SNOWFLAKES
A Fred and Daphne fic. Nothing spells love like snow, disco lights and a rampaging wolfman! One-shot, very minor Shaggy/Daphne implied.
I've always wanted to write a story about Fred and Daphne. This is short and sweet, and I wrote it in two hours. Yay me! Hope you guys like it :)
The old gang, back together: Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo.
For a while there it'd just been Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby. Fred and Velma had split, deciding to go their separate ways for various reasons. So Daphne and the others ran Mystery Inc, with Daphne as the unofficial leader. The role did her a world of good: she became a lot stronger and a lot less 'danger prone' during those years. She also became a lot closer to Shaggy and Scooby Doo … Shaggy in particular.
Still, this did not mean they all didn't welcome Fred and Velma back with open arms when the two decided to rejoin. Though she kept the extent of her feelings hidden, Daphne was ecstatic to have Fred return to the team.
As for Fred, he was conflicted. Though happy to be with his friends again solving mysteries, he was growing more and more suspicious of Daphne and Shaggy. Were they or weren't they? They were so much more chatty and 'touchy-feely' with one another then he was accustomed to. Had their friendship possibly deepened to something more during his absence? The idea drove him mad with jealousy. None the less, he – like Daphne – kept his true feelings under the radar. Nobody suspected anything was bothering him … until the gang's second mystery since being reunited: the case of the Arctic Wolfman in Telluride, Colorado.
"Okay gang, time to split up!" announced Daphne, quite comfy in 'leader-mode'. They were all standing in the foyer of their ski lodge, where the creepy Arctic Wolfman had been terrorizing the guests for months. "Me, Shaggy and Scooby will look for clues upstairs. Fred and Velma, you guys check out the wine cellar down below."
"But – " Fred stuttered, speaking too late. Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby Doo were already on their way upstairs.
"Maybe we should search for clues in the kitchen first, huh Daph?" Fred could hear Shaggy say, followed by a hearty "yeah yeah!" from Scooby Doo.
"That's the fourth time she's split herself up with him," mumbled Fred.
"Ah, Fred?" Velma prompted, bringing him back to earth.
"Oh, right! The wine cellar, sorry Velma. Let's go then."
They headed for the wine cellar. After ten minutes of searching for clues, Fred finally decided to break his silence.
"Ah, Velma?" he started. "Can I ask you a question?"
"What's up?" said Velma. "Did you find something?"
"No, not exactly. I wanted to ask you about … Daphne."
Velma blinked, startled. "Daphne? What about her?"
"Do you think … " Fred paused, embarrassed. "Do you think her and Shaggy are seeing eachother?"
"Ah … huh?" Velma spluttered, not expecting this. She took a moment to absorb the situation at hand … then she laughed. "Thank goodness for that!"
It was Fred's turn to be shocked. "Thank goodness for what?"
"You're jealous! And it's about time."
"What do you mean it's about time?" He panicked. "Are you saying Daphne is with Shaggy?"
"Of course I'm not, Fred," said Velma coolly, sedating him. "Would you relax? They're just a little closer then before."
"A lot closer, you mean," Fred grumbled, crossing his arms. "She never asks me to look for clues any more … "
Velma sighed. "Fred, Daphne was devastated when you left. That's why she's not splitting herself off with you. She's scared of getting close to you again."
"She was devastated? Really?" Fred found 'devastated' to be a harsh word ...
"Neither of you are very good at showing your feelings, are you?" said Velma, a tad exasperated. "We've all been expecting one of you to make a move some time before the next century! You guys are way past being polite about this. Please, Fred: make a move. If Shaggy doesn't pick her up somebody else will and you'll miss your shot!
Fred was not used to being confronted like this … least of all by Velma.
"You've been waiting a long time to say this, haven't you?"
"A long time," Velma confirmed, calming down.
"I wanted to make a move … I mean, I do want to make a move. I'm just scared to ruin the friendship."
"Trust me, Fred. You and Daphne aren't destined to remain friends."
"So what's Fred got planned?" asked Shaggy, after swallowing a mouthful of potato chips.
Shaggy and Velma were in their cabin, later that night. They stood at the window, overlooking the surrounding ski village. Equipped with binoculars, they were currently honed in on the nearby empty ice-skating ring.
