Surprisingly, Daphne can still look Shaggy in the eyes after it happens - after the gravity of their actions sets in and they realize just how not okay it is. And Daph suddenly understands that in any context, what she did wasn't a good idea at all; no matter how distraught she was in that moment. To think the glow of hallucinogenic fire would have such dormant feelings burst out the front of her mind and turn the pit in her stomach to a full-blown vortex.

Rational or not, Daphne's feelings for Fred are still there, and those feelings have been shown to do dangerous things to her. Things that force her heart-rate to double in speed and push her through the Gothic halls of a forgotten library.

When she is brought back to reality by the eerie crackle of the fire just inches away from her, Daphne is stunned to see the man whom she was supposed to be embracing staring down at her in shock. And when she goes to inspect the person that has their arms wrapped around her, she is met with equally shocked brown eyes.

Several days are dedicated to damage control from both parties - Shaggy attempting to calm the fires of his overly-protective canine as well as the almost constant teasing Velma sends his way. Daph spends all of her free time trying to calm the black hole in her gut that keeps reminding her that she loves Fred Jones, because it's starting to hurt. When she's not doing that, Daphne is usually trying to sustain Freddie's ego, continually assuring him that both her and Shag weren't right in the head when it happened. It was taking a while but he was slowly beginning to believe her.

Everything was actually returning to a state of normalcy, at least the sort of things that are considered normal in the life of Daphne Blake. Any mention of the incident seemed to become a taboo subject among the gang and Velma had at the very least become bored of the discomfort Shag showed when she brought it up.

Daphne had persuaded Fred to hide out in her house and away from family drama and was certainly relieved to have back on a regular showering schedule; now that the hole in her stomach pushed her to be as close to him as possible.

It had just been a simple afternoon - much simpler than most - the gang was relaxing by the pool at Daph's house and keeping their minds occupied. There was no particular issue or drama circling the air that day, which was the only way they could remain so relaxed, Velma was resting under an umbrella and flipping through the various clues she had found at the library, Shaggy and Scooby had taken it upon themselves to provide a hearty feast, and Fred and Daphne were perched at the pool's edge. Their hips were connected and all Daph could bring herself to do was count the small dots of bright pink granite that decorated the bottom of the pool.

Indeed it was a quiet day, and these were the days the gang cherished most, where everything could go by slow and steady. And yet, Daphne was in an indescribable amount of pain, all of it coming from that damned vortex; her hands were clasped tightly in her lap because if she set them free then they could begin to tremble as if the whole world was vibrating.

She wanted to blame it on hunger, that the amazing scents drifting her way from the outdoor kitchen were just reminding her that she had skipped dinner last night and breakfast that morning. But this couldn't be chocked up to hunger pain, because this felt like a beam of fire and light was forcing itself through her guts and through her veins. It was bordering on unbearable but she didn't dare give it away to Fred; out of fear that he'd disconnect from her. So long as she sat still and kept counting the dots, Daphne convinced herself the pain would pass.

And that was when his voice sounded out, "Alright ladies and gentleman, like, come and get your grub!"

She began to breathe in and out through her nose as she shot to her feet, disconnecting herself from Fred, and running passed her friends. Ignoring them shouting out to her, Daphne sped up the stairs and practically kicked open the doors that let her back into the house.

Her vision had begun to blur around the edges as tunnel vision kicked in and her brain urged to keep searching for the thing she needed; placing both her hands over her mouth in hopes of keeping everything sealed in. Even though this was her own home and she had lived here since birth, she found herself rounding corner after corner with no success in achieving her goal. She almost gave in to the desire to fall down on her knees in defeat, but then for a split second the buzzing in her brain stopped and a clear silence replaced it. Daphne looked to her right and sure enough, behind an open door was a hot pink toilet with her name on it. Figuratively of course.

Not even bothering to turn on the lights, Daph rushed in and grabbed either side of the toilet seat, and without a second to spare because all of that fire in her stomach had risen to the surface and was breaking loose.

The adrenaline of the moment was most likely preventing her from actually feeling the burning as it traveled up her throat and pushed over her tongue. She did feel the pain in her lungs from the forced coughing that came from upchucking anxiety, and that was far from pleasant to say the least.

For a few minutes, Daph had made the decision to ignore the fact that her hair was draping over her ears and into the toilet bowl; it wasn't like she could see much in the dark room with eyes clouded by tears.

That is, until the lights clicked on and she was forced to make out the carnage before her, hardly a pretty site to see your hair dipping in vomit; the same hair that was framing either side of her vision. But then she felt a slight tickle on her left ear and then noticed the hair being rescued from drowning in gastric acid. She would take the time to thank her rescuer but her body had yet to let her take a break from spewing fire.

