Looks like we've got another mystery on our hands!

"But, you know, then I was thinking..." Shaggy trailed off, hesitating for a moment as the brain fog hit, caused by the weed he'd brought for him and his friend. Maybe he had taken one hit too many. "Like, what was I thinking? Lost my train of thought, there. Uh... probably... not important. No plans for world peace or anything." Hopefully.

In all honesty, Fred had not listened to much of what his friend had been saying. The weed had hit him faster than Shaggy, apparently, and he hadn't smoked as much as him. It was hard to keep up at times. "I don't think we've solved the mystery of world peace quite yet," Fred said and laughed. "I have no idea what you were talking about. I was in a different world than you, I think." The high felt nice. It was calming and made him forget about all the haunting thoughts about when he went missing. "I do believe I heard you mention something about being hungry, though." Fred grins at Shaggy, knowing his friend would never turn down food. "Maybe it's munchies, but I could totally go for something good right now." Something that did not include the combination of ice cream and honey mustard.

location: mystery inc. treehouse.

fred jones; had always been an enigma to velma dinkley. as teenagers they always butted heads. she hated how he always seemed to undermine her perfectly methodical plotted ploys to catch the bad guy and come up with some ridiculous proposition of a trap instead. in many ways she viewed him as brother--an annoyance, but he was family. they all brought something to the table that the other lacked. daphne's courage and quick witted thinking, fred and his resilient way to get back up again after failing, and lastly shaggy's optimism that held the gang together. in so many ways her fiancé had always been right about that. they all were a special ingredient that crafted a perfectly delicious banana split.

Now; whilst swinging her legs over the treehouse ledge she felt completely stripped bare. it was hard--readjusting back to normalcy. and while she was so happy to be back, to see shaggy, the gang again-- apart of her still felt wrong. like she really never left that godforsaken hell of roaming the earth and not being heard. she didn't even flinch as the wood pinched the skin underneath her thighs. They had been meeting like this in secret for some time now since they both made it back home. Fred understood, and while they didn't share the same experience she didn't feel the need to pretend that everything was alright when it wasn't. She couldn't express these emotions to shaggy, wouldn't dare make him share this burden that was hers alone to carry. He'd only worry more, and the thought of that alone made everything even more unbearable. His happiness was more important. The damage had already been done anyway. She stared out into the mossy green abyss that was evermore's forest. Feeling as if she was about to be swallowed whole. Tears already welling up into small pools under her lash line. "Do you remember any of it?" She barely spoke above a whisper. "When you were gone, I mean..."

Fred Jones had always been a leader. He didn't always feel meant for the title, but he was naturally born with it. From the time Mystery Inc were just young kids trying to unmask a corrupt crook until now Fred had always stepped in to guide them. That didn't always mean he led them correctly. There was Velma though-- she was the brains of the operation even if Fred didn't want to admit it himself. They had often butted heads over the years, mostly in disagreement when it came to the plan. Fred Jones loved all his friends though regardless of if they were at odds or not. Sat up in the gang's treehouse with Velma again should have felt calming. It should have been reassuring. It should have been a lot of things. But it was simply that; two friends sitting on the creaky, wooden floorboards of the treehouse that Fred told himself he should have nailed down better. He was thinking of both nothing and everything at once. Where had he gone? Was he with anyone? Who or what sent him there, and why? The thoughts and questions had troubled the mystery gang's leader since his return to Evermore.

He'd almost forgotten he was there with Velma until she spoke up. Well, barely spoke up. His gaze moved from the journal page he had mostly been making absentminded squiggles on towards his friend. Normally bright eyes that his heart and soul shone through were barren of any light. Velma's question caught him off guard. He hadn't really talked to her about the whole...experience despite their meetings. "No," he said after a long silence while looking at her. His head turned back towards his journal, overgrown hair falling into his face. Maybe he should cut it short again, he thought to himself. He let out a sigh and brushed the hair from his face. His hand began twirling his pen around his fingers. "I don't know where I was. I only know how long because I was told." He bit the inside of his cheek. "I only remember wanting to get back. I felt like I was trying to crawl out of my own grave. That's how it seems, at least. I don't remember. But trying to remember and only remembering wanting to get back to Daph and you guys and--" His brow furrowed. He probably should have worded that different but he couldn't deny that Daphne had been his first priority to come home to. Home. It was a funny way of labelling Evermore to him. He wanted to get back to Coolsville so bad that he stopped realizing home had been in front of him this whole time. "I don't know what's worse. Remembering the agony or not knowing what it was at all and still feeling it."

