Disclaimer: We don't own Trolls.

In the morning, Satin and Chenille were the first ones awake. This wasn't anything unusual—they often woke early to make sure they looked their best for the day, and being trapped in a tank had done nothing to curb this habit. This morning, however, their attention was drawn to the other side of the tank...

Branch and Poppy were lying side by side, closer than they probably should have been.

"Should we wake them up?" Satin asked nervously.

"He's too close to Poppy," Chenille answered. "I don't approve. What if he wakes up and attacks her?"

"Oh, but, Chenille! I don't think he would do that!"

"Satin, he can't be trusted! We have to get Poppy away from him!"

The girls weren't exactly yelling, but they weren't troubling to keep their voices down, either. They woke the others.

Guy sat up, glaring at the twins' backs. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! What's with all the raaaacket!?"

Smidge sat up and glared as well, stirring Biggie from his sleep. "Yeah! I'm trying to sleep over here!"

"Ah!" Cooper cried out as he jumped into the air. "I ain't anywhere near you, dude!" He looked around, realizing it had just been a dream—Branch wasn't attacking him.

Startled awake by Cooper's cries, Fuzzbert sprang into the air in shock. He trembled a bit, turning to Cooper in curiosity. What was that about?

"Whew, that was a cu-razy dream!" Cooper said.

Fuzzbert slumped, exasperated. Cooper could be weird sometimes.

Cooper looked at the twins, noticing them for the first time, and asked, "What's goin' down, dudettes?"

"Smidge...?" Biggie asked sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

The twins looked at each other, then Satin stepped to the right and Chenille to the left so everyone could see what had grabbed the twins' full attention.

Poppy was curled up against Branch's side, a smile on her face. Branch, rather than facing away from everyone like he had been when they went to sleep, was lying on his back with his head turned toward Poppy slightly. The two barely brushed up against each other, but it was still rather more than they had been expecting.

All but Creek and DJ gasped in horror—the last were still sleeping.

"No... It can't beeeee!" Guy autotuned.

"Oh, my GAAAAAA!"

"This is terrible!" Biggie wailed.

"You're tellin' me!" Cooper agreed.

Startled awake, Bridget sat up suddenly. She looked around frantically, crying, "What!? What's going on!?"

The noise finally managed to wake the final two boys.

Creek moaned, "Ugh... Friends, please. Why are you all—" He sat up and, catching sight of the cause of the commotion, stared at the scene, eyes wide. "Oh, no... It can't be..." He got up and headed over there, horrified. I mean, I knew it was bad, but I hadn't the foggiest notion it was this bad. Just what, exactly, do those two think they're doing? Why, they didn't even bother putting a hair tent up!

He had hoped that pointing out Poppy's hidden flaw would get her to see sense. Cheating was wrong, after all, and while he hardly had a right to talk with Satin and Chenille as potential mothers because of him, that hadn't been his fault necessarily. Now, however, their apparent break-up looked serious—Poppy was sleeping with Branch and had seemingly done what he told her needed done for her safety. Did those two have no decency?

Could it be she finally realized we were right all along? he wondered. Has she truly decided that he's better than I am? But all he ever did for her was save her life! I've done so much more for her than just that. So why's it him instead of me?

Branch groaned, stirring. Normally this much noise would have caused him to shoot up and attack the nearest living thing. Fortunately for everyone, he was too tired—he'd had a stressful night, and it had been hard to get to sleep, so his reactions were less intense.

Guy, Biggie, and several others covered their mouths, worried. Smidge stepped back and readied for a battle, managing to look both serious and nervous at the same time.

Branch propped himself up on one elbow and started, "What's—" He cut himself off, looking down at the pink troll brushing up against his side. "...Oh."

Of course. That was what the fuss was all about. Poppy sleeping that close to him would be enough to make anyone raise an eyebrow.

Poppy yawned then, stirred by Branch's motion. She sat up and stretched her arms over her head. "Morning, guys... What's—"

"You, that's what," Branch cut her off.

Poppy blinked, looking around in mild confusion. "Huh?" She saw the confused and horrified looks on everyone else's faces—DJ being the exception. No, DJ just rolled onto her back and kept on sleeping.

"Poppy, don't make any sudden moves," Chenille cautioned.

Branch glared at her. What exactly did she expect him to do? Slice Poppy to ribbons for daring to sleep beside him?