"You'll see," Velma said to Shaggy, adjusting the focus on her binoculars. "But I think it's safe to say it's finally going to happen!"
"And not a moment too soon," quipped Shaggy, before laughing and saying, "did Fred really think me and Daph had hooked up?"
"Yep, he sure did. So you're telling me you and Daphne never once felt anything more then friendship during your time alone together?"
Shaggy laughed again. "I can't speak for Daphne but as for me … I'm a red-blooded guy! She's a hot babe. Sometimes my mind wondered off to places it shouldn't have … but there was nothing in it. Daphne loves Freddie, everybody knows that."
"Oh look! They're on the ice!" Velma interrupted, pointing excitedly. "It's showtime."
Fred was first in the ring …
"C'mon Daph!" he called out, urging her to join him.
"Fred, I don't understand why we have to skate out here to look for clues," she complained, skating towards him. "I really don't think we're going to find anything except ice!"
"Ice could be a clue," said Fred, seemingly cavalier. Without Daphne noticing he turned and winked towards Scooby Doo hiding on the other side of the ring.
"How is ice a clue?" she said, stopping at Fred's side.
"Well, we're hunting for the Arctic Wolfman aren't we? And ice is arctic … and the wolfman's arctic! See the connection?"
Daphne raised an eyebrow at him. "Fred, you're not making any sense."
"I know," said Fred, nervous. "Skate with me?"
"All right. We may as well now we're here!"
They'd skated half a minute when bright-coloured stage lights suddenly blazed to life, illuminated the ring.
"Where'd that come from!" cried Daphne, shaken and coming to a halt. "Who turned the disco lights on? I thought the ring was closed for the night ... "
With Daphne distracted, Fred gave Scooby Doo a quick thumbs-up. Everything was going according to plan …
He took Daphne's hand. "Daphne?"
"Ah … yeah?" said Daphne, still not quite sure what was going on.
"I didn't bring you out here to look for clues."
"Right," said Daphne, with a 'I think that's obvious' tone in her voice. "So … why did you bring me out here?"
Fred took her other hand.
"I've missed you," he said simply.
Some how the night seemed more quiet, and the only sound Daphne could hear was her heart beating. Fred was looking at her in a way that he'd never looked at her before.
Was this the moment? She dared herself to think it was.
"I've missed you too, Fred," she responded, half-whispering.
Heart racing, Daphne's focus skirted around the ring at the circling lights, then back to Fred's eyes. "This is your doing, isn't it?"
"Scooby helped," Fred smiled in confirmation.
"Scooby?" said Daphne, spying the mutt waving from behind Fred's shoulder in the near distance; a big, silly grin on his face. "I see. It's very … romantic."
"That's the effect I was going for."
This is the moment. It started to snow …
"What do you say," Fred began, his voice sounding huskier, "to not being friends any more?"
Daphne furrowed her brow, bemused. "You don't want to be friends with me any more?"
"No, I don't," said Fred. "Because friends don't do this … "
Her eyes shut as he closed in, barely aware of the fresh snowflakes falling on her face. She was barely aware of anything, except her and Fred standing there against eachother on the ice. Locked in a kiss.
Up in the cabin watching from afar, an extremely relieved Shaggy and Velma were cheering and dancing like a couple of idiots. Scooby Doo for his part blushed and went, "aw!"
They parted, stunned; feeling as though they were floating up in the sky with the stars. Out of sheer happiness, a teary-eyed Daphne jumped into Fred's arms and embraced him again. He smiled and laughed at her enthusiasm. Though they'd hardly spoken, they'd just said more to eachother then they had in years.
"THE ROLFMAN! THE ROLFMAN!" Scooby Doo barked, clumsily running out onto the ice.
The Arctic Wolfman was back! Coming towards them through the snow, growling and snarling viciously. While Scooby Doo wailed in fear, Fred and Daphne looked irritated.
"Someone needs to teach that wolfman a thing or two about timing!" said Daphne, cross. "We're going to kill him, right Fred?"
"Right," agreed Fred, smirking at her.
They skated off to meet Shaggy and Velma back at the cabin, with Scooby Doo tagging along behind.
Another day, another mystery to solve! But as for Fred and Daphne? Velma was right: they weren't destined to remain friends after all.
THE END