Velma finally understood how excruciatingly painful a straight girl crush could be. She knew since high school that she liked girls, but she hadn't realized how much she liked Daphne until recently. Alone in her room, she reminisced on all the nights they spent in weird motels, castles, inns, and local haunted houses. Those were the nights, she thought. That's where this stupid crush started. Velma removed her glasses and rubbed them into the hem of her orange sweater. They weren't clouded, but it gave her about thirty seconds of distraction. There came a knock at the door. "Hey Velma! We're almost ready to go!" Her sweet voice was both comforting and painful. Ever since she realized she had feelings for Daphne, spending time with her best friend was like walking on eggshells.
"O-okay!" She called back, her voice cracking with uneven emotion.
"Are you alright? Can I come in?"
"Uh," Daphne entered before she could respond. Velma quickly shoved her thick spectacles back onto her now rosy face.
"You've been shut up in your room all day," Daph explained, leaning against the doorframe. Her orange tresses bounced on her slight shoulders.
"Yeah, I uh, was just reading." Daphne wrinkled her nose. It wasn't uncommon for Velma to spend her mornings reading, or any other time really, but she usually came downstairs and sat with everyone else. Come to think of it, she'd been rather antisocial lately. Even during drives she always had her e-reader out instead of joining the conversation. It was only in the act of mystery solving that she seemed normal anymore. What she didn't realize was that was about the only thing that could keep Velma's mind from wandering too far. "I'll be ready in a second." Velma reached for her socks and started pulling them on.
"Alright," Daphne wasn't fooled. She silently resolved to probe Velma later, if there was one thing Daphne couldn't stand for it was standing by while someone was upset. She gave a genuine smile and gingerly shut the door behind her, pausing for a moment. She heard her friend sigh from behind it.
"For two scaredy-cats, you sure do love horror movies!" Fred called, glancing back quickly from the steering wheel.
"RATS?!" Barked Scooby, taking two clumsy strides to growl out the back window.
"Yeah man!" Shaggy gulped, shoving his hand back into his popcorn bucket. "Like, at least at the movies it's not US running for our lives!" He let out a nervous chuckle.
"Rhere are no rats," Scooby mumbled.
"Like, it's an expression, Scoob 'ol buddy,"
"Roh, rokay." The great dane happily nosed his way through Shaggy's popcorn.
"What'd you two think?" Fred turned to Daphne and Velma. The reflection of paragraphs of folk legends shone in Dinkley's glasses. Daphne nudged her gently, breaking the trance.
"Oh! Um it was fine, their wendigo was a tad unrealistic." She shuffled in her seat, pulling her knee so it wasn't touching Daphne's.
"I liked it!" exclaimed Daphne, her smile filling the front seat. She placed a hand back on Velma's removed thigh. Velma shivered. "I love the suspense." Even in her awkward state, she couldn't help but smile. That classic Blake cheerfulness was contagious.
The Mystery Machine gave a slight screech as it stopped in their driveway. The back doors burst open and Scooby and Shaggy raced out. "I'll get lunch started, gang!" Shaggy called back at them, his arms still cradling the popcorn.
"Roah!" There came a crash from the kitchen as Scooby slid on the slick tile. Fred and Daphne giggled, and Velma cracked a half-hearted smile.
"What a ham." She muttered, powering her e-reader down. She turned, and found herself alone with Daphne. Fred was halfway in the house already. Her stomach turned nervously.
"Velma, what's been going on? You're not acting like yourself." Her green eyes bored into Velma, so intense she had to turn away.
"I don't know, I'm just tired I guess. I've had trouble sleeping." That wasn't entirely untrue.
"You know you can tell me anything," Her hand still rested on Velma's knee. "C'mon Velms, talk to me."
She sighed. She knew she was going to have to come out eventually, and there was no way around it now. Once Daph figured something was bothering you, she wouldn't rest until she could help in some way.
"Okay," Velma prepared herself. Daphne felt a shudder run through her friend. "I've been lonely lately, Daph."
Daphne thought back to all the boys she had tried setting Velma up with. All the first dates seemed to go well, but she never went out with any of them again. She still kept in touch with a few of them, but only for sharing ideas and scheduling book club meetings. She felt disappointed in herself, for not finding someone for Velma. She had to try harder. "No, it's not your fault!" Velma saw self-doubt flicker in her face. "Daph," She sighed again, and gently removed Daphne's hand from her lap. "I like girls." She closed her eyes, anticipating.
"Girls…?" Daphne muttered, almost inaudibly. "Why didn't you tell me? How long have you known?"
