Trolls: How to deal with a sick sibling

Trolls: How to deal with a sick sibling pt2

A light pink fist pounds on the rock of Branch's bunker "Branch, Branch!" The loud banging wakes Branch up immediately "I was not sucking my thumb!" Branch thought his brothers were in the room with him but thankfully, they weren't. "Branch!" Instead of his brothers, Branch hears a female voice, banging at his front door and there's only one troll that Branch knows who likes to barge into his bunker every now and then. "Branch?! You're supposed to help me read to the children about my latest scrapbook today, weren't you?"

Branch's mind goes blank. His afternoon with Poppy completely slipped his mind "Oh, shoot. I forgot" Branch climbs out of bed, puts on his Mossy green dress robe and runs to answer the door "Coming!" Branch shouts as he pulls on the lever to his elevator. Branch then feels another sharp pain in his stomach again, making him feel queasy with its gurgling. "Ugh, maybe I should have stayed in bed" Branch rubs his stomach, starting to think if his brothers were right. "Branch?! Are you in there?!" Poppy begins to get impatient with Branch but let's face it, she's always been impatient.

Poppy hears about twenty locks being unlocked. The door opens and Branch climbs out of the hatch, still looking very sick and unable to stand properly. "Oh my goodness, Branch. Are you okay?" Poppy grows concerned for her boyfriend "Uh, I'm fine. I just have the flu" Branch confirms "Aww, my poor Branchie!" Poppy coddles over her boyfriend, resulting in the teal troll rolling his eyes, mainly at Poppy nicknaming him Branchie " Can I come in?" Poppy asks " Ugh, fine but what about the children you promised to read?" Branch worries about Poppy's decision "It's okay, Viva can cover for me. My main concern is making my Branchie boo feel better" Branch relents by pulling on the lever, leading the pair to the bottom of his bunker.

Branch looks down at the floor glumly, twindling his fingers, still feeling awful for lying to his brothers. Poppy takes notice of Branch's sad expression. She may be stubborn and impulsive but she's not one to miss a negative emotion. "Branch, are you okay?" Poppy asks "I feel awful" Branch says but cannot reveal why he feels bad "Why?" Poppy wants to know why Branch feels terrible. Branch doesn't want to say the real reason why he feels awful as he'll have to confess that he deliberately drove his brothers away just for five minutes to himself and then he'll have to listen to Poppy go on a full on rant saying it was wrong and he shouldn't treat his family this way.

"Speaking of which, where are your brothers? I expected that they were busy taking care of their baby brother" Poppy wonders " That's the thing I'm worried about" Branch finally decides to open up. "I lied to my brothers about needing cough syrup just so I can get them out of my hair for 5 minutes" Branch confesses. Poppy opens her mouth to say something " Now before you say anything, I just wanna tell you that I know what I did was wrong and I shouldn't of done that because my brothers really care about me and my wellbeing and that's not how I should be treating my brothers especially since we just got back together as a family again" Branch runs out of breath after speaking so fast.

Poppy stood there shell shocked at Branch's fast talking and doesn't know how to respond "*sigh* Go on, say what a horrible person I am" Branch allows Poppy to speak her mind. He looks down in shame again. But then Branch feels another hand grip his. He looks up and sees Poppy smiling at him " Branch, it's okay to have some moments to yourself but it's not okay to push others away to have those moments to yourself especially if they're your family." Branch wasn't expecting Poppy to sound so reasonable and understanding. He expected her to launch into an angry rant about how wrong he was " I know how much of a handful your brothers can be and I think you deserve better than to be treated like a baby most of the time. But I think you need to be more honest and appreciative of your brothers in future"

Poppy and Branch reach the bottom floor of the bunker. "Thank you, Poppy. I really needed to hear that" Poppy smiles at Branch, feeling appreciated. Branch starts to gag and covers his mouth in an instant. " Excuse me" Branch runs into his bathroom to empty out the rest of his stomach contents. Poppy stands outside the door, hearing the sound of Branch retching over the toilet bowl. Poppy then hears the toilet being flushed. Branch comes out of the bathroom, looking even more sick and tired. "Ugh, I'm so sorry" Branch apologises as he unties his robe "It's not your fault, Branch"