Catch a Rising Star

A/N: This took a little longer than I thought it would, but I'm not exactly complaining. I've had a crazy couple of weeks, and I hardly had the chance to write anything because of all the things that needed my attention and because it was supposed to be a time to recharge my own batteries.

But, I can say that I really needed it because I feel so much better. Being basically trapped in one place for too long can cause you to go stir-crazy.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get on with Chapter 9. Roll it!

Chapter 9

On the Run Again

Branch casually approached the young woman who was lying in the beach chair. "Excuse me?" He asked her. "Is this seat taken?" He gestured over to the spare chair placed next to her.

There was no answer. "No?" He asked again.

When the woman still didn't answer him, he shrugged. "Okay." He then sat down in the spare chair, placing his duffle bag next to him.

After a few moments of silence, Branch looked up at the sky, loving how the sky looked so clear. "It's a nice day today, isn't it?" He asked her.

She slowly slouched down in the chair, crossing her arms, as if she was trying to get comfy in her chair. "Oh, sorry." Branch apologized. "Were you sleeping?"

The woman shook her head. Branch slightly tilted his head at her. "You sure about that?" He asked, slightly reaching out with his hand to touch her face.

Immediately, at the lightest brush of his fingers, the woman jumped up and fell out of her chair with a surprised yelp. Her stark black designer sunglasses that were perched on her nose fell down, dangling down her chin from her ears, revealing her face.

Staring at him with lightly flushed cheeks was Poppy Summers, just as he had predicted. He looked down at her with a smug smile, making her glower at him for a few seconds, her blush slightly reddening. But then, a look of pure relief came on her face when she saw that it was just him.

"How did you know that it was me?" She asked him, getting back in her chair and brushing off the sand that was on her pants.

"The hat." Branch pointed out, looking up at the sun hat that he let Poppy borrow the night before.

Poppy looked up to see the straw sun hat on her head. "It does have a bit of an odd smell to it." She said. "It's old, but I can still smell a little bit of cherry blossom perfume on it."

Branch snorted. "Are you sure that that's not your own perfume instead of the kind that my mom used to wear?" He asked teasingly.

Poppy just rolled her eyes with a chuckle. She really was starting to get through to him. She then took off her sunglasses and put them in her pocket.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

Branch raised a brow at her. "What are you doing here?" He asked the same question to her. "Go home."

"I tried." Poppy answered.

"And?" Branch continued to goad her.

Poppy opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. "You wouldn't understand." She said.

Branch quirked up his brow again, this time in confusion. Then, he went to rely on his most famous tactic: sarcasm.

"Oh, so you think you're so special that a nobody like me could possibly understand how hard it is to be you." He said dryly.

Poppy glared at him, narrowing her eyes at him. He only responded with a smirk and another brow rising, as if he was challenging her to try him.

Finally, she sighed. "Okay." She said. "There are about ten paparazzi cars parked outside my house with their cameras."

Branch tilted his head to the side. "I thought you superstars live for the camera." He said.

Poppy shook her head. "See, you don't understand." She said, looking away from him. "Sometimes, being a star is.... tiring. Like, I would like a break every once in a while. No fans, no cameras, no boring career meetings."

Branch blinked. He didn't know that Poppy was actually kind of struggling with her life. But he supposed that if their positions were switched, he would feel like he was cracking under the pressure as well. She was about his age, and if she were a normal girl, then she would have all the time in the world to do what she wanted to do, which to him, was truly live and be who she is.

He saw a glimpse of that during that house party the night before. She seemed more.... at ease, like she wasn't trying to please people. She was singing because she wanted to, and sharing what she loved with others.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he realized that Poppy was talking again. "I just need to get home in a car that the paparazzi won't recognize." She said, looking around her, hoping that no one had seen her besides Branch.

She then looked back over at him, an idea coming into her head. "What kind of car are you driving?" She asked him.

Branch just laughed out loud briefly at the thought of the orange monstrosity that he and Harper were borrowing. "Oh, you'd love it." He said. "It's a classic. Really vintage."

Poppy's eyes brightened. "Perfect." She said. "I could pay you-"

"Nope." Branch cut her off, holding out his palm in front of her. "I'm not letting you throw your money around, no matter how rich you are. Plus, you still owe me five grand for staying at Garage de la Grandma."

Poppy just rolled her eyes, a smile forming on her face. Maybe he wasn't as infuriating as she had originally thought. He actually seemed like a cool guy when you get under that cold exterior of his.

Branch smiled himself a little bit, and then flipped his hand over to show his palm. "Just give me your keys." He said.

Poppy blinked. "Why?" She asked.

"Well, if you're taking our car, you're not leaving us here without one." Branch answered her. "Keys. Come on."