"When did you get over here, Poppy?" Satin asked.

Poppy blinked and looked beside her slowly. Her eyes widened when she saw the issue—she was right beside Branch...closer than she had been last night when she fell asleep.

Bridget made her way over to check on her trolls. Like all of them, she stared at the scene.

Poppy just stared at the situation for a moment before crying out, "Oh, my brownies!" With wide eyes, she frantically scooted away from Branch, disturbed and shocked. "Branch! W-what are you doing!?"

"What am I doing!? I woke up with you pressed against my side! What are you doing!?" he countered, covering his unease with irritation.

Branch wasn't big on affection. He'd been completely deprived of it for the last ten years, so his aversion to it was stronger than ever. Now here he was, waking up with Poppy curled against him in his sleep? That was too much affection. To make matters worse, her friends—most of whom still hated him—were witness to this event.

Things were about to get ugly.

Poppy blinked. She gave a blank stare. "Uuuhh..."

"Oh, my ga! What in Troll Village were you thinking last night? You know better than that!" Smidge scolded. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Poppy.

Blushing, Poppy sank down. "I, uh..."

Creek crossed his arms. "And you wonder why I get so jealous," he said, trying to keep his tone neutral. However, a hint of his feelings showed through.

Poppy sweat, trying to find an answer to that. "But, Creek, I didn't—"

"Well, you did tell her to get on with it," Chenille answered Creek. "Maybe that's what happened."

Branch stood up in indignation. "Absolutely not! That's about as likely as Cooper and me becoming best friends!"

"Which means it ain't ever gonna happen," Cooper interpreted. "Well, maybe Poppy sleepwalks! I know I do sometimes. I remember this one time, I was havin' a wild dream! I was takin' a walk through the forest, looking for Hidey-Hole Troll, when all of a sudden these puffaloes attacked me! Only they wasn't really puffaloes, they was zombies! And I ran and ran, and I crashed into a tree. When I woke up, the zombies were gone. Turns out it was all a dream. Well, except for the tree part. I did crash into one'a those."

He laughed while several of the others looked at him in curiosity, including Branch and Bridget. Poppy stared, eyes wide, for a minute before she frantically shook her head to clear it of Cooper's weird story.

"Ah, no. No, guys. I do not sleepwalk," she said firmly. "In fact, I—"

"But if you didn't come over here, then..." Biggie cut her off, glancing at Branch in suspicion.

Guy gasped, and his eyes widened in horror. "No. You didn't..."

"You're right," Branch said firmly. "I didn't."

"Oh, my ga! Now that makes way more sense since Poppy was way over there last night," Smidge said, pointing to the other side of the tank, "and—"

"Yeah. Way over there by Cooper," Branch cut her off. "And, as I'm sure you've all realized, I don't want him anywhere near me!"

"No, but you like Poppy," Chenille pointed out.

"I do not."

"You at least like her as a friend," Satin pressed.

"I don't have friends."

Chenille put her hands on her hips and said flatly, "Uh-huh. Sure, you don't."

"You are a lot nicer to her than anyone else," Satin pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to walk all the way across this tank past a bunch of trolls I don't like, march right up to my least favorite troll, and pick up the one that I can tolerate!"

Things got out of hand then—Smidge stormed right up to Branch with a vicious glare on her face, threatening, "A likely story, I'm sure. Now I'm gonna give you to the count of three to fess up, or I'll—" She pounded her fists together as she spoke.

Poppy's eyes widened in horror. This wasn't going to end well. At all. She had to diffuse this situation before it could get too intense. "No, Smidge! Don't—"

Too late. Branch took on a defensive position and lashed out at Smidge with his hair, trying to force her to back off.

"Oh, no! Don't fight!" Bridget cried, startled. "You'll hurt each other!"

Smidge retaliated by leaping into the air and whacking back at him with her own hair. She let out a fierce battle cry, looking every bit the lunatic.

"No! Stop it!" Poppy ran toward the two. She intended to get between them, keep them from hurting each other by blocking them. "Br—"

"No, Poppy!" Biggie panicked. "Don't!"

"Poppy!" the twins cried.

"Are you crazy!?" Cooper blinked, realizing the irony of what he'd just asked. "Huh. Usually people ask me that one."

Guy leaped at Poppy, knocking her aside as he cried, "Get out of the waaaaaaaayy!"

"Oof!" Poppy cried out as Guy slammed into her and tackled her to the ground.

