Fred sat anxiously on his bed, fiddling with Tyler. Daphne was sitting on the bed next to him, her hand on his blanket near his knee. She wasn't touching him, but it was an offering of comfort if he wanted her touch. Sometimes he longed for it. Today it just made him feel antsy. And Daphne understood. She was his oldest friend. She knew him well, and that was what he'd always loved about her.
That was why, when his parents had sat him down two months ago to encourage him to ask Daphne out, he'd considered it, and he'd followed through. He hadn't really looked at Daphne, or anybody, in a romantic way before. At least, he hadn't thought he had. He knew he felt differently about Daphne than he did about Shaggy and Velma, but he thought that was just because he'd been friends with her longer. And he knew that he felt upset and kinda gross in a way he couldn't really explain when Daphne went out once or twice with another guy, but he thought it was just because she was spending time with someone that wasn't him.
Fred didn't know how romantic feelings were supposed to work. He always heard as a little kid that it was something that would happen when he was a little older. That he would just know when he got hit with those feelings. He half expected to go to high school and immediately get a 'crush' on the first girl wearing a short skirt that he saw. But he didn't
When Fred's parents had that talk with him, at first they'd talked to him like he already had experience with these feelings. His dad told him to man-up and take what he wanted, as though Fred knew what that meant. His mom was gentler. She had taken Fred's hands, looked him intensely in the eyes (though he had to keep himself from shuddering under her gaze) and told him that she knew how Fred felt about Daphne, and he shouldn't be afraid to admit it.
And Fred was just baffled by it. He knew he had a hard time understanding his feelings, and it wasn't uncommon for his friends or Frederick to know how he felt better than he did. But his parents had never understood him in that way. So even though he'd never had to do it before, Fred asked his mom what it felt like to have 'feelings' for someone.
His dad had just been confused by the question. Fred didn't know if he was just realizing that he'd never thought about how to describe such a thing, or if he was stunned that Fred would need an explanation in the first place.
His mom had just muttered something about 'men', and then she went on to say that when you 'liked' someone, you wanted to be with them more than anybody else. They made you warm to be around. You wanted them to be happy, and you wanted to be the one to make them happy. What she was saying made a bit of sense, because he did feel that way about Daphne, but he also felt that way about Shaggy, and Velma, and Frederick, and he didn't think he had 'feelings' for them.
But when Fred thought about it, he did feel a bit different about Daphne. He couldn't pin down how he felt about her, or why it was different from his other feelings, but it was different. Maybe whatever this feeling, whatever it was, was a good enough reason to give this romance thing a try.
So Fred had asked Daphne out. He hadn't specifically used the word 'date' when he had, and when they were out he frequently forgot that that was even what this was, but he enjoyed himself. And it made Daphne happy.
Apparently she had 'feelings' for him, and she'd been waiting for either the right time to tell him, or for him to come to her with those same feelings. At first she was ecstatic that he also had 'feelings' for her, but he confessed that he didn't know what he felt. He told her that he just liked to be around her, and his parents had told him that this was what he was supposed to do with that.
Daphne had been a little disappointed at first, but she'd also understood. She got it far more than Fred himself did. She told him that if he didn't want to be with her, then he shouldn't be just because it was what his parents wanted.
But it wasn't just them. Fred did want to be with Daphne. He wanted to be at her side for the rest of his life, and he felt like he couldn't breathe whenever he imagined a life without her in it. But he didn't know if those feelings were 'feelings'.
Daphne had thought about things for a bit, but finally she kissed Fred's cheek and told him that if he wanted to try this, to figure out how he felt, then she wanted to try it too. If either of them changed their mind and decided that it wasn't working for one reason or another, they would stop and everything would go back to the way it was before.
Fred and Daphne had been together for two months, and he liked it. Fred liked having someone to talk to, and who he felt comfortable holding hands with even though he didn't always like touch. He liked the way she listened to him talk about things he knew she didn't care about, and he liked seeing the light in her eyes when he gave her his full attention. Fred's favorite day of the week was still Sunday, because that was his day with Frederick, but his second favorite day became Friday, because that was date night.
Fred and Daphne didn't always go out and do something fancy on Friday. Sometimes they went out to eat. Sometimes they just went to Daphne's house and watched a movie. Sometimes they just went for a walk and talked. What mattered was that they went together, and Fred appreciated the structure and schedule of having a specific time dedicated to just the two of them.
Fred had thought that everything had been going well, but then he'd mentioned his dates in passing to Frederick. The man had been confused, and he had said that he hadn't known that Fred had had 'feelings' for Daphne. Fred had just shrugged and said that he hadn't known it either, and he wouldn't have considered it at all if his parents hadn't encouraged him.
