Genderbend Human AU

Poppy steps out of his house happily. He walks into his front garden. The man picks up a watering can. He waters the patch of Poppies humming a little song. Then he looks up and sees a certain woman is walking by as usual. She seems to be wearing a green skirt and dark grey hoodie with the hood up. She stops at the flower stand and picks up small bouquet of flowers. She smells them then pays for them as usual.

Poppy had saw her do this many times. Sometimes he doesn't see her. He doesn't know who she is but, he would like to know who she is. Poppy knows everyone in his neighborhood but, he has a feeling that she is not from here. Something about her seems so interesting and mysterious. Poppy tried many times to get her attention so he could talk to her but, she would always be out of his sight fast.

Poppy is about to call out to get her attention but, she is already walking away out of his sight. Now she is gone again but, that doesn't bother Poppy too much. One day he is going to actually meet her and talk to her. Then the man leaves his house after the watering can down and walks over to the flower stand across the street.

"Hey Andy. ", Poppy greets.

Andy turns to Poppy and smiles at his friend.

" Oh,hey Poppy. Is there something I can help you with? ",Andy says friendly.

" Do you know that woman who just brought flowers from you?", Poppy asks curious.

Andy is surprised by Poppy. He sells flowers to the woman but, he doesn't really know her. He wonders why Poppy would ask him that.

"Why? Do you do want to meet her and ask her out?", Andy asks curious.

Poppy's eyes widen in surprise. Why did Andy think that? He doesn't even know what she looks like!

" Woah! It's not like that. I don't even know what she looks like",Poppy denied blushing.

Andy looks at Poppy unconvinced.

"Well I do. She's hiding beauty under the hoodie.", Andy replies honestly.

" Do know anything else about her?",Poppy asks curious.

Andy thinks for a moment.

"She buys flowers every time she comes this way. She doesn't talk much. I think the flowers might be for her family cause I heard her say something about her grandpa or something like that. I'm not sure...", Andy admits.

A few days pass and Poppy had not seen the woman walk by again. He is outside in his garden watering his poppies. Then Poppy looks up and sees the mysterious woman walking to the flower stand but, someone is following her!

The man behind her pushes her to the ground hard and grabbed her hood. The man pulls down her hood then pulls out his gun! Poppy drops his watering can and jumps over his fence. He gets over to them and punches the man. The man with the gun falls down.

" You just made a big mistake! ", the man growls while getting up.

Then suddenly a plank of wood hits the gunman hard on the head! The man falls on his side unconscious dropping his gun. Poppy sees the woman he have been wanting to talk to standing up while holding the wooden plank as she looks at her attacker shocked and breathing heavily. Soon she relaxes as she looks at him. Andy calls the police. After the police took the attacker away,Poppy decides to check if the woman is okay. She stands by the flower stand.

" Are you okay?",Poppy asks concerned.

The woman let's out a sigh then nods her head to Poppy. Poppy notices how beautiful she is. Andy was right about her beauty. Poppy smiles at her happy that she is okay.

"I'm Poppy.", Poppy introduces himself.

" Branch. ",the woman introduces herself.

Then Branch picks up a small bouquet of flowers. She reaches into her hoodie pocket but,Poppy touches her arm getting her attention.

" I'll pay for them. ",Poppy says kindly.

Poppy let's go of Branch. She is surprised that Poppy wants to pay for the flowers.

" No,it's okay.-", Branch says but, gets cut off.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not expecting anything from you in return.", Poppy says honestly.

Poppy quickly pays for the flowers. Andy looks at the two and smile. He has a feeling something is going to happen between them. Poppy turns to Branch.

" Thanks...",Branch replies softy.

"Your welcome.", Poppy says happily.

Branch looks at her watch then back at Poppy.

" I should go...",Branch says.

"Where do you go exactly? I see you a lot from my house. You always seem to be going the same way. And you usually buy flowers.", Poppy says curious and honest.

This surprised Branch a lot! She never thought that she would get noticed,excluding Andy. Looks like she was wrong.

" Why do you want to know? ",Branch asks.

" I'm just curious... ",Poppy admits.

Later, Poppy and Branch are walking in the Grave Yard. Poppy looks around as he follows Branch. He had to convinced her to let him come along. Then Branch stops at headstone that said " Rosiepuff Timberlake. " at the top. Under it were words talking about his character and mentioned his birth and death date. Poppy notices the headstone. Branch sighs and gets on her knees.

"Hey Grandpa. It's me, Branch...", Branch says to the grave sadly.

Poppy's eyes become sad as he fully realizes what the flowers are for. He gets on his knees next to her. He feels sorry for Branch. He must had been very important to her.

" Sorry about your Grandpa...How did he die?",Poppy says honestly and sad.

Painful memories come back to Branch. Her Grandpa's death is related to a long story. She was in a dark place and her Grandpa was always trying to protect her from the world she felt stuck in and from her ex...

