Sponge: Welcome back! Last week's chapter was a song by Peter Bradley Adams. Enjoy chapter 10! It's a bit long, so settle in. Warnings: Language and kissing. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera. All lyrics to "The Rocky Road to Dublin," "The Black Velvet Band," and "Marie's Wedding," as heard in this chapter, belong to the High Kings. I would highly recommend listening to all of these songs while reading – particularly "Marie's Wedding." You'll see why.

Chapter 10: I'd Do Anything

Velma stared petrified at her phone. "I don't…I don't understand," she murmured, eyes so wide they were practically bulging.

"How could Leon possibly be texting us?" asked Daphne, peering anxiously at her friend.

Nova glanced up at Scooby. "Who's Leon?" she asked.

Scooby hesitated. The one mystery they hadn't mentioned yet was the one from the spring. How could he explain Leon to Nova?

Fred came to the rescue.

"He's a guy we met a few months ago," he replied, malice lacing his tone. "He was obsessed with Velma's older sister when they were in high school, and stalked Velma to get close to her. He left weird, creepy notes in her locker, and eventually he kidnapped her. But we caught him in a trap, and he got arrested. His trial is coming up later this summer."

"Our friends Tony and Marcie went to his arraignment yesterday," Daphne added. "And they told us that he'd threatened us…he wants revenge."

Shaggy put a tentative arm around Velma's shoulder. "But like, he's not allowed to be texting us," he murmured. "The judge said so."

"Well technically, it's Velma he's not allowed to be texting," Fred pointed out. "That must be why only you, me, and Daph have been receiving messages – Leon isn't technically violating the terms of his house arrest this way."

"So…" said Nova. "All the messages you've been receiving are from him?"

"Apparently," murmured Daphne. "But why?"

"To taunt us," said Velma quietly. "To taunt me. To make sure I know that he's still out there, and he'll keep coming after us until he gets what he wants."

"Meaning revenge?" asked Nova.

Velma nodded mutely.

"But then why reveal himself now?" Daphne pointed out.

"Well, he did say that this was like, our final clue," Shaggy said.

"But a clue to what?" asked Fred.

Scooby was silent. While it was very in-character for Leon to taunt them, he wasn't entirely sure of the point. The notes he'd left in Velma's locker during the spring had been meant to elicit jealousy in Velma's sister Dottie. But what was the point of these messages? Other than to freak them out – which was certainly working.

Suddenly, Scooby had a thought. Tony and Marcie had mentioned that Leon had alluded to an accomplice – someone who was helping him. In this text, Leon had even said, "our revenge." Perhaps that's what this "code" was – a clue to the accomplice's identity.

It was a lot more words than Scooby usually attempted to say at once – he wasn't sure if anyone, even Shaggy, would be able to translate. He tried anyway.

"Raybe rit's rues rabout who the raccomplice ris," he suggested.

Unsurprisingly, everyone stared at him, confused.

But surprisingly, Nova perked up and glanced at him quizzically.

"What do you mean 'accomplice'?" she asked.

Scooby described the conversation the gang had had with Tony and Marcie, as well as everything he knew about Leon's character, miming various actions to help explain, and trying his best to speak as clearly as possible. He wasn't sure how successful it was – all of the humans still gazed at him uncomprehendingly.

But after he'd finished, Nova simply nodded in agreement.

"I think you must be right, Scooby," she replied. "From what you've told me about him, it seems as though he wouldn't send you these messages for no reason. They must be clues regarding the identity of his accomplice."

Scooby blinked at Nova. She had understood him perfectly, around his messy, garbled speech. That had never happened before – even Shaggy sometimes needed a few tries to translate what Scooby was trying to say. But Nova had gotten it on the first attempt.

"In the merry month of June," sang the High Kings from the speakers. "The Rocky Road to Dublin" had begun.

"Can we turn that off?" Velma requested. Her eyes were closed, and she needed absolute silence to think.

Fred reached for the dial, but Daphne stopped him with a gasp.

"No, keep it on," she said, whirling around to gaze at Velma. "It's the key."

"What are you talking about?" asked Velma, opening her eyes. Daphne was staring at her tenaciously.

"Brad and Judy told us that the texts we'd been receiving were part of a cipher key, right?" she continued. "But they didn't know what it was for. They thought it was possibly for a book…but what if it's for this album?"

Velma simply gaped at her.