Poppy held her head back in annoyance before reaching into her back pocket and pulling out her car keys. Branch was about to grab them when Poppy pulled him back.

"Hey, look. She's a-" She stopped to pull her keys away again when Branch tried to grab them. "-300 and-"

The same thing happened again. "-335 horsepower, first generation-" Branch tried to grab the keys again, but Poppy pulled them away. "'69 Porsche with original paint."

Branch once more tried to grab the car keys, but Poppy pulled them away from him for the fifth time. "Look, I love Colbie, okay?" She said, trying to get her point across to him.

Branch raised a brow at her. "'Colbie'?" He repeated in disbelief. "Like the famous singer?"

Poppy slowly nodded. "You name your cars?" This time, she moved her head around in a shaky nod while shrugging in embarrassment.

Branch rolled his eyes. "Give me those." He said as he finally took the keys from her.

He then stood up from his beach chair, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Wait here." He said before walking away.

*********************************

In a matter of minutes, Branch came back to where Poppy was with his own car keys in hand. He had managed to find Harper sunbathing in another beach chair a few yards away, listening to one of Poppy's cover songs as usual with her headphones on, and slip Poppy's car keys into her handbag that she brought with her. Then, he carefully took out the keys to their own car that they borrowed and left before Harper even noticed that he was there.

When he came back to where Poppy was, he held up the keys in the air. "Come on." He said, grabbing his duffel bag.

Poppy got out of her chair, put her sunglasses back on her face, and the two of them headed over to the parking lot. She was looking between many dars, wondering which one Branch was driving.

Finally, Branch stopped. "Poppy, meet Dahlia." He said, pointing over to a nearby car.

Poppy lowered her sunglasses a little and stared with wide and disbelieving eyes at the orange, square-like, ugly excuse of an eco-car rip-off.

"You've got to be kidding me." She said, slowly bringing her sunglasses back up to the bridge of her nose.

Branch almost laughed out loud at the sight of Poppy's gobsmacked expression as she slowly put her sunglasses up on the bridge of her nose again.

"She runs like a top." He said. "Fixed her up myself."

He then took Poppy's hand and placed his car keys in her palm. "Have her back here in an hour."

But before he could let go of her hand, Poppy saw, from the corner of her eye, two familiar black vans coming into the parking lot. She quickly grabbed Branch's hand with her free one and pulled him down.

"Get down!" She whispered as both of them ducked behind the car closest to them and carefully headed over to the newly christened Dahlia.

"I can't believe it! How do these guys know where to find me?"

Branch raised an eyebrow at her. Clearly, she doesn't understand that she has quite obsessive fans, Harper included in the group.

"My sister knows where to find you." He said incredulously. "And she's from Wichita."

The vans parked along the curb and two large groups of paparazzi came out of them, all of them holding either cameras or microphones. All of them seemed to scan the people that went by them, looking for a certain pink-haired star.

Poppy peeked out from behind Dahlia, looking to see if the paparazzi were coming in their direction. She took off her sunglasses and handed them to Branch.

"Here. Put these on."

Branch looked at her with confused eyes. "Now!" She whispered.

"Okay." Branch complied, and put the sunglasses on his face.

"Get in the car." Poppy whispered to him, gently pushing him over towards the passenger side of the car.

Staying as low as she could, she quickly headed over to the driver's side. Looking back over at the paparazzi for a second, Poppy then unlocked the door and got inside the car. Then, she unlocked the passenger door for Branch inside, but she didn't count on it swinging back and hitting him in the face.

"Ow!" He exclaimed.

Poppy's eyes widened in shock as she looked forward towards the outside. Branch lightly stumbled back onto his feet. Luckily, he didn't get another bump on his head, nor did his nose break. But the sunglasses he was wearing did almost fall off his face.

"Okay, you really need to stop hitting me." He said, adjusting the sunglasses.

"Sorry!" Poppy whispered. "Just get in! Get in!"

Branch grabbed his duffel bag and climbed into the passenger seat, closing the door behind him. He tossed his duffel bag in the back and buckled himself up.

Poppy glanced through the back mirror and saw that someone from the paparazzi was looking in her direction, his camera ready to start snapping pictures. She put her head and pushed Branch's down as well.

"Head down." She said.

"It's down." Branch muttered in annoyance.

Poppy began to take off her gray hoodie, revealing her teal blouse underneath. Once it was off, she handed it to Branch.

"Here. Put this on." She said.

The black-haired man just stared at her as if she was crazy. "Now!" Poppy hissed at him.

"Okay!" Branch answered back, and began putting on her hoodie, the hood over his head.

Poppy made sure that her hair and bangs were carefully tucked under her sun hat before she began pulling Dahlia out of the parking lot. They both tried to act as casually as possible when the paparazzi got closer and closer to them. Luckily for them, they didn't seem to recognize Poppy and then left the area as Dahlia managed to leave the parking lot and get onto the main street.

