Not So Private Confessional...

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Scooby-Doo because if I did, Shaggy and Daphne would be official.

Summary: Daphne has a secret, a secret she's kept hidden for the good of the gang but a writing assignment for English has her spilling her guts on paper.

Author's Note: This is my very first Scooby-Doo fic and I love this pairing so I felt that I had to at least try and write something for it. In truth, I actually started this fic probably close to two years ago and I've just gotten around to finishing it so I hope the lapse in time doesn't make it too terrible to read. I hope you enjoy.

Not So Private Confessional...

Daphne Blake sighed and slunk low in her seat, she could just die! What right did a teacher have to give her class a writing prompt for their personal class journals and then read one student's private thoughts out loud? Apparently according to Mrs. Duvet, they had every right.

The only good thing about this situation was that no one knew whose writing was being read; no one knew but the person who counted, that is. Daphne could tell just by catching a glimpse of Shaggy's profile that he knew she was the one who had written the composition, it was in the way he sat on the edge of his seat with his head in his hands, hanging on every word Mrs. Duvet spoke.

Trying to block out her teacher's upbeat and perky tone, Daphne surveyed the room, looking anywhere but to her right where Shaggy was. She could see the kids in front of her looking around the classroom, searching to seek out an embarrassed face, looking for any sign of whose work was getting such high praise from the toughest English teacher at Coolsville High. The realization made the young red head sit up in her chair and act as nonchalant as possible. Her life had been over the second Mrs. Duvet started reading aloud, the second Shaggy heard what she had written about but that didn't mean everyone had to know.

Daphne spared a tentative glance at Shaggy out of the corner of her eye and saw that he looked even more enthralled with the piece than he had been the last time she'd glanced his way; there was a small smile gracing his lips and he looked more interested than he had been when he found out they made sour cream and onion Scooby snacks.

That small smile faded a little as Mrs. Duvet read on about the instance in which the writer came across a hand drawn picture of herself in the back of her friend's notebook and Daphne couldn't help but compare his fading smile to the fading picture. Thinking back on the picture she briefly wondered how long it had been in the back of his notebook before turning her attention back to Mrs. Duvet.

By this time, Shaggy's eyes were no longer on their teacher but on his notebook, the same notebook that held the picture, no doubt. It seemed that he had opened it to the page being described in her writing and was now looking intently at the picture as every last detail was immortalized in words. No longer caring about what others thought, Daphne put her head on her arms and feigned sleep; she couldn't take this anymore.

Duvet read on and on before Daphne groaned at what she was sure was coming next. Her teacher was just about to end her life as she knew it, just about to end the best thing the youngest Blake had going for her and that was her friendship with a tall, shaggy haired boy named Norville. Daphne loved all of her friends, Fred and Velma were valued people in her life, but the relationship she had with them couldn't even begin to compare to the companionship she had found with Shaggy.

Shaggy had been the one who had helped her through her parents financial troubles, he was the one who helped her cut back on her extravagant lifestyle. Shaggy Rogers was like a beatnik angel during her time of greatest need and she felt blessed to have him in her life so it was only natural that her feelings of friendship would transform into something more, that was the way people worked. She silently cursed herself, though, for writing those feelings out on paper; private assignment or no she should have known better.

Another agonized groan escaped her lips as Mrs. Duvet's voice took on a dreamy tone and little aww's sounded from around the room, sighed by love-struck teenagers at the thought of real life unrequited love unfolding around them right in the halls of Coolsville High.

Trying to act as casual as possible, Daphne snuck another glance at Shaggy's profile and she fleetingly wondered what he was thinking as he stared on at the hand drawn picture in front of him. Shaking her head to free it of those distracting thoughts, she went on to wonder how she would get through the weekend unscathed; the gang had plans to meet up at the Malt Shop on Saturday and Daphne had a feeling that things were about to get very awkward between the five of them. Even Scooby-Doo would most likely have an opinion and a side on this matter; she just hoped she could get out of this with their friendship still intact.