Daphne kept going. "If Brad and Judy weren't texting us, that also means they didn't send the CD to the mayor. But Velma, I think you're right…I think that the CD is still important. I bet there's a code hidden somewhere in the lyrics about the identity of the accomplice!"

"To see the lassies smile, laughing all the while," the High Kings continued their song.

"Velma, think about it," Daphne implored her.

"I am," Velma said. "And I think you're right…but I still don't know how to decode it."

She looked so distressed that it made Shaggy's heart ache. Desperate to help, he said the first thing he thought of. "Maybe like, the numbers match up with the track listing?" he suggested.

Velma shook her head. "Unlikely. There are only thirteen tracks on the album, and the numbers in the texts go all the way up to one hundred sixty-six now." She handed him the CD case and gestured to the back. Shaggy saw that she was right. He deflated a bit.

"So then maybe it's a specific song," said Daphne.

"But which one?" Velma pointed out.

Fred was thinking, hard. They'd listened to the CD a lot earlier in the day, but with the High Kings singing nonsensical syllables in the chorus of 'The Rocky Road to Dublin,'it was impossible to think about any of the other songs. Instead, his mind kept drifting back to what Brad had said about 10:21 being an important time. That might be part of the code too, if only they could figure out how.

Instantly, he was struck by a hunch. "Velma," Fred called into the backseat. "How many songs play on the album before it's been ten minutes and twenty-one seconds?"

Shaggy handed Velma the CD case again and she glanced at the back – each song had the duration listed next to it. "Three," she replied, after doing some quick math. "The fourth track, 'The Black Velvet Band,' starts ten minutes and thirty-six seconds into the album."

Daphne pressed the rewind button twice to listen to 'The Black Velvet Band.' Fred turned up the volume so they'd be able to clearly hear the lyrics, but after listening to the first few verses, it became clear that this wasn't the correct song for the cipher.

However, in the middle of the third verse, Fred was struck by another hunch.

"A gold watch she took from his pocket, and slipped it right into my hand," the High Kings sang.

The line made Fred think about Brad's watch, and how it was set to a twenty-four-hour clock.

"What's 10:21 p.m. in military time?" he asked.

Velma glanced at him confusedly. "22:21. Why?" she asked.

"What song should be playing at the twenty-two minute and twenty-one second mark?" Fred replied with a question of his own.

Velma glanced at the CD case again and did more quick mental math. "Track six ends right at that point," she replied. "'Marie's Wedding.'"

Fred skipped ahead two songs, and the beginning notes of 'Marie's Wedding' filled the van – the volume was still turned way up. After a few measures of vocal percussion, the lyrics began.

"Step we gaily, on we go

Heel for heel, and toe for toe

Arm in arm, and row on row,

All for Marie's wedding."

"Stop!" Velma exclaimed. She sat up excitedly, eyes wide. "That's it! It's this song!" She leaned forward over the front bench seat and reached between Fred and Daphne to press the 'back' button on the dashboard. The song restarted. "Pay attention, and count the words," she told the gang, settling back into her position beside Shaggy.

The vocal percussion preceded the lyrics as usual, but this time the entire gang sat rigid as stones, as if by moving they would miss the clues. Velma closed her eyes so she could give her entire focus to the sound of the music. Daphne stared intently at the speakers and sat with her chin in her hands. Fred gazed resolutely forward, trying to focus both on driving and on listening. Shaggy kept one of his hands on Scooby's back, and the other on Velma's shoulder. Both dogs sat with their heads erect and ears pricked up.

When the lyrics began, Velma held up her fingers to count the words they sang.

"Step we gaily, on we go

Heel—"

"Seven," Velma announced, holding up seven fingers.

" – for heel, and toe – " ("Eleven," Velma said.) " – for toe.

Arm – " ("Fourteen," said Velma). " – in arm, and row on row,

All for Marie's wedding."

The singers repeated the chorus, but no one was paying attention to the words anymore – everyone was staring aghast at each other. Fred couldn't make eye contact with anyone because he was driving, but his heart was pounding.

Heel 7. Toe 11. Arm 14. Just as Brad and Judy had predicted, the numbers corresponded with the words in the song. "Heel" was the seventh word, "toe" the eleventh, and "arm" the fourteenth.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy was the first to speak. "You're right…like, this is it! It must be!"

Scooby made a face. "Do re rave to rount rall the ryrics?" he wanted to know.

Nova shook her head. "I'm sure there's a simpler way to figure out the ninety-fourth and one-hundred sixty-sixth words than counting all the way up while the song is playing," she assured him.

