Sponge: Hello, dear readers! How are you all doing? I hope you're in the mood for some Fraphne, cuz that's what this story is! I don't usually write Fraphne, so this was a bit of a challenge for me, but I hope you like it nonetheless! Oh yeah…italics (like this) are song lyrics and underlines (like this) are flashbacks. Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby Doo or Billy Joel.

He was beginning to wonder if this was a bad idea.

He began to wonder this as he pulled up to the restaurant.

Moretti's, was the name. It was an Italian place in downtown Coolsville. It was the restaurant where he and Daphne had had their first official "date." It was where he kissed her for the first time. It was where he'd asked her to marry him.

And now, it was where they were meeting, five years after their divorce.

Fred cut the engine and sat in his car.

x.X.x

A bottle of white, a bottle of red,
Perhaps a bottle of rosé instead.
We'll get a table near the street
In our old familiar place
You and I - face to face hm, hm

x.X.x

She was nervous.

She absentmindedly ran a brush through her red hair in long, slow strokes. When she was satisfied, she placed the brush on her dresser and looked in the mirror. She sighed as she gazed at her reflection. She really hadn't changed much in five years. Maybe she was taller. She didn't look much older. Of course, she was only twenty-three. How old was she supposed to look? She wondered if Fred would still think she was attractive. She wondered if Fred himself was still attractive. Of course he was still attractive. He was Fred. Even when he was old and bald and fat he would still be attractive.

Daphne thought back to the conversation they'd had on the phone the other day…

(phone ringing)

D: Hello?

F: (silence)

D: Is anybody there?

F: Uh…(clears throat) Um, hi Daphne. It's um. It's me. Fred.

D: (silence)

F: …Daph, are you there?

D: Fred Jones?

F: Yes.

D: Wow. Uh…hello.

F: Hi.

D: (after some silence) So…why are you calling?

F: Well uh…I'm in Coolsville right now on business and uh…I was wondering if you wanted to get together. I mean, I totally understand if you don't want to but…

D: (cutting him off) No, I'd lo- uh, I'd really like to see you again. It's been what…five years?

F: (breathing a small sigh of relief) Yeah, five years. Long time.

D: Yeah.

F: So um…when do you want to meet? And where?

D: How about tomorrow? At Moretti's?

F: (silence)

D: Fred? Are you still there?

F: Yeah, sorry. Okay. Moretti's tomorrow at seven. Do you want me to pick you up or…?

D: I'll meet you there.

F: Oh. Um. All right. See you tomorrow then.

D: Okay. See you tomorrow. (hangs up)

F: (looks at phone, hangs up, sighs)

x.X.x

A bottle of red, a bottle of white
It all depends upon your appetite
I'll meet you any time you want
In our Italian restaurant.

x.X.x

Fred still wasn't quite sure what had possessed him to call her when he'd arrived in Coolsville. Maybe it was the fact that everyone else was gone. Shaggy and Scooby were living in some other town in some other state, maybe New York, with a chain of restaurants under their belt (although Moretti's was not one of them). Velma was a famous mystery writer. Rumor had it that she lived with Shaggy or had married him or something along those lines. But the fact of the matter was that they did not live in Coolsville anymore. Daphne did.

Fred, who had been living in Chicago, was visiting Coolsville on business and was desperate to see someone.

No. That wasn't true. He was desperate to see Daphne.

He still loved her.

He knew there was no way in hell she loved him back. Not after the divorce. Truth be told, he himself was still a little bitter about it. But he loved her too. He sat in the car outside the restaurant thinking of things he could possibly say if she asked him how he was.

He could not say miserable. He could not say devastated. He could not say that he still loved her.

He could lie.

Things are okay with me these days
I got a good job, I got a good office
I got a new wife, got a new life
And the family is fine

Strike that. He shouldn't take the lie that far. He didn't have a wife or a family. The job and the office were true, but none of the rest.

Besides, he didn't want her thinking he was off the market. He still loved her, after all.

He also thought about things he could say to her.

Oh we lost touch long ago.
You lost weight - I did not know
You could ever look so nice after so much time.

Should he mention her weight? She'd always been touchy about it, even though she definitely didn't need to be. And of course she would look nice. She always looked nice. She was beautiful.

Fred placed his head on the steering wheel and sighed.

x.X.x

Daphne still wasn't quite sure what had possessed her to suggest Moretti's. She'd just always associated it as "the place to go with Fred". Maybe it had been a bad idea, choosing the place they'd gone on their first date. And the place they'd had their first kiss. And the place they'd decided to marry each other. Daphne sighed as she drove towards their Italian restaurant.

Maybe she'd chosen it because she still loved him.

No…she'd definitely chosen it because she still loved him.

Daphne wasn't sure what she expected. In a perfect world, memories of all the dates they'd shared at Moretti's would flood both of their minds and they'd confess their love for each other again.

Daphne thought of the things she could say that would make him remember.

