Catch a Rising Star

A/N: I actually had this chapter ready to go for a few days now, but the original plan was to wait until I updated a different story. But I got too impatient to share this, since I haven't updated any of my "Trolls" stories in a while.

College has been driving me crazy, but I'm so happy that here in the States, we have Thanksgiving coming up next week. Hopefully, my brain can take a much-needed break before finals start to get closer and closer. And that I can update more of my stories as well.

On a brighter note, how many of you guys have seen the new "TrollsTopia"?! It looks absolutely amazing! I just love the new characters! And I know, there are some people that weren't happy about the lack of Broppy moments, but don't worry! I'm sure that at least for the time being, they're trying to let us get used to the new characters before expanding more on the new romantic side of Branch and Poppy's relationship. I won't be sharing spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet, though.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I kept you guys waiting long enough. Let's just get on with Chapter 14. Roll it!

Chapter 14

Departure to Attempted Blackmail

The end of the week had arrived, and Branch, Harper and Rosie were packing up their rental car, ready to head back to Kansas. Harper looked back at the condo, sighing with content.

"Even though things didn't go according to what I planned, I really enjoyed this vacation, Grandma." She said to her grandmother.

"I'm glad you did, Harper." Rosie said. "I did, too."

They then looked back and saw that Branch had already put his suitcase into the trunk of the car, but had moved to stand closer to the house, out of earshot. A sad little glint was in his eyes as he looked over at the little condo.

Rosie sighed when she saw how sullen her grandson had been acting for the past few days. She needed to talk to him. Even if he wasn't ready to talk about everything that had been bothering him, he needed to know that she was always there for him when he was ready. She then turned over to her granddaughter.

"How about you get in the car and wait for us?" She asked. "I'll talk to Branch."

Harper nodded. "Okay, Grandma." She said, and then headed over to the rental car and got in the back seat, reaching over into the front to turn the vehicle on.

Rosie slowly walked up to Branch and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. "Branch, are you sure you're okay?" She asked him.

Branch just nodded slowly, not wanting to speak. Rosie sighed and then moved her hand to gently touch his cheek.

"Oh, my angel." She cooed softly, like she would do back when he was a young boy, and he and Harper had lost their parents, which were Rosie's daughter and son-in-law. "I know it hurts right now, but things aren't always what they seem in the moment."

She might not know exactly what had happened, but she knew that something did, that at least involved the old orange car because Branch had taken a cab home. She knew that one of the emotions he was feeling was guilt for losing the car, but that wasn't why he had been mentally beating himself up almost all week.

"Give it some time." She said. "Life has a way of working itself out for the better."

Branch's eyes were beginning to glisten with tears of relief and hope. "Really, Grandma?" He whispered, as if he was even daring to hope.

Rosie nodded. "Yep." She answered. "Look at me for example. I've been trying to get rid of that ugly old car since your grandpa died."

Both of them chuckled at the little joke of the loss of the car. Maybe it had been for the better; it could've given his grandmother the final bit of closure that she needed, even though her husband had passed away sixteen years ago and she had said that she had been okay after the mourning period ended.

Then, Rosie took her grandson in her arms, and he returned the loving embrace. "I love you, Grandma." He whispered to her.

"I love you too, Branch." Rosie answered back, and then they ended the hug. "Just know that when you're ready to talk about it, Harper and I will be there for you."

Branch lightly smiled at her. "Thanks." He said softly.

Then, both of them headed over to the rental car where Harper was waiting patiently for them, with Rosie taking the passenger seat. Branch lingered outside for a few moments longer, looking over at the condo before he got in the driver's seat and closed the door.

But what no one noticed was that a paparazzi photographer, who was hiding in the bushes a little further down the street, had snapped a couple of shots of an unaware Branch right before he got into the car, a few of them showing his face very clearly. As the car drove away to head over to the airport, no one of the Hawthorne family knew that when they landed back in Wichita, it was going to be pandemonium.

