Chapter 9: Bonds and Bonds.
Sorry about the slight lateness peeps. But this chapter is the longest I've written so far. I really enjoyed writing that one chapter, so I'm hoping you, in turn, enjoy reading it. And, to the guest who asked, prom is in about one chapter. Not the next chapter, but the chapter after the next chapter Thanks to Minnie for pointing that email address thing out Actually, "Harry P.." is supposed to be his screen name which can be different from the email add, but I figure most people might get the two mixed up, so I changed the name to Frenchie58 to harmonise the whole thing. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews ^^ Take care y'all.
The following day was a Friday and so, one would have thought that Daphne Blake would have been more enthusiastic about the school week coming to an end, but she was not. In fact, she was very grumpy that morning, something which her parents didn't fail to notice and point out at breakfast time.
"It's because of Fred Jones again." complained Daphne.
Looking up from the newspaper he had been reading, Daphne's father peered at her from behind his thick reading glasses, and asked very seriously:
"Did you two have a lovers' fight?"
Immediately, Daphne whined a long "Daaaaaaaaaaadddyyyyyyyyyy".
"What?" asked Mr Blake, turning to look at his wife, as he obviously was not understanding the situation.
Mrs Blake huffed impatiently and turned to look at her husband.
"Darling, they aren't going out yet. They're still only at the fighting and bickering stage."
Mr Blake in turn let out an "Ahhh" of understanding before going back to reading his newspaper, while his daughter could only gape at her parents incredulously.
"Wha-What do you mean "not going out YET" and, and what fighting and bickering stage?" spluttered Daphne badly, who wasn't quite grasping the meaning of her parents' words and reactions.
Mrs Blake only looked menacingly at her husband before adding with a scowl:
"If only you would follow the sequence of events, Nedley dear!"
"What sequence of events!?" cried Daphne, who could not believe what her parents were trying to come to.
Mr Blake only sighed, as if tired and turned to Daphne.
"You see, young Fred Jones and yourself" he begun, patiently "follow a "Benedick and Beatrice" approach to love. Of course, your mother and I followed an approach à la Roméo et Juliette. Without the characteristic romantic and tragic ending, however."
At this, Mrs Blake seemed to have lost all her previous moodiness and sighed contentedly; "Roméo et Juliette, huh? Soul mates..." she whispered in a smile, reaching to hold her husband's hand, who took the proffered hand in his, lips curving into a gentle smile.
"I suppose that you would know all about Beatrice and Benedick, wouldn't you?" asked Mr Blake, his eyes twinkling, as he knew full well that his daughter had asked for various editions of this particular Shakespearean play as well as tickets for the play as birthday gifts over the years.
Daphne merely blushed at her father's statement.
"Therefore, it is only a matter of time until young Mr Jones becomes one of our son-in-laws. Isn't it right, Elizabeth dear?" he asked, chuckling slightly before turning to look endearingly at his wife.
"I find that I quite agree with you, my dear."
And with what, the Blake spouses resumed their breakfasts peacefully, their hands however still locked together. It was maddening how they still looked perfectly elegant while eating with one hand only.
Daphne, on the other hand, was dumbstruck. How could her parents actually think that? Fred Jones and her!? She couldn't even hold one civil conversation with him, and now she was supposed to be falling in love with him!? It didn't matter that he was somewhat handsome; he was an absolute jerk to her! Only yesterday, he had ruined rehearsals for her by bringing back the "Simple Six" nickname again. And he hadn't been the only one to call her that, oh no, he had had the ENTIRE football team chant "Simple Six sucks at calculus." For the whole of 15 minutes until the teacher in charge had been able to shut them all up, after he himself had been done with laughing.
After a few seconds, Daphne cried out that she was never going to even smile at stupid Fred Jones, finished her breakfast indignantly, and hurriedly said goodbye with what seemed like a pout.
"Such a fiery temper." commented Mr Blake as Daphne wheezed by. "Definitely your daughter." He added, looking at this wife.
"What did you say, dear?" asked Mrs Blake menacingly, her beautiful eyes narrowing dangerously at her husband.
"Oh, just that we have a lovely daughter, my lovely Elizabeth." Rectified Mr Blake smoothly, before placing a light kiss on the back of Mrs Blake's hand which was still encased in his.
"Shaggy" whined Daphne before letting herself fall with a thud in the latter's arms. Daphne had just entered the school building when she had spotted Shaggy in the hallway and had joined him. Chuckling, Shaggy gathered her in his arms for some moments, before swinging an arm lazily around her shoulders, walking her to their classroom.
"What's up?" he asked, finally.
