Prompt from Lindariddle: That would be a fun chapter, how each of them reached the point that they could say Love and then Sex within the OT4.

This became more about Shaggy's anxiety, I hope you don't mind

…..

Daphne, unsurprisingly enough, was the first to say it.

It was a quiet day. They were all in the Blake's manor, taking advantage of the empty home for a little… experiment in the bedroom.

Which led to Daphne topping Shaggy with a harness she'd managed to purchase online without her parents knowledge, a smirk on her face as the skinny teen whimpered with every thrust. Velma was gently kissing Shaggy, trying to keep him calm and relaxed as Freddie gently held the other boys' legs open.

Shaggy still had moments where he couldn't believe someone as smart and as brilliant as these three would ever be his friends, let alone his boyfriend and girlfriends.

As though she sensed what he was thinking, Daphne leaned in closer, her hips still moving as she kissed him deeply on the lips. When they broke apart, she gasped in arousal, a beaming grin on her face. "Oh my god, I love you!"

He felt like he couldn't breathe.

Velma immediately went to kiss the other girl as Shaggy came in between them, with Freddie laughing in delight at his side.

Shaggy couldn't help but smile either, despite the violent plunging in his stomach…. Is this really what love felt like?

As Velma and Daphne continued to kiss, with Daphne carefully pulling out of Shaggy, Freddie moved up to give Shaggy a kiss of his own. It went like this until they all drifted off to sleep, crammed into Daphne's bed, too warm and too happy for their own good.

…..

The first time Freddie said it, it was the morning after.

Shaggy woke up in the other man's arms, the sound of Daphne and Velma giggling breaking through his consciousness. As soon as the girls woke up, they had a tendency to get dressed almost as soon as possible, wriggling back under to covers to try and encourage the two boys to come out whilst Scooby was still distracted with breakfast.

Freddie already seemed to be awake, doodling in his trap notebook, scribbling out some new ideas.

Once the girls were back, he tried to pulled them all closer into a hug. "I love you guys." He murmured softly, a light flush on his cheeks.

"I love you too Freddie!" Daphne was clearly thrilled that someone else had said it, "I love all of you."

Freddie beamed, kissing all of them one by one, laughing when Daphne and Velma started complaining about his morning breath.

As Daphne and Velma decided to kiss each other, Shaggy heard Daphne murmur "Love you" into Velma's mouth, and just like that, the swooping fear was back.

It was getting really hot in here.

"Ummmm, like when do we have to go?" Shaggy asked nervously, prompting Daphne to turn and look at him, a slight look of concern flitting across her face before she smiled gently. "I don't know, why?"

"Like, I thought I could make you guys breakfast!" he answered quickly, edging away and getting out of bed (wincing at the pain in his lower half), "And you know how much your Mom hates me being in the kitchen."

"Shaggy… are you okay?" Velma's hand was gently stroking Daphne's hair as she frowned in concern.

"Like, I'm fine!" And then he was pulling on some pants and rushing out of the door as quickly as he could, feeling guilty as hell.

…

Downstairs, he focused on the few dozen eggs that he was cooking, not turning as the rest of the group made their way into the room.

Freddie came up behind him, wrapping his arms around the skinnier male, with Daphne briefly coming up to kiss him on the cheek, a pleased hum coming from her.

With Freddie helping with the rest of the breakfast, they all quickly scoffed down the breakfast before rushing out to go hang in the Mystery Machine, far away from judging eyes.

….

The first time Velma said it, they were in a 'haunted house'.

It wasn't much of a mystery to be honest, and even Shaggy was feeling fairly relaxed. Daphne was on her phone, taking photos of the group and posting them to her Instagram as Freddie tried to scold her for it.

"Daphne!" he whisper shouted again, "Come on, take this seriously!"

"I am! Now say cheese Freddie!"

The camera flashed, and Freddie was stunned into silence for a few moments, before he frowned again. "Daphne…"

Velma giggled at Freddie's tone, the giggles turning into full blown laughter when Daphne stood in front of Fred and pinched at his cheeks.

"So serious Freddie!"

Suddenly, Scooby jumped up, gently taking the phone and running over to the other side of the room just as Shaggy darted forwards and started to tickle her.

