The Confession
By: Porcelain-Requiem
A/N: Fred/Velma One-Shot. This is set in a slightly AU timeline of the older Scooby-Doo cartoons, where Fred is smart and resourceful. I'm not opposed to Himbo Fred, but I do prefer smarter Fred overall. All characters belong to Hanna-Barbera/WB. Enjoy!
The cave was dark and musty, and there was a chill throughout it. Fred shined his flashlight around as he searched for a secret passageway to find Daphne. But so far, all he'd found was the occasional frightened bug that scurried away from the light. The tall blond let out a depressed sigh, which his short, bespectacled, brunette companion noticed.
"Don't worry, Fred." Velma said in a reassuring tone as she touched his arm, "We'll find her. She's got to be around here somewhere."
Fred smiled and nodded at her. "You're right, Velma." He said, "I just hate when I lose you guys to trap doors and bad guys. I try to keep all of you safe, especially you girls."
"You do, Fred." Velma said to him, "Even when one of us goes missing, you always find us or we always find our way back to you. I know you feel responsible for us since you're the oldest of our gang, but we always work things out when we split up in an unintentional way."
Fred smiled as he took in Velma's logical and knowing words. It had felt like hours since they started searching, and her words reassured him to keep going. With a nod and a smile to her, the two kept searching for that secret passage, until at last Velma found it. He let out a sigh of relief and wiped some sweat from his brow as the new cave pathway opened up.
"Thank you, Velma. Now stay close to me." He said as he pulled her near him, "I don't want to lose you too."
He took her hand in his and led her down the secret part of the cave, using his flashlight to keep the pathway illuminated for them. Velma blushed a bit as she noticed how small her hand was in his. He had such big, strong hands.
"You've suddenly become very quiet, Velma." Fred noticed, "Are you tying all the clues together and figuring out who the monster really is?"
Velma tried to muster up a response, but felt her throat tighten from nerves. She squeezed Fred's hand really hard, which made him stop in his tracks. He let go of her hand and shined the flashlight toward her in concern.
"Are you all right, Velma?" He asked her, as he used the light to look her curvy body up and down to see if she was injured.
"N-no. I mean, yes. I mean..." Velma finally stammered. She looked Fred up and down, taking in how handsome he looked in the glow of the flashlight. But his expression looked very concerned. She wasn't normally nervous like this, especially around him.
"Please, tell me, Velma." Fred said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Did I do something?"
She looked into his blue eyes, then looked down at her feet as she mustered up the courage to tell him the honest truth. Breathing a deep sigh, she began.
"Fred, just now, you were holding my hand. And before you start apologizing for that, please don't, because it didn't upset me at all. In fact, it was wonderful and… it just—it just made me realize that I need to tell you something. But you need to sit down."
Fred sat himself on a rock near her as he prepared to listen intently to his short friend's words.
"I-I like you, Fred. I like you a lot… as in more than a friend, I mean. When you held my hand just now, I didn't want it to end. I always feel so safe with you. And I know I'm not pretty like Daphne is, but I can't lie to myself anymore. I love you, Fred. And I know you don't like me back in that way, so I completely respect that. You deserve a beautiful girl, and I know I'm not pretty. And I really don't want to ruin our friendship because of this, so… please, just pretend I didn't say any of this."
She pulled her turtleneck collar of her sweater nervously over her cheeks and turned to try and hide her blushing face. Fred stood up and walked over to her. Velma turned to him and looked up, still hiding the lower half of her face. Fred had a serious expression, but didn't look upset, which did relieve her slightly. But she worried as she saw his eyes studying her face in the soft cave light.
He gently lowered the turtleneck collar of her sweater and smiled at her. Velma was blushing so much as she looked into his blue eyes. They had a soft glow reflecting the darkness of the cave. Fred put the flashlight in his pocket and placed both of his hands on Velma's shoulders. He leaned his tall frame down more to meet her short height, and took a deep breath before he responded to her.
"I'm actually relieved that you told me how you feel, Velma. It really means a lot that you think so highly of me." He said as he started to blush a little, "I honestly didn't think you liked me like that, because I keep thinking I don't deserve someone like you."
Velma was shocked by his words just now. Fred was stunning and athletic. He could undoubtedly attract any girl he met with his strong physique and handsome countenance. And on top of that, he was witty, resourceful, and intelligent. Yet his own words seemed to put himself down just now.
"But Freddie, you're the most amazing guy I know. You shouldn't put yourself down like that. I'm not trying to pressure you into liking me. I know I'm not pretty. I just knew I had to tell you. But please, forget I said anything. Daphne is very pretty, Fred. And she's much more worthy of you than I am."
"Velma, why are you fixated on me being with Daphne? I mean, sure, I had a couple of dates with her during our early days together as a gang, but she and I soon realized we weren't meant to be more than friends, so we chose to stay that way. Also, you shouldn't put yourself down like that, Velma. You're beautiful."
Velma's brown eyes began to well with tears, as she turned her face to try and hide them. "You shouldn't tease me like that, Freddie. I'm not beautiful."
He gently took Velma's freckled cheeks in his hands. Then he continued to speak, "I would never tease you like that. You're beautiful to me, Velma, inside and out. Some guys probably wouldn't think so, but I'm not like them. There's only one girl I know who is essentially my intellectual equal – though I'm definitely not as smart, who always inspires me to be the best I can be, and who is the one I can always count on to be my right-hand lady for leading our team. And there is only one girl that I want to be worthy of. And that's you, Velma. It's always been you."
Velma's brown eyes widened as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She never thought that Fred loved her like that or that he found her beautiful. She caressed his cheeks with her hands and then he leaned closer to her, to where their lips were almost touching.
"May I?" He asked softly as she felt his breath touch her face. She nodded as her tears continued to fall. It had to be a dream. Freddie couldn't possibly love her too! And yet, there he was, mere centimeters away from her, asking to kiss her.
He wiped away her tears and softly kissed her lips, brushing them ever so gently with his. She then gave him a deeper kiss, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders. The two began to kiss passionately, running their fingers through each other's hair.
She was so short in comparison to him, that when he finally stood upright while kissing her, he lifted her slightly off the ground. She felt safe wrapped in his strong arms though, and continued to kiss the tall blond. She let out a soft moan of pleasure as he deepened the kiss even more. Suddenly the two of them heard a familiar "jeepers!" come from the corridor, which paused their romantic moment.
"Daphne!" Both of them shouted in unison as Fred gently lowered Velma back to the ground. She smoothed her bob back in place, and he fixed his hair and straightened his ascot. They then went to go free their missing friend. The redhead was relieved when they arrived, and gave the two a hug once she was freed.
"I hope it didn't take you guys too long to find me." Daphne said.
"It didn't take us too long. Just long enough to solve a small mystery of our own." Fred reassured their friend, as he looked at Velma and smiled. She returned the smile with a slight flush of her cheeks.
"Come on, girls!" Fred said confidently, "Let's go find Shaggy and Scooby, trap this bad guy and solve the mystery!"
The two girls hurried after him, Velma smiling and eagerly grabbing hold of Fred's hand, as his flashlight led the way out. Daphne smiled to herself as she saw both of her friends holding hands, and realized what their small mystery must've entailed.
The End