" He - he died in a car accident...", Branch says unhappy remembering bad memories.

Poppy frowns feeling sorry with empathy look in his eyes as he looks at her. He could imagine that it was hard for Branch.

"What was he like?", Poppy asks.

Branch didn't turn her head to Poppy as she starts talking about her grandfather. She remembers happy and wonderful memories as she talks. There is a fond look on her face.

" He was a great man... He was kind,caring,sweet, always there for me, children loved him... My Grandpa was my whole family. He was my whole world growing up...", Branch says fondly and sad.

"What do you mean that he was your whole family?", Poppy asks.

Poppy didn't understand what she meant. What about her parents? Did she not have any family left? The last thought made Poppy more sad. Branch sighs sadly and unhappy.

" My Grandpa took me in when I was baby. My mother had died in the hospital while my father had died a week before because, he had cancer... My Grandpa was the only person who I had left... ", Branch explains sadly.

That was the painful truth. It broke Poppy's heart to hear that it happened to her family. He puts an hand on Branch's shoulder. He understands how it is to grow up with a parent. Poppy grew up without a father in his life.

" I'm sorry about your family. No family should go through that much pain and lost like that...I lost my dad very young...",Poppy says sad and comforting.

Branch turns her head to Poppy. She had a sad and understanding look in her eyes.

" I'm sorry about your father... ",Branch says sad and understanding.

Soon a year passes and Poppy had been willingly going with Branch to visit her grandpa. Poppy had introduced Branch to his father and she had even paid respect to him like Poppy did for her grandpa. The two had gotten close and had started dating three months after the new year. They are truly in love with each other and Andy was the first person to see the sparks and them clicking.

Right now,Branch and Poppy are in the park having a picnic. Poppy puts an flower behind his girlfriend's ear. Branch smiles at Poppy.

" What was High School like for you? ",Poppy asks curious.

" The worst years of my life! It stressed out my Grandpa a lot...",Branch admits unhappy.

Hearing that made Poppy wonder more about what happened to Branch during that dark time. She didn't like talking about her High School years and rarely did talk about. He didn't want to make Branch feel upset but, he was curious and wanted to make her feel better.

"I know that you don't like it when I ask you for lots of details about it but, I want to know... What happened that was so bad?", Poppy asks.

Branch didn't want to tell Poppy because, it was painful and she didn't want to bother him with her old problems of her past. He keeps on trying to convince her to talk and eventually she agrees after making him promise her to not tell their friends or anyone else about it!

" It's a long story...",Branch states.

Flashback;teenage Branch walked to her locker in the High School hall. There's a piece of paper taped to it saying "Freak!". Some other teenagers laugh while Branch rolled her eyes and ripped the paper off her locker.

" I was the hated outcast... Nobody cared about me there. To the teachers I was invisible unless they thought I did something wrong. The other teens did many things to me,even a gang from the school would beat me up...I hated The Terrors! ",Branch narrates.

Branch opened her locker and gets one of her books. She closes the locker then started walking away. The Terrors saw Branch and follow her by a short distance. They smile evilly for the same reason. Christ grabs Branch and picked her up while Jordan opens a empty classroom door. Branch struggles to escape. They take her into the room and closed the door! The sound of someone being beaten and attacked is loud but,nobody comes to help Branch. She calls for help but,still nobody came!

Later that day, Branch limped into her home. Her grandpa sees her and immediately becomes worried! He ran over to her as fast he can. The grandpa hated it when he sees her like this!

" Branch! Who did this? Sit down here.",Rosiepuff says worried as he guides her to the couch in the living room.

" My Grandpa was always worried that one day I wouldn't come home at all from school. He couldn't protect me as much as he tried to and wanted to... ",Branch narrates.

Rosiepuff quickly gets a icepack and puts it on his granddaughter's face. Her face had marks,some blood and a black eye. Branch holds the icepack against her face. Rosiepuff let's out sad sigh.

" I'll get a cloth to wipe the blood... ",Rosiepuff says sad.

Branch nods her head still in pain. Later that night, Rosiepuff decides to call the school.

" Hello Mrs Castle. I need to talk the principal again. Branch came back badly hurt again...", Rosiepuff says serious on the phone.

A few months pass and the treatment Branch would receive didn't get better but, it was starting to change. She walks to the girl's locker room tired. Her PE clothes are sweaty and ,unknowingly to her, they stick to her body showing off her figure. Terence suddenly bumps into her causing Branch to fall onto the floor.

"Hey!", Branch yells on the floor.

Terence looks down at Branch and notices how her PE clothes holds onto her body. He smiles at Branch creepily liking what he saw.

"After I had an weird encounter with Terence he started acting really strange...", Branch narrates.

A few hours later, Branch is just about to leave the school which seems empty but, someone grabs her wrist. She stops in her tracks and turns her head to see Terence smiling strangely