Daphne's voice alone was enough to soothe some of Fred's anxieties. The words she spoke were comforting but his mind was racing. There were so many questions left unanswered before and now they seemed to be piling on top of each other on the verge of collapsing. Fred felt like he was on the verge of collapsing but he could never let his friends know that. He had to hold it together for them. He slowly looked over to Daphne but failed to return her smile at first. There were plenty of options she listed but Fred still felt like he wouldn't be able to relax. He closed his eyes and pressed his palms to his face. "I know that." He rubbed his hands down his face before looking back at her, a small smile of his own now on his lips. Forced, but still there. "You'll lay with me?" He wanted the reassurance. He didn't want to watch anything but maybe a drink would ease his nerves a bit. "We can have a drink too." He was hardly sure he had the energy to get off the couch let alone make his way to his kitchen to get them drinks. Despite that he asked, "what would you like?" His tired eyes found hers. She had distracted him for a minute but haunted thoughts loomed in shadows of his mind. "We're not looking in the right places," he blurted out. "There has to be something or someone in this town that knows something. Figuring out how to get out is one thing but...disappearing and not remembering is different." He fell silent for a moment, desperately looking at her. "I'm sorry," he finally said and looked down. "You're right. I won't be able to do anything if I don't feel like myself. But, what if I can't go back to that person until I have the answers I need?"

The months Fred was gone wasn't something he remembered much of. He had no idea how he got to...wherever he was, nor how he left. He remembers wanting to get home, he wanted to get back to his friends but Daphne often took over those thoughts as he yearned to get back to her more than anything. It was terrifying and as much as Fred tried to act like his normal self he was scared. Where the hell had he gone and why? It was another mystery on the gang's hands and Fred knew he had to solve it. Still, he tried to be someone his friends could look up to and lean on for the next move. How the hell was he supposed to do that when he felt like he was falling apart from the inside out? Despite the thoughts that tormented his mind constantly Fred came back to reality when Shaggy finished taking a hit and he happily took the pipe afterwards. He took another hit as Shaggy mentioned the words 'ice cream' and 'honey mustard' together in one sentence. He tried to stifle a laugh and ended up letting out a few harsh coughs. "Is this going to be like the incident in high school when you put wasabi in an ice cream sundae?" Fred questioned with a raised brow. "And then failed to mention that it was in there? I don't think I've ever drank so much water in my life. I still feel the burn," he said with a light laugh. "I'll hear you out on this one...because I'm not opposed to eating either of those separately so what's the worse that could happen?"

Shaggy wasn't trying to ignore his friend, especially after he'd been the one to ask him to hang out, but in his defense — the weed was hitting hard. He didn't realize he'd even been staring at the sky until about five minutes of watching the clouds morphing, sure they were dancing before his eyes. He was on a different level, the sound of Fred's voice bringing him out of it enough to remember they were sitting in a public environment... and he was supposed to be listening. "Like, sorry, man. I was spacing out." He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, turning his full attention to the other man, hoping he didn't take offense to his lack of enthusiasm over... whatever the conversation was. "What were you saying?"

