Hi everyone! This is the final chapter and I want to give infinite thanks to all those who with their favorites or reviews have encouraged me to continue writing, even though I would've continued publishing with or without them, it's great to have you there! In this chapter, which is shorter than usual, I just wanted to close a few plots that were left a little open throughout the whole story, especially things about Fred's past and Daphne's tribulations trying to prove to herself that she is old enough, that you don't have to prejudge people and well... I'd better let you read it. Thank you and enjoy!

FredTrap

Chapter 10. Thoughts

Fred watched as Shaggy and Scooby, who had accompanied him home, walked away. He snorted and grazed the big door several times. After some time in the afternoon sun, his father opened it for him. He wore his usual Sunday clothes, the only day he didn't go to the city hall. Fred immediately noticed the look his father was giving him, it was a mixture of disillusionment and anger in his eyes that was already usual in him.

"Hi," Fred said as he entered the house, dragging his suitcase behind him and leaving it by the side of the staircase leading to the bedrooms.

His house was large and ostentatiously decorated with stuffed animal heads, antique paintings and large windows.

"Hi. Food is served," his father welcomed, leaving the house in total silence after those words.

Fred walked to the kitchen and indeed, there were two bowls of lukewarm soup waiting for the two of them. His father sat down and began to eat, but stopped when he was halfway through the bowl.

"Fred, Sheriff Stone has filled me in on what happened to that guy in the fish freak costume. What were you thinking?" Mayor Jones began. Slowly his tone had changed from apathetic to obviously angry.

"But dad... Thanks to me and my friends the city council is going to make some money from the golden coins in the lake," Fred also dropped his spoon and stood up, but he quickly sat down again. "And we caught those two crooks. I would love to hear the word 'thanks' coming out of your mouth at least once in my life."

The mayor's face went blank for a moment. "So do you think I'm a bad father?" he said loudly. "Do you think I'm ungrateful? I have to take care of you and my job all by myself, a job that doesn't leave me as much free time as I would like to spend with you."

"I know, but I just want us to be like any other family."

"Too bad we're not like any other family," Fred Jones, Sr. Roared.

"I know, I know mom's not here, but do you think you're the only widower who has to raise a child on his own? Why can't you ever say 'son, I'm proud of you'? You didn't even come to my football games, let alone take me camping or fishing once," Fred had also raised his voice and now he was crying as loudly as his father. Remembering all the times his father had let him down made him sensitive and felt like he was about to burst into tears.

"What am I supposed to be proud of? Of you buying magazines about traps? Of you almost always coming home from your games saying you hadn't left the bench? I try to give you my best and this is how you repay me."

"But I don't want money or a big house, I just want to be able to talk to my dad when I need to about the things that worry me and know that when you're gone I'll have some father-son memories. Is that too much to ask?"

Mayor Jones remained impassive for a long time until he finally decided to speak again. "What do you want then? What do you want to talk about?"

Fred frowned for a second before speaking. There was nothing he wanted more in those moments than to talk about his mother once and for all. "About mom."

Velma arrived home and soon ate everything her parents had prepared for lunch. Madelyn went into her sister's room after the dishes had been cleaned.

"How was the trip?" the girl asked, sitting on the bed next to Velma.

"Well, I already told you about the monster, I don't know what else I can say," Velma shrugged going to her bedroom's window to open it and sit on the bench under it.

Her room had orange walls and was covered with photos of her family and posters of the Hex Girls, an female alternative rock group, unlike Madelyn's which was painted soft pink and had clean walls and no posters as she kept her obsession with kpop bands on the shelves of her room. Sometimes both sisters would jokingly argue about which genre was better, they even had some speaker-wars.

"I know you well enough to know that's not what's wrong with you. Is there something wrong, something you want to share with your dear little sister?" Madelyn grinned.

Velma swallowed. "No, nothing," Velma stated. Madelyn raised an eyebrow, making it clear to Velma that she would not be easily fooled. After all, Madelyn was a skillful little liar and therefore a great actress. "Oh, okay. I guess I have to admit it. I've already told Daphne, after all. I might like Shaggy."

