His heart was hammering inside his chest as the light blue troll jiggled the handle of his water heater much longer than needed... up and down... up and down... up and down...

     The movement somehow seemed to calm him just a bit, somewhat easing his anxious thoughts that were throbbing painfully inside his brain...

     "Ok... ok... calm down, Branch..." he told himself in a breathful mutter. "You need to calm down..."

     He needed to cease jiggling that stupid handle or it would surly snap right off, causing water to flood his home within seconds... and yet... he couldn't seem to stop himself...

     "Calm down... calm down, calm down, calm down..."

     Taking several deep breaths, Branch finally released the handle from his trembling grasp, instead reaching up to clutch his hair in tight fists before beginning to pace anxiously back and forth...

     "She doesn't know... you got out of telling her... she doesn't know..." he tried to convince himself. "But... but they do... how the hair did they find out!? Am I that obvious?"

     A small whimper rising up from the bottom of his throat, his legs now feeling exactly like jello, the poor boy suddenly collapsed right down to his knees as he began to sob loudly into his hands...

     "I should have never gone to that stupid game night! I'm so stupid! Stupid, stupid stupid!" he cried out, the young boy repeatedly smacking his head with the palm of his dull blue hand. "They all know! They all know! They'll tell Poppy and... and..." He paused, slowly lowering his shaking hands from his face as the realization of his actions finally struck like a ballet train ramming straight into the poor blue troll. "She'll hate me..." he finally continued in a quiet mumble. "I've ruined everything..."

     There was no way that wonderfully perfect troll shared his feelings... she didn't see him that way... and he certainly didn't blame her... after all... she was the queen... and he was just... him... a nobody who had only been known as the village grump for basically his entire life... a good for nothing party pooper...

He knew he didn't deserve someone as special as Poppy... as kind... as caring... as utterly perfect as the beautiful pink troll who lit up his otherwise dreary existence... which is why he had been so grateful just to simply be able to call her a friend... but... that was all he was to her... a friend... nothing more... and he never would be...

Was he even her friend anymore? After that disastrous game night... he wasn't too sure he was...

She would never talk to him again... the best friendship he had ever had... and it was over... destroyed! All because he couldn't keep his true feelings in check... He had lost everything... again...

A long sigh escaping his mouth, Branch lowered his head in pure sorrow, his ears drooping down low as he contemplated his life...

He should have never allowed himself to fall for her... maybe... he shouldn't have ever even left his bunker in the first place... The underground home was familiar... safe... unlike the unpredictable world above...

Maybe... it would just be better to lock himself away again... for everyone's sake...

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!

Another thing that had changed... his home wasn't exactly a secret anymore... every troll in the village knew where it was now... things would never be the same again... would they...?

With one last sigh, Branch looked down at his slowly graying hands, his heart instantly picking up speed yet again...

No... no, no, no... he couldn't be going gray again... he didn't want to be gray again! He didn't want to be alone again!

Although he liked the familiarity of it all... the idea of things being like they always had been in the past where he knew exactly what was going to happen every second of every day... he still knew... he knew he couldn't go back... not now that he had discovered what it was like to be truly happy...

Then again... would he ever be truly happy without Poppy by his side...?

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!

It didn't matter right now... no matter what he wanted... no matter what he chose for his future... he wouldn't even have an option if whoever was currently at his door saw him like this... he would never be accepted by the the rest of his kind if they realized the village grouch was going back to his old ways...

He just couldn't be known as the only troll in history that wasn't able to manage holding onto his colors for even a single day... who couldn't handle being happy...

"Ok..." he finally whispered softly to himself, the survivalist shutting his eyes as he took a deep calming breath to try and settle his anxious nerves. "I can do this... I can be normal... I can be like all the other trolls... I just need to try harder..."

Slowly opening his eyes, Branch caught sight of a framed picture of himself with Poppy... a picture that the pink troll had given to him for his last birthday... the first picture since he had turned gray that he had actually smiled in...

"I can hide my feelings for her..."

With another deep breath, Branch forced his colors back before heading up his elevator to see who was there...

"Be normal..."