Fred was watching as Scoob sniffed around the dog park, sticking his nose into every bush or overgrown patches of grass. Fred had mostly been lost in thought, not really noticing that Shaggy had been in his own world as well. He kept watching Scoob investigate the length of the park as he slowly made his way closer to the two men. Fred looked over at his friend. "I was just saying like...do you ever look at Velma and think you're the luckiest person in the world? Like that you've never loved anything as much in your whole life? That's just...that's how Daph makes me feel, you know?" He rubbed the back of his neck before bending down and whistling for the dog to come running back over. "Well, except maybe your dog too," he said with a light laugh as he pet the dog's neck. "I just get nervous sometimes, you know? Like, I know this town is only so big but what if she realizes she deserves better? Or what if I fuck something up or she does find someone better?" He frowns and stands back up. "I don't know. I just hope she knows she means everything to me." He looks back to Shaggy and cracks half a smile. "Never mind. What's going on in Shaggy's head? You seem like you're on another planet."

things with fred were going great for the most part. there was still so much they just haven't talked about like their future in evermore and the restlessness that came with not having a hundred and one mysteries to solve. fred has been very sweet and surprisingly attentive and daphne felt like she was on cloud nine. a part of her hoped she wouldn't be far behind shaggy and velma on their relationship journey, but being at the holiday market with him made her understand that they did still have some obstacles to deal with,

the obstacle in question was daphne and her jealousy. fred was a flirt; she knew he was a flirt. yet...the way he was talking to this girl at one of the booths they had been browsing at was making her feel self-conscious. she was beautiful and they had been talking way longer than he normally talks to girls that pretty and daphne was starting to feel like she wasn't even on his mind anymore. clearing her throat, she tried to look as unfazed as possible. when that did nothing, she fixed the strap on her purse and tapped fred's shoulder. "i'm gonna find something to drink. feel free to find me when you're done getting her number."

Fred hadn't meant to get caught up in conversation with some pretty girl vending at a booth. He was enjoying himself with Daphne, but when the topic of some podcast he was recently into came up randomly in conversation he got sucked in. He was a natural flirt and there was just something about his charm that made him seem that way. He hadn't even realized he was coming across that way until Daphne tapped his shoulder and spoke. Immediately he felt humiliated from the few looks from close bystanders they got that had overheard her. "What? Daph, no. That's nonsense. It's not like that." He frowned slightly and grabbed her hand, squeezing lightly. "We can go get something to drink, anything you want. C'mon, I'm sorry." Fred takes a step closer to her, other hand going up to rest on her cheek. It was a risky move, trying to be romantically comforting after being accused of flirting with another.

"I love you. Only you. There's nothing more important in this world to me than you. We're soulmates, right? There's no me without you, we've always been meant to spend forever together." He cracks a smile at her, gazing into her eyes that he loved so much. "I wouldn't ever say that to anyone else, now would I?" He leans a little closer, smile growing bigger. "It's always been us on a team, you know. When we all split up, it's always just been the two of us. There was always a reason for that. I just wanted to be with you and protect you because I love you. And that love has only grown with time. Besides, we're like the greatest, and greatest looking, couple ever. Don't let stupid things bother you. I swear, I didn't mean anything! We were just talking about a podcast. That's all. It's that same crime podcast I sent you last week."

Everything just felt too heavy. Shaggy was trying his best to fight off the negative feelings. He had no right to feel this way, not when he had everything he could want — more, even. He had Velma, Scooby, Fred, Daphne. A cute little place to call home in a town that was so much better than the one he came from. A job he didn't hate. He was doing better with talking to people, making friends. But the anxiety was choking him. All the thoughts, the what ifs and the worry he wasn't doing good enough, that he was being selfish. He knew it was bad when it was affecting his appetite. His stomach was churning and he was only two slices of pizza in. Unheard of for Shaggy. "Hey, man, can you be honest with me if I ask you something?" Placing his third barely nibbled piece on the plate in front of him, he looked up at Fred. "Like, friendship bias aside."

There wasn't anything Fred would rather do than hang with any part of the gang. They were his home away from home while he was stuck in this damned town. The vibe seemed off with Shaggy that day though and Fred noticed fairly quick. He didn't say anything, not wanting to pry but was thinking about asking him what was wrong as he'd noticed he wasn't really eating his pizza. Fred was already halfway through his third slice when he set it back on his place and frowned for a moment. "I can try my best," he told Shaggy. "Are you alright? You just don't seem like your typical self today, dude. What's weighing you down?"

