CHAPTER 46

After this exciting new development, Fred and Daphne returned to Headquarters just before sundown. They joined Velma, Shaggy and Scooby around the fire and spooned themselves out a portion of rice and vegetables from the pot that was simmering away above the fire. As they plonked themselves down very close together on the logs, Velma raised an eyebrow questioningly at them. Fred looked away and pretended not to notice, and Daphne giggled and buried her face in Fred's arm.

By the time they finished dinner, it was well past dark, but Fred and Daphne had agreed to wait until the others retire to their tents before starting.

After dinner, as usual, they stayed around the campfire talking and reminiscing of the better times. To Daphne's shock, she found she was beginning to forget some things from her pre-war life. What subjects was she planning on taking for the HSC? She'd had it all planned out for months, but now she couldn't even recall all of them. And who was the villain behind the Vasquez Castle phantom? After much discussion the previous night, Shaggy had finally remembered that it was Bluestone the Great. Talking about those times kept those memories alive. Similarly, talking about people kept them alive.

To Daphne's surprise, she found she really missed her mum. Her mum had always been so vain and unbearable at times, and Daphne sometimes felt that her mother didn't really love her.

But reflecting, she realised she did. Love is different between different people. Daphne thought of her mother everyday, and she knew the others all woke up and went to sleep with their families on their minds. She sometimes felt guilty when she didn't think of her loved ones often enough. But sometimes, her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of survival, food, guns and paranoia. And Fred.

She nudged Fred and knowingly grinned at him. She was getting impatient, as the others weren't giving any sign that they were heading off to bed any time soon.

Daphne exaggerated a yawn. 'I think I'm going to turn in for the night,' she said, hoping the others would take her lead.

'Ah yes, me too,' Fred said, standing up beside her. 'It's been a long day.'

Velma said she was going to go to her tent – but to read. Shaggy and Scooby seemed to prefer to stay up and talk around the campfire, much to Daphne's internal annoyance.

They flopped down on their sleeping bags, and Daphne immediately enveloped him in a deep kiss. He wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her closer to him.

'Bloody Shaggy and Scooby,' Daphne groaned. 'They had to choose tonight to stay up late.'

'It's not just them,' Fred commented. 'Velma's tent light is still on.'

Their slow and arduous wait was interspersed with occasional kisses and whispers. They could still hear Shaggy and Scooby.

'Oh come on Fred, let's just go for it,' Daphne begged. 'They won't even notice.'

'No.' Fred was firm.

Daphne sighed and laid her head on her makeshift pillow. She was beginning to get genuinely tired now.

Throughout the course of the war, her body clock had adjusted itself to a midnight to dawn sleeping schedule. It was very regimented, so much so that Daphne found she tended to wake up at almost the exact same time everyday. Not that they had much sense of time anyway, but the sun's position in the sky was always the same: sitting just beneath the rocky outcrop above Headquarters.

Fred turned over to Daphne, jumping her from her thoughts. 'The guys won't do this again tomorrow night. They'll be too tired. We'll do it tomorrow, okay, Daph?'

Daphne's annoyed expression softened a little into a sweet smile. 'Okay,' she relented. 'Tomorrow.'

As usual, they snuggled up in each other's warm embrace and slept through until dawn.

~oO*Oo~

Much to Daphne's frustration, it didn't happen the next night either. They had reluctantly spent all day helping Velma dig the new latrine. At the end of the day, their every joint and muscle was dead stiff – and cold. It was the coldest day they had experienced down in Headquarters. Winter was well and truly on its way. Daphne had pain in areas of her body she didn't even know existed. But as Fred said, on the bright side, they made a lot of process. Still, everyone except Velma felt that it had been a waste of a day. Surely there were better things they could be doing, namely contributing to the war effort…

Daphne and Fred flopped down on their sleeping bags again that night, too tired, sore and frustrated to do anything else.

~oO*Oo~

The next day, Shaggy and Scooby embarked on their first ever supply raid alone. In the past, they had gone with at least one other person, but both of them were itching to get away from the stifling atmosphere of Headquarters. It would at least give them a break from Velma's relentless nagging.

Fred and Daphne spent a mostly relaxing day together, but they were obviously worried about Shaggy and Scooby. At nightfall, they would break the cover of the bush and raid another house for food. So much could go wrong, and Shaggy and Scooby weren't exactly careful and stealthy…

But Fred knew he had to put trust in his friends.

So when he and Daphne retreated to their tent for the night, he didn't know what would happen. Initially, they lay side by side, touching at the shoulder and holding hands, simmering in their own worries.

Daphne glanced over in the direction of Velma's tent. The light was off.

Daphne rolled over to Fred. 'This is no use lying here and worrying about the guys.' She raised her eyebrows inquiringly and inched closer to Fred. 'Yeah?' she prompted, referring to the question that did not need to be asked.