Fred had thought that Frederick would be happy for them. After all, everybody else was. Shaggy and Velma had both thought that they'd been dating for a while. Daphne's sisters were ecstatic for them, squealing and 'aw'ing every time they saw them together. Daphne's parents were proud. Even Fred's parents seemed happy, and it was the first time they were pleased with anything that Fred did. He thought he had given up on getting their approval, but it still felt really good.
Frederick hadn't been happy at all. He'd asked Fred all kinds of questions about what his parents said, and even what Daphne and her parents had said. He asked about what Fred and Daphne had done, and 'how far they'd gone'. When Fred had said that the farthest they'd gone was to this new restaurant just outside of town, Frederick had groaned and rubbed his forehead, looking like he was about to start yelling.
Frederick didn't take his anger out on Fred. He never had. But the second that Fred was no longer in the room, Frederick had called his parents and he'd been arguing with them for the past hour.
Fred knew that Frederick didn't like his parents. He never had. He didn't think they did enough for Fred, and he didn't think that what they did do was good enough. But he usually kept his opinions to himself, being content with just helping Fred pick up the pieces when he fell apart.
Fred didn't know what was wrong this time. Usually when Frederick wasn't happy with his parents, it was because Fred wasn't happy either, but he felt fine. Fred liked being with Daphne, even if he still didn't know if he 'liked' her. He was happy. She was happy. Wasn't that what was important?
But obviously there was something more that he didn't understand, because otherwise he wouldn't be hearing Frederick yelling downstairs. Fred couldn't hear everything that was being said, but he'd mentioned 'manipulation' a number of times, and 'selfish' had come out almost as often. He'd also called Fred's parents a few things that Fred didn't want to repeat.
"Fred?" Daphne scooted a little closer. She held out her hand, and Fred took it. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know." Fred said honestly. "I feel like we're doing something wrong."
Daphne squeezed his hand. "Well, you're not hurting me. And I'm not hurting you. We like being together. I really don't think we're doing this wrong." Fred wanted to believe her, and if she was disagreeing with anybody else he probably would. But he could still hear Frederick downstairs, yelling. How could something not be wrong?
Fred didn't know how to begin to say how he was feeling. Daphne didn't ask him to. She just sat next to him, holding his hand as they waited for the yelling to stop.
Finally, after what felt like hours, there was silence. A short time later Frederick came by. He looked exhausted, and there was still more than just a hint of frustration in his eyes. He raised an eyebrow at Daphne.
"I didn't know you were here." Frederick said.
"Freddie asked me to come." Daphne said, her tone almost defiant, as though she was daring Frederick to tell her that she was wrong. The man just sighed.
"Next time can you just make sure to let me know if you're planning on being alone together?" Frederick asked tiredly. He put his hand on the door frame. "And no closed doors."
Fred didn't know what the big deal was, but Daphne's face went red and she let go of his hand with a nod. He gave her a weird look, but she wasn't even looking at him anymore.
"Yes, Sir." Daphne muttered. Frederick sighed again.
"Why don't you kids come get in the car?" Frederick asked. "I'll take Daphne home, and then you and I, Fred, are going to have a word."
Neither Fred nor Daphne said anything. They just did as they were told. Fred was going to get in the back seat with Daphne, but she closed the door behind her and Frederick told him to get in the front. They were both acting weird. So Fred reluctantly got in the car for what he knew was going to be an awkward car drive.
"So, how long have you two been…together?" Frederick asked, though he sounded like he wanted to say something else.
"Two months." Daphne said. "Fred asked me out at my sixteenth birthday party." Fred remembered that. He'd been so nervous. He had stammered, and lost his words, and felt like an idiot. If it had just been in front of Daphne, it wouldn't have been so bad, but she always had dozens of people at her birthday parties. They were always these big events.
But Fred's parents, and Daphne's parents, had told him that it was the perfect time to ask her out. They said she would love it, and she did.
"It was very romantic." Daphne went out, as she always did. She loved talking about it, and Fred loved listening to how happy she was. "He asked me in front of everybody. It was so sweet." It had been anxiety inducing, but that was probably what made it special to Daphne in the first place. She knew that he'd stepped out of his comfort zone for her, and she appreciated the gesture.
Frederick's hands clenched on the steering wheel, but he didn't say anything else about it. Instead he looked towards Fred, a concerned look in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't really think about it." Fred muttered. It didn't really seem like that big a deal. He felt like everybody else was making a big deal out of this. To him, it just felt like spending time with Daphne, and nobody had ever had an issue with that before.
Frederick still looked mad. "Are you sure your parents didn't tell you to keep this a secret?"
Fred frowned. "Why would they do that?" Frederick didn't answer him, and Fred was starting to feel frustrated himself. "Why are you so mad at my parents? I thought you would be happy for me.
