More than

Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby Doo or any of the characters

Chapter 1

More than Food

If you know Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, then you know that he loves food. Whether on a case or just hanging out, you'll find him eating or cooking up something. What nobody knew, not even Scooby Doo, his best friend and dog, was that there was one thing that he loved even more than food: Velma Dinkley.

He loved hearing her talk about something scientific even if he didn't understand it. She got a special sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she was interested in. She got a mischievous smile that he loved when she purposely said something she knew that no one else would understand. He loved that she didn't change herself to impress anybody no matter how much she liked a person. He thought she was beautiful just the way she was. He also loved her dry, sarcastic wit and humor.

Her glasses magnified her eyes so that you could see the little flecks of gold in her brown eyes. She was researching laser eye surgery and contacts for people with her level of blindness without glasses. He personally thought they looked cute on her. He loved looking into her eyes and seeing what she was thinking. He could always tell by the look in her eyes.

He knew she wasn't into the totally brainy guys like so many people thought she would be. He thought she might even be able to be into him, if it wasn't for the fact that he was such a coward. He didn't dare show or utter a single word about how he felt about her. If there was one thing that he was even more afraid of than monsters, it was his fear that Velma would find out his feelings for her.

He didn't want things to get weird between them. Every time someone showed an interest in her, she'd get all weird about it and end up being really mean to them. It didn't help that they usually turned out to be the people who ended up in jail. Velma was his best friend besides Scooby Doo. Fred and Daphne were great friends too, but he was just closer to Velma. He wasn't into sports like Fred or into fashion like Daphne. He didn't really have anything in common with Velma either, but she made an effort to include him in things. She took the time to explain people's jokes and do activities with him. She made sure to include him in conversations and ask his opinions.

He didn't tell Scooby Doo about his secret love for a number of reasons. For one thing he didn't think that Scooby would understand. Also the fact that Scooby would probably accidentally tell her. All she'd need to do is give him a Scooby Snack and every single secret he'd learned would go right out the window.

Velma didn't often show an open interest in men besides sometimes turning into an out-of-character fan-girl for certain movie stars or authors. Ben Ravencroft was one of her favorite authors. She was totally into him and everyone could tell. She helped him solve a mystery of his ancestor's missing book. He used that book to become an evil warlock. He mocked Velma for her interest in him. If he wasn't locked in a book, then Shaggy thought he could have hurt him. Though Shaggy wasn't a fan of violence at all, he thought he could have made an exception in this particular case.

He thought it was kind of strange that she seemed like her old self again that very night when they played the concert with the Hex girls. He didn't question it. He thought maybe she wasn't as into him as he'd originally thought. On the way home Velma was chatting up the latest scientific breakthroughs while Fred and Daphne pretended to be interested in what she was saying.

Later when he was in bed, he heard a weird sound coming from Velma's room. (A/N: I don't know if they all ended up living together in the series, but in this they all live together. Shaggy's room is right next to Velma's.) He got up to go check it out. He thought maybe she just forgot to shut off her computer again. He knocked on her door and then opened it. Velma was curled up in a ball on her bed whimpering into her pillow. He'd never seen Velma cry before. He knew then that she wasn't okay. He didn't even think about what he was doing, he just scooped her up and held her. Velma turned around so she was facing him and then threw her arms around him hanging on for dear life while she sobbed into his chest.

That became the routine for that whole week. Velma would pretend to be fine during the day, but at night he'd go in and hold her while she cried. Scooby Doo came in sometimes and she'd pet him with one hand while still holding onto Shaggy with the other. She told them not to tell Fred and Daphne about it. She also asked them to forget about her bout of weakness. Shaggy understood it. He had done the same thing with Crystal.

He acted like her leaving hadn't affected him one bit, but it did. He acted like he was fine during the day, but at night he couldn't sleep. Velma had figured it out somehow and stayed up with him. They'd watch movies and have popcorn fights. Eventually he was able to sleep again and Velma went back on her own. She was a very independent person and he respected that about her.

It took her less and less time to stop crying at night and then not at all. He still checked on her the second week, but she always assured him that she was fine. He liked being needed and depended upon especially by her. It made him feel important and that maybe there was room for him in her life.

He knew things about her that he doubted she knew that he knew. He knew that her favorite color was red, but she thought that she looked best in orange which is why most of her outfits were orange with just a little bit of red. He knew that though she wouldn't openly admit it she liked watching romantic comedies. She liked native style music and heavy metal, but only when she was in a certain mood.

He was at that stage of love where he wasn't hungry and he couldn't sleep. He thought about her all the time. He knew if he didn't eat the same as usual that the gang would suspect something. Also it helped to have his hands full so that he wouldn't give in to the temptation that was becoming much too frequent in his opinion of just grabbing Velma and wrapping his arms around her never letting her go again.

Velma graduated high school at sixteen while the rest of them were eighteen. When she turned eighteen she had already graduated college having been placed in advanced classes as well as having full scholarships to any school of her choice. She had chosen the closest one to Coolsville to stay close to her friends and still work on cases. Shaggy wasn't sure if he'd go to college, and if he did he wasn't sure what for.

Velma finally convinced him to at least go to community college so that he could get a better education and have something to fall back on in case the gang ever split up. He graduated community college with an Associate's Degree and then decided to go on to Culinary Arts school. He knew that not many people liked what he liked, but if he could at least find out the names of some of the ingredients of some of the things he threw together, it would help.

It turned out that he took to it like a pro and soon was the top of his class. He was given a trial run in a restaurant and soon became the head chef. Then the trial got over and he graduated. His teacher was so impressed with him that he helped him get his own restaurant. The grand opening was in three months. He was trying to work up the nerve to ask Velma to be his date for it. It was going to be a black tie event, which didn't really suit him any, but he thought Velma would look amazing in whatever she wore.

He'd already asked the whole gang to it and they gladly accepted the offer so he knew she'd be there anyway, but he wanted Velma to be his official date. He just had to overcome his fear just this once. Even if she said no, at least she'd still be there, but he was worried all the same.