The long awaited next chapter. Be warned, this chapter is sad, get your tissues ready!

The next day, Shaggy was cleaning out the Mystery Machine with the help of Scooby and Scrappy. Shuggie smiled from her place in the kitchen as she packed as much food into bags as the van could carry. She was SO GLAD their mother and father gave their permission for Shaggy to travel, as long as they promised to write every day. Their parents were looser than most, which made the Rogers kids the envy of almost every kid in their school. Was THAT what made them so popular, Shuggie wondered. She dragged the bags of food outside and laid them on the ground. She watched as Shaggy lugged sleeping bags, pictures, the large tracker they used to capture the dognapper, the fun house mirror that was used in the trip to Hawaii, the Chinese gong and Roman candle rockets used in the trip to Chinatown, fold-up tents, ladders, ropes, the jack, and lots of other things out of the van. Scooby had tied a feather duster to his tailand was dusting the cabinets, whole Scrappy washed the windows. "Like, where should we put all this stuff, Shug?" her brother asked.

"Like, just lay them on the lawn, Shag, I'll take care of it."

"Like, will do, can you and Scoob help me with the beds?"

"Ok," Shuggie walked with her brother inside the house and she and Scoob took out the spare beds they kept up on the attic for when company came and loaded them into the van. She then helped Shaggy lug all the bags of food into the van and put them into the spare refidgeratorr, into the drawers of the cupboards, and any other spare place. Shaggy them went back in the house and carried out one peice of luggage after another. Shuggie knew these were his clothes, shaving stuff, combs, toothbrush and some tubes of toothpaste, and lots of other things. Scooby immidiately followed with all of HIS stuff, and so was Scarppy. As soon as everything was loaded, they all stepped back to look at it.

"Like, I think we're done," Shaggy said,pleased with himself.

"Rt's reautiful," Scooby said, wagging his tail happily

"Can we go now? Can we have adventures? Huh., can we, can we?" Scrappy asked, jumping up and down eagerly, making Suggie laugh.

"Soon, soon, Scrap," Shugie said.

"Soon? Like, now man," Shaggy said.

"You mean you already told Fred and the girls you quit the gang?" Shuggie asked.

Shaggy looked dwn at his shoes. "Well..like..no," he admitted.

"You haven't talked to them since YESTERDAY?!" Shuggie asked.

Shag sighed. "Nah."

"Well, like, I think you should, cause, like,after all, how would it look if Freddie came for his van and found it wasn't there. Like, you don't have to pick up the phone, but I think you should at least write them a letter or something telling them why you're leaving, then I can deal with all this stuff. In the yard."

"Like, I should write three letters?"

"Nah, man, like just write Mon Capitan a letter, he'll just race it over to his two little female lackays as soon as he getsit. Like, you HAVE to do this, Shag, you won't be able to make a clean break unless you give themk an explaination."

Shaggy sighed, he knew his sister was right, he just wasn't having an easy time doing it.

Shaggy sat up in his room, staring out the window. He knew he HAD to write this letter before he left...but was gonna be so hard to do. After all, the four of them had been friends practically al their lives, They'd shared the good stuff and the bad stuff. They'd shared vacations and holidays, trips to the beach and amusement parks. They'd shared EIGHTEEN YEARS. He was having a hard time letting go of that, even if Fred, Daphne, and Velma had become people he no longer wanted to be friends with. He thought about the many fights and misunderstandings they had had recently. Usually they had been able to talk things out and work through their differences, but not lately. Lately all Fred wanted to do was be right, al he had wanted to do was be alone with the girls..BOTH girls...even Velma.

Velma. The same girl he had had a crush on for as long as he could remember. The same Velma who had lived next door to him the first eight years of their lives and who now had moved down the block, but who was still friends with him. The same Velma who he had known for the longest and who used to love spending time with him...but who now only wanted to be with Freddie..and not him. He wiped a tear from his eye as he thought of that hurtful fact. She same Velma who now called him 'dummy' or 'Captain Courageous' meanly.

Shaggy thought about this newest case, where, as usual, he.Scooby,and Scrappy were the unwilling bait for the trap while Fred, Velma,and Daph had gotten the credit for solving the case. What a disaster. But, even though the case was solved, it seeemed far from finished. After all, he hadn't talked to them since after the case. The case itself had come to an end, but what about the friendship? That was over as well, but it was unresolved.. What had happened? Why had Freddie and Velma said wat they said? Did they NOT think their remarks would hurt teribly? Were they mad at him? Had he hurt THEM in a way he wasn't aware of? How could that hapen when he hardly saw any of them anymore? What did THEY- especially Freddie-think of their friendship? That they had fought but eventually they'd be friends again?

People don't ALWAYS make up when they fight, Shaggy told himself. Sometimes they can't.or WON'T move beyond their differences. Sometimes- not often, but sometimes- a fight means The End. And this WAS The End.

He had tried to say good-bye to eighteen years of friendship with his three best friends since nursery school without talking to them. He sighed again and picked up his pen, knowing NOW what he HAD to say.