'I don't know Daph…'

She sat up beside Fred and looked down at him. Daphne had a plan. She shoved the blankets up against the wall of the tent so that they were just lying on their sleeping bags. Fred sat up and looked at her nervously, but curiously.

Start slow, she told herself. She reached out her hand and stroked the length of Fred's arm, feeling goosebumps form on his skin as her touch rode down his arm. She loved how she had that effect on Fred. Then she held his hand in hers and slowly leaned forwards before trailing kisses down his face and exploring his neck with her mouth.

She shot him a seductive smile that made his hairs stand on end. She leaned in again, but this time, she went straight for his lips, hungrily grabbing them with her own. He responded instantly – flinging his arms around her neck and pushing back into her. Daphne squealed into him, her own excitement becoming too much to bear. She could feel the heat radiating from Fred, but whether it was from nervousness or excitement, she was still unsure.

'Getting a bit hot under the collar, are you,' she purred, slipping a hand under his shirt and removing it in one swift movement.

Fred did not object, nor did he when Daphne pushed him onto the floor and straddled across his legs. Even just sitting on top of him, she could practically feel the blood pooling into his lower regions.

As Daphne leant down to kiss him, he held up a hand to stop her.

'Wait. I err, need to get something first.'

'What kind of something?' Daphne asked, a little too innocently.

'The um, err…' Fred stuttered, his face going even redder.

'Freddie, you're getting so hot in here. I don't want you to overheat,' Daphne said.

She crossed the gap between her and Fred, undid his belt buckle and slid his jeans clean off him. Her skin prickled with desire. Sure, she had seen Fred in his underwear many times before, especially lately when they had been swimming, but this was different. This time, the air was sizzling with heat and tension.

'Daphne, wait,' Fred said more firmly this time.

'Yes, Freddie?'

'I need to get a err, condom.'

Daphne giggled at how many attempts it had taken for him to finally manage to say the word. As Fred leant over the hiking pack with the toiletries and searched through, Daphne came from behind and jumped on his back.

'Hey, Fred?' she asked in a more serious tone.

'Yeah?'

'Are you sure you're okay with this?'

He nodded.

Daphne got off him and sat back, feeling a bit put out. Fred finally found what he needed from the pack and started to peel off the wrapping.

'Fred, are you sure?' she asked again.

Fred looked up at her this time. 'Yes. Yes I am.'

'Mm.'

'Listen to me Daph, I'm just… really awkward when it comes to things like this. I don't mean to be, and I don't know how not to be. But I really want to do this. With you.'

She brightened and came closer and put a hand on his shoulder. 'It's alright. It's our first time after all. I'm nervous too. But really fucking excited,' she added, winking at him.

'Ah, Daph, I'm going to need some help getting this on,' Fred said, holding up the condom with a confused expression on his face.

Daphne's heart caught in her throat, and she nodded giddily in response. 'No worries,' she replied hotly. 'But first, I think I need to get on your level.'

She unbuttoned her pants and slipped off her hoodie. She contemplated taking off her undergarments as well, but she decided on leaving that pleasure with Fred.

Suddenly, there was a frighteningly loud noise outside their tent. Fred and Daphne jumped together, hearts pounding in alarm.

'What was that?' Fred whispered.

'Does it really matter?' Daphne said. She cupped his chin in her hands and redirected his face towards her.

'Oh, hang on. That was just an owl,' Fred laughed. It took him a second to realise that he had his hands positioned on her lower back. It was the first time he noticed Daphne was just as naked as him, minus her bra.

Daphne laughed. 'Okay. But I think we've got more important things to worry about right now. Namely,' she said, smoothing her hands down his back so that they were on the waistband of his underpants, 'us.'

She tilted her head inquiringly at him. He nodded and helped her slip them off. All Daphne's earlier confidence suddenly left her, and she felt shy for the first time. She felt too shy to touch him. Instead, she guided his hand around her back to her bra. Fred reached around with his other arm and after much struggling, undid the clasp.

'Umm, how about I'll err, put this on,' Fred decided, 'and do you want to…'

'Yep.' Daphne was already two steps ahead. She dropped her underpants and grabbed a blanket she had discarded from the other side of the room earlier.

'Meet you under the blanket Freddie,' Daphne said, some of her earlier gusto returning.

Fred tentatively lifted up the blanket and shuffled himself in beside her. 'Err, righto, I think I've got it on.'

'Good.'

Wasting no time, Daphne lunged herself at him and engulfed his mouth in another passionate kiss. Her hands crawled all over his body, exploring the areas that had previously been off limits to her. As she moved over him, she felt it brush on the leg of her inner thigh. Overwhelmed with passion, she rolled them over so that she was on her back, with Fred pressed up against her.

