Catch a Rising Star

A/N: I'm actually making some real progress on this. Probably because this is my very first "Trolls" story, and recently, I remembered how much I loved the first movie, the Netflix series, and reading other fanfiction works. And after seeing the trailers, it made me even more psyched. I still haven't seen the entire movie yet, but I REALLY want to.

But sad thing is, I'm the only one in my family that likes "Trolls", so if we bought it, I would be the only one who would watch it, and I would drive my brothers crazy. My mom would probably be the only one who would watch it with me.

Well, hopefully soon, when it's available for rental, I can watch it. But now, let's get on with Chapter 5. Roll it!

Chapter 5

Seeing the Doctor

Within the hour, Branch was in a doctor's office in the local hospital where a woman with dark hair and blue eyes was doing a check-up on him. She was using a little light and shining it in front of him, moving it back and forth slowly to test his eye coordination.

"Follow the light with your eyes." She instructed him. Branch silently obeyed, and his eyes moved smoothly as they followed the beam of light back and forth across his point of vision.

Once she was done, she turned off the light and Branch blinked as she began to speak again. "Well, I've done a thorough exam, the CT scan looks normal. Everything looks good."

Just then, Poppy stuck her head through the hospital curtain that blocked her view. "So he's okay?" She asked her.

"Out." The doctor instructed, and Poppy obeyed. Then the doctor turned her attention back to her patient.

"There's no sign of head trauma other than the little bump, and I'm pretty sure you don't have a concussion." She continued.

"How come I threw up then?" Branch asked her.

"Maybe it was something you ate that didn't agree with you." The doctor hypothesized, getting a clipboard that was placed on the other side of the bed where Branch was seated.

"Or maybe it was just a reaction from meeting that wannabe diva." She added, gesturing over with her head towards where Poppy was waiting on the other side of the curtain.

Branch's lips curled up a little at her joke, feeling somewhat better that he wasn't the only one in the world who wasn't crazy about Poppy Summers.

The curtain parted again to reveal said pink-haired star with a look of annoyance on her face. "It's a curtain, Plum. I can hear you." Poppy said.

"No, you can't." Doctor Plum continued to tease her.

Branch looked between the two, his jaw agape. "You two know each other?" He asked.

Poppy nodded. "Yeah. She's a friend of the family."

Branch decided that he had enough of this crazy night. He turned over to Plum.

"So can I go now?" He asked her.

Doctor Plum nodded. "Yes." She said. "But I want you to put an ice pack on that bump. I'll be right back." She then left through the curtain, leaving Branch alone with Poppy.

Now that she was really looking at him, Poppy could see that Branch looked quite handsome. His coal black hair was gelled up because of him going out with his sister earlier, and his vest and shirt hugged his very fine chest, showcasing the smooth curvature of his upper arms. He definitely fitted the physique of the dark and mysterious roguish type, but she could tell in his icy blue eyes, there was a little spark of emotion. Unfortunately, that emotion was annoyance, and it was clearly aimed at her for some weird reason. Probably because he hasn't forgiven her for accidentally hitting him in the head with a door.

Branch just looked up at Poppy with three emotions: annoyance, suspicion and a tiny bit of intrigue. True, she was much prettier in person than on TV, though he would rather jump off a cliff than admit it out loud. The more he analyzed her eyes, the more he thought that she wasn't wearing contacts, and that the pinkish magenta color was very much natural. He could see the little freckles that dotted her cheeks, and noticed the way those long wispy bangs of hers framed her face perfectly.

Just then, before either of them could come to the realization that they were checking the other out, a cheerful ringtone chirped from Poppy's phone. Her eyes widened when she heard it, but for some reason, she felt like she didn't want to tear her eyes away from Branch. But why? Was it just because he was the first person in over three years who talked to her like she was a normal person instead of a superstar, other than Bridget and her father? Or even that he dared to talk so sassily to her?

Branch raised an eyebrow at her when the phone chirped for a third time. "You gonna answer that?" He asked. He had no idea why, but the longer that she stared at him like that, the more he felt his cheeks starting to heat up in self-consciousness.

Poppy blinked, and her cheeks flushed a delicate pink. "Oh. Right." She said, chuckling awkwardly before closing the curtain behind her.