Smidge grabbed Branch with her hair and threw him. He landed near DJ, which was the wake-up call the final troll needed.

"Whoa! What gives!?" DJ cried out as she abruptly sat up, her eyes wide.

Branch recovered from Smidge's attack quickly, rolling into a crouch upon impact with the ground. He pulled a mace out of his hair and glared at the yellow troll.

DJ leaned away from the weapon, horrified now. She clutched her blanket to her chest tightly. "Aaaaahh! W-what the—"

He had a mace!? Bridget opened the tank frantically. She had to stop this before someone got hurt. She reached into the tank with both hands, aiming for the fighting trolls. Branch looked up at the giant hand heading his way and darted away from her, holding his weapon up as if ready to use it.

Poppy quickly got up, untangling herself from Guy, and ran to grab Smidge. She got the tiny troll just before anything else could go awry. "Smidge, STOP IT! He didn't move me there! I moved myself!"

"WHAT!?" the Snack Pack cried out in shock.

DJ stared at everyone. She was at a complete loss for what was going on here. "Uh... Did I miss somethin'?"

She got up, wanting to go join the others and find out what was happening, but the giant purple hand blocking her path made her hesitate slightly, especially since Branch was standing right in front of it with his lethal weapon. Branch glared at Bridget's hand, which had stopped moving when he'd dodged out of the way. He held his weapon at the ready, watching for any sign of a threat. Bridget wasn't a fool, however. She saw the situation better than most of the trolls, and she started debating what the best course of action would be for dealing with a troll who felt cornered and threatened—Smidge, obviously, was under control for now. In the end, she decided to use her hand as a divider—she lay it down on its side, separating Branch and DJ from the others.

Branch started, looking at the hand in confusion. He looked up at Bridget. She gave him a reassuring look, which, confusing as it was, still managed to calm him down. He relaxed a bit and put the mace away.

Watching this scene, DJ was more lost than ever. "Uh..." She looked up at Bridget and asked, "What's going down?"

"Oh, well, Smidge threatened him, so I'm just making sure nobody gets hurt," Bridget said.

DJ stared, eyes wide in confusion. "Really? How come?"

While Bridget filled DJ in on recent events, Smidge froze, eyes wide, and suddenly went limp. "Really? But—"

"Oh, my glitter stars! Poppy!" Guy scolded. "Just what were you thinking!? You can't just waltz right up to Branch like that and—"

"Maybe you guys can't, but I totally can. He's not as aggressive as he is lonely, in case you forgot!" Poppy cut him off as she put her hands on her hips, glaring at them all.

"Hmm... Well, then, Poppy, if that is indeed the case, then why not synchronize with him, like I told you to last night?" Creek asked, jealousy showing through in spite of his attempts to hide it. "I mean, he'd be a lot less lonely if he had a—"

"Could you reign it in for now, Creek? That's not helping!" Poppy said, annoyed. Seriously, there was a massive issue going on here, and he wanted to argue about that?

"Poppy, nothing will help," Chenille said. "It's Branch."

Poppy threw her hands up as she leaned her head back in exasperation. "AAAHH! Would you all just give it a rest? It was an accident anyway! I started out over there," she said, pointing to a spot a couple of feet away from where she and Branch had woken up.

"But, Poppy, if you were over there, then why did you wake up over there?" Biggie asked, pointing from where Poppy claimed to start to where she ended up.

"You sure you don't sleepwalk? 'Cause that sounds like sleepwalking to me!"

Poppy gave Cooper a lame look for that comment. She seriously doubted it was sleepwalking, but she could have rolled over and ended up against Branch during the night. It wasn't like she'd been that far away from him.

On the other side of the bergen's hand, DJ stared at Bridget with wide eyes. "...Really?" She turned to Branch with both surprise and concern and started, "Uh, what—"

"Not now, DJ," he cut her off.

Awestruck, DJ just stared at him.

Bridget glanced at the majority of the trolls. Seeing that the situation had calmed down on their side, she looked back at Branch, silently asking if he was okay now. He nodded in response—he didn't need anyone thinking he was hiding behind a bergen's protection. They already called him a traitor. Imagine how much worse it would be if they thought he and a bergen were starting to like each other. Assured that nobody would get hurt, Bridget pulled her hand back out of the tank. She kept the lid off it for now, however, just in case something else went wrong.

