The world moves without me (Branch Angst)

Nightmare

Branch's pov:

"I'm going to call Poppy and tell her you're back safe." Clay instructed

"Poppy..." I mumbled.

I let go of Floyd and sat down on the couch nervously, I couldn't predict poppy's reaction but I was definitely scared for it. I kicked and swung my feet off the couch to cure my boredom of being so uncomfortable, it felt like everyone in the world knew my problems now. Clay picked up his phone and called Poppy, he spoke to her for a while and hung up after 4 or 5 minutes.

"She's on her way." Clay smiled.

"I miss her." I whispered to myself.

I really was hoping for Poppy to take this whole thing well, I've just been feeling super overwhelmed the entire way home. I couldn't help but feel a little nauseous, like I was riding on massive ship and I had sea sickness. About 2 minutes later Poppy burst through the bunker door and skipped off the elevator. Poppy ran over to me and pulled me into a tight hug. Her arms squeezing my body made me feel so trapped.

"BRANCH! I'm so happy you're back!" Poppy said full of joy.

"Poppy I don't wanna be touched right now." I groaned.

"OMG! We have to tell viva! And we can make candy necklaces and go on picnics and sing songs!" Poppy blabbered out

"Poppy I'm feeling really overwhelmed, could you please let go." I winced in pain

I was really trying my best to keep calm but I just couldn't take it. My chest pumping intensely, my hands started to shake as she squeezed tighter. Small sounds of pain slipped out of my lips as the moment got more uncomfortable by the minute.

"And we can also go eat cupcakes under the rainbow! That would be awesome!" Poppy kept talking

"GET OFF ME WOULD YOU?" I growled pushing her away.

I only pushed Poppy away gently but she acted like I punched her straight in the face, I would never dare to hurt her again. My fist were curled up in a ball as I crossed my arms insecurely. My ears started to ring loudly, like a loud white noise rotting my brain. I couldn't help but shake in the whole moment.

"Maybe we should step away from the crowd bro." Floyd offered.

Poppy was breathing heavily in the moment, my whole family's eyes on me. I hated being watched, I didn't like that all eyes were on me. I quickly grabbed onto Floyd's hand and followed him into his room, my body full on shaking kept throwing me off balance. My ears hurt so bad, the loud ringing not showing any signs of stopping. I turned around before Floyd closed the door and I saw poppy's heart broken expression. My eyes twitched slowly as I couldn't help but feel like it was my fault for upsetting her. We slowly made eye contact before the door was fully shut. My ears were getting so loud that I curled up into a little ball on the floor, covering my ears with my hands. My body got tense as the tears from my eyes fell onto the ground. I closed my eyes trying to shut the sound out but nothing was working. Floyd crouched down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Breathe branch. Breathe" Floyd comforted me

I tried to breathe but all I got was desperate gasps of air. My breath hitched as my lungs got sore and scratchy.

"Bad idea, how about you think about things that make you happy?" Floyd tried a different option

I tried to think about Poppy but I couldn't, not after the way I hurt her. Then my mind switched to my brothers, they made me happy. I tried to concentrate on the happy family we were but I couldn't, I kept thinking of the day my brothers left me and when grandma died. It was physically impossible for me to think about anything that made me happy in a state like this. My body got even more riled up as I continued to shake, nothing was working.