A/N: Short and sweet... but a quantum leap as far as Shaggy/Velma might be concerned. Read on!
Chapter 15:
Shaggy entered his apartment, feeling every bit of strangeness he had after Fred told him he wanted to marry Daphne. Having spent the day planning for the wedding seemed to have poured lemon juice into a nasty hangnail.
But still, he couldn't sort out his feelings. What was wrong with him? In some ways, his jealousy was a bit like watching someone else put the finishing touches on a school report he hadn't even started... but it still wasn't the same. Shaggy actually wanted whatever it was he was putting off.
Yet if this was procrastination, and he wanted the thing he wasn't working for, why didn't he just reach for it now? But how could he reach for something if he didn't know what it was?
Shaggy climbed into bed-- miraculously having forgotten to grab dinner-- and stared up at the ceiling. He relived the events of the day, how he had made every effort even though his heart wasn't in it... or was it?
Something felt good about the day, in spite of everything. Something felt good about planning the wedding. But what? Maybe the fact that he was planning the menu... no. Oddly enough, he couldn't even remember what food had been selected. Zoinks. This was serious.
Maybe it was the laughter, just the good feeling of being with one's friends. The feeling of watching Fred and Daphne, so obviously in love with each other; the feeling of being included in something that mattered so much to someone; the feeling of listening to Velma so enthralled at her best friend's happiness...
Shaggy sat up suddenly. He knew what was wrong. No, he knew what was right. In everything he had just told himself, there was one thing, a single word that had just about summed everything up. He understood now.
Velma.