pretend to love me," he replied sadly as a deep burning sensation ran through his cuts "you could have just treated me like everyone else did."

"But then it wouldn't be as satisfying to see how much this is hurting you now," she replied bitterly "and besides I can't help it if you were dumb enough to think that I could actually love you."

"Did you ever care about me?" Branch asked although he already knew what the answer was going to be, he just wished he was wrong because it still stung hearing her say it.

"No," she replied coldly noticing all the pain written on his face from her words.

"I'm sorry I was imperfect and grey," he said hanging his head knowing that whatever he said wouldn't mean anything to her anyway "I never wanted that."

"I don't care!" she snapped "Do you want me to go get Spruce?"

"No," he whispered not wanting to get another round of beatings, he already had so many bruises that it already hurt to breathe. Branch knew that she knew that, yet she was willing to get the cruel troll just so he could more to him just for a laugh. Branch was not sure how many more he could take of them.

Without realizing it Branch began shivering from his fever again "I thought I told you to stop that!" Poppy shouted.

"I can't help it," Branch tried to explain wishing he would just stop when he saw how upset it was making her.

"You know what!" she spat "I really HATE you and I can't wait until your pathetic life is over!"

Those last words cut Branch deep and she knew it. Why did she say them I the first place? She hated the troll she was becoming, she no longer felt like herself anymore but as if someone else was controlling her entirely and she didn't like it all. "Branch I….." she slowly said hanging her head ashamed of what she had just said to him "I don't know why I said that."

"Because you meant it," he replied sadly wishing she would just go away and leave him alone.

"But that's just it," she cried "I don't know why I am saying and doing these things, it's like I can't control it."

"What did I ever do to anyone?" he asked, "To make everyone hate me?"

Poppy did not want to answer him for fear that she might say something awful again, so she just listened.

"The day Spruce and his friends cut my face I was only asking if they had seen my mother and grandma, not doing anything I wasn't supposed to do." he continued "Spruce told me that had seen two trolls that matched their description and I believed him. I followed him to a bunch of bushes, and he told that they were just on the other side. He stepped forward to hold the branches back so I could get a better look. As I approached, I saw nothing and that's when he let it go back into my face. All I could hear was their laughter as I ran to get away before they did anything else to me. They chased after me until I tripped over a root and fell to the ground allowing them to catch up, before I even had a chance to get back up they started kicking and punching me. I remember I was so scared and begged them to stop but they only laughed and hit me harder."

Poppy stared at him as he struggled to hold back another shivering fit "For a brief second I thought someone was going to stop them when an adult troll wondered into the clearing and saw what was happening but he just back away telling them to carry on."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked looking down at him with wide eyes and noticed that he was no longer the same troll that helped her decorate all those cupcakes and have the frosting fight with. No, he was a badly broken troll that she once acted differently with. She closed her eyes thinking about the night they watched the sky lights together and how he slowly began opening up to her because he trusted her. She also remembered when he placed their two hands together to try and show her that the only difference between them was their coloring.

"Grey trolls don't have feelings," her stepmother's voice echoed in her head, but Branch wasn't originally grey he had just lost his colors because of a broken heart. She wanted nothing more than to tell him that she was sorry and to help him but the dark force inside prevented her from doing so.

"Branch," she said kneeling down in front of him and very slowly placing her one hand on top of his.

Her touch startled him as he looked down at her hand, it was almost like it was before. Like she acted when he thought she cared about him, he swallowed afraid of what her intentions were. Soft sobs pulled his attention to her face where he could see a few tears streaming down her cheeks. He wanted to reach up and wipe them away and to comfort her, but he held himself back for fear that she was going to snap at him again.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered in between soft sobs. Then she leaned forward and gently placed her lips against his. Just as soon as the kiss started it ended with her shoving him back away from her. "Is that what you want me to say huh?" she asked placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

"What's going on Babe?" Spruce asked as he and friends came walking over.

"He kissed me," Poppy lied

"Beat him until he begs for mercy and then beat him some more," the green troll said coldly to his two friends who smiled and nodded, Spruce then turned back to Poppy "I should never have left you alone with him."

Poppy smiled holding out her hand for Spruce to take "Let's get out of here," she said.

"Alright," Spruce said "let's go."

As the two trolls turned to leave Poppy started to feel dizzy and collapsed on the ground where everything went dark...