DJ quickly ran over to the twins and asked, "So is it really true, ya guys? Did Poppy decide to sleep with Branch after all?"

"Poppy just has something against people sleeping alone, that's all," Branch answered. The last thing he needed was to hear more accusations that he'd been doing something inappropriate with Poppy.

Unsure, DJ looked his way. She couldn't help but think there was a reason Poppy would choose to sleep next to Branch. "Uh..."

Guy looked at Branch, debating whether he should believe that or not. While he debated, Fuzzbert said something that made Cooper's eyes widen.

"What!?" the giraffe troll cried. "Fuzzbert, you have got to be kidding me. Oh, all right, I'll tell 'em." He rolled his eyes, as if Fuzzbert were getting upset that he wasn't translating. "Fuzzbert believes Branch."

"Thank you, Fuzzbert," Branch said.

Guy sighed in defeat and said, "If you say so, friend. I still don't see it, though."

From the look of things, nobody else did, either. Everyone's faces registered disbelief. Branch just hoped nobody else was going to attack him because of it.

But that wasn't important. If they attacked, he'd respond accordingly. Right now, his concern was getting everyone out of here.

"Well, anyway, now that that's settled..." the gray troll turned to Bridget and said, "I wanted to talk to you about some things that trolls need."

As Branch talked to Bridget, Poppy wandered off to the edge of the tank, partly to get away from everyone and partly to stare wistfully at Bridget's hidden mural. Now that the drama was over for the moment, she was back to feeling bad for Bridget. Creek, tired of this whole thing with Poppy and Branch, headed to the other side of the tank to try to ignore them both. That girl was completely oblivious to her own emotions, always insisting she didn't feel that way about Branch. Why couldn't she just admit it already? Why keep leading Creek on like that? He didn't think it was fair, especially since she had chosen a grumpy gray hermit over a supportive and fun-loving troll like him.

"So you're saying trolls need vegetables, too?" Bridget asked as she latched the lid back onto the tank.

Everyone wanted to argue—they didn't need her bringing them any disgusting vegetables, like spinach or Brussels sprouts. But they didn't want to make him mad again so soon, either. Branch was, after all, armed and dangerous.

"Yeah, they're just like little kids and don't want to eat them," Branch told her. "But, regardless of what they want, part of your job is to make sure they're healthy, right?"

"Right..." Bridget said, thinking about how best to get the vegetables for the trolls. She couldn't just go to the kitchen and steal food from the king's own stores. She'd have to go out to a grocery store or the community vegetable garden in the middle of town...both of which were quite a long distance away.

"Then you need to get some vegetables in here!" Branch told her. "Avoid spinach—it's toxic to trolls. Also stay away from beats, yellow onions, and parsnips."

Bridget nodded, committing these instructions to memory. "Okay! I'll go get some! But, uh, first... Can we talk about that mace in your hair?"

"What about it?"

"You wouldn't mind giving it to me to hold onto, would you?"

Would he? Would he mind her shaving his skin off his body with a razor blade?

"No offense, Bridget, but I would, actually," he answered, somehow keeping himself from giving a snarky answer.

"But you don't need that, do you?"

Branch crossed his arms. How blind could one girl be? "Did you miss what happened this morning?"

The Snack Pack—minus Poppy and Creek—looked at each other as they debated the meaning of that. Did he actually think he needed protection from them? Or was he planning on attacking them himself?

"You don't need to worry about Smidge, Branch," Bridget assured him. "Poppy seems like she's got her under control. And I won't let anything happen, either."

"I'm not in the habit of trusting my safety to other people, so I think I'll keep my weapons, thanks."

His tone left no room for argument, and Bridget wasn't in the mood to have her hands torn to shreds again. Sure, he'd promised not to try to escape, but he certainly hadn't promised to be left defenseless in what he viewed as a dangerous situation. Letting him keep his weapons seemed a better option than leaving him feeling endangered—he might be more inclined to attack someone if he felt unsafe.

All things considered, Bridget sighed and gave up. "Okay... I guess I'll go get those vegetables now." She scurried out, thinking that the community garden visible from windows higher up in the castle would be a cheaper and fresher option than grocery shopping.

Once the door shut behind Bridget, Biggie asked, "Uh, Branch? Trolls aren't bothered by spinach. Or any of the others you mentioned, for that matter. Well, other than the taste. What are you up to?"

