*A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to read and review the previous chapter! I loved all of your feedback, and it really means a lot!

Know that I try to be as 'in character' as possible, but it's not easy, so forgive me if I slip anywhere… :P Again, the crime might be a bit boring, but it's a romance story, so...

Again, thanks to all of you! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was a quick update, right? :) *

CHAPTER TWO

"What's up, Shaggy?" Fred asked, taking a seat next to him on the couch.

Shaggy sighed and put his sandwich down. "Nothing much."

"You, not finishing a sandwich? What is wrong?"

"Don't know, mate. I just… don't know. I feel weird."

"Ate that hot chili sauce again, eh?"

"No, Scoobs finished it all before I could get my hands on it."

"Then what is it?"

"I told you, I don't know. But what are you doing here? You usually take Daphne out whenever we visit a new city."

"Yeah, well, she's kind of busy with Velma right now. You know, preparing her for the…date." Fred wiggled his eyebrows and Shaggy nodded slowly.

Loud voices came from the girls' room, and Daphne pushed a flushed Velma outside.

"Isn't she cute, guys?" Daphne asked them, presenting Velma, who had crossed her arms over her chest.

"This is so not me." Velma whined, blowing a strand of her dark brown hair off her face. Daphne had been going through her whole wardrobe all afternoon, and decided to pick out the shortest black skirt she had, an all-too-exposing white tank top, which Velma didn't even know she had, and a pair of black ballerinas. Plus, she was practically forced to wear lenses instead of her glasses, and she wasn't sure if Daphne got her 'just a little mascara is all I want' instruction when it came to her make-up.

To her utter surprise, she found both the guys looking at her in awe, and she blushed horribly. Being the center of attention because of looks was Daphne's things, not hers, and for one thing, she didn't like it.

"Oh, you'll be very persuasive, Velma." Fred said with a wink and Velma frowned angrily, storming inside the room again. When she came out again, she had a black and white foulard covering her chest area and a black cardigan on as well.

"Much better." She said, and she thought she saw Shaggy nod, but couldn't really put her finger on it.

"Uh, I tried." Daphne said, walking over to Fred.

Velma shook her head and grabbed her purse.

"Have fun!" Fred said.

"Thanks. You too…" Velma opened the hotel room door and left.

(change of scene, it won't let me use stars or dashes :P)

"So, this is the place." Maxwell said, pushing the door open for Velma to enter before him.

"Thank you." Velma said, stepping in.

"It's nothing too fancy, but they make great pizzas. You do like pizza, right?"

"Yes, of course." Velma made a mental note of taking some back home, for Shaggy and Scooby.

They got seated at a nice table, with a small vase with two roses, and a little green candle.

"How long will you be staying in town?" Maxwell asked, after they placed their orders.

"Till we crack this theft case. We don't like leaving mysteries unsolved."

"You've solved quite a lot, I presume?"

"Yes, we have."

"So, I shall rest assured you'll solve this one, too?"

"I'd like to think so. I'm starting to gather the pieces of this puzzle."

"Care to tell me about it?"

"I don't want to bore you with it. Let's talk about something else, okay?"

"Of course. Tell me something about yourself, Velma."

"Um… I'm a bookworm and I want to work for NASA one day. What about you?" She grinned widely.

"I'm just an ambitious librarian. I've studied Philosophy and majored in languages, but I've gotten busy with many other things too."

"Any siblings?"

"Um, no, no. I'm an only child. You?"

"I've got a little sister. Well, she's not so little anymore but anyway!"

Maxwell smiled and soon, their pizzas arrived. They started dining properly, and time flew quite quickly.

"I've never met anyone so into books like you!" Maxwell said, finishing off his meal. "It's great to finally have someone to talk to about all the rare editions. Other people just don't understand us, book enthusiasts!"

"You're right. They just can't grasp the true meaning of knowledge, I guess."

"I couldn't have phrased it better myself."

"It has to do with nurture, I believe."

"Nurture?"

"Yes. I was raised in a family who taught me to love books and value them. Other people, raised in families who ignored books cannot understand them. Of course it's also in the personality of each one, but…"

"Oh, if you put it that way, then yes."

"I suppose your parents encouraged you to read as well, right?"

"Oh, my parents… Yeah, sure." He drank some water and stared at his plate.

"Do you like your work at the University, Maxwell?"

"Oh, yes. They pay me enough to get by, I get to study a lot of the books around there and I meet lots of people. It's nice. You know, for as long as you stay here, you can come read any book you want at the library. I'll probably let you borrow one, if you want."

"Really?"

"Some of the perks of being friends with the librarian." He winked at her and Velma smiled.

(slight change of scene again)

Shaggy decided that the perfect way to get rid of that peculiar feeling was to walk around town with Scooby. That would help his mind drift away from… what? He couldn't pinpoint what was the source of his uneasiness but he was sure some well-cooked junk food would be the perfect remedy for whatever it was that troubled him.

