Chapter Text
Almost immediately, posts started going up online, trying to figure out who this mystery woman was. People suggested that maybe she truly was someone random in the crowd, but then someone else pointed out that Bitty B had implied they had been dating for a while.
Which started a new discussion of ‘why the theatrics?’
Someone suggested that was how they met the first time: him noticing her during a BroZone concert. Others pointed out that Bitty B had been exactly that: Bitty. He was also largely shielded from the fans during the band's initial run.
So, everyone on the internet was scratching their heads as they tried to figure out why the two had done the proposal in such a way.
Until… someone found it.
I knew that line sounded familiar! They had posted. It's a line from a BroZone fanfic!
It was probably added by someone who was at the concert . Someone else argued.
No, look, because I thought it was so cute, I took a screenshot and sent it to my friend years ago, when it was first published!
That could easily be faked.
And thus, the argument began.
Meanwhile, Poppy was near giddy as she reunited with her friends and family backstage. She presented the ring (silver with blue gems) and Viva began to squeal.
“That's so fantastamazing !!” She cheered. “I mean, I knew this would happen, but seeing it was-!” She cut herself off with a squeal, which Poppy soon joined.
“Look at you, girl!” Satin said, enthusiastically.
“That was amazing!” Chenille agreed. “When you got on stage like that-”
“It was every fangirl's dream!” Satin ended.
“Look at you!” Smidge said, putting her hands on either side of Poppy’s face. “My little girl has grown up!”
Behind her, King Peppy cleared his throat. “I believe that’s my line,” he said, pointedly.
The short girl waved him off. “We raised her together,” she said, dismissively.
“Smidge,” Poppy said, scoldingly (but not without a laugh). “Stop antagonizing my dad.”
Viva interrupted the conversation, scooping her sister in for a hug. “We’ll see you tomorrow morning!” She said. “But you’ve got plans for tonight!” She teased.
“I do?”
Her friends all balk at her.
“Pop, you get to meet BroZone, ” Guy said, pointedly. “Speaking of- if you want to put in a good word-”
“ And we’re going,” Satin said, grabbing his hands. “Have fun-”
“-and give us all the details tomorrow afternoon,” Chenille finished, grabbing Smidge’s hand.
Guy pouted. “Are you sure I can’t-”
“You in particular have a toddler to get home to,” Satin scolded him.
“You’re just pulling us out because you’re both lesbians,” Guy complained. “You don’t understand -”
“You’re right,” Chenille said, flatly. “I don’t. Let’s go.”
Poppy laughed as her friends left (some more dramatically than others), before turning to her family. “Tomorrow morning for brunch?” She asked, nervously.
Her dad nodded. “Of course! We have to start wedding planning right away!”
She flushed at the reminder, pulling up her hand to look at her ring again. “Before you go, Viva-”
“Already got it,” her sister teased, pulling a small box out of her pocket. Poppy took it, quickly hiding it.
“You know, I think a summer wedding,” Peppy said to Viva, turning to walk away.
“Way ahead of you, Daddy,” Viva said. The two of them chattered excitedly as they left, Poppy watching with a fond smile.
“Poppifer?”
“Yes, Branchifer?” Poppy said, turning with a teasing smile.
He flushed. “I just- you were gorgeous out there,” he said, nervously.
“You weren’t too bad yourself, Mr. Boyband,” she flirted. “Speaking of-” Her face shifted as she grabbed his vest, pulling him forwards. “ WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE IN BROZONE?!”
“I- uh… forgot?”
Her eyes narrowed. “How do you forget to tell me you’re in BroZone?!”
He winced. “I thought you already knew?” He said, nervously. “I never said the official name, but I talked about enough that I thought you pieced it together before we even started dating.”
“ Music ,” Poppy cursed. “Your ‘shithead brother’ was John Dory!?!”
“Wow. Thanks Bitty,” a new voice cut in. She whirled around to find the rest of the brothers, changed into casual clothing, holding back laughs as the eldest sighed deeply. “And here I thought you loved me.”