"Getting her out of the way so I can figure out a way to get out of here."

"How's telling her we're allergic to spinach going to help?" Cooper asked.

Despite what he'd said about not telling Cooper his plans, Branch said, "Because then she'll have to check the vegetables to make sure she isn't bringing something that might kill us. That'll add some time to her little errand, and I'll take all the time I can get."

"Got it! You're gonna try and find a way to bust this tank open!" DJ said excitedly.

"Exactly, DJ."

"But what about the locked window and door?" Smidge protested. "How you planning on getting us through those?"

"The window's our best bet," Branch answered, pointing at it. "Latches on those kinds of windows are always simple, and we should be able to open it if we work together."

"I don't know, Branch... After we get out of this room, how are you planning to get out of Bergen Town?" Biggie worried.

"The same way Poppy and I got into the castle in the first place. Bergens don't look for trolls up high because we're so small. We'll get up on the roof and make our way back to the Troll Tree by hopping from roof to roof. Then we can use the escape tunnels to get out."

"Yes, that sounds good, but what's your plan for escaping this tank?" Guy asked. "Do you want Smidge to break it down?"

In response, Branch grabbed his pack and started rummaging through it. While searching for the right tool, he pulled out a pair of bolt cutters, a Swiss army knife, some cooking supplies and food, a collapsible shovel, a screwdriver, and a mallet. Finally he found what he was after—how it got to the bottom of the bag, he didn't want to know. He pulled out his glass cutter.

Seeing all the supplies Branch had brought, the Snack Pack all looked at each other in awe. Cooper, feeling very unsafe, backed away and hid behind Biggie.

Smidge blushed, sheepish. "Oh. Uh...oops." She laughed awkwardly. All of a sudden, attacking Branch looked like an idiotic move.

Branch scooped up the rest of his supplies and shoved them back into the pack, which he slung over his shoulder as he headed over to the wall of the tank. He cut a circular hole using the glass cutter, mindful of the fact that it had to be big enough for Biggie to squeeze through.

He removed the glass to cheers from almost everyone in the tank—once again, Creek and Poppy weren't included.

"Oh, Mr. Dinkles, look!" Biggie cheered, hugging his worm. "Branch has done it!"

"Meep!" the worm responded happily.

"Now we can get out of here!" Branch said, earning another cheer from the eight trolls.

Creek glanced at Branch before turning away with a humph. Sure, it looked like he was about to save them all, but that sort of thing was exactly how he'd won Poppy over in the first place. All things considered, Creek was really starting to hate that quality of Branch's, regardless of how helpful it could be.

Guy grabbed Smidge's hand, smiling, and said, "Then there's no time to waste! Let's get going, everyone!" He leaped through the hole, pulling Smidge with him.

"Hold on! Guy! Get back here!" Biggie protested, running out after them.

"Everyone get up on the windowsill!" Branch commanded, standing by the hole in the tank to make sure everyone got out. "Come on, move it!"

Satin and Chenille ran out next. Cooper ran by, looking at Branch nervously as if worried he'd be hit. Nose in the air, Creek followed. DJ and Fuzzbert were the last ones. As everyone else climbed the curtain, Branch did a hair count and noticed a distinct lack of pink. He turned to see Poppy leaning on the wall of the tank, looking like she was lost in another world.

"Poppy, come on! We gotta go!"

She didn't respond at all.

Branch ran over and stood behind her, looking concerned. "Poppy?"

"...I can't leave yet, Branch..." she answered, upset.

"What!?" Was she serious? "Poppy, why not? All your friends are free! That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Poppy turned to him, looking concerned. "But—Bridget's been nothing but nice to us, and she's hurting now, too! I can't just leave her like that! It's not right!"

"What!? Poppy, she's trying to keep everyone happy and healthy so they can have babies and then be eaten! What are you talking about!?"

"Branch, she showed you mercy! When you didn't deserve any! And she's been worried about our feelings. Probably because she's in love herself, and—"

"In love? Bergens don't have feelings!"

"Well, maybe you don't know everything about the bergens!"

While the two were arguing, two concerned trolls came back to the tank to check on Poppy.

"Poppy?" Satin asked, "Is everything okay?"

Branch whirled on her, hoping for a voice of reason here. "No, everything's not okay! She wants to stay!"

"What!? Poppy, why would you want to stay in a breeding tank!?" Chenille asked.