And Daphne went on with yesterday's story about how people now chanted "Simple Six sucks at calculus" because of a brainless idiot known as Fred Jones.
Shaggy laughed a little, but it wasn't all that genuine. Wasn't Fred taking it a bit far to cover the fact that he and Daphne liked each other?
Noticing that Shaggy had gone silent, Daphne thought it might be better to change the topic. And after all, she wouldn't let that brainless git ruin her mood with memories of his annoying actions of yesterday.
"So, um, where were you yesterday afternoon? I thought you'd come home." said Daphne, casually starting the conversation once again.
"Oh I...wasn't feeling great. Tummy ache." lied Shaggy, still unable to talk about anything which had to do with one short brunette.
Sensing that something was definitely wrong, Daphne turned and looked at her best friend with concern.
"Are you okay? Is everything alright Shaggy?" she asked quietly
"Eh, of course! I'm good, I'm good. Don't worry." was Shaggy's hasty reply.
Sighing, Daphne realised that questioning would get her nowhere, and decided that when Shaggy wanted to tell her about what was bothering him, he would tell her. And anyway, there were...things, she had to tell him.
"Oh fine, then." said Daphne "Ummm ... Shaggy? Do you...Do you remember that French guy I was talking to? On msn? You know...Adrien."
Knowing where she was coming to, Shaggy tried not to smile and simply nodded. Finally, she was going to tell him about Fred and her. Well, it couldn't be helped. He was her best friend after all.
"Yeah well...I just found out he goes to Coolsville High as well... and... we'regoingtopromtogether." said Daphne, hastening her pace at the end of her sentence.
Understanding what she had said despite the fast pace, Shaggy couldn't help but smile. It was coming, she was telling him.
"And...?" he prompted, eagerly waiting for the part about how she and Fred were madly in love with each other but had wanted to hide it.
"And, I'm scared! I don't know what he looks like! Well, not that it matters what he looks like. But, I'm scared about how it's going to go!"
"Haha, there, she's said it." thought Shaggy contentedly to himself. Wait...what? What did she mean, she didn't know what he looked like? How could she forget Fred Jones's face?! However, Shaggy quickly reassured himself. She must be talking about what Fred would wear, and not about Fred himself. Hah, he was so stupid at times.
"Don't worry about that, I'm sure Fred knows he's going to have to wear a tux." he said reassuringly.
"What do I care about what Fred Jones is going to wear? He might come naked for all I care... Well, not naked" added Daphne with a blush. "I've got more to worry about than this brainless idiot's outfits! I'm going to prom with someone I talked to online only! Plus, I don't even know who he might be! He only just said that he too, went here, whereas I told him ages ago! Doesn't that mean he's a bit shady?" said Daphne frantically, desperate to make Shaggy understand her own desperation.
"But that's Fred!" said Shaggy in equally frantic fashion to make her understand... what she already knew? Well, girls were complicated, and twice more so when it came to love. He wasn't going to question that.
Daphne stopped and stared at Shaggy, eyes wide open and speechless. Before bursting into loud peals of laughter.
"Aww Shaggy, you always know how to cheer me up." had finally said Daphne to a gobsmacked Shaggy, before dragging him to class because he had stayed rooted to the ground ever since she had begun to laugh and he had realised something was seriously wrong. Very, very wrong indeed. And right now, he needed to talk to Fred Jones.
Right after he had been done with classes and it was lunch time, Shaggy made some excuse to a worried Daphne and went to look for Fred. He didn't know what Fred had in mind. Did he not know the real identity of the girl he had been chatting with? Or did he? Whatever the answer , Shaggy had to be certain that Daph' wouldn't get hurt by getting involved in any of this going out to prom thing.
Luck had been on Shaggy's side that day, since he spotted Fred Jones's blond head a few minutes after leaving Daphne. Shaggy strode confidently towards the other teenager, anger making its way through his veins. What if this Fred Jones wanted to hurt his Daphne? And anyway, if that was true, then he couldn't understand how...how Velma could be friends with him.
As he nearly caught up with Fred, Shaggy began to regret thinking about Velma. Because the idiom "Speak of the devil, and he doth appear." applied perfectly in that instance. " Not that Velma was anything like a devil." thought Shaggy wryly. Upon seeing Velma's small frame near Fred's, as she was talking and giggling along, something happened within Shaggy. Something clogged the confidence machine so that he had to resort to using the coward machine within him so that he could function and not stay rooted to the spot. Seeing Velma actually had him turn away from doing what he was supposed to do. It was like he couldn't face her at all now, for some very mysterious reason.
