"He'll never see this one coming," Branch chuckled mischievously, moving his chess piece forewords.

     Suddenly, he stood, moving to the other side of the board, before sitting back down.

     "Wow," he said, his eyes widening in shock. "Did not see that coming."

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door, the sound echoing through his bunker.

     "Hugh?" Branch said, looking up at his elevator in confusion. Who could that be? He wasn't expecting company. Especially not at this hour.

     Slowly, he rose to his feet, walking cautiously to the elevator, before riding it up to his hatch.

     "Who's there!?" he called up to the surface, not wanting to unlock his door, if he didn't know who was on the other side.

     Silence...

     "Hello?" he called out. "I said... who's there!?"

     No reply...

     Maybe it was just someone dropping off an invitation. Ever since he'd rejoined troll society about a year ago, he had been getting invitations from more trolls than just Poppy. Lots of invitations...

Slowly, he opened up the hatch, peeking out into the dark of night. No one was in sight. There wasn't even an envelope on the ground like there usually was when there was a knock on his door. Sus...

     "Hmmm..." he muttered to himself, looking around in confusion. 'But who...'

Suddenly, before he could finish his thought, a bag was flung over his head, blinding him from seeing his surroundings.

     "Hey!" Branch shouted, kicking and punching at the burlap sack, trying to escape, as someone picked up the bag, dragging him out of his bunker. "Let me outta here!" he screamed in a panic. "Let me go!"

He could feel himself being dragged through the forest, as he looked around the bag he was trapped in frantically for a way to escape, his heart pounding like crazy.

     Finally, the bag stopped moving, leaving Branch laying on the ground who knows where, as his ears twitched, listening for any sort of sound that would tell him who his captor was, but the area was completely silent.

     "Ok, Branch..." he muttered to himself, trying not to panic. "It's ok... you just gotta get outta here. You'll be fine..."

He twisted around in the sack, forcing his hand out through the opening, as he felt around for the string that held the bag shut.

"Got it!" he shouted out in victory, smiling at his success. He pulled at the rope carefully, trying to get it untied, as he stuck his tongue out of his mouth in concentration. "Almost... got it..."

Finally, he got the bag untied, jumping out of the sack, as he immedioutly went into defensive mode, looking around himself cautiously.

     "Who's out there!?" he demanded in a shout. No reply. "What do you want with me!?" Still... no answer.

Branch looked around frantically, seeing nothing but darkness surrounding him. No one was there... but then... who had kidnapped him? And why?

     Finally, he stood up straight, scratching his head in confusion. "Who..."

Suddenly a bright light flashed on, shining brightly in the blue troll's face.

"Ahh!" he screamed out in shock, putting his hands up in front of his face, to shield his eyes from the blinding light.

The light slowly began to dim, as Branch squinted to see his surroundings.

     "H... hello?" he called out, his voice trembling in fear. "Who's..."

"SURPRISE!"

     The shout was loud, as a bunch of trolls jumped out from behind bushes, trees, and rocks, startling Branch with the suddenness of it all.

"AHHH!" Branch screamed out in shock, jumping back, and falling to the ground in fear.

     He looked around, his eyes wide, as the trolls surrounding him chuckled, Poppy suddenly skipping joyfully over to him, smiling wide with excitement.

"Surprise, Branch," she laughed. "Do you like it?" She looked at him, hoping for a joyful response, but Branch just stared at her wide eyes, completely confused.

"Wha... what is this!?" he finally asked, his heart still racing in his chest, as he stared up at Poppy. "A surprise party!" Poppy explained cheerfully. "Surprise!"

     Branch blinked, his heart slowly calming down, as he looked up at Poppy in shock.

     "Wait..." he finally said, standing back up. "You kidnapped me... so you could bring me to a party!?"
"Well dugh, Branch," Poppy chuckled, waving her hand through the air. "I knew you wouldn't come willingly."

Branch sighed, putting his hands over his face in frustration, as he slowly shook his head at Poppy.

"Why?" he finally groaned. "Why do I need to be at this party?"
"It's your party!" Poppy shouted, raising her hands up in the air enthusiastically.

     "Mine?" Branch questioned, looking up at her, as he raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But... but what for?"
"Nothing!" Poppy exclaimed cheerfully, smiling wide at Branch.

He looked at her, his face completely blank.

"Let me get this straight..." he finally said, putting his hands together in front of his face, as he took a deep calming breath. "You planned a big surprise party for me... and then kidnapped me... for nothing!?"
"Exactly!" Poppy cheered.

"Yeah," Branch sighed angrily, as he turned to walk away. "I'm leaving."
"Branch... get back here," Poppy groaned, whipping her hair forwards, to wrap around Branch's waist.

"Whoa!" he shouted in shock, flying backwards, as Poppy yanked him back to her.

"Branch," she said firmly. "I love you. And I threw you a party to show that. Please stay."

     He looked around, seeing all the games that were set up, along with a big food table overflowing with brownies and other chocolate goodies. His one true weakness... Poppy must've worked really hard on this party...

"Well..." he finally said softly. "It does look kinda fun..."

Poppy smiled at his words, releasing him from her grasp.

     "So you'll stay!?" she asked hopefully. Branch sighed, giving her a slight smile, as he crossed his arms.

     "Fine..."
"Yay! Let's get this party started!"

Dj started playing music on her Wooferbug, all the trolls beginning to dance around joyfully.

     Suddenly, Poppy grabbed onto Branch's wrist, dragging him onto the dance floor with her. She danced around him happily, trying to get him to have some fun, but he just stood there grumpily, his arms hanging loosely by his side, as he glared off into the distance.

"Oh come-on, Branch," Poppy whined, gesturing at him to dance. "It's a party! Have some fun, and dance with me."
"Nope... I'm good," Branch said, continuing to glare straight ahead.

     Annoyed by his response, Poppy put her hands on her hips, glaring at Branch, as she stomped her foot on the ground in anger.

     "Why won't you just dance?" she complained.
"Cuz of that," Branch answered, pointing up at the sky.
"Hugh? What do you mean?" Poppy asked, as she looked up to see what Branch was talking about, but as she looked away from him, Branch smirked over at her mischievously. "I don't see..."

Suddenly... without any warning... Branch grabbed Poppy's arm, twirling her around in a big circle.

     Once she stopped spinning, she blinked in confusion, not fully registering what had just happened.

     Finally, she looked at Branch, and smiling as she hugged him tight, lifting him off the ground joyfully.

"I love you, Poppy," he told her with a smirk, hugging her back.
"I love you too, Branch."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]