Behind Poppy, Branch straightened himself out, brushing invisible dirt off his vest. “Maybe if you didn’t call me ‘Bitty,’” he said, flatly. “I’m taller than you now, you know.”
“All of us are taller than him,” Floyd said, making their older brother’s face fall with grief. “Hello, Princess Poppy, wonderful to meet you.” He bowed.
“Oh, no need to bow,” Poppy said, casually. “You’re family now!” She smiled brightly, holding up her hand with the engagement ring.
“Look at that!” Bruce said, a wide smile on his face. “It’s in B’s color, too!”
“It’s her favorite color,” he excused, blushing.
Poppy leaned forwards, smirking. “It’s my favorite because it’s the color of his eyes.”
The brothers all chorused coos as Branch buried his face in his hands.
“This is why I never wanted you guys to meet,” he said, mournfully.
Clay snorted. “Too late.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Bruce said, not sorry at all. “But could we maybe get a move on? I would like some food. I’m eager to have my own plate of food without either my wife or kids stealing the best parts.”
Poppy laughed, smiling brightly. “Of course! Is there anywhere you want to go? Branch is pretty familiar with the restaurants around here if you need ideas.”
Around them, stage hands rushed around, cleaning up the backstage area. A few of them stopped to stare, but quickly kept moving to strike the set in a timely manner. One teen pulled out their phone, snapping a quick picture and sending it to their friend before running off to begin strike.
—
[Image description: a pink haired woman in an elegant blue dress, pictured from behind. Next to her was Bitty B of BroZone, his face looking at her fondly. In front of them were the other four members of BroZone, smiling brightly as they chatted.]
Music4Lyfe: My friend sent me this is confidence, but OMG how could I not share this??? Only close-up picture of Mystery Woman!!! #BroZone #MysteryWoman #BetterPlaceTour
BroZone-d_in: OMG OMG OMG OMG
PillowPetDinosaur: Dude, you just got your friend fired
Within minutes, the picture was circulating all of the fan spheres imaginable, as people tried to figure out who the woman was.
Some people were investigating any option with pink hair, while others tried to figure out if the hair was a wig. Some people suggested that her hair could have been dyed for the event, and as such, they would have to wait for pictures from the next day to get a more complete picture of which BroZone fans had pink hair.
Unfortunately for them, once pictures started circulating, BroZone fans everywhere started dying their hair pink, hunched over their bathroom sinks late at night, trying to get the exact color the woman had. It became a fad in an instant.
Someone suggested the famous pink-haired princess, but that person got mocked off of the discussion, since there was no way a princess was in the pit of a BroZone concert.
—
In the end, the group chose a nice sit-down restaurant that wasn’t too fancy, but fancy enough where they would be more likely to be ignored.
The whole way there, Poppy was enraptured by the brothers telling stories of Branch’s childhood.
“-and then he looked up at me and said: ‘do you think you’ll ever find someone who likes you?’” Bruce shared with a laugh.
“You told me that dates were for finding someone you like!” Branch tried to defend himself. “And I was FIVE !!”
“Don’t worry, B,” Bruce said, teasingly. “My wife likes me a whole lot .”
“Oh my gosh!” Poppy said, excitedly. “I totally have to meet her!!”
“You sure?” John Dory asked, mockingly. “Because you’re probably going to also have to deal with his insane amount of children.”
Bruce glared at him, but before they started arguing, Poppy gasped excitedly. “I have so many nieces and nephews to meet!!” She said, excitedly.
“Only one niece-”
“I’m going to be the cool aunt!” She said excitedly. “Branch, you have to introduce me!”
He smiled fondly at her and lifted her hand. “Well, you’ll at least meet them at the wedding.”