Pacifica knew getting five or more pumpkins was a ridiculous thing to do especially since she had wandered into the patch on her own and hadn't grabbed one of the wagons on her way in. Spotting someone else wandering among the rows of vines and large, bright orange gourds, the blonde walked over ready to sweet talk her way into some help when she saw it was none other than Fred. "Oh, heyyy. Wow, long time no see." She smirked, closing the distance to stand a respectful distance - the distance you should stand away from an ex. "So, I know we haven't chatted recently or anything but...you wouldn't mind helping me, would you?"

Fred was on a mission to find the two most perfect looking pumpkins he could find in the whole patch. He knew Daphne would go nuts over him bringing pumpkins over and suggest carving them with her. He didn't like all the work it entailed, but he'd been smart enough to grab one of the wagons so he wouldn't have to carry two large pumpkins back with him. He'd just set the second one, the one he'd picked for Daphne, into the wagon when someone approached him. He looked over and saw none other than Pacifica and offered an awkward smile. "Of course not. It looks like you might need the wagon more than I do." There was no harm done in just helping her carry something and talking for a few minutes. "I can help you get them in the wagon and we can walk back together."

Of course Daphne was at the festival with Fred, but that didn't mean she was only going to spend time with him when she knew all of her friends were there too. In fact, it didn't take long for them to decide to 'split up' (an inside jokes) and search for friends. She had done her rounds and was having a blast but she had to admit she was missing Fred more and more with each interaction. Maybe she should have dragged him along. When she texted him that she was ready to meet up again he hadn't answered and that was just making her frown at her phone without looking at where she was going.

When she finally did spot Fred again she put her hands on her hips. "Fred, now why are we not answering texts? I swear, we need to communicate bett-" Sh stopped once she realized what they were in front of. The Tunnel of Love. He probably planned this and honestly? That just made her want to swoon harder. "Ohmygosh. Fred, you shouldn't have! You are so forgiven!"

Fred knew going to the festival with Daphne would be a blast all on it's own. He knew they'd have a lot of fun and get to spend time together, the latter being what mattered most. Splitting up to see other friends though was perfectly fine with Fred too though. He got to talk to some buddies, go on a few thrilling rides with them, and with each second that passed by it was only closer to seeing his girlfriend again (which was sometimes still unbelievable to say.) When it was time to meet back up with her Fred tried to text her but his messages weren't going through. He opted to call her but his phone just displayed a 'call failed' message. Fred decided to go to the area they last saw each other in, which just so happened to be not far from the tunnel of love. He knew he should have set up a meeting point with Daphne and was kicking himself for not having done so. When he got to the attraction he looked up and smirked. Maybe Daphne would find him, he hoped so at least.

Fred waited for a few minutes, getting more and more anxious and impatient as the minutes went by. He knew Daphne was smart though and retracting their steps to meet up seemed to have work when Fred looked up after hearing her voice. Her attitude could be fierce and her hands on her hips only amplified that. To be honest though, Fred thought it was pretty hot. He was goofily grinning from ear to ear as he walked up to her. "Where is there a better place to find you other than here? I guess you could say I was looking for love and it led me to you." His grin softened into an adoring smile for a moment before he placed a gentle hand on her cheek and kissed her. "And for the record...my messages weren't going through. They all just say 'message failed to send' or whatever. I totally wasn't ignoring you. I'm just glad you found me."

🍩 get a funnel cake (or food or drink of choice) together

🧸 try to win a prize at one of the booths

🎪 get lost in the fun house

🐑 visit the petting zoo

💦 try their luck at the dunk tank (or participate in it)

🎨 get their face painted

🎡 go on a ride of choice

💒 meet at the tunnel of love

🎤 enjoy (or participate) in the live music

🏚️ find each other in the haunted house

💋 meet at the kissing booth

🎟️ offer the other some of their tickets after having lost them