"Shaggy!" she squealed as she tried to catch her breath, kicking out when Freddie started to join in, with Velma struggling to breathe through her own laughter.

As Daphne twisted to try and get away from the tickling fingers, she mock glared at the other woman. "Oh, you think this is funny?"

Before Velma could say anything, Daphne managed to get free and launch her own attack on the other girl, laughing as Velma immediately protested.

Shaggy found himself laughing along as well, up until the point where Velma managed to blurt out, "I love you guys!"

Daphne beamed, replying with a proclamation of love of her own before stating that "it wouldn't get her out of this" and continuing to tickle her.

And then Freddie said, "I love you all too", with both Daphne and Velma repeating the statement.

All Shaggy could do, was feel the familiar grip of anxiety tightening around his stomach.

He managed to brush it off when he heard a ghostly wailing coming from upstairs, prompting him to yelp in fear and make a run for it.

No-one would question him when he was running for his life.

…

Later in the week, Shaggy and Daphne were having a tutoring session, where she was trying to explain Shakespeare to him, and what each sentence meant.

Velma had a science club meeting and Fred had been forced to go to a dinner with his Dad.

A rumble of thunder echoed through the area, and it was only Daphne's soothing hand gripping his own, that kept Shaggy from bolting (Scooby was already up in his room, quivering under the duvets).

"I wonder if Freddie will be able to escape?" Daphne muttered, twiddling her pen in between her fingers.

Shaggy shrugged, "Like, you know what his Dad's like. Maybe we can fake an emergency or something?"

As he worked on the Shakespeare sonnet, scribbling little notes on the side of the page, Daphne had a nosy on her phone.

"Shaggy…" she suddenly spoke up, "… look at this." She held up the phone, to reveal a rare Snapchat post from Velma, who had used a picture from their last summer holiday, of all four of them, editing it with a little heart border and the text 'The Loves of my Life.'

"God, I love you all so much."

Shaggy tried not to wince, forcing a smile on his face and nodding. "Like… totally."

He's not terrified at the words anymore… but there's still that lump in his throat that stops him from saying the words himself.

…..

The first time Shaggy said it, they were outside.

It was another mystery, this time in the woods surrounding Coolville, where a 'yeti-like' creature had been seen. They were all curled up around the camp-fire, soaking in the warmth.

Velma was holding his hand, keeping him calm as the sound of nocturnal animals echoed throughout the woods. Daphne was babbling about the time one of her uncles saw a yeti when he was climbing Mount Everest, but Shaggy wasn't really listening.

He stared into the fire, trying to muster up the courage.

Of course, what ended up happening, was he worked himself into an anxious state and pulled his hand out of Velma's, practically leaping to his feet as everyone stopped to look at him.

"Like, I have to tell you guys something." He finally managed to force out, flinching when an owl hooted in a nearby tree.

"Shaggy- "

"-No, I have to!" He felt like he was going to make a run for it… or pass out, either or.

"You guys all know my Dad…" he nervously began, smiling as the others all nodded, frowns on their faces.

A strict military man, who had been the Sheriff of their town for almost as long as they'd been alive. He wasn't shy about his feelings on his son, and his wife's apparent 'babying' of him.

"…. And you know how he treats my mum." Shaggy took a deep breath, "Like, I was always afraid of finding someone, 'cause I didn't want to be like her. He always says that he loves her but- " He stopped, noticing that the other three were transfixed on him.

Velma was twisting her fingers in her jumper, Daphne was focused intensely on him and Freddie looked like he wanted to do nothing more but pull Shaggy into a hug.

"Like… I didn't want to be trapped but…" Shaggy shrugged, forcing a smile onto his face, "…. Like, I have you guys and… I'm in love with you all. Like, I love you all so much and I-I- "

"- Shaggy." Velma interrupted gently, "We love you too."

"So much." Daphne added, almost leaping to her feet as she pulled him into a hug.

Freddie however, was completely silent.

"Freddie?"

Shaggy's voice quivered slightly, prompting Fred to get to his feet immediately and wrap his arms around the skinnier man.

"Took you long enough…. I love you too Shaggy."