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Hours later, over in her Beverly Hills mansion, Poppy and her father had gotten a Skype call from Chef. Right there, sitting in the living room in front of the TV screen where the call was made, the pink-haired star was frozen with horror when Chef held up a large copy of a photo of an unsuspecting Branch. Her father and Bridget, on the other hand, were confused as to what was going on, even though the latter recognized the black-haired young man.

"Branch Hawthorne." Chef said simply, and then slightly flipped the photo to get a look at the subject. "A unique name for a nice-looking young man like him."

"Where did you get that?" Poppy asked her, having an apprehensive tone in her voice and her eyes slightly narrowed at her.

Her tone slightly surprised her father, wondering why his daughter was speaking so bitingly towards her manager. True, neither of them liked her, but Poppy was always polite, never raising her voice or talking so forcefully.

"Where do you think, Ms. Summers?" Chef asked the pinkette, placing the photo of Branch down on her desk, face-down. "The Vega twins have had a whole fleet of photographers on you all week! Ever since you snuck out to attend that nightclub."

Poppy lightly bit her lip. So much for being careful not to be seen.

"I know." She said. "But I was being so careful."

Chef huffed with annoyance and anger. "Now, Aspen Heitz is having second thoughts about you doing the movie." She said to her. "He thinks that you're not ready to handle this type of job."

"Come on, Chef!" Poppy exclaimed. "It was just a little mistake that I made! Branch had nothing to do with any of this!"

"Is there a way to fix all of this?" Peppy asked his daughter's manager, placing a gentle hand on Poppy's arm to try and calm her down.

Chef tapped a finger on her chin for a few seconds, supposedly deep in thought. "Make the story go away." She suggested.

Poppy felt a sharp chill go up her spine. "What?" She asked, beginning to feel her blood grow cold.

Peppy removed his hand from his daughter's arm when he heard how quiet but sharp her tone was. Bridget was slightly taken aback by it as well.

"You call up the Vega twins, offer them an exclusive." Chef said, explaining her plan. "You tell them that you don't know this boy, that he is just some fan who had been following you around for a couple of days."

"Wait, wait, wait." Poppy said, cutting her off. "Before you say anything else about this idea of yours, tell me what you know about this. Where's Branch?"

Chef rolled her eyes. "What is it to you?" She asked the pink-haired singer. "You sound like you actually care for him. But if you must know, he and his family have left on a plane about two hours ago, heading back to their home in Wichita, Kansas."

Poppy felt her heart sink as she felt a lump go up into her throat. He was already gone. Now it was too late to try and make amends with him.

Peppy noticed the wilted stance in his daughter's posture. Did she actually.... care about this young man? Was she....?

"Now, back to the matter at hand." Chef said. "You tell the Vega twins that this boy is just a fan who you had to turn away because he had been following you around."

"You want me to lie?" Poppy asked, her voice low as she did her best to hold back her tears.

"This is the tabloid press, Miss Summers!" Chef shouted at her, making everyone in the room jump at her harsh tone. "Not the Supreme Court! Say whatever you have to say, because mark my words!"

She then snatched up the photo of Branch, showing his image to Poppy. "Either this boy goes away, or the movie does. Is that understood?"

Poppy had to bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from breaking down in front of her ruthless manager. This had to be what Branch had been talking about earlier in the week, saying to her that she wasn't in control of her life, even though she was a talented, capable and very successful young woman. Well, she wasn't going to let it happen anymore.

But at that moment, she didn't want to break down in front of her cold-hearted manager. If she wants to make and prove a statement to her, then she has to be strong and firm. And right now, she was feeling like she was about to break down because of Branch gone and being forced to do something that she would never do, especially to the person who opened her eyes to the real joys of life and music.

Poppy slowly stood up and narrowed her bleary eyes at Chef. "I can't believe you're asking me to do this." She said coldly before she spun around and ran out of the living room, feeling her bravado breaking down further as she ran up to her room.

"Poppy!" Bridget called out to her best friend, and hurried after her.

"What is up with that girl?" Chef asked.

Peppy narrowed his eyes sternly at his daughter's manager. "You may know a lot of things, Miss Chef, but you obviously don't know love when you see it."