As he began to walk away from both Fred and Velma, Shaggy felt the dead weight of guilt hanging inside of him. He was giving up on Daphne; he wasn't doing his duty as a friend and really was being a coward. He couldn't do this to Daphne, not when he had relied on her so much when he had needed her. He wouldn't, he thought, let down a person who had stood up for him as much as Daphne had. He would not be able to. Even if it turned out that Jones had no evil intentions, he would still be glad he had gone and talked to him, despite Velma's very unsettling presence. And so, for the second time of the day, Shaggy ran after the one and only Fred Jones.
When Shaggy caught up with him, he placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder, making Fred stop instantly in the hallway where he and Velma were. Both teenagers turned to look at him. As Velma gazed questioningly at Shaggy, he only smiled and said hi, before quickly turning to face Fred, finding that keeping eye contact with Velma was an extremely difficult task.
"I've got something I need to talk to you about, Jones." said Shaggy, his face serious, almost stern, and his eyes holding almost no remnant of their usual warmth.
Fred responded with equal seriousness and with the same heaviness weighing down his words.
"Okay. Excuse us, Velma?" he said, turning to look inquiringly at his friend who simply nodded her approval and started walking away.
Fred suggested they went somewhere where they could talk without being disturbed, as he sensed that whatever Rogers needed to talk about, he would talk in very serious tones. And so, both boys made their way, in relatively cold silence, outside of the school building, sitting on one of the benches.
"It's about Daphne." said Shaggy strongly, voice unwavering.
Fred had known all along that it was Daphne they would talk about. Call it masculine instinct if you would, but he had been prepared.
"Yes, what about Daphne?"
"Do you know that it's her you've been talking to, all this time, online?"
For a moment, Fred thought about denying the whole thing, about being dishonest yet again about his true feelings. But the way Rogers had come to him, with that seriousness in his voice and eyes, he simply couldn't lie to a guy like that, because Fred realised that he was only looking out for Daphne, and he couldn't lie to a guy who also wanted to protect the girl he loved.
"Yes. I knew it was her ever since the first time I talked to her. I was the one who added her in the first place." he answered truthfully, his gaze steady and honest.
"You...knew?" said Shaggy quietly, waiting for Fred's explanation, because it looked like he had a big one to make.
"Yes. I did it on purpose. Look, it's been years that I've liked her. But this liking thing doesn't work great for me 'cause I can't tell her I like her. And I'm dead serious about her. That's why I did what I did. I intend to tell her everything on Prom night."
Both of them turned silent and stared at the ground for a while, obviously not knowing what to say next.
"You would understand liking someone, wouldn't you?" had asked Fred, then, breaking the silence, a wry smile on his face.
"Ah well, she was-"
"I'm not talking about the one from before. I'm talking about Velma. You blushed when you said hi." informed Fred, getting somewhat amused.
Once this piece of information was revealed, Shaggy could feel his cheeks heating up, and decided he hated his complexion.
Fred was greatly amused by this spectacle and was about to laugh when Shaggy spoke.
"At least I can say hi."
Ouch. Bull's eye. Headshot. Burn.
Fred groaned at this. "I'm working on this, Rogers. You've invited Velma to prom yet? I'm sure you haven't."
"I have, actually."
A groan escaped from Fred again. Why was he the only one having problems like these when it came to love?
"...Only as friends, though."
"Hah! I knew I wasn't the only one!" exclaimed Fred triumphantly, suddenly standing up.
"What're you being all happy for? Celebrating the fact that we both suck at love?"asked Shaggy, feeling defeated. He really did suck at love. You only had to look at what happened to him during his previous relationship.
"Oh." realised Fred, who sadly sat down once again.
"So, we're cool?" asked Fred finally, offering his hand for Shaggy to shake.
"Don't hurt her." said Shaggy, once again serious.
"I won't. Just don't tell her about Adrien being me, will you?" responded Fred.
With a nod, Shaggy shook Fred's hand, sealing their agreement with the contact.
As they walked back to the school building, the atmosphere was friendlier and less tense.
"So, fancy Velma, don't you, Rogers?" asked Fred, in the distance, a tinge of humour in his voice, his arm clamped around Shaggy's shoulder, in mock brotherly fashion, despite the fact that Shaggy was taller than him
"Not as much as you fancy Daphne." responded Shaggy, patting Fred's head in mockery.
"Hey, do I have to call you Rogers all the time?"
"Nah, call me Shaggy, dude."
"It's Fred for ya, Shaggy."
And with this, they entered the school and both went to their own separate ways, and to their own separate best friends. However, both wished they could go the way the other went. Fred, to Daphne and Shaggy to Velma.
See you at the next chapter! Also, reviews make one happy. Therefore, spread the happiness xD