"Yes," Velma agreed, pulling out her laptop. "Let me look up the lyrics."

They waited while she typed, and the High Kings kept singing.

"Over hillways up and down

Myrtle green and bracken brown

Past the shielings through the town

All for sake of Marie."

"Okay," Velma announced as the chorus began again. "I've got them."

Shaggy scooted closer to her and glanced over her shoulder at the lyrics. "Do you think we like, have to count every time they repeat the chorus?" he asked her. He couldn't look at the screen for long before his stomach began roiling, but he looked long enough to notice that the chorus repeated often throughout the song.

"I think we do," Velma replied, counting quickly. "There aren't enough unique verses to add up to ninety-four words, let alone one hundred sixty-six."

"Step we gaily on we go,

Heel for heel, and toe for toe

Arm in arm and row on row

All for Marie's wedding."

Shaggy shared a glance with Scooby and Nova as Velma quickly glanced through the lyrics. How was she able to count with all that singing going on in the background? Fred still hadn't turned the volume down, and the speakers were especially loud back here. But Velma was totally focused on her task.

"Red her cheeks as rowans are

Bright her eyes as any star

Fairest of them all by far

Is our darling Marie."

The chorus repeated again – Daphne had heard it so many times by now that she could have sung along if she wanted to – but she was too focused on Velma, who suddenly gasped.

"Red!" she cried exuberantly. "The ninety-fourth word in the song is 'red!'"

"Okay," Daphne said, tugging nervously on a lock of her own red hair. "What's the one hundred sixty-sixth word?"

"I'll tell you when I figure it out," Velma replied, going back to the lyrics.

A new verse began.

"Oh plenty herring, plenty meal

Plenty peat to fill her creel

Plenty bonny bairns as well

That's the toast for Marie."

"Like what's a bairn?" Shaggy couldn't help wondering as the chorus started yet again.

"A child," Daphne replied. "It's a Scottish term."

Shaggy frowned. "Like, I thought this was an Irish band."

The song was reaching a crescendo now, with the chorus continually repeating louder and louder as the singers became more and more excited by Marie's impending wedding.

"It's herring!" Velma yelped. "The one hundred sixty-sixth word is 'herring.'"

Fred glanced alarmedly into the rearview mirror, making eye contact with the others. As they all put the two words together, Fred noticed similar anxious expressions take over his friend's faces.

The clue was…Red Herring?

There were a few moments silence, save for the High Kings, before Fred spoke again. "Is…is he the accomplice?"

"He who?" asked Nova.

As Scooby explained that they all knew an actual person named Red Herring, Daphne frowned. She had dated Red for a while, a long time ago, before she had realized her feelings for Fred. And last spring, when they had been broken up, she considered getting back together with Red to make Fred jealous. But she didn't see what Red had to do with any of this.

"Did Red even knowLeon?" she asked. "I don't think they ever met."

"That you know of," Fred pointed out.

"I agree with Daph," Velma spoke up. "It seems unlikely that Red Herring would have anything to do with this."

Nova turned to glance at her. "Perhaps the clue itself is a red herring," she suggested. "If you're right, that Leon would want to taunt you with impossible clues…it would appear he's succeeded."

The breath left Velma's lungs in a whoosh, like a deflated balloon. "He never intended to tell us who the accomplice is," she realized. "It was just a game to him. A way for him to get into our heads. Into my head."

Shaggy shook his head in disbelief. "Like that can't be true," he said, desperate to curtail the look of hopelessness that was slowly spreading across Velma's face. "Maybe we should ask Red."

Daphne snorted. "Do you want to call him?" she asked ruefully.

He didn't, not particularly. The gang and Red had never gotten along very well, given his history with Daphne and Fred. But Shaggy was more concerned with Velma's sense of well-being. "What if we like, asked Tony to do it?" he suggested. "He said he wanted to help us. Plus he's like, probably the only person in the whole school who could get away with asking Red random questions without anyone thinking it was weird."

This was true – Tony had a reputation around school for being friends with everyone. He could hang out with every single clique in the school and not be out of place. It was like a superpower. Even Shaggy, who had once been extremely jealous about Tony's erstwhile relationship with Velma, had always liked him.

Fred nodded slowly. "That's not a bad idea," he conceded. "What time is it in Coolsville right now?"

"They're just an hour ahead of us," Daphne reminded him. "It's close to midnight there."