The young red head was staring at the ceiling tiles when Mrs. Duvet finished reading her piece, thoroughly embarrassed and more than a little flustered. Shaggy's attention had been torn from his notebook at the last few lines of the paper and Daphne could feel his penetrating stare on her.

"This is what writing is all about!" Mrs. Duvet exclaimed, waving the journal around. "No it's not perfect but there's emotion. The writer has poured her heart and soul out on paper; her deepest, darkest fears and secrets are expressed here in her writing. This is why I assigned these journals to you," she went on to explain. "Your writing is stiff and lifeless in standard essay format but when left to your own devices, you can be great and this proves it! My congratulations go out to the student who composed this wonderful gem for it seems that she has finally found her inspiration. Now, tonight's assignment is..."

And that was when Daphne stopped listening. Mrs. Duvet's praise was flattering but it didn't let her off the hook for reading that very personal experience aloud and perhaps contributing to the end of the best friendship Daphne ever had the pleasure to know personally. She tuned back into Mrs. Duvet's little speech just in time to hear the bell ring and watch everyone immediately rush out of the classroom, eager to begin the weekend and still chattering on about how groovy unrequited love was, like Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet are dead, though...she thought hanging back in the classroom, hoping to miss the inevitable traffic jam in the hallway.

When she was sure everyone had cleared out and was most likely on their way to the parking lot, she slowly stood from her seat and gathered her things as quickly as possible. Avoiding eye contact with Shaggy, who was still staring at her from his seat, proved to be harder than she'd expected but she managed and prayed to whatever higher power watched over her that she could avoid Mrs. Duvet altogether.

"Ms. Blake!"

Daphne cursed herself for not being quick enough but silently hoped that since Shaggy was still in the room she would be able to just take her journal and leave, skirting around the issue of her inspiration as Mrs. Duvet called it.

"I would love to talk to you about your journal."

'I've obviously worn pink and red together in a past life and now fate hates me...' She thought sullenly as her teacher practically skipped to her desk, completely ignoring Shaggy's presence.

"This is a wonderful piece of writing you have here, Ms. Blake," Mrs. Duvet began, handing the red head her journal. "And as a reward for your brilliance, you are exempt from tonight's writing assignment. Instead I would like for you to type this journal entry up, fix all the spelling, grammatical and structural errors so that I can put it in your writing portfolio. A wonderful piece of work indeed..." She mused, absentmindedly patting her student on the shoulder before walking to the back of the room and sitting down at her desk.

Daphne nodded reluctantly; what could it hurt? Her personal thoughts had just been spilled to the entire class so what harm could it do to put her work in her writing portfolio for all of the other English teachers to see?

"Did you mean it?"

The question came out of nowhere and was successful in startling Daphne out of her thoughts.

"What?" She asked dumbly, unsure if Shaggy had actually spoken or if she'd just imagined the inquiry.

"Did you mean it?" He repeated, prompting Daphne to run a hand over her face as he stared up at her.

"If I said yes, would that change things between us?" She asked, matching his stare with one of her own.

"Do you want things to change?" He cautiously threw back, giving her no insight as to how he truly felt about the matter.

"Depends...would things change for the better or would this just make things complicated between us?"

Shaggy looked startled for a moment before standing up and shaking his head. "Do you think we could be as great as I do?"

"How great do you think we could be?" Daphne questioned back, following his lead and nodding her head in response to his shake.

The back and forth questioning was now playful instead of serious; it was a lighthearted banter that any given passerby would perceive as crazy or random but they understood it. This mode of conversation was their own language - Fred and Velma didn't even understand it - and just speaking it put a goofy grin on both of their faces.

"How great was Alexander the Great?" Shaggy wondered aloud, voice cracking a little as he and Daphne made their way to the door.

"Too great if you ask me..." She trailed, smiling as he tentatively grabbed her hand in his and threaded their fingers together as they exited the room.

Mrs. Duvet watched her two favorite students leave from her seat in the back of the room, lacking the heart to inform them that answering a question with a question was grammatically incorrect.

Comments are always welcomed with open arms but if it sucks, please go easy on the flames.

-Lark.