"Since sophomore year. And I don't know, it never really seemed important. I didn't want things to be weird between us. You're my best friend," Velma knew Daphne experimented a bit in high school, she used to tell her all the stories. But she knew deep down Daphne didn't like girls like she did.
"Velmster," Daphne swept Velma up into a hug. She felt a tear slide between her cheek and the rim of her glasses. "Don't ever be afraid or ashamed of who you are," She didn't let go of their embrace. "I love you and I always will. You're my best friend too." Her words were bittersweet. Reassuring, yes, but Velma wanted something different than friendship. Daphne planted a small, tender kiss on her cheek. A surge of bravery rushed in where the blood had flown out of Velma's head.
"Daphne when I say this please don't be weirded out, but I've had a crush on you for a while." As soon as she said it, embarrassment and regret overtook her. "I-I'm sorry," She pulled herself away from Daphne's warm caress, and shocked, Daph let her. She opened her mouth but no words came out. "Sorry," Velma whispered, her voice shivering. She hopped out of the van and walked a little too quickly into the house. She passed Fred, sweeping up broken glass, and Scooby and Shaggy cooking in a frenzy. Neither of them seemed to notice.
Daphne swallowed hard. A crush? On me? She was a little dizzied. Her mind drifted back to high school, when she and Velma became friends. She remembered all the stories she told, of how she kissed other girls at parties, mainly to get boy's attention. Then she remembered that one kiss she had that was different. For a moment, she forgot about the boys watching. She never told that girl, she never told anyone. She almost forgot about it herself. Did I like girls in high school? She couldn't seem to recall in that moment. It was as if her pubescent self hid these secret feelings, and even now she still couldn't find them, even if she knew they were there. Do I like girls now?
Fred looked up as Velma rushed past. Something didn't seem right. "Hey Scoob, Shag, have you guys talked to Velms lately? She seems a bit off."
"Like, no." Shaggy turned, stirring a batter of unknown ingredients.
"Ri rope she's rokay…" Scooby added.
"I'll see if I can grab her after lunch." Fred decided, standing and dumping the carefully swept glass into the garbage.
Velma threw herself onto her bed and inhaled. She couldn't believe she had said it out loud, much less to Daphne's face. She grabbed a pillow and buried her face in it when she heard the door open. She looked up to see Daphne, looking less shocked but still out of place. Velma couldn't bring herself to move, or to speak. She wanted to ask her to leave, but despite her telepathic plea Velma's crush sat down on the bed next to her. Daphne didn't look her in the eye. "I said I was sorry…"
"Don't be. You were just being honest." Daphne breathed. "The truth is, I realized I might be a little confused."
Velma reached her arm around Daphne's waist and pulled her close. It was a simple gesture, they'd done the same to each other countless times in moments of distress. Daphne turned to her and snuggled her face into the folds of Velma's cowl. "You know, there's no place in the world as comfortable as this." They both shared a laugh for a moment, and Daphne removed herself. She looked Velma in the eyes, and Velma stared back.
"Do you want to talk about it? Being confused, I mean. I could be a valuable resource, being your friend and having gone through it myself." She was right, even when nothing seemed to make sense, Velma could always bring the situation back to reason.
"Thank you, Velma. I appreciate it." Velma smiled at her. "I-I don't know right now. I think just what was said today helped. I… um-" She stopped, averting her eyes. Then, in one fluid movement she leaned in and pressed her lips into Velma. At first she reeled, but soon gave in to Daphne's affection. She laced one hand into Velma's short brown hair, and the other into her orange sweater at the waist. Velma relaxed, her hands on Daphne's chest. Daph released, and the two rested their foreheads on each other. Velma broke into a smile, ear to ear, and looked up. Daphne opened those bright green eyes, and she couldn't help but grin as well. The thread of glee expanded as it reverberated between them, and soon they both found themselves roaring with laughter.
"Jinkies, Daph, I never thought you'd do that!" They fell backwards onto the bed and just beamed at each other for a moment.
"I didn't think I would either," She added. "But I'm glad I did." Velma blushed like wildfire, and they both noticed her glasses clouded with the heat of the moment. Daphne plucked them from her face with a slight, manicured hand. "Remember all those times I told you about, in high school when I experimented?" She wiped the glasses on her ascot. Velma nodded, her face still crimson. "I think I might like girls too." Daphne placed the glasses back on Velma's face, and with restored vision, Velma kissed Daphne in return.
Fred tapped at the door.
"Hey guys, lunch is ready," Daphne turned her head to meet his gaze.
"Thanks Freddie, we'll be down in a sec." He disappeared from the door frame. Daphne turned her head back to face Velma. She was still grinning ear to ear, her bright orange waves splayed about the bed around her.
"Daphne?"
"Hm?"
"I feel much better."