Both of them released a breath of relief as they both straightened up. Branch then looked over at Poppy, and lightly smiled at the way she was driving.

"You know, you kind of drive like my grandma." He said.

Poppy looked over at him and just smiled back at him, a teasing glint in her eyes, a stray pink lock swooping down onto her forehead.

"You look like my grandpa!" She said.

Both of them laughed at their playful joking as Branch took off the hoodie and then shimmied it off his shoulders. Poppy then noticed that her sunglasses were still on his face.

"Oh, and I need my sunglasses back, please." She said.

Branch smirked. "Oh, I don't know." He said. "I kind of like them."

Poppy just rolled her eyes with a smile. "I'll give them to you." She said. "Later, though."

Branch decided to joke around and pretend that he was a super fan of hers. His mouth dropped open as he took off the sunglasses and held them in his hands.

"For real?" He asked excitedly. "'Cause no one just won't believe that I, Branch Hawthorne, actually got a pair of designer sunglasses worn by Poppy Summers herself! Will you autograph them for me?"

Poppy just shook her head at him acting like he was a fan, when he technically wasn't, as the rest of her bangs released from under the sun hat and her ponytail being freed as well.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." She said, seeing through his little act.

Branch snorted. "Okay. But seriously, I really want these glasses."

Poppy shook her head and held out a palm. "Nope. Give 'em." She said.

With a playful shake of his own head, Branch handed Poppy back her sunglasses. "So, how long do I have to drive around with you this time?" He asked.

"Only until the paparazzi leave the beach." Poppy assured him.

Just then, another idea came into her head. "Hey. Let's go do something." She suggested.

"Like what?" Branch asked her.

She shrugged. "Anything. What have you seen since you've been here?"

"Nothing." He answered, shaking his head at the memories of Harper dragging him around the city just so that she could meet Poppy. "I've been too busy following you around."

Poppy looked over at him briefly with surprised eyes. "Really?" She asked.

Branch narrowed his eyes dryly at her as the smile left his face and a frown replaced it. "Don't you know anything about sarcasm?" He asked before he steeled his look to act nonchalant.

"I've been doing that with my sister. She idolizes you. I, on the other hand, I could care less about you or your city."

Poppy shook her head with a small smile at the reminder that his sister was apparently a really big fan of hers. But then she heard his last sentence.

"Hey, I know you don't like me, but don't take it out on Los Angeles. This is one of the greatest cities in the world."

Branch raised a brow at her. "Really?" He asked.

Poppy answered that with a smirk on her own. "In fact, I'll be your own private tour guide." She offered.

"I thought you needed to get home." Branch said, a smile threatening to come back onto his face despite him trying to sound suspicious.

"Nah." Poppy replied with a smile as she put her sunglasses back on. "I'll take the long way."

Branch rolled his eyes, the smile back on his face. What was he going to do with her? He then laughed as Poppy turned on the radio and music began to play.

"First things first, let's grab a bite." Poppy suggested.

Branch shrugged. "Yeah, I could eat."

"Perfect." Poppy said with a smile. "Because I know the perfect place."

Branch quirked up a brow. "Really?" He asked. "I thought the point of all this sneaking around was so that you're not recognized."

"Exactly." Poppy answered. "And this place, hardly no one knows about, but you can't argue with the food. Plus, no one, not even my most eccentric fans, know about it."

"Is that so?" Branch challenged.

Poppy nodded. "Yep." She said. "Only Bridget and my dad know about me dropping by there every once in a while. It's quiet, the coffee's great, and they have the best pastries ever."

Branch shook his head. "Okay, okay." He said, complying with her choice. "Let's head over there. And are you sure that we will not cause a riot?"

"Positive." Poppy assured him.

Branch just shrugged while lightly shaking his head. He still wasn't completely sure about taking Poppy's word for it, so he supposed that he'll believe it when he sees this coffee shop that apparently no fan of hers knows about. Not even the more obsessive ones like Harper.

On the bright side, at least it will be quiet compared to some other places, and that she won't cause a riot if she was somehow spotted by one of those paparazzi people that freak her out so much.

A/N: Yeah, I kind of changed the beginning scene a little bit, just to add a bit more originality to it. And I added the last scene, too. Because in the next chapter, it will be completely original.

Just to point out, I had remembered something while I was writing this. The next chapter will have karaoke, just a little spoiler warning. And in my opinion, any Justin Timberlake songs that I could picture Branch singing to, I kind of picture them as being like his own original songs for some strange reason. If any of you guys know what I mean? So I really appreciate you guys giving me some great suggestions, but I think I'll go with the back-up song I chose.

Until next time, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think. They are highly appreciated. And remember to stay healthy.

Got to fly! ;)