AUTHORS NOTE (PLEASE READ):
Sharan: Sorry if I disappointed you with my mentionings of Shaggy/Velma. Because of your reviews, I'm going to ask everyone who reads this to tell me if I should keep some Shaggy/Velma or if they should just be friends in my future stories. Please tell me what you guys want to read! I'll also take any other suggestions you might have. Again, I'm really sorry if you don't like the stories I write. Please, please, please tell me what I need to change to make it better.
Sonar: Shaggy being suddenly brave was supposed to emphasize his feelings for Velma. That's kind of the point.
To everyone else who has been reading/reviewing my stories: THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! You know who you are! :) It really means a lot that you take the time to review! If you don't like something or you want me to change something, please let me know so I can be sure to improve. I know this story hasn't been the best but it's really great that you all keep supporting me!
Chapter 7 The End
The sheriff had arrived shortly after receiving a call from Fred. The whole group was now standing at the bottom of the lighthouse, surrounded by a crowd that included Velma's family, the police, Bo, and a number of curious neighbors. They all wanted to know the same thing: what the heck was going on?
"I'm sure you've all heard of William Paine's ghost that supposedly haunted the lighthouse," Fred said to everyone present. They all nodded. "Well, it wasn't a ghost at all. In fact, it was just Bo Jensen here dressing up as a pirate to frighten people off."
"But, why?" a bystander asked.
"He had heard the legends of Captain William Paine and his treasure. Bo thought they were true and he wanted all of the treasure for himself," Velma explained. "Whenever someone got brave enough to snoop around, he would put on his costume and scare them away."
"How did you kids figure it out?" an officer wondered.
"Well, like, when we went to talk to him the first time, Velma had mentioned that Daph and Fred were in the lighthouse," Shaggy piped up. "He didn't want them finding anything so he, like, kicked us out so he could chase them away."
"But we had already left," Fred added. "Later, at dinner, Bo was very curious about the inner-workings of our group. He thought that Velma and I were the most important members, so he stole a key to the house and was going to kidnap us. He thought that if he did this, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby wouldn't be able to solve the mystery by themselves. Obviously he underestimated them," Fred said, smiling at Daphne.
"So he went through all of this to find buried treasure?" the sheriff asked.
"Yeah," Bo grumbled. "And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids and your dog!"
"Dog? R'where?" Scooby asked, looking around.
The gang laughed at their silly pet. A few hours later, they were all packed up and ready to leave Pirate's Cove. Daphne was carrying her last bag out to the van when she noticed that Fred was already sitting inside. This wouldn't have been odd except for the fact that they weren't going to leave for another hour.
"Freddy, what are you doing in there?" she asked, sliding into the passenger seat.
He blushed. "Well, I was inside getting ready when Clarissa kind of...attacked me," he explained, looking down at his hands. "And I've been hiding out in here ever since."
Daphne laughed, causing Fred to look up and smile. He had never heard such a musical, cheerful sound in his life. There was a moment of awkward silence as neither was sure what to say. Eventually, Daphne mumbled something about needing to go back in the house and she exited the vehicle.
"Wait!" Fred called to her, also stepping out of the van. "While I have you here, there was something that I, err, wanted to give you," he said, pulling out a silver chain. On it was an odd-looking charm that was white with a black dot on it. Fred handed it to her and then reached for a more masculine chain that hung around his neck, holding a similar charm. His was black with a white dot on it. When separated, there was nothing extraordinarily significant about either charm, but when he put them together, they formed the circular Yin-Yang symbol.
"Fred, that's so sweet," Daphne said softly, putting the necklace on.
"Well, I just thought that, even though he was a creep, Bo was kind of right saying that we work well together and stuff," Fred mumbled. "Daph, you're like my best friend and I just thought that this necklace was kind of a reminder that I'll always be here for you, whenever you need me. So next time you get kidnapped by a ghost, just look down at that charm and know that I'm doing everything I can to get you back."
Daphne smiled, tears threatening to fall from her deep blue eyes. She knew that this was just another thing Fred was doing as a friend, and it didn't mean anything more than that. She realized that maybe friendship would be all she would ever get with him, and that alone made her want to burst into tears. But she took a deep breath and reminded herself that having him in her life as a friend was better than not having him in it at all. And, who knows, she thought hopefully, maybe someday he'll feel the same way about me as I do about him.
"Thank you so much," she said, hugging him for a brief moment. "This is the sweetest thing anyone's done for me in a really long time."
With that, Daphne walked slowly back into the house, leaving Fred to wonder why she was leaving, for her eyes said that she wanted to stay. Fred sighed. "Women should come with manuals," he muttered, climbing back into the car.
Meanwhile, Shaggy and Velma were reflecting on the case in the kitchen.
"I've never seen you act so brave," Velma told him, referring to the point when he had saved her from being thrown off the side of the lighthouse.
Shaggy blushed, but smiled. "Well, he was, like, trying to hurt you," he said, as if this explained the sudden and unexpected heroic act.
The corner's of Velma's lips twitched up into a little grin as she leaved over and gave her companion a quick peck on the cheek. After that, without so much as saying another word, Velma walked out of the kitchen and climbed into the van, leaving Shaggy confused.
"Like, this is exactly what she did at the end of our last case," he told Scooby, who was resting on a nearby rug. "Does that mean that she wants me to, like, ask her out or something? Or is this just her version of friendship?" He ran his hands through his messy hair. "Like, why don't girls ever make it easy for us guys?" he wondered.
