Scooby-Doo sequel/Scooby-Doo Curse of the Lake Monster (insert reader)(Finished)

Daphne x reader (Guy's side) Chapter 8: Mistakes happen

(Y/N) POV:

After telling us she had found a clue, Velma led us to the Security Surveillance room. While the rest of us stand behind her, Velma sits down in the wheel chair, going through all of the footage that was taken by the security cameras.

"After you watch this, I think you'll all be saying "jinkies"," says Velma.

About a moment later, the screen shows a lot of people running from a tent. "Hey, the security camera caught the attack," Daphne says, most likely saying what we were all just thinking.

"Yep. And they caught something else, too," Velma says with a smile. She pushes some buttons and the image on the screen changes, showing the Lake Monster looking for something as it stands near the beach. Then someone wearing a cloak, holding a staff, walks up to the creature. "Looks like we have two pranksters on our hands."

"Jinkies" we all say, amazed by the evidence Velma has found.

"Told ya," Velma says, smiling.

"Freeze it," Fred quickly says. The spot Fred told Velma to freeze not only showed the Lake Monster jumping into the lake, but it also showed the cloaked figure facing the camera, barely. "If you zoom in right here, we can see who's inside that cloak."

Velma pushes a few buttons to zoom in the screen onto that cloaked figure, making it look blurry. To fix itself, the image enhances, getting rid of all of the blur.

"Oh, look, it's coming into focus," says Shaggy.

However, before we could even see who's face it is, something short-circuited, causing everything to break. Sparks of electricity starts to fly, making all of us jump. Thankfully, no one got hurt, as smoke started to rise.

"What happened?" Fred asks.

"I have no idea," I say, using my hand to keep the smoke away from my face.

"Like, that spooky figure must be using some sort of magic to prevent us from seeing its face," says Shaggy.

"I'm afraid the explanation is slightly less supernatural that that, Shaggy," Velma says, making all of us wonder what she means. "I accidentally knocked over my green tea and shot-circuited the hard drive."

"That's okay, Velma. Accidents happen," I say, trying to cheer up Velma.

Daphne nods her head in agreement. "Yeah. You know, I'm sure we'll find another piece of critical evidence. Right guys?"

"Yeah, for sure," says Fred.

"Yeah. It's groovy," says Shaggy.

We all try to cheer Velma up, but from the looks of it, she still feels bad. "I know this is highly uncharacteristic behavior. I'm really sorry guys," she turns around, her back facing us. Obviously, this must be really getting to her badly. "I'll tender my resignation from the group if you wish."

"What?" we all ask.

Velma starts to walk away, but we all chase after her. It's understandable that she would feel bad about this, especially when she's never once been clumsy. But...Velma's our friend, who's been with all of us throughout all our mystery adventures. If she leaves, it wouldn't be the same without her.

"Like, hold on, V," Shaggy calls out. Thankfully, by the time we all catch up, Velma stops in her tracks, and looks up at Shaggy. "Don't beat yourself up about this. You just pulled a Shaggy, that's all. I do it all the time."

Seeing this, I can't help but smile at him, glad to see Shaggy doing his best in cheering up Velma. I mean, he's actually having no problems, without needing my help, or asking my advice for once. If nothing else, I'd say that he's definitely taken the first step in being honest with how he feels about Velma, that it makes me proud to know that he'll be just fine if he keeps this up.

"Thanks, Shaggy, but there's really no excuse," Velma says, giving Shaggy a small smile, still feeling guilty for being clumsy. "Maybe reading a little Sylvia Plath will buoy my spirits."

Velma then walks away, leaving Shaggy to stand there.

"Hey, I...I still think you're wonderful," Shaggy says, even though Velma is out of ear shot to hear him.

"Shaggy, that was so nice," Daphne says, walking up to him, followed by me and Fred.

I nod my head in agreement. "Daphne's right, you know. If you ask me, that's exactly how you should be if you're really serious about Velma," I say, earning a nod from Fred.

"Oh. Oh, what? Oh, what do you mean, (N/N)?" Shaggy asks, looking nervous, still trying to deny it in front of Fred and Daphne. "I do not--"

"Shaggy," I say, scolding him to tell the truth, especially since Fred and Daphne have figured out his feelings for Velma already.

"All right, I admit it," Shaggy admits, slumping his shoulders in defeat. "I like Velma. I'm my friend. I'm Scruffy. And I asked (N/N) to not tell you guys......But what am I gonna do? You know, I don't know what I'm supposed to say to her."

Fred then wraps his arm around Shaggy's neck. "Let me help you out, Shags. You gotta be confident, smooth. Girls like guys--"

Before Fred could even finish, Daphne cuts him off. "Shaggy, don't listen to him. He has no idea what girls like," she says. "See, what girls like is to feel special. To feel like they're the only one on a guy's mind."

As Daphne lists all of the things that girls actually like, I nod my head in agreement. I mean, because of my own feelings for Daphne, I'd do anything to make her feel special, and I also want her to know that she's the one who is always on my mind. If only she wasn't with Fred, there'd practically be no problems.

"Yeah, I know that. But listen, what you wanna do--" Fred tries to say, still trying to give Shaggy advice.

"Well, if you know that, then why don't you try it sometimes?" Daphne asks, cutting Fred off again.

"What's with you, Daphne? Why are you acting so weird today?" Fred asks.

Oh my god! Is he really that clueless?!

"How exactly am I--?" Daphne's about to ask.

But before things could get out of hand, Shaggy cuts her off. "Like, you know what? Forget I even asked. I'll just figure this out for myself. Besides, if I even get Velma to like me, I want it to be real, not some loosey-goosey thing like you guys have."

With that said and done, Shaggy grabs me by the arm, and walks away, somewhat dragging me with him. Once were a good enough distance away from Fred and Daphne, Shaggy begins a conversation.

"Like, you okay, (N/N)?" he asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask, really having no idea what he means.

"I mean, are you okay with Daphne? I saw how upset you looked back there."

I look down at my feet. "That obvious?"

Shaggy thinks for a moment before answering. "Like, to me, it was."

I let out a sigh, choosing my words carefully. "I'm happy that you're making progress with finding the right things to say to Velma. Really, I am. But on my end, I feel like I'm getting nowhere with Daphne. Especially when she prefers Fred instead of me. And it's because of that, that I'm frustrated, and I just don't know what to do with myself right now."

Shaggy nods his head in understanding, as we walk back to our rooms. On our way there, neither of us say anything, knowing full well that after what's been happening to me lately, I need my space to calm down, and to hopefully move on.

Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, after all.