Do you remember those days hanging out at the village green?
Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans
Oh you drop a dime in the box play a song about New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights, my sweet romantic teenage nights ooh, ooh

But she had to ask herself…did either of them really want that? They had divorced for a reason, after all. Or had they? Maybe they just hadn't been ready for marriage.

Daphne parked the car at the restaurant, cut the engine and sighed.

x.X.x

Fred looked up when he heard another car roll onto the pavement of the parking lot and his stomach flipped when he saw that the car was Daphne's. It had to be her car – it was purple. He took a deep breath. No wimping out. With one more sigh, he unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the car.

Daphne was already halfway across the parking lot when she saw him. Her heart turned over in her chest with adoration. Completely forgetting the reason they hadn't seen each other in five years, she took a running start and threw her arms around him when she arrived at him.

"Freddie!" she exclaimed, nearly crying with joy. "Oh my God, I've missed you so much!"

Fred was slightly taken aback. He had not been expecting her to do this, but he wasn't complaining. He wrapped his strong arms around her. Her hair smelled like lilacs. As always.

"I've missed you too, Daph," he murmured. In a flash of realization, they broke apart and smiled at each other awkwardly. "So uh…" Fred was red in the face and unsure of what to do now. "Should we uh…get a table?'

"Yes," Daphne said, also blushing but with the hint of a smile still on her lips. "We should get a table."

x.X.x

"Wowie kazowie!" exclaimed the young man at the host stand. "Fred Jones and Daphne Blake! I never thought I'd see you two in here again!" Fred and Daphne stared at the young man for a few seconds before they finally recognized him.

"Tony!" they exclaimed, taken aback. They'd gone to high school with Tony Moretti – he'd been one of their classmates.

"Geez, how've you guys been?" Ricky asked. He had the slightest hint of an Italian accent.

"We're uh…doing pretty well, I guess," Fred replied. "How about you?"

"Takin' over the family business!" Tony replied, proudly. "Want me to show you to your table?"

YOUR table. Wow. It'd been quite a few years since Daphne and Fred had heard that.

"Sure," Daphne replied. Tony grabbed two menus and led them back outside, to a small table near the street – the table they always sat at.

Oh, oh, oh, oh…

"I'll be back in a few to get your orders," Tony said as he went back inside. Once in the kitchen, he hurried around to everyone he knew. "You guys are never gonna believe who just walked in the door!"

"Who?" was the collective response.

"Fred Jones and Daphne Blake!"

"What!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Holy moly!"

"Who?" That response came from a young girl who was new to the job – and to Coolsville. Her name was Alice.

"Oh geez, Alice, I completely forgot that you don't know the story of Daphne and Fred," Tony said. "I'll tell it to you real quick before I have to go back out and take their orders."

"Okay," Alice said. She was eager to hear this story.

x.X.x

Daphne and Freddie were the popular steadies
And the king and the queen of the prom
Riding around with the car top down and the radio on
Nobody looked any finer
Or was more of a hit at the Parkway Diner
We never knew we could want more than that out of life
Surely Daphne and Freddie would always know how to survive.
Oh, oh, oh, oh…

"So they came here a lot?" Alice asked.

"Sure," Tony told her. "They dated pretty much all throughout high school. Eventually, they even got married."

"Wow," Alice breathed. She was a sucker for a good love story.

"Don't get too rapt yet, kid," Tony told her. "The marriage didn't last that long."

Daphne and Freddie were still going steady in the summer of '75
When they decided the marriage would be at the end of July
Everyone said they were crazy
"Daphne you know that you're much too lazy
and Freddie could never afford to live that kind of life."
Oh, but there we were wavin' Daphne and Freddie goodbye.
Oh, oh, oh

"It sounds like they were willing to try to make it work," Alice said, confused.

"They were," Tony told her. "But see, their parents didn't approve of each other. So they said, 'You kids wanna get married, fine. But you're not gonna get any help from us.'"

Alice's eyes widened. "You mean their parents cut them off?"

"Yep," Tony said grimly.

Well they got an apartment with deep pile carpets
And a couple of paintings from Sears
A big waterbed that they bought with the bread
They had saved for a couple of years
but they started to fight when the money got tight
And they just didn't count on the tears.
Oh, oh yeah rock 'n roll
Oh, oh, oh

"What happened next?" Alice wanted to know.

Well, they lived for a while in a very nice style
But it's always the same in the end
They got a divorce as a matter of course
And they parted the closest of friends
Then the king and the queen went back to the green
But you could never go back there again
Oh, oh

"Eventually," Tony told her. "Fred moved outta Coolsville. I think he went to Chicago or someplace. Daphne stayed here. The problem was they were both so young and used to having lots of money – the Jones' and the Blake's were really wealthy families – that they didn't know what to do when things got difficult."

"That's so sad," Alice said.

"Yeah, especially since everyone at Coolsville High was sure that they would be together forever."

"Does anyone think they'll ever get back together?" Alice wanted to know.