"I am, I just…" Frederick trailed off with a sigh. "We're not talking about this right now." And that was that. They drove in silence until they pulled up to Daphne's house. Frederick looked over his shoulder to look Daphne in the eyes. "Would you tell your mother that I'd like her to call me? There are some things I'd like to discuss."
Daphne nodded with a grimace, and Fred was horrified. They could both guess that the discussion was going to be about the same things as the one he'd had with Fred's parents. Daphne got out of the car and ran inside, leaving Fred alone with Frederick. For the first time in his life, he wished he could be with anybody else except for him.
"Are you going to yell at Daphne's parents too?" Fred asked. He sounded bitter, but also upset.
"No, I'm not going to yell at them." Frederick said as they pulled away from the house. "I just want to make sure we're all on the same page."
"Can I know what page we're on? Because I don't know what's going on." Fred said. "Which is funny, because I thought that we were talking about my relationship." Fred crossed his arms, both in defiance and in defense, because he was feeling both frustrated and upset. "Why are you so mad that I'm dating Daphne?"
"Because it wasn't your idea." Frederick said. "Your parents have been putting ideas into your head, and you're just going along with it because you don't know any better."
Fred felt his stomach sink painfully. "Do you think I'm just with Daphne because it's what they want, and I'm too stupid to realize it?" Fred's voice cracked, showing that he was more upset than he wanted to be. Frederick gave him an apologetic look.
"You're not stupid, Fred." Frederick said. Fred wondered if he would ever get tired of saying as much. "You're just young, and inexperienced. And I know you don't want to admit it, and I admire that about you, but your parents wouldn't hesitate to throw you under the bus if it means getting what they want."
Fred wanted to tell him he was wrong. His parents may have neglected him sometimes because they had always cared more about each other and their work than him, but he didn't think they were malicious. They weren't bad people. They were just bad parents.
"Why would Mom and Dad care if I date Daphne?" Fred asked.
"Because she's a Blake." Frederick said. "There's a lot of prestige that comes with that family name. Same with the Chiles', which is why the Blakes would also be interested in a union. You two have been pushed together because both of your parents are hoping to elevate their own status."
Fred was even more confused now. "You make it sound like it's an arranged marriage."
"Perhaps not in the traditional sense, but I think there are similarities." Frederick said. "Do you remember when you were younger, and Daphne's parents signed her up for soccer? And when your parents allowed you to take gymnastics? They did so to make you two spend more time with each other."
"But I like spending time with Daphne." Fred said.
"That's not the point." Frederick said. "The point is that your parents are using you, and taking advantage of Daphne's feelings, and it's not fair to either of you."
Fred fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "Do you not want me to date Daphne?"
Frederick was quiet for a long moment, and Fred was afraid of what he was going to tell him. "It shouldn't matter what I want. Or what your parents want. When it comes to your relationship, the only opinions that should matter are yours and Daphne's. You shouldn't be asking if I want you to date her. What I want to know is if you want to be with her."
"I think so." Fred said. He was scared that Frederick was going to tell him that that wasn't good enough. That he shouldn't date anybody until he knew that he had 'feelings' for them. Fred was relieved when Frederick just nodded.
"Good." The man said. "Then I truly am happy for you. But I don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense about you asking Daphne out in front of strangers. I know that wasn't your idea."
Fred gave Frederick a sheepish smile. "It was Mom's idea."
"I thought so." Frederick shook his head. "If your parents try to tell you how your relationship should be, or if anybody tries to push you to do more than you're ready for, I need you to come talk to me. I don't want you to go too fast too soon because somebody else thinks you should."
"So…it's like school?" Fred asked. Frederick chuckled.
"In a way, yes." Frederick said. "If you're feeling overwhelmed or unsure about anything that you and Daphne do, there's no shame in stopping and taking a step back. Just promise me that you'll be responsible."
"I mean, as much as I know how." Fred said. He didn't know a lot about responsibilities, but he tried his best. Frederick seemed content with that answer.
"Good." He nodded. "Now, I can't believe I'm doing this, but have your parents, the obstetricians, talked to you about where babies actually come from?"
Fred frowned. "It has something to do with people being in love, right? And kissing?" Frederick's face was a little red, and Fred knew that he'd gotten the answer wrong.
"Unbelievable." Frederick growled. "They work with babies and pregnant women, and they can't even do this part of parenting right." Fred hoped that there wouldn't be another 'discussion' with his parents. His dad really didn't like it when Fred even implied that they were doing something wrong, and Fred didn't like being caught in the middle of their fights.
Frederick tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "I guess it's about time you had the talk." He didn't sound excited for it, and Fred realized that this was probably going to be a long car drive home.