"What would you like to eat, Scoobs?" He asked, rubbing his best friend's back.

"Ranything!"

"Okay… We'll find some nice anything to eat, then!"

They walked around the stone roads of the town, lit by some old lampposts. Shaggy took a turn left and spotted a bright neon sign saying 'Pepe's Homemade Pizza'. He licked his lips.

"See that? How about some pizza?"

Scooby Doo howled in excitement and started running towards the shop. Shaggy caught up with him and pushed the door open. A subtle 'ding' sound came from a bell above the door. The place was small, but cozy, with several people seated around. Shaggy inhaled and the warm smell of pizza dough and tomato sauce filled his nostrils. He scanned the place for a table, when his eye caught the very familiar sight of Velma, sitting with a curly-haired guy and he momentarily froze.

What got over Shaggy was something very hard for him to describe. He felt a bit sad, for a reason he couldn't quite understand, then protective, then slightly hurt, then weirdly angry, then a bit frightened. He knew he wanted to go and talk to her, but he didn't want to interrupt her, especially when she seemed to have a fun time with the guy. Then again… he felt like he needed to go there and just-

Scooby tugged on his shirt and he burst out of his thought bubble.

"Rets reat!" He growled and Shaggy tried to tell him that they should probably leave, when he heard Velma's voice.

"Hey, guys!" She said, waving at them.

Scooby wiggled his tail and Shaggy waved back, smiling and hoping he didn't appear as goofy as he felt.

"Come join us!" Velma said, pointing at their table and the guy she was sitting with turned his head down and looked at his plate, uninterested.

What got him out of that awkward situation was a phone call, from Fred.

"Hey, Freddie."

"The hooded thief strikes again! We spotted him running near the University! Come here now!"

"Okay!" He put his cell phone in his pocket again and the first thing he did was to run to Velma's table and grab her by the hand.

"The thief's here!" He told her, a bit louder than he wanted.

"Shaggy! I can't leave, I haven't paid yet!"

"I'll take care of it." Maxwell said, grinning at her. "You go find that thief."

"Thank you so much!"

Before she could hear his reply, she found herself running on the stone street, with Shaggy still grabbing her by the hand, and Scooby following happily, with his tongue hanging out.

"Where are we going?" She shouted, between breaths.

"To the University!" Shaggy replied. "We're close now!"

Scooby Doo barked in excitement and Velma frowned. The black flats she wore were really not made for running, especially in streets like these.

Shaggy took a sharp turn left, and Velma almost hit the wall of the house on the corner, reminding herself to scold him afterwards. The University was now in sight, and Velma could clearly see Fred and Daphne chasing someone on the other side of the block. Shaggy continued to pull her along, but she broke free.

"Come on, Velma!" Shaggy said, pointing to the others' direction.

"You go, I'll catch you up from the other side!"

Shaggy nodded and kept running, with Scooby on his six. She turned around quickly and ran in the opposite direction, hoping to catch the thief when he'd turn around the block. Her thinking was a little too wishful though, because as she took the turn, she didn't catch the thief, but he bumped into her, and they fell down clumsily. She hit the cold ground and he landed just on top of her. She quickly tried to push him off, but all she ended up doing was struggling to grab something from the thief. She gave him a strong kick right in the chest, and he stumbled back again, letting go of whatever she was trying so hard to keep. As he fell back, his hood slid a little and although Velma's eyesight was fine due to her lenses, she could only see little, as the light from the lamppost was too faint. The thief got up and started running again. Velma couldn't run after him, her legs wouldn't permit that.

She crawled underneath the lamppost and breathed sharply. Soon, Fred was coming her way.

"Velma! Velma! Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay!"

"Your clothes are all dirty, though…" Daphne commented, appearing behind him.

"Get out of the way!" Shaggy shouted, pushing them aside and kneeling down. "Are you okay, Velma?"

"Yes, I said I'm okay!"

"What happened?"

"I bumped on the thief and we fell down and then we fought a bit and then he ran again and…" She inhaled deeply. "I got this though." She stroked the cover of the old book she grabbed from the thief. "It was what he stole tonight. A great copy of Themistocles' History, with a leather cover."

"We'll return it to the University tomorrow." Fred said, helping her get up. "This won't happen again. He won't steal again. We'll stop him."

"Damn sure we will…" Shaggy said, dusting his pants.

Velma had a deep frown on her face all the way back to the hotel. Something about the thief's appearance troubled hair, and she was finally adding more pieces to her puzzle.

*A/N: This was the second chapter! ^^ I hope you realized that what Shaggy felt was the sting of jealousy! Please tell me how you found it, I'd vastly appreciate it! And I'm sorry for any possible inaccuracies in Velma's backstory, okay? :P And sorry for any typos I didn't see or anything :) I'll try to update soon again!*