Prompt from Lu_Jack: what if shaggy was physically abused by his dad, but had always hidden it from the other three. How would they react to finding out?

*****I am no longer taking prompts i'm afraid*****

….….

Shaggy laid his head on the desk.

History.

He hated History…. Who could keep track of all these dates?

"Mister Rogers!" The teacher snapped from the front of the class, "Pay attention! Or have you suddenly mastered everything about the Civil War?"

"Like, I-I-I- "

"Not good enough Norville!"

Shaggy felt like the room was closing in on him.

/ "It's not good enough, Norville!" His Dad screamed, shoving him against a wall. \\

"How do you expect to succeed when you don't pay attention?" The teacher asked, moving over to stand in front of Shaggy's desk, looking down at him.

Shaggy's chest started to feel tight, catching eyes with Freddie, who was slowly starting to get to his feet, the concerned look on his face matching Daphne and Velma's.

/ "Fail after fail after fail!" His Dad yelled, slapping his head, "Grow up Norville!" \\

"Grow up Norville!"

"Like-like- "Shaggy felt like he was going to pass out.

"Pay attention!"

/ "Listen to me boy! You will always be nothing, nothing! You're unimportant, worthless and a stupid little brat!" His Father yelled, slamming him against a wall, as tears built in Shaggy's eyes, "What? Are you going to cry, Norville? Grow! Up!" He growled, slapping his son hard. \\

"Shaggy! Shaggy!"

Finally managing to suck in a desperate breath, Shaggy's eyes flew open as he looked right into Velma's eyes.

"Come on." She whispered, pulling Shaggy to his feet and pulling him out of the class, where Fred and Daphne were waiting.

Daphne frowned when Shaggy refused to look any of them in the eyes.

"Like, sorry." He muttered, once they were far away enough from the classroom, "I didn't mean to freak out."

"Shaggy- " Fred nervously glanced at the others, "- What- what was that back there?"

"It was clearly a panic attack Freddie." Velma snapped, "But… what about?"

Shaggy tensed up as she examined him for a few moments. When she showed no sign of giving up, he broke down, explaining everything.

…..….

Freddie, Velma and Daphne were in shock by the end of the explanation, all huddling around Shaggy, making sure they were all giving him the physical comfort that he needed.

When he finished, Shaggy hung his head in shame, refusing to look any of them in the eyes.

"Shaggy…" Freddie was the first to speak up, voice quiet and subdued, "… Have you told your Mum? Or anyone else?"

"Like, I can't worry Mum like that!"

"Your Dad's an abusive asshole!" Daphne tried not to tighten her grip on his shoulders, "If you told her, I bet she would do everything within her power to- "

"- He's the Sheriff." Velma gently interrupted, "Aside from taking Shaggy and running, there's not a lot she could do."

And her taking Shaggy away would mean that they would lose a loved one. They would lose a quarter of their perfect relationship.

With him being the Sheriff, there was no guarantee it would even work.

And they all knew this.

All moving back into the hug, they decided not to mention how Shaggy's shoulders started to shake.

"We'll get through this together." Freddie stated with conviction, "Just like always."

"Like, like always."