Yet one thing was irritating her – where were Fred's hands? On the floor on either side of her.

'Freddie,' she said crossly.

'What?'

Daphne rolled them back over so that she was on top of him again. She grabbed his hands and brought them to her back. She hadn't intended it, but they landed smack on top of her buttocks, eliciting a chuckle from them both.

'Why aren't you touching me?' she demanded. 'Don't you want to?'

'I didn't know if you felt comfortable with it,' Fred replied honestly.

'Well, you can touch me! I want you to touch me!' she cried. 'Please, Fred.' She was practically brimming with desire and anticipation at this point.

Then his calloused hands were running over her body, all over… Daphne groaned in delight.

Fred groaned too as her hands continued to explore his body. 'God Daph, how are you so good at this…'

After a little while, they gave in to each other and finally sealed the deal.

Needless to say, Fred and Daphne had a fun night.

~oO*Oo~

'So Daph, how was it?' Velma asked slyly. She was perched on a rock near the creek, watching Daphne below her, who absent-mindedly picked up a rock and skipped it across the water.

'How was what?' Daphne replied, a little too innocently. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to fall into that water and drown right there and then.

Velma rolled her eyes, wondering how to best go about this. 'Well, I noticed there was quite a mess in the toiletries bag. It was almost as if someone had been looking for something. Something that someone had reluctantly chucked in the bag "just in case". One of those items that are right down the bottom of the bag.' She stole a glance at Daphne, still staring intently at the river. Velma sighed. 'Daphne, a condom was missing.'

Daphne went a very deep red, but gave Velma a shrewd smile. 'I should've known you'd figure it out. You're a detective after all.'

'It wasn't very hard,' Velma replied simply. 'With the amount of noise you and Fred were making last night.'

Daphne's jaw dropped to the ground and still red-faced, she gave a little giggle. 'Oops.' Now that the worst was out in the open, Daphne hopped up to the rock Velma was sitting on and settled down beside her. 'Okay, well, since you're asking, it was totally fab,' she gushed.

Velma didn't even crack a smile, just continued to gaze aimlessly into the distance.

Daphne continued, 'It was Freddie's first time, so he was a little awkward. I kind of knew what we were meant to be doing, but it was still awkward until we really got into it.'

Now Velma almost fell into the creek. It was like all the water in her mouth had been sucked into the creek, leaving her mouth as dry as the dusty bush at the surface. 'What?! You've done it before?'

Velma saw the exact moment the realisation of what she had just said dawn on Daphne's face.

Daphne clamped her hands to her mouth, wishing with all her might that the creek would swallow her up.

'Daphne?'

'Oops,' she said again.

'Gee, I had no idea,' Velma said. She looked at Daphne again. If she had looked embarrassed before, she didn't know how to describe what she looked like now. 'Who was it with?' Velma asked. When Daphne didn't reply, she pressed further. 'Red Herring?'

A small nod confirmed this.

'I thought they were rumours.'

'Well, they're true.'

'Did he… he didn't…'

'I know what you're going to ask. No, he didn't force me into it. And it wasn't at a party, surprisingly. We were completely sober. It was a Friday night after school, actually. It just happened.'

'Well, I did not see that coming,' Velma said sincerely. 'How long ago was it?'

'While I was dating Red, so maybe seven or eight months ago? I'm not entirely sure. Don't tell the boys, okay? Especially Fred.'

'Okay.' She turned back to the river, that same blank expression returning.

'I didn't even want to tell you about it, Vel. It's just so embarrassing. I really wish it didn't happen. I wish my first time was with Fred.'

'So you're trying to forget that first time ever happened?'

'Yes. Besides, I'm legal now. So let's just accept that,' she said airily. 'Last night was my first time.'

Velma was staring at her with an indecipherable expression. Then she pursed her lips together and looked away and gazed out at the river. 'At least you used protection. Otherwise that would've been… inconvenient.'

'Haha, yeah, I…' Daphne broke off when she realised there was not a hint of laughter on Velma's face.

Daphne stopped talking and stared back at Velma. She was confused. Velma had been rooting for Fred and Daphne to get together for months – even years – long before the war even started. Velma had been Daphne's dependable best friend; why was she so disinterested now? Daphne had just revealed two of her biggest secrets at once to Velma. Velma should have a tonne of questions. She and Daphne were usually so nosey with each other. But Velma seemed to be finished and Daphne was disappointed; she found herself looking forward for a nice chat by the river.

'Don't you want to talk…' Daphne asked uncertainly.

'No, I do not. We're in a war, Blake. You'll do well to remember it.'

She walked away, leaving Daphne sitting alone on the rock, feeling hurt and confused.