"I for one hope they will," Tony told her. "That's why I was so excited when they came in here. I think they might be lookin' to give each other a second chance."

"Let's hope so," Alice sighed.

x.X.x

Meanwhile, back outside, Daphne and Freddie had decided what to order and began talking.

"So…how've you been?" Fred asked her.

"Oh…all right. I haven't really been doing much. I'm thinking about traveling a little. What about you? How's the uh…what are you doing these days?"

"Following in Dad's footsteps," Fred told her.

"Oh," Daphne said lamely. Luckily, Tony came back right around then, ready to take their orders.

"You guys know whatcha want yet?" he asked. He was pretty sure he knew what they were going to order – they ordered the same thing every time they came.

Daphne ordered vegetarian lasagna and Fred ordered beef ravioli. Tony smiled to himself – he was right. When he left with their orders, Daphne and Fred smiled at each other.

"Wow," Daphne said. "Some things never change,"

"Yeah," Fred replied. As the two waited for their food to arrive, they continued talking about what they'd been doing in the past five years. They discussed their families. They discussed their friends – Velma and Daphne were still in touch and Daphne confirmed the rumor that Velma and Shaggy were engaged.

"Wow," Fred said. "I didn't see that coming."

"Neither did I," Daphne admitted. "I mean, out of all the people in the world…"

"Yeah, you'd think it would have been-" Fred didn't finish that sentence. He couldn't. He'd been about to say "You'd think it would have been us". But he couldn't finish it.

"You'd think it would have been us?" Daphne said. Fred stared at her.

"Do you…um…" He couldn't finish that sentence, either. What was WRONG with him today? He tried a different tactic. "I didn't think you'd agree to meet with me today," he confessed.

"I almost didn't," Daphne told him. "But…I miss you." She felt her neck go hot and she looked down at her napkin, but continued anyway. "I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see you, Fred. I'm not angry anymore, because I know why it happened."

"Why what happened? Why we…" Geez, what was the matter with him? He just couldn't finish his sentences today.

"We were kids," Daphne told him. "I mean…we married right out of high school. It was a big mistake. I mean, it wasn't a mistake that we got married it was just a mistake that we got married when we did. Does that make sense?" Daphne sighed. She knew she was babbling.

But Fred understood what she was saying. "Yeah. We both needed to grow up a little. We should have waited."

"Do you think we ruined our chances of ever…" Now Daphne was the one who couldn't complete her sentence. But again, Fred understood what she was trying to say.

"I hope not," he confessed. His face was turning red now too, as Daphne finally looked up at him. Her eyes were shining with tears. Fred swallowed and continued. "One of the reasons I wanted to meet with you tonight was because, even though I know it's pretty much impossible, I wanted to know if you were willing to give me a second chance. Not as a husband – not yet, any way – but…" He just had to say it. He just had to come right out and say it. "I still love you, Daphne."

Daphne stood up so quickly that she almost knocked her chair over. On an impulse, she ran to Fred, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips.

Fred was shocked, but kissed her back. It was such an odd sensation, being with her again when he'd convinced himself that they never would be together after what happened. But here they were. It was too much to believe.

"I never stopped loving you, Freddie," Daphne whispered, her tears spilling over. They smiled at each other through their tears and kissed again.

x.X.x

Tony and Alice were watching this through the window, smiling to each other.

"Toldja," Tony said. Alice smiled.

"This makes me so happy and I didn't even know them," Alice said.

"Yeah. That's what I mean about Daphne and Freddie. Their love is so strong it encompasses happiness wherever it goes. I knew they couldn't stay apart forever. They had to get back together eventually." Tony smiled at Alice. "Come on, girlie. Let's go give the happy couple their food, huh?"

x.X.x

Daphne and Freddie had had it already by the summer of '75
From the high to the low to the end of the show
For the rest of their lives
They couldn't go back to the greasers
The best they could do was pick up their pieces
We always knew they would both find a way to get by
Oh and that's all I heard about Daphne and Freddie
Can't tell you more 'cause I've told you already
And here we are wavin' Daphne and Freddie goodbye

x.X.x

"Ahem."

Daphne and Fred broke apart to see Tony and a young girl standing by their table, holding two plates of food. Embarrassed, Daphne sat back down in her chair.

"Sorry to interrupt you guys," Tony told them. "But my associate Alice and I have your food." They set the food down in front of them. "Enjoy!" When Tony and Alice had gone, Daphne and Fred looked at each other and laughed.

Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Yeah

"Move in with me, Freddie," Daphne said. "We don't have to get married right away again, but we can try living with each other and see how that works. If there are any problems…"

"There won't be any problems, Daph," Fred promised her. "I lost you once already. I don't plan on doing it again." The couple smiled at each other. They knew things were going to be wonderful from now on. There was no doubt in their mind.

A bottle of red, a bottle of white,
Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight
I'll meet you anytime you want
In our Italian restaurant.

Sponge: So, what did you guys think of my first ever Fraphne fic? I hope it was up to par. Review!