She lightly slapped her forehead a couple of times to reprimand herself for looking at another guy when she is with Creek. Then, she reached into the little pink purse that she had brought with her when she and Bridget snuck out, which was placed on the chair that was pulled out for her while she was waiting.

She got out her phone and answered it when she saw who was calling her. "Hi, Dad." She greeted him cheerfully.

"Poppy, where are you?" Peppy asked his daughter. "The party is in full swing over there, and guess who decided to make an appearance?"

"Who?" Poppy asked.

"Miss Chef." Peppy answered.

"What?" Poppy exclaimed. "She's at the house? Right now?"

"Yes. Right now" Peppy said. "I didn't know how she knew about this, but she just showed up here with the director of the movie, Aspen Heitz." He then sighed. "Look, you promised that you were going to stay home for the week."

Poppy gulped a little. "Okay, just stall them. I'll be right there." She said before she hung up.

But right as she turned around, she saw Doctor Plum standing there, having given Branch his ice pack, and she didn't look very happy.

"That might be a bit of a problem, little missy." She said, gesturing in the direction where the waiting room was. "The waiting room outside is filled with lots of people with big cameras."

Poppy's eyes widened. "The paparazzi found me?" She asked.

When Doctor Plum nodded, she took a deep breath and tried to come up with a plan. "Plum, what kind of car are you driving?" She asked her.

Plum chuckled. "Nothing you would be interested in." She answered as Branch listened in on the conversation from the other side of the curtain. "I'm still paying off another year of medical school. This is why you should be careful of your spending when you're in college."

Poppy smiled. "How about a trade?" She asked her.

Doctor Plum narrowed her eyes. "No, that's not an option, Poppy." She said.

Poppy then took out her car keys and held them out to Doctor Plum. "It only happens once." She enticed her, holding them out in her face.

Doctor Plum looked over at the keys dangling in front of her, and then over at her goddaughter. She was actually being serious.

"Okay." She finally said.

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

Within minutes, Poppy and Branch were in Doctor Plum's car, which was a faded blue Ford Thunderbird that did have a bit of a cylinder problem, so every couple of seconds, it would sound like it was gonna blow a gasket. The black-haired man wished that his head would stop throbbing so that maybe he could take a look at it.

Branch winced visibly at the loud sound from the back and the yelp that came from Poppy sitting beside him, neither of them helping his migraine at all, due to the bump on his head, which had the ice pack on it.

"Are you sure this is safe?" He asked.

"Pretty sure." Poppy said, trying to shake off the scare she got.

There was another loud bang from behind. "I'm pretty sure it's not!" Branch retorted back, mentally cursing the pounding in his brain. If it didn't exist, then maybe he could fix it so that it probably won't combust into flames.

"Just calm down!" Poppy said.

"No, I don't want to calm down. I want to go home!" Branch shouted as he flicked a rolled up piece of paper at Poppy's face.

"Ow!" She exclaimed. "What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? Oh, nothing." He answered her sarcastically. "I'm just looking forward to being grounded for the rest of my life."

"What are you, fourteen?" Poppy asked him dryly.

"Twenty-four." Branch corrected her with a glare.

Poppy raised an eyebrow. "So almost three years older than me." She said.

Branch glared at her. "Just take me home before my sister does, and before our grandmother suspects anything and then figures out that we lied to her and got split up."

"Don't worry about your sister." Poppy tried to assure him. "I trust Bridget completely. She'll make sure that she's okay and she gets back home safely. I promise."

Branch only narrowed her eyes at her, not really sure if he wanted to believe her. "So when are you going to take me home?"

"Soon." Poppy answered him. "There's just one itty bitty stop we have to make first."

Her response only made her grumpy passenger groan in frustration, pressing the ice pack slightly harder against the bump that was on his head.

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

A few minutes later, Poppy parked the car a block away from her Beverly Hills home. By now, the bump on Branch's head was feeling better, so he left the ice pack in the rusty bucket of bolts that was called a car and let Poppy lead him towards her house. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the place.

"You've gotta be kidding me." He said.

Poppy didn't answer him as she quietly opened the door and got herself and Branch inside, closing the door behind. Branch looked around the place, his eyes widening with disbelief, almost feeling like he should be impressed.

"You live here?" He asked her as she took off her bright yellow hoodie, showing her teal blouse with the white strings dangling from the front and the ends of her sleeves.

"Yeah." Poppy replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why?"