"Okay," said Fred, pulling out his phone and handing it to Daphne so she could dial. "I hope Tony's still awake."

He was.

"Hey, Jonesy!" he exclaimed when he answered. His voice sounded tinny through the speaker on the phone. "Where are you guys now? Any luck with Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves?"

So much had happened since the last time they'd seen Tony. Had that really only been twenty-four hours ago? "We're in Iowa," Fred replied. "Listen Tony, we figured out some new information." As briefly as he could, Fred explained their meeting with Brad and Judy, the realization that Leon had been the one sending the texts, and the clues they'd discovered from the CD.

"So the texts you've been getting are from Red Herring?" asked Tony, sounding a bit skeptical.

"We're not sure," said Fred. "We don't think he's Leon's accomplice, but there's no way for us to know without asking him."

"You want me to do it?" asked Tony helpfully. "I gotta help out at the restaurant tomorrow, but I can go to his place on my break." Tony's family owned and operated a fancy Italian restaurant in Coolsville, and Tony often worked there.

"Would you mind?" asked Daphne.

"'Course not," Tony assured her sincerely. "I'll give you a call tomorrow after I see him, all right?"

Everyone expressed their earnest thanks to their friend, but gazed at each other solemnly after the call had ended. There wasn't anything more they could do now. At present, the mystery was entirely out of their hands until they heard from Tony again.

It was not a good feeling.

"It's been a long day," Fred said at last. "We should turn in for the night. I think I saw a sign for a motel up ahead. It should be coming up soon."

A few miles later, they saw the exit sign for a Super 8 motel outside of Des Moines. When they arrived, they parked the Mystery Machine and clambered out into the mild summer night.

"Like do you think they allow dogs?" asked Shaggy, glancing worriedly at Scooby and Nova.

Velma pointed at the signs on the lobby door. One of them boasted a free continental breakfast. The other, Velma read aloud. "Service dogs welcome." She glanced at the dogs. Scooby was certified, and Nova was so well-behaved that anyone would believe she was a service dog.

They had no trouble checking in, but to save money, they decided to get one room with two beds. It wasn't until they arrived at their room that they realized they hadn't actually spoken about sleeping arrangements.

There was some hesitation in the doorway, until Scooby whispered something to Nova.

She chuckled and glanced up at the humans. "Scooby says it's all right for the couples to sleep in the same beds, as long as everyone behaves themselves."

This caused the members of the gang to all blush and chuckle awkwardly. In relative silence, they carried their luggage into the room. Fred and Daphne claimed the bed by the door, while Shaggy and Velma put their things down on the bed near the window. They took turns in the small bathroom, changing into pajamas and brushing their teeth. Nova settled at the foot of Fred and Daphne's bed, while Scooby lay down on Shaggy and Velma's. The human couples may have been tempted to be more amorous if they weren't all so tired, but Fred was right – it had been a long day, and everyone fell asleep almost immediately.

Except for Velma, who, though she was just as tired as the others, forced herself to stay awake, gazing blankly at the ceiling. They had learned so much today. How was it that Fred could sleep? Her mind was racing, filled with thoughts of Pericles, the serum, and the preposterous ley line that apparently made all this possible. And, of course, Leon. Even though he wasn't allowed to contact her, he still had a hand in her life. Would she never be free of him?

Scooby, who wasn't quite asleep yet either, stared tiredly at Velma. A lack of sleep was not good for her. They all needed each other to complete this mission, but Velma refused to let anyone help her through her trauma. She needed to let someone in. And there was only one way to do that.

Scooby extended a paw and nudged Shaggy – hard. He awoke with a snort and Scooby immediately closed his eyes and feigned sleep.

The noise Shaggy had made caused Velma to turn and gaze at him. "You okay?" she whispered. She hadn't noticed Scooby's interference – she thought Shaggy had just woken up from a dream of some sort.

"Yeah," Shaggy yawned, turning on his side to face her. "Sorry, like, did I wake you?"

Velma shook her head. "I wasn't asleep yet," she admitted.

Frowning, Shaggy realized that Velma still had her glasses on. She wasn't even trying to sleep. "Aren't you tired?" he asked.

"Not really," Velma lied. She was tired – so very tired. But if she closed her eyes, she'd be back in the fine arts library, tied up to that chair, unable to wrench her gaze from Leon's knife. Or else she'd be plagued by the absurdity of the ley line, and the alchemical pseudo-science that Brad and Judy had employed with their serum. She couldn't protect her mind in sleep.