"Shaggy? The boy with the goatee that shared the room with you?" Madelyn knew him from multiple video calls that both sisters had made. Truth be told, Shaggy looked kinda cute to Madelyn.

Velma nodded, a little scared.

Daphne had also finished eating and while her mother was going to the indoor pool of the mansion with Daphne's sister Dorothy. The Blake mansion was huge, more than the Joneses'. They had an outdoor pool, an indoor pool, a dozen rooms and very large and high hallways, all elegantly and restrainedly decorated.

Daphne entered the empty dining room and went to one of the many crystal cupboards in the room. In one of them there were bowls, fine glass jars, and porcelain tea cups. In another, glasses of all sizes. And in another, bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages, all quite expensive. Most were only offered to guests on special occasions, but there were some bottles already opened. Her father was devoted to a shot of scotch almost every evening so Daphne took the bottle of amber liquid already half full and opened it. It smelled pretty bad, just like the beer that almost everyone at the camping had drunk.

Daphne took a deep breath and carefully put it in her mouth. It tasted as bad as beer or even worse, like wet. She let the drink fall down his throat. Her parents would go crazy if they saw her, especially her mother. In her home there had always been strict rules about smoking and alcohol. She still remembered the scolding that had been given to Delilah, her older sister who was now in the Marines, when she came home drunk from a party. All four of her older sisters were the same age since they were quadruplets, but Delilah was always the most rebellious in her teens.

Finally Daphne dared to drink alcohol, not for fun but to prove to herself that she could and that there was nothing wrong with it, nor did drinking make you a worse person as she had always been led to believe. That didn't take away from the fact that alcohol was dangerous for her body, but she was already 15 years old. It was okay to try it just once, she wasn't going to make a habit of it. She carefully left the bottle in the crystal cupboard and ran to her room with a smile on her face.

Shaggy and Scooby, on the other hand, had not had it so easy to start lunch since his parents had scolded them as never before for taking Scooby-Doo on the excursion. It didn't matter that their son had caught two thieves, for them the only thing that mattered was that Shaggy had disobeyed them and could've gotten into big trouble.

For the sake of his own physical and mental integrity, Shaggy did not mention that the entire class knew Scooby-Doo was able to talk.

Under the weak autumn afternoon sun, Shaggy and Scooby went for a walk in the garden of the house. The house their parents had bought in Oak Hill was not bad, admittedly. It was quite large and almost looked like the home of some rich people, with its clean white façade and manicured hedges. Shaggy sat on the stone bench in a small corner of the garden that was meant to be a place of relaxation surrounded by tall, green hedges.

"This has been great, huh?" Shaggy said, lying down on the bench. "Like the best adventure I've ever had in my life. And they're going to invite us to snack tomorrow! Maybe life in this town isn't as bad as I thought. Like, it's a quieter place and everyone is nicer than in San Francisco, don't you think so?"

"Reah! Rye rike rhem. Rhey are rice," Scooby laid down too, but on the grass.

"Like, I suppose we could really accept the proposal to form a group with them. For me it's a drag to always have to sit alone in some corner at lunchtime. What do you say?" Scooby-Doo nodded in agreement, happy.

That night everyone (even Scooby) went to bed with the same thought in their heads. Something had changed. They were no longer just acquaintances or classmates, they were friends.

Fred fell asleep with itchy eyes from crying. He'd discovered that afternoon something he never would've imagined; his parents were planning to divorce and had had a big argument before she went out and had that car accident. His father had always regretted that she had died angry with him, without giving him a chance to apologize. Fred felt sad, so sad that he didn't want to get out of bed again until many, many hours had passed.

Daphne, on the other hand, felt strange that things were changing inside her, just like Velma, who spent a while with her mind clouded by midnight thoughts and hormones.

Shaggy was the only one who slept soundly that night since the change had been for the better in his case. Supportive friends and a great experience engraved on his memory forever.

Oak Hill was a groovy place to live, after all.

I also wanted to say that, for those of you who liked this story, I'd like to let you know that I'll publish a second one as a continuation. It will be called 'Nights of the Werewolf' and I will explore further the Fraphne and Shelma pairings, especially the first one. I can't give many details but I'll publish it on November 8th this year, so stay tuned!