Before Chef could utter another word, Peppy ended the Skype call. On her end, the manager scowled hatefully at the black screen.

Poppy? In love? With that worthless, nobody boy? That had to be utterly ridiculous! But it would explain why that naive girl is suddenly so apprehensive.

Chef thought that she had been doing alright, managing the career of that annoying, naive singing superstar, who still seemed like a little girl in many ways. Despite Poppy's very perky and frustratingly upbeat personality, Chef thought that she had her under her thumb, since she was very much a people-pleaser; very complacent to everyone's requests and wishes.

That boy she met, he must've gotten her to see that not everything is what it seems. That explains why the tabloids had been blowing up with news of Poppy finally dumping that Creek fellow all day. Soon, she will see right through her, and she and her reputation will be ruined!

She glared at the large photo of Branch that was still in her hand. He was ruining everything! It was all his fault. Spitefully, she threw the smooth textured picture of the black-haired young man into her nearby fireplace in her office.

As Chef watched the flames slowly eat away at the glossy photograph, and then went back to concocting a plan of how to make sure that Poppy was still under her influence. She had worked too hard to make Poppy Summers a superstar, and she wasn't going to let some nobody from Kansas ruin it for her!

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After Peppy had ended the call, he headed over to Poppy's room, where she was lying down on her bed, crying into her pillow. Bridget was rubbing her back, trying to console her. When Peppy entered the room, his daughter sat up and looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Poppy, you must tell me what happened out there." Peppy said to her as Bridget moved out of the way, allowing him to sit next to her as she slowly sat up. "Do you really know that young man? Who is he?"

But Poppy just continued to quietly sob as she reached for her father and buried her face in his chest. Peppy wrapped his arms around her and gently held her as she wetted his shirt with her tears.

"He's gone." Poppy whimpered. "He left, and now he's gone."

She knew that even though Branch had left for home, and that she could still try to find a way to contact him, she had been really hoping that he would still be in town so that she could apologize to him face to face without doing some kind of grand gesture.

That would've been preferable for both of them, but now, it seemed that the likelihood of seeing him again had dwindled down. And she can't just get up and go to Wichita just to see him. That would only cause more problems for both of them.

"Well, you can still try to reach out to him." Bridget said, trying to comfort her friend.

Poppy only shook her head, letting her emotions take hold of her sense of reason. "No." She sniffled. "That would only make things worse."

She then lifted her face away from her father's tear-stained shirt to look up at him and over at Bridget. "The paparazzi are never going to leave him alone now. Even if he tried to make them. And it's all my fault. I dragged him into this when he had wanted nothing to do with me in the first place."

As Poppy buried her face again in her father's embrace, she finally spoke about her worst fear, the one that was concerning Branch, that may be coming to life at that very moment, or at least when he and his family lands back in Kansas.

No matter what he says to the tabloids, he'll forever be known as either the mystery man who stole the heart of Poppy Summers, or the biggest liar in the history of stardom, depending on who believes his side of the story.

"He'll never live a normal life again." Poppy said tearfully, hugging Peppy as tight as she could. No way was she ever going to lie on live TV and say that she never knew him. But at the same time, the movie deal could be her next big move, and it was being compromised because of what the paparazzi think of her and Branch's relationship.

I don't even know what I want anymore. She thought to herself. I have everything I could ever dream of having, yet I don't have control over any of it. Is this how I want my life to be? Or do I want Branch, even if that meant possibly giving up everything I had worked for, but yet I'll be happy doing what I love most with the person who I... care about more than anyone else in the world? I don't know what to do.

A/N: Yeah, the worst is not over yet. And yes, I know this chapter is shorter than the last one, but like I said, there's only so much that I can write for only two scenes without it sounding redundant.

Don't worry, y'all. I think there's only one more chapter of angst and hurt before things can finally start turning around for our two lovers. And I think that it will bring you guys to tears, because I'm adding a special scene, involving a certain song from one of the "Trolls" movies that still brings me to tears every time I hear it. And I think you guys already know which one it is.

Until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think! And remember to stay healthy!

Got to fly! ;)