But a yawn betrayed her, and Shaggy sat up slightly.

"Velma," he said, leaning his back against the headboard. "Like, what's going on?"

She averted her gaze, and it landed on Scooby. The dog opened his eyes a miniscule amount and nudged his head infinitesimally in Shaggy's direction. His message was clear: tell him how you're feeling.

Velma sighed and glanced back at her boyfriend. She'd always been a poor communicator when it came to explaining how she felt. It just didn't come as naturally to her as it did to Daphne. She thought back to her conversation with Fred the previous evening, about how Daphne and Shaggy were always so much better at communicating feelings than Velma and Fred were. But maybe Scooby was right…maybe telling Shaggy how she felt would help.

She sighed and sat up against the headboard as well. Moonlight shone through the window and illuminated the distressed look on her face. "I'm…afraid," she confessed in a whisper.

Shaggy had felt she might be working up to this admission. He'd noticed the despair on her face throughout the day – from Brad and Judy's revelation about the existence of the ley line, to the realization that the odd text messages had been from Leon (or, his accomplice). Velma wasn't in control of any part of this situation, and Shaggy understood how that could be frightening for her. He was about to say something to try and comfort her, but she pressed on.

"I haven't slept well for days," she continued. She tried to keep her voice down so as not to wake anyone else, but it was hard to control. "Every time I close my eyes, I'm back in the fine arts library, helpless, trapped. No matter how many times I tell myself that Leon can't hurt me anymore, part of my brain refuses to believe that it's true. And now that we know he's behind these messages we've been getting, it turns out I was right. But for the first time in my life…being right is a bad thing. I've never wanted so badly to be wrong before. But…Leon has been planning this ever since Fred trapped him, I know it. And that means that not only are we not safe, but my sister isn't safe either. Possibly even Joey, Julie, Tony, Marcie…everyone. And we left them all behind in Coolsville, while we just drive merrily across the country on the most bizarre mission in the world. I mean, our best friend's heretofore unknown biological parents invented a super serum that ended up creating an evil genius parrot, and now we have to gather the remnants before he gets his talons on it? None of it makes sense! And on top of it all, we're hurtling ever closer towards this uncertain future where all of us will be spread out, far across the country from each other. And I'm just…so scared, Shaggy…"

Her voice had begun to break towards the end of her speech, and she stopped talking abruptly. She turned her face away so Shaggy wouldn't see the tears that had started to well up in her eyes.

Shaggy simply gazed at her, astonished. He hadn't realized she'd had all those feelings bottled up inside her. How long had she been sitting on them? He felt awful for not realizing sooner that she needed help.

"Zoinks," he murmured. "Hey. Come here." But instead of waiting for her, Shaggy was the one who scooted closer, pulling her into a fierce embrace. As he did so, he noticed Fred and Daphne sound asleep in the next bed over, Daphne's head resting comfortably on Fred's chest, with Fred's strong arms holding Daphne close. They looked so peaceful, so comfortable. Why hadn't Shaggy thought to do that with Velma? Instinctively, he wrapped his arms tighter around her.

Velma's glasses were knocked slightly askew, and she readjusted them before burying her face back into Shaggy's chest. His arms were skinny, but stable. She felt secure, safe, in his embrace. She nestled herself closer.

As he held her, Shaggy realized that he was scared too. Of course, he was often scared, but this fear was different than the kind of fear he usually felt while solving mysteries. When they were investigating some place that was supposedly haunted, Shaggy's fight-or-flight response overwhelmingly skewed towards the "flight" side of the scale. His primary instinct was usually to run away first and ask questions later. But now, faced with the very real threat of Leon, why was his fear manifesting as a quiet determination to fight back?

On a logical level, he knew that monsters and ghosts didn't really exist. Perhaps that was why he was so much more afraid of witches and Wendigos. Because they weren't supposed to be there. How were you supposed to fight back against a supernatural figment? But Leon was just a man. A terrifying, intimidating, dangerous man, but still just a man. It was possible to fight back against him. It was possible to stop him. And in the same way Shaggy knew he'd fight to the ends of the earth to protect Scooby from someone who wanted to cause him harm, he'd do anything to protect Velma, too.

"Listen," Shaggy whispered into her hair. "It's okay that you're scared, you know? Like, this is definitely the scariest thing any of us have ever faced. I think we're all scared."