There was a gentle hand rubbing her back as she continued to cough up more fire and then take a second to breathe before the hacking returned. That cycle must've carried on for about seven or eight minutes before Daphne gasped out for air and found that once she had evened out her breathing, the fire didn't force anything up.

Her hero seemed to sense this as well because they're voice sounded and Daph finally realized who it was, "Jesus Daph...like, you got a hair tie?"

Daphne nodded solemnly and pulled one from her wrist, holding it out behind her and not tearing her eyes away from the toilet. The disaster looked less awful now that she wasn't coughing and filling her eyes with salty tears. It was mostly clear, which she figured made sense since she hadn't eaten anything in at least twelve hours.

After her hair had been pulled back into a tight ponytail, Shaggy returned to rubbing her back. He didn't ask any questions or try to break the ice, and Daph was thankful for that; she knew what she wanted to say to him, but it was taking quite a bit of effort to string together how she was gonna say it. After a long state of silence, Daphne finally let out a deep breath - she was ready to pour her heart out, "I remember everything from that night..."

She heard him take in a deep breath as well, "Like, so do I...'

The calmness in his voice was all the prompting Daph needed, "All I can think about it how if we had never stepped foot into that library... then- ... then Fred would have been my first. Or better yet, I wouldn't even be in love with him again." She said that with a soft chuckle, although it was too callous to ease the tension in the room, "I-I don't even know what to feel... my stomach hurts every time I think about us both being forced into that. And my stomach has been hurting all the time so I guess tells you where my head's at."

Shag brought his hands up to her shoulders and Daph wondered if she had a sunburn there because the skin was incredibly warm. "I wish I could say that's just an occupational hazard that, like, comes with the territory of messing with freaky stuff... But this was never in the job description..."

"No," She feels her voice begin to quiver, "It wasn't." She turns around to face him and find that his hands are slightly quivering, "Shag, I don't want what happened to change anything, we're best friends and I don't know what I'd do without you..." He smiles, but it's a sad one; because he can see her biting her lip as she continues, "But, " The words are too hard to say and I have to push them passed my teeth. Like verbal vomit.

"Every time I look at you I- ... I just... Remember kissing you a-and touching you. Feeling you." her cheeks feel hot as the events flash through her mind for the millionth time and all of the looks he gave her that night with brown eyes replace any of the blue eyes that the firewood forced her to see.

Shag looks down at his shaking hands and nods, "Me too..." He says, just above a whisper, and Daph doesn't miss the crack in his voice. That small break is enough to tug a new emotion to the front of Daph's thoughts. Anger. She lets out a frustrated groan before saying, "This isn't fair! If anything was ever gonna happen between us... this- ...This isn't how I would've wanted it to go!" She noticed him flinch at that "If," like the very idea of them being something outside of friends, far away from her very loud feelings for Fred, just completely terrified him.

And as she lingered on it, she found it terrified her too.

So she did something, something incredibly foolish, she wiped any trace of vomit from her mouth and chin on the back of her hand - she'd wash her hands later. And then, with no further warning, she grabbed onto the collar of his t-shirt and brought his chapped lips to rest on her's.

Her aim had been a bit off as she found herself kissing only his bottom lip rather than the full kiss she had wanted. And his nose was poking into her cheek leaving the whole experience to be far from glamorous. But God, her whole body was on fire, and it wasn't the fire that had been burning through her throat just a few minutes ago. It wasn't even the fire she felt when she had kissed Fred for the first time. No, this fire was brand new; coating her whole body in not just comforting warmth. This was a raging heat that was tearing through her, it was screaming out so many things to her and she had no clue how to process any of it. All of those things were shouting out and pulling on her leaving her with a singular thought. "More."

The was enough to send a yelp through her and she pulled away, but the fire was still there, just pulling on her.

Those brown eyes looked down at her with what Daph wanted to say was awe. But with further inspection, she knew that it wasn't awe she recognized - it was terror. And now Daphne knew she had made a mistake, one she could never go back on, one she couldn't fix with a simple apology. She almost wanted to say something, anything, but was struck with fear as his brows furrowed and she realized, 'Oh. He's scowling at me. He's angry with me.'

All her words were gone as he stood up and left the room without saying a word. Daphne stayed there for a few minutes, trying her best to sob silently because no matter how much cold water she splashed on her face she found that the fire was still there and seemed to get stronger the more she thought about the kiss.

"Daph?" All at once, the fire was gone, but in it's stead - that vortex made it's big comeback in her gut. Sniffling, Daphne could only convince one thought to stay in her mind, 'This pain is better.'

And with that, Daphne wiped her puffy, red eyes and walked into the willing embrace of Fred, who instantly showered her with a million questions. She didn't answer a single one.