She forced their hands down, glaring him in the eye. “You better introduce me a lot sooner than that!” She demanded. “They’re going to think: ‘oh, who is this strange woman who we have to sit and be quiet for’ and then, they won’t like me as much, because my first meeting with them, I’ll be all dressed-up and busy, and then they’re not going to want to play when I see them next, since I’m going to be another stuffy adult!!” She said, in a rush.
Behind her, the rest of the brothers glanced at each other.
“You done?” Branch asked, flatly.
She nodded. “Yep! Totally cool!”
He sighed, pulling on their still-connected hands in order to pull her against his side. “I’ll introduce you to my niece and nephews soon, I promise.”
With that, he used his other hand to push open the door of the restaurant, leading the group inside. Without their costumes and stage-makeup, it was harder for the boys to be recognized, even with Floyd’s dark pink hair.
They were seated immediately (since it was a little late for a dinner crowd) and the menus were placed in front of them.
Poppy immediately scanned the items, eyes wide in amazement.
“Choose whatever you want,” John Dory said, indulgingly. “It’s on my tab tonight!”
“In that case,” Clay said, mockingly. “I’ll have the lobster with a side of caviar and-”
The eldest let out a noise of protest. “You don’t even like seafood!” He argued. “And I was talking to our honored guest!!”
Poppy giggled at the antics while Branch rolled his eyes tiredly.
“Just let her get the group’s tab,” he said, tiredly. “Or she’ll keep trying to make it up to you.”
“Awe, c’mon Popstar,” John whined. “We’re doing pretty good right now, it won’t be that much of a dent.” He shot a look at his middle brother. “Even if someone is being a brat .”
“Dude.” Clay shot him a look back. “I don’t think it will even make a scratch let alone ‘dent’ for her to pay.”
There was a moment of silence before the eldest remembered who, exactly, Branch’s fiancee was.
“You know,” Floyd said, as if the previous conversation hadn’t happened. “I’m thinking of trying the lobster.” He turned to Poppy. “Anything catch your eye?”
She nodded, vigorously, but didn’t offer up any answers.
Soon, the waitress, a teen girl, arrived to take their orders. The brothers each ordered their dishes, and then it was time for Branch and Poppy.
“I’ll have one black coffee,” he said, flatly.
The waitress paused. “I’m sorry sir, but I’m already asking for entree orders.”
“I know.”
The girl paused, but wrote the item down, before turning to the last table member.
Poppy lit up excitedly. “Okay, so, I want to try the crab cakes, an order of the stuffed shells, a cup of your chicken and rice soup, and also- oh! Can I try some fried octopus?”
Frantically, the poor girl rushed to get everything down, looking a bit shocked by the order. “I’m sorry, crab cakes, stuffed shells, fried octopus, and what soup?”
“Chicken and rice,” Poppy repeated, a bit more calmly.
Bruce whistled from across the table. “That’s a hefty order for one person,” he commented. Each item was its own entree, and this place wasn’t so fancy that they called one bite of food a meal.
“Oh, I know,” she said. “I just thought everything looked so good, and I just had to try as much as I could!”
“And I’m going to split it with her,” Branch explained.
She shot him a look. “Says who?”
“Says your history of doing this every time we go out to eat,” he responded. “You get too excited about trying things, order too much, and then try to pawn it off on me.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know you love it.”
He sighed, but pulled up her hand and kissed the new ring. “I do,” he agreed.
All around the table, the brothers cooed at the adorable scene, making him flush.
“You know, they just got engaged a few hours ago,” John said, leaning over to the waitress. “We’re actually here celebrating it!”
“Oh!” The girl said, nervousness growing on her face. “Would you like a complimentary lava cake to celebrate?”
“No, it’s fine,” Poppy said, waving her off. “My sister just texted that my dad has started stress-baking wedding cake options.”
The girl relaxed with a small laugh. “Okay! I’ll get those dishes started for you!” Slightly more relaxed, she walked into the kitchen.
“So…” Bruce teased, quiet enough that they wouldn’t be overheard from other tables. “King Peppy stress bakes?”