"I've never been this afraid before," Velma murmured. She shifted slightly so she could look into his eyes. "How do you and Scooby do it?" she whispered. By the dim light of the moon, she could see the look of concentration on his face, as he determined his response.

"I don't know," he said after a few moments. Honestly, Shaggy had never thought about it before. He wasn't sure how to answer her. But he could try. "I guess like, because we're going through it together? Like, the way it's less scary to watch a horror movie with a friend, or play a spooky video game with other people in the room. When everyone's experiencing the scary thing together, I guess it makes us feel…less afraid. So, like when Scoob and I are running from ghosts, even if we're scared, it makes it less scary knowing that we're going through it together."

"That makes sense," Velma sighed quietly. She stayed where she was in his arms, but glanced away from his face now. "Group emotion. The shared experience brings you closer together. It makes you feel like you're not alone."

Shaggy blinked and shifted slightly, gently taking her chin in his hand so that he could look into her eyes again. "Like, you're not alone either, Velma," he told her, his voice serious and sincere.

Velma exhaled shakily. "I'm so used to being the smart one," she whispered. "The logical one. I feel like it's my…responsibility. To be brave."

He pulled her close again, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping his arms around her as though he could fold her into himself. "You don't have to be the brave one all the time," he told her. "That's like, impossible. So…let us help. Let me help."

Velma closed her eyes, letting Shaggy's words envelop her. She breathed deeply, inhaling his scent. Scooby was right – it had helped to tell him how she felt. Why hadn't she thought to let him in like this before? Perhaps she was still getting used to having a public relationship herself.

"Shaggy?" she murmured.

"Yeah, Velm?"

She hesitated before speaking again. "I love you," she said, her voice soft.

Shaggy looked down at her again, his heart swelling up like a balloon. His brain understood that they loved each other. But sometimes he still had trouble believing it. He'd spent so long pretending like it wasn't true, like he didn't love her at all, that it had taken him ages to admit it freely. So the knowledge that Velma loved him was one thing. Hearing her say it was something else entirely. It made every nerve in his body feel alive and electric. Perhaps they didn't exchange that sentiment as often as they should. Perhaps it was time to remedy that.

But if he didn't kiss her right now, he felt like he might explode.

So he brought his face close to hers and captured her lips with his own. His love for her, coupled with his desire for her to feel protected and safe, overwhelmed him. He felt her mouth move against his, both of them caught up in the sweetness, the tenderness of the moment.

"I love you too, Velma," he murmured when they finally broke apart. The truth of it burst like fireworks in his brain, in his heart. He couldn't believe he hadn't said it more, wasn't saying it with every breath he took. He said it again, as though to make up for lost time. "I love you."

They kissed again, their passion escalating slightly. Velma's mouth opened against his, and Shaggy let his tongue find hers. Both of her hands clenched around the fabric on the front of his shirt, while his arms curled around her, clutching her to him. His heart beat erratically in his chest as a different sort of desire flooded through him.

Velma broke apart first, suddenly very aware of a firmness in Shaggy's lower region pressing against her. She was also very aware of how dark it was, and how close they were, and how very much she wanted to keep kissing him, holding him, touching him.

But their best friends were asleep mere inches away, and would surely wake up they continued in this manner. Besides, they had promised Scooby that they'd behave.

So, smiling apologetically, Velma let go. Shaggy did so too, albeit reluctantly.

"We shouldn't…" she started.

"Yeah," Shaggy agreed. He shuddered to think of the way he'd explain himself if Scooby had been to wake up. Still…

"I really do love you," Velma said in a whisper. As if she believed that by stopping, she had made him doubt. She gently traced his jawline with her thumb.

Shaggy smiled at her, though heat from her words and her gentle touch flooded his bloodstream and the tightness in his pants grew. "I know," he replied. "I love you too. But like, you've got to stop saying that if you want me to calm down."

Velma chuckled and withdrew from him fully. Already, they both longed for the contact. A few minutes later though, Shaggy had calmed down enough to reach for her once more.

"Come here," he said again, laying down. Velma followed, removing her glasses, and they curled up together under the blankets.

"Like you'll be okay, Velm," Shaggy promised her. "We're not gonna let anything happen to you."

"I know," she whispered back.

And with that, feeling exhausted, but lighter than she had in days, Velma snuggled against him and fell asleep at last.

Sponge: Thanks for reading! The final clues about who's really behind these messages will be revealed next week! In the meantime, review if you please, and don't forget to guess where the chapter title comes from.