Branch x Reader

Its more than being unknown.

You and Branch had made it to your house just in time to beat the storm. The entrance to your home was just a door in the bottom of a tree.

"Real homey place you got here, Y/n." Branch started. "I was worried you lived in a hole in the ground."

"No, only weirdos do that. Plus, we still have to go up, I don't actually live in the trunk." You rolled your eyes. He finally looked up to see your rather massive house in the tree.

Unlike most troll houses, yours wasn't just a pod hanging from a tree. You had put years of work into building what could be considered a small mansion (to a troll).

(I'm not gonna give a full description of the house, I'll leave that to the imagination. It just has to be big and there's a reason for it.)

Branch looked up, finally noticing your real home. "Wow.." His eyes lit up. Most likely because he wouldn't have to sleep on the cold hard ground.

Opening the door to your tree trunk, you walked into an elevator pulley lift system you had made yourself.

"I made one of these! It's actually really similar." Branch looks at your elevator as you ascend to your penthouse of a home.

You chuckle lightly. "I guess we really are alike." You watch him try to figure out your elevator, however he couldn't before you made it to the top.

Stepping off the lift and into your home you take a deep breath, getting home was always your favorite feeling. Well, until Branch came along.

Branch walked into your house, slowly taking it all in. The lift brought you directly into a large living room area. The room consisted of a couch with blankets folded on the back, pillows on the floor around a short table, and multiple different warm light sources spread around the room. Your kitchen was right next to the living room, you had an open plan. An island with stools around it and other normal troll kitchen things adorned the area. (Trolls don't have ovens or microwaves idk what to put there).

"This is a lot nicer than I expected." Branch said breathlessly.

"Gee, thanks." You rolled your eyes. "Just because I'm a little outcasted from society doesn't mean i have to live in darkness. Maybe you should take a note from my book." Branch rolled his eyes at your clear sarcasm.

"Can you show me around then? Since you've got it all figured out." He followed you as you walked to the kitchen. You set your bag on the island, gesturing him to do the same with his.

"Maybe I could teach you a thing or two by doing that." You smirked a little, getting flustered at the way that sounded but let it slide.

Branch stayed quiet for a moment after that, but you motioned him to follow you further into the house. "Let me show you why this place is so big." You said confidently. You led him to a double door just a little ways away from the main area, opening the doors revealed your large music room. Different guitars were scattered around, two pianos and a drum set pushed around and sorted to the best of your ability. Acoustic treatment covered your walls and multiple cabinets containing your other equipment were against the wall. \

"This is amazing! How did you get all of this?" Branch walked into the room and spun around, a little overwhelmed by how much there was.

"Mostly the funk trolls, they are the most accepting of who I am and wanted to support me because of that." You smiled while looking at the ground, you should visit them soon.

Branch ran his hand over a few of your instruments, truthfully, he wanted to hear you play every single one of them. He wouldn't ever be able to bring himself to ask that though, he would just have to hope more days like today would happen.

A couple hours pass and the two of you had just enjoyed each other's presence. Talking about anything. You both had made spots in the living room for the night and decided to sleep in the same room. After all this was a slumber party. The snow had only picked up since you had gotten home, but you weren't worried, you got your groceries for the week and Branch was here. Thats all you need.

After who knows how many hours of talking, Branch had drifted off on the couch. His chest rising and falling slowly as he slept peacefully. You were stationed on the floor; you had argued with him about that for a while. You smiled softly, happy that he was comfortable enough with you to fall asleep mid-sentence.

You decided to stand up and pace around. Branch had made it so clear to you that he cared about you. In a way you really hoped he cared about you the way you did him. You were too scared to pursue anything though. That could mean things get awkward if he doesn't feel the same way, which could lead to the loss of your only true friend. You value his friendship over everything. You finally felt understood by someone.

You worried your pacing would wake Branch, so you moved to your music room and lightly closed the door behind you.

You didn't notice that you hadn't closed it all the way, a small, hardly noticeable crack was left and let any noise escape.

You picked up your guitar and sat at the piano bench. You strummed a few strings to check it was in tune. And like every troll ever, you sang a song. Pop trolls think music has to make you happy, but sometimes sad music feels good too.

You played a few notes before starting, tapping your foot to get into it. You didn't even notice, but tuning the guitar was loud enough to be heard from the living room when the door was open.

"You know the distance never made a difference to me." You started. "I swam a lake of fire, I'd have walked across the floor of any sea. Ignored the vastness between all that can be seen, and all that we believe. So, I thought that you were like an angel to me!" You closed your eyes and just let yourself feel.

Singing the next verse, you never noticed Branch waking up and quietly walking to the door. He pushed his ear against the crack. This song made him think of when he went to the country village the song was sad, but he liked it. The best part of this song to him was that you were singing it. Although he had known you for a few months now, he had never heard you sing, which was weird for trolls. But he was weird too, that's why you got along so well.

Branch peaked through the crack to get a glimpse of you. Your eyes were closed, and your hands ran over your guitar so effortlessly. He watched all your small mannerisms and remembered them, the way your eyes crunched up when you sang louder, the way your fingers strummed the strings, and the way your eyes would open very slightly and stare at the floor at quiet parts.

"It aint the being alone. Sha la la. It aint the empty home, baby. Sha la la. You know I'm good on my own! Sha la la, baby you know it's more than being unknown!"

Your heart told you something was happening, something good. "So much of the living, love, is the being unknown."

Branch wanted to walk into that room and sing with you. He wanted to hold your hand and look you in the eye, but he felt he couldn't. He finally had a friend that understood him. Unbeknownst to him, you felt the exact same way. The song reached out to both of your souls and pulled them closer together, and you didn't even know it. But your heart did.

"Do you know i could break beneath the weight, of the goodness, love, i still carry for you! That I'd walk so far just to take the injury of finally knowing you! It aint the being alone... It aint the empty home, baby. You know I'm good on my own."

"Sha la la, baby you know it's more than being unknown. And there are some people, love, who are better unknown."

While you quietly finished the last notes of the song, Branch snuck back to the couch. He pretended to be asleep as you walked back into your living room and got comfortable in your spot on the ground.

He acknowledged a new feeling in his heart, that he could win yours.

Song for this chapter is Unknown/Nth by Hozier.