“You already know this,” Branch grumbled.
“I know!” His brother teased. “I just wanted to know if I could get a sample.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Poppy said, cheerfully. “Now that you’re officially part of the family, expect to have baked goods show up at least once every few weeks!”
He raised an eyebrow. “I live in a different city.”
“And my dad is very persistent,” Poppy insisted. “Besides, since I’m going to be taking over soon, he’s been trying to find new hobbies.”
They continued talking and joking for a while, before Poppy stood and excused herself to the bathroom.
“You know the food’s gonna arrive while you’re gone,” Branch teased her. She shoved his head forwards as she walked past, making him and his brothers laugh.
It was when she went to turn the corner to exit the dining room that disaster struck. Right as she turned the corner, so did their waitress, balancing too many plates of food to see her or maneuver out of the way in time.
There was a loud clatter, and the girl was knocked on the ground, hot food dripping down the front of Poppy’s dress from the plates she had been carrying.
“I’m so sorry-” the girl apologized, frantically. “I’m so- I’m sorry- I’m sorry- I-”
“Hey, hey,” Poppy said, her voice soft. “It’s okay, accidents happen. Are you okay? That was quite the fall.”
Desperately, the girl pulled napkins out of her apron, trying to hand them over. Poppy took them, but gently grabbed the girl’s wrist and turned her palm upwards. “You must have fallen on a broken plate,” she said, calmly. “Is there a first aid kit in the kitchen you could use?”
“Oh fuck- oh no- I’m so sorry-” The girl began blabbering out apologies again. “I spilled food everywhere, I ruined your dress-”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Poppy continued, her voice the same cadence. “My fiance has a change of clothes for me- it’s just fabric. You’re the one injured here.”
Branch had arrived at that point, pulling things out of his messenger bag. “I can clean this up, but you should probably get this looked at,” he said. The girl flinched, and he froze.
“This is my fiance, remember?” Poppy said, calmly. “He’s an EMT, he can help. Is that okay?”
Shakily, the girl nodded. As he began helping her, a man in a crisp suit stormed out from the kitchen.
“I apologize, ma'am, for the mess my employee created. “I assure you, there’s no need to get your dress even more dirty -”
“I’m sorry,” she said, firmly, standing to look the manager in the eye. “But one of your employees was injured, that should be your first priority.”
The manager nodded. “And we’ll take care of that right away!” He promised. “If you could just head back to your table, we’ll be happy to give you a complimentary dessert to apologize for her behavior.”
On the floor, the teen girl curled in on herself.
“We will be sure to take disciplinary action, and the cost of the ruined food will come from her paycheck, rather than your bill.”
On the ground, the girl nearly broke out in sobs again when the man dressing her hands chuckled lowly. “Oh, now he’s done it.”
She was confused, until she glanced up and saw the look in the woman’s eye. And then, the woman opened her mouth.
—
I think I just met a guardian angel with pink hair.
I know, dramatic title, but stick with me here. Lately, my mom’s been sick, and me and my sister have been working a lot to try to make up for the lost earnings. I got a job at a higher-end restaurant as a waitress. So, you know, a lot of entitled customers, and a boss who uses every excuse in the book to talk down to you.
So, this one particular Saturday, I’m working the night shift, it’s late at night, I was up early doing homework, so I’m tired, and I got the absolutely wonderful news that my mom’s treatment wasn’t going well. My sister has been snappy all week, my boss even snappier. The money is the only thing keeping me from curling into a ball in the back room and never coming out. The usual dinner rush is even worse, because there’s a BroZone concert in town- within walking distance of the place I work- so, of course, already not a great day.
So, the dinner rush eventually calms down, but I still can’t leave, so I get put with this group of 6. 5 guys, one woman. Turns out, one of the guys and the woman got engaged that day, like, hours before hand, so they went out to eat with his brothers to celebrate. She’s all dressed-up, and they guys are all wearing nicer clothes, so, special-special occasion.