"Because, you guys!" Poppy answered, looking and sounding upset and worried. "Bridget's having a little trouble with her love life, and—"

Branch put a hand to his head, frustrated. "Ugh, Poppy! You can't solve everyone's problems!"

"Whoa, wait. Her love life?" Now Chenille was curious.

"She's in love?"

Branch smacked his face. Of course. Finding a voice of reason in the Snack Pack? That was about as likely as finding a speck of glitter in a pile of fuzzlings.

"Yes! I heard her singing about being in love with the king last night! And let me tell ya, she's got it bad, girlfriends."

"Do tell," the twins said in sync.

Branch groaned. "Okay, seriously! This kind of thing is why we're still here in the first place! Unless the three of you want to be bred like livestock and eaten someday, we need to go!"

And then things got worse. Guy, Biggie, and Cooper came back.

"Sheesh, you guys!" Guy said. "What's all the commotion about?"

"Bridget's in love with the king," Satin answered.

Branch turned away, throwing his arms up in surrender. "Of course. I've lost all control." He sat down, thinking these idiots just wanted to die.

Guy looked intrigued as he asked, "Really?"

Biggie turned and called over to the others, "Creek! Fuzzbert! DJ! Smidge! Apparently Bridget's in love with the king!"

Branch smacked himself in the face again as the four in question cried, "Really!?"

The gray troll groaned and muttered, "Rainbow trolls."

"Well, that's what Poppy says, anyway!" Chenille added.

"It's true, you guys! I saw her singing about it last night! And she cried herself to sleep!" Poppy said, worried and upset once again.

"Oh. That's horrible!" Creek said sympathetically. "We simply cannot leave with that in mind!"

Cooper and Biggie nodded their agreement.

"We have to help her!" Satin said.

Once again, Branch groaned. "Great. Yeah, you guys have fun with that." He flopped on his back.

What a waste of time, letting them all out.

Poppy walked up to him and bent over him from the side, smiling sweetly. "Don't worry, Branch. I've got an even better idea. One that's bound to make everyone happy!" She threw her arms out to the sides as her friends all returned to the tank.

"Don't worry, Branch," Chenille said. "You can leave. We're not expecting you to stay."

Did it look like he was leaving? That girl needed a serious slap in the face, and Branch was about ready to deliver it.

He sat up, snapping, "You're all hopeless! I should leave! Apparently you don't mind getting eaten as long as you do it together! What's next? A getting eaten by the bergens party?"

Completely nonplussed and somewhat disturbed by that weird idea, DJ started, "Uh, Branch? That sounds kinda—"

Guy cut her off, glaring at Branch. He put his hands on his hips and leaned forward as he said, "Oh, that sounds about right for you. After all, grouchy old gray trolls would never understand."

"There's just no troll in this guy, is there?" Smidge said sharply, glaring angrily at Branch as she crossed her arms.

"You don't sing," Cooper said.

Satin sheepishly added, "You don't dance."

"And you're certainly not very helpful," Biggie finished.

Singing and dancing, Branch would give them. He didn't do those things, and he had no intention of doing them. But not being helpful? That was going too far.

Furious, Branch got to his feet, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He glared at Biggie and demanded, "Then what am I doing here in the first place!?"

Poppy put a hand on his chest to hold him back. She looked at the others, concerned, and waved her free hand at them in a halting gesture as she said, "Guys! Guys! Cool it! Look, Branch may not be the cuddliest one of us, but—"

"Just stop it, Poppy!" Branch snapped at her. "They don't want to hear it. They aren't going to listen to you. And, after ten years, you'd think you'd have figured that out! I figured it out a long time ago!"

Coming to save them meant nothing. Their apologies meant little. Biggie clearly hadn't meant it if he still thought Branch would choose to leave them instead of help. He might have jumped the gun on accepting that apology.

Poppy looked at him. She lowered her hand from his chest and backed away some, feeling sad. "Branch..."

He backed away from her, trying to hide his pain. He felt worse than he had in a long, long time, and it showed. Branch turned and walked away. He pressed his hands against the glass of the tank with his back to the Snack Pack, head down, trying to reign in his emotions.

Poppy stared after him for a moment. He was hurting even worse. She'd seen it in his eyes. She had never seen him that unhappy in her life, and she wanted nothing more than to erase that pain from his face, heal his broken heart. She reached out a hand and started to go after him.

But that was when Bridget came back.