But Branch didn't get the chance to come up with a snarky answer when Poppy saw some people coming inside the living room from the party that was being held out in the backyard. Quickly, she threw the hoodie over Branch's head and began leading him up towards the stairs. Normally, Branch wouldn't be caught dead in something so sickeningly bright colored, but right now, he was more concerned about where Poppy was taking him.

"What are you doing?" He asked her as she tugged his arm. "Stop pulling me!"

"Sorry." Poppy said as she continued to guide Branch up the giant spiral staircase.

"Where are we going?" Branch asked her, but she didn't answer him as she snuck brief glances down on the main level. "Poppy!"

"I'm sorry!" The pink-haired superstar apologized again. "It's just that, I don't know-"

"Don't know where to hide me?" Branch questioned, sounding sarcastic.

"No!" Poppy answered with indignation as they finally reached the second floor of the house.

She took a quick breath to calm herself and lower her voice. "No. I'm not hiding you."

She took another brief glance down the stairs. "It's just that I don't want these particular people to see you right now."

Branch narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh, because I'm not someone famous? Like a movie star or a singing sensation?"

"No." Poppy said. This guy was really starting to get on her nerves. "It's because I don't want anyone asking any questions, and neither do you."

She then started to act like an interviewer. "'Who is he?' 'Where did you meet him?' 'Are you two dating?'"

Branch almost choked on his own spit. "Dating?" He repeated in disbelief. Who in the world would ask such a ridiculous question like that? Did they forget that this bubblegum-haired singer already has a boyfriend who she sang to at the club about an hour ago?

"Yeah!" Poppy said, sounding incredulous. "They make stuff up like that!"

The Kansan young man looked at her, his jaw agape. "Okay, why do they ask stupid questions like that?" He asked in disbelief. "I hardly even know you, and I can already tell that you're not that kind of girl."

Poppy blinked in surprise. "Okay, that might actually be the nicest thing you've ever said to me so far." She said.

"Don't get used to it." Branch sniped back, his arm folded across his chest.

The pink-haired star just shrugged, acting indifferent to what he said, and he just rolled his eyes in response, muttering under his breath. "Oh, for the love of all that's holy in this world."

What kind of craziness had been thrown into his life? He was actually looking forward to having a nice, calm vacation with his family, and what happened within only one day since he arrived? His sixteen-year-old sister dragged him out into sneaking out behind their grandmother's back, to an adult nightclub, all just so she can meet her idol, and he instead was the one to meet said superstar when she hit him in the head with a door, took him to a doctor who knew her personally, and now she brought him to her house just so she could hide him.

Soon, Poppy led Branch into a guest room with a large queen-sized bed with sky blue sheets and lots of white pillows. There was a white fur rug on the floor, and a large white desk in the corner, along with a fancy metal swivel chair. Hanging on one of the walls was a giant black and white poster of Poppy herself.

"This is one of the guest rooms." She said to him as she ushered him in. "Uh, be my guest."

"Do I have a choice?" Branch asked her, throwing the sunny yellow hood off his head and chucking the hoodie onto the bed.

"Not really, no. I'll be right back." Poppy answered, and then turned back to head out of the room. But before she did, she faced Branch again, holding out an open palm. "Just.... stay."

Branch rolled his eyes again. "Arf." He said sarcastically.

Poppy just rolled her own eyes before she closed the door behind her and headed back down the stairs, resisting the urge to tear out her hair. This guy really infuriated her, but yet, why did she even bother with him in the first place?

Miss Chef was right about her. She really was too nice for her own good. Well, at least Branch showed that he didn't want anything from her, not even the perverted things. He just didn't really seem like that kind of guy. It was more like she was the proverbial bane of his life for some odd reason, and that he didn't want anything to do with her. Well, hopefully, after she makes a professional appearance, she will get Branch back home before they both want to start to tear each other's hair out.

A/N: I looked it up, and actually, it is possible for someone who have pink eyes. Not the infection, but the actual eye color. It's just exceedingly rare, since it does have to have some kind of albinism in it. I don't remember all of the science behind it, but yes. It is possible for someone to have pink as their natural eye color.

Well, I hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter and more of the banter between Poppy and Branch. These two are just too fun to write. Please leave a comment about what you think, and remember to stay healthy.

Got to fly! ;)