I take their orders, go to the kitchen, run around to other tables. Finally, their food is ready.
Unfortunately, the entrance to the dining room of my work has a blindspot. So, I’m carrying these plates (probably too many at once, but my boss would yell at me if it takes too long) and she’s getting up for something, and we collide.
I get hot food all over her nice dress, and I tumble to the ground.
I expect I’m about to be yelled at, and I nearly have a panic attack right there. I ruined this lady’s engagement dress and dinner in front of her family and a whole bunch of people (because the restaurant was calm, not empty ), and I probably burned her with some of the food.
Instead, she assures me it’s okay, that she has a change of clothes. Her fiance comes over, and he just sits next to me, because I cut my hands when I fell, and he was an EMT? I guess?
So, I’m not freaking out as much, which is the perfect time for my manager to come storming out of the kitchen. He’s talking down to me and trying to butter up to this woman at the same time, and she tells him once that he should be checking on me, not her, and then she’s just standing there, silently, as he berates me.
I don’t even remember what he said anymore, but I remember how her fiance laughed at my manager, like he was a fool, and then I looked up just in time to see this woman lay into this man.
Her pink hair is a beautiful halo around her head, catching every beam of light in the room, and her body language was so strong, I felt like I should be bowing down to her. And, looking like a goddess, she tells off my manager for not following safety regulations, not properly addressing a workplace injury, defrauding employees out of payment (side note: I did not know they’re not allowed to deduct pay for things like the food being sent back, or a dine-n-dasher), etc.
So, whoever this mystery pink-haired woman is, thank you.
Edit: her fiance (the EMT) told me to go to this one clinic nearby, and when I went, they told me the woman had covered my bill???? Thank you again, mystery woman!!!
Somehow, someone had tagged the post with the same tag that the BroZone fans had been using to talk about the mystery woman at the concert. People were quick to try to put it together- but that would mean that Bitty B was an EMT as his day job? And BroZone just went to dinner and no one noticed?
It was submitted as evidence, but most of the fans ignored it.
—
The next morning, Poppy was scrolling through social media when she realized she had missed an update on her fanfic. She pulled up the chapter she had written, copied it onto the website, and checked it one more time for errors before adding on an author's note and uploading.
—
Hey guys! Sorry for not updating as planned! I actually got engaged!!!
So, as you can expect, I'll be taking some time off to, you know, get married !!! I'm really excited about this, but unfortunately, with everything going on, I don't know if I'll be able to write my fics anymore.
Thank you all so much for the support you gave me, though!
—
—
With that uploaded, she put her phone down, checking the time.
“ Branch?” She yelled up the stairs. “Are you almost ready?”
There was a thunk, and then he came rushing down the stairs. “Does this outfit look good?” He asked, nervously.
She glanced over and stopped. “Branch, you look like you’re about to have a job interview.”
He flushed. “It’s not nice enough, is it?” He turned to go back upstairs to change his clothes when Poppy rushed to stop him.
“Babe, it’s just brunch with my family,” she said, tiredly. “You’ve met them before, it’s fine.” She pulled at the suit jacket, which he reluctantly relinquished, leaving him in a dress shirt and slacks. “This is fine, we need to go, though.”
“Fine?” He asked, nervously. “Should I dress nicer?”
She forcefully turned him towards the door, trying to push him outside. “No, if we had time, I would make you change into jeans .” She rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine !”
“You don’t-”
“Branch.”
“Fine!” He burst out. “We can leave!”
“Before we go-” Poppy said, nervously. Branch sent her an exasperated look, but waited. “-I know you already did the big part, but I wanted you to have this.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.
He gasped as she revealed a ring, almost a perfect opposite to the one he got her- it was rose gold with pink gems, in the same pattern as hers.
“I was planning to propose this morning, anyways,” she admitted sheepishly. “You just ended up beating me to it.”
—
Despite their detour they ended up arriving before brunch was ready. Viva pulled Poppy away to talk in her room, both yelling excitedly about her engagement. Branch, meanwhile, sat stiffly at the table, across from where King Peppy was looking through his mail.
“So, how was dinner last night?” Peppy asked, curiously.
Branch tensed. “I mean, Poppy got along really well with my brothers,” he said, nervously. “There was an accident, though, and Poppy ran into our waitress. The girl’s hands got all scraped up.”
“Oh?” Peppy asked, putting his letters down as his eyes narrowed in concern. “Was she okay?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad,” Branch assured him. “Her manager tried to pull something, though, and Poppy lectured him in front of the entire restaurant.”
“That’s my girl,” Peppy said, proudly. “Speaking of, I just got a message that brunch is ready for pick up- would you like to walk with me?”
Branch tensed. “Should we ask Poppy and Viva?”
The old king waved him off, grabbing his cane. “It’s fine, my boy,” he said. “They’re talking wedding plans.”
Branch flushed, but followed the old king outside and down to a nearby bakery.
It was a slower walk, as Peppy hobbled down the street. Despite Branch’s nerves, it was a nice day. The streets were calm that early in the morning, the pavement not yet warmed by the sun. The whole street was lined with flowers and plants- half personally planted by Poppy herself- that were blooming in the summer sun.
He knew that, before she had taken an interest in gardening, the city had been lined with flower beds and trees that served only aesthetic purposes and had to be cared for near constantly. But, since Poppy had attended a random gardening class at a local college, she had decided the current system had to go. Instead, she chose pollinator flowers and plants that had nutritional yield. Not only could people collect food as they walked around the city, during peak harvest time, Poppy had created a festival celebrating it all. It became a tourist attraction, further boosting the economy for the locals, and it was all because Poppy cared to change something.
She was perfect - sometimes Branch felt his boyband and even EMT careers were nothing next to all she did.
“You know,” Peppy said, breaking him out of his thoughts. “When you guys get married, you’re going to have some changes in responsibility,” he said, pretending to be casual.
“I know,” Branch admitted. He sat in silence for a moment before continuing. “But, I trust that Poppy will always be by my side, and I will always be by hers. She’s been training for this her entire life, and I’ve seen the dedication she has for the betterment of her people. I know that, even if she ruled alone, she would make this kingdom a better place. I hope that I’ll be able to alleviate her stress, and be her partner in everything.”
Peppy smiled at him. “That’s good. I’m glad she found you.”
He opened the door to the bakery, and the two walked inside.
—
The fan forums went crazy.
The author’s note from the fanfiction writer who knew what Bitty B was going to say before he ever said it got engaged, just like B and his girlfriend did.
Then, there were pictures of B walking with King Peppy.
Viva laughed as she scrolled through her alternative account, Poppy burying her face in embarrassment.
“‘Guys! You’re missing the most likely explanation!’” She read. “‘Maybe BroZone is just asking for permission to use the castle gardens for B’s wedding to fanfiction girl! He looks like he’s dressed for a business meeting, not a meeting with the parent!’”
“‘No, he’s clearly marrying Princess Poppy! She needs to get married to become Queen!’”
“That’s not even true ,” Poppy complained, pouting.
“It’s funny!” Viva protested. “I can’t believe you accidentally created a secret identity for yourself!”
“I can’t protest my fanfics ever again!” Poppy whined. “I’ll have to delete my account and orphan all of my works!”
“Or!” Viva suggested. “You tell everyone the truth!”
“Viva!!”
“Here me out!!”
—
PrincessPoppyOfficial
[Image description: Princess Poppy, with her characteristic pink hair, presses a kiss to Bitty B from BroZone’s lips, both holding their hands out to the camera. On each of their ring fingers was an elegant ring- the princess’ was silver with blue gems, Bitty B’s was rose gold with pink gems.]
He made all my fanfiction dreams come true!
Predictably, the website went down for hours.