Chapter 5: 

Decisions & Discoveries

"Where are we going?" Velma asked Ethan for probably the second or third time on Friday evening, as they walked along the rainforest-lined beach. It was dusk on Spooky Island, with a beautiful pastel-streaked sky that reflected its colors onto the sparkling ocean waters.

"You’ll find out when we get there," Ethan teased her, squeezing her hand. With his other hand he gripped his guitar, a gleaming black acoustic.

"Can I at least have a clue?" she played along.

"Nope. And you’re not going to need one, because we’re almost...." he stretched out the word, "...there." Saying this, he led her around the last bend of trees and then watched her face as she took in the sight of his surprise.

Far back on the beach, Ethan had set up a picnic site, complete with a large beach blanket, a fire ring, and two coolers full of food and beverage, which were stashed behind a large log a bit back from the rest. Looking over it all, Velma was uncharacteristically speechless. He did all this for me, she thought to herself. Went to all this trouble-- for me. Ethan didn’t need words from her to tell that she liked what she saw. She looked genuinely touched, and he was glad for that. He knew that she hadn’t dated very much, but he also knew she not naive when it came to other people’s motives. He’d been somewhat worried that she might take his whole setup the wrong way-- as if he had an ulterior motive. I guess I do, he mused half-jokingly to himself. Just not the kind to get suspicious about.

After urging Velma to sit back on the blanket and make herself comfortable, he brought the ice chests over and set out making a fire. "Can I do something?" she asked, not used to relaxing when there was some task at hand.

"Nah, I got it," he replied, carefully watching the growing fire as it ate up the kindling. "Oh, you can get us out some drinks if you want." Velma opened the smaller chest and fished around in the ice cubes, drawing out some assorted flavors of wine coolers. Ethan turned away from the fire and grinned at her. "I couldn’t get any real wine around here," he explained. "Not even any cheap stuff, so I had to get the closest thing to it. Romantic, huh?" he joked.

"Very," Velma deadpanned, joking too. "It’s okay; I had some at a wedding once and it wasn’t all that great."

"Same here. But, you know, it’s part of the package. You’re supposed to have wine for these things."

"I guess."

"Oh, and if you don’t want to risk the wine coolers, I threw some Cokes in there, too. Wouldn’t want you to think I was..."

"Plying me with alcohol?" Velma supplied, smiling wryly.

"Right," Ethan grinned back at her, then watched as she selected two of the coolers for them. Handing him his bottle, she opened a strawberry cooler for herself and took a small sip. "Any good?" he asked, then took a drink from his own.

"Actually, yes."

"Good deal. Here, will you hold mine a minute?" he asked, handing his drink over. "Gotta get our food going. I hope it’s okay." Unlatching the second ice chest and reaching in, he removed some plastic tableware from the top and then pulled out two foil-wrapped sandwiches, leaving some containers of fruit and other small side dishes snuggled down in the ice. "I pretty much just raided the lunch buffet."

"Raided? After you paid for it, I hope."

Ethan pretended to go blank, going along with her joke. "Oh, yeah.... I knew I forgot to do something!" He smiled over his shoulder at her as he placed the two sandwiches near the fire so they could toast. "And here I couldn’t figure out why everyone was looking at me funny..."

Velma laughed, and he laughed with her, a common thought running through both their heads. If the evening continued at all like it had started, they were in for one terrific date...

 


"Ethan, this is perfect. Thank you," Velma said a half-hour later. Having finished dinner and most of her wine cooler, she was looking out over the water while Ethan reached for his guitar, meaning to tune it while she enjoyed the scenery.

"No problem. I wanted us to have something kinda different for our last night."

Velma turned to him. "We have tomorrow night."

"I meant our last night with just us."

"Oh." Velma frowned slightly. The thought of having to leave Ethan was not occurring to her for the first time, but the sobering knowledge that this was their last real date together on Spooky Island brought things into sharper focus.

"Yeah. And then it’s time to go back home and hit the old grind," Ethan replied with a slight sigh.

"I take it you’ve made your decision then."

"My decision?" Ethan questioned, his eyebrows knitting.

"About the job with your uncle. You’ve decided to take it? You wouldn’t talk that way about your music," she explained.

"Oh, right. You’re right," he said, looking down at his guitar and sounding a bit displaced. He didn’t want to think about that, not now, but he knew she was right to ask. "But I don’t know about the job yet. It’s just that it’s full time and then some-- I’d be working all the time. If it weren’t like that, I could do it and still have some time for my music at night. But it’s still a good job, and right out of college... I know it’s stupid not to jump right on it."

"No," Velma answered simply.

"Not sensible then," Ethan laughed, trying to lighten his mood. "That’s what some of my family would say."

"Sometimes the right thing isn’t always sensible," Velma stated with a one-shouldered shrug, provoking a laugh from Ethan. "What?" she questioned him, almost monotone.

"Coming from you... nothing, it’s just funny." He gave her a teasing nudge. She moved against him, nudging back. "I don’t know..." he continued, shaking his head, "I guess part of it is that I feel like if I took the job, I could kinda prove myself."

"How so?"

"I could show that I can do something... serious, useful," he explained, his voice sounding glum. "A lot of people don’t see what I do-- music-- that way; they don’t get how difficult it is. They just get one impression of me-- my guitar, and the heavy metal and how I look-- and think I must be some drugged-out, slacker freak. I just don’t know if I want to fight that stereotype my whole life. Taking this job would fix that-- but I don’t want to change, either," he added, sounding as if the conflict was a well-worn one to his mind. "You know what I mean?"

"And how. If you’re the perpetually-stoned metal head, then I’m the tomboy brainiac of ambiguous gender preference. We make quite the pair." Velma tried to throw in a joke at the end of her phrase, wishing she hadn’t said quite so much. This was obviously a subject on which she felt very strongly, and one that she most certainly understood.

"Looks like the world’s got both of us wrong," Ethan replied, his voice serious if not just a bit dejected. He turned his face towards the ocean and stared out over it for a moment, and Velma got the idea from the faraway look in his eye that he was deep in thought. She’d had no idea how closely he could relate to the very problem she had faced for years.

"I don’t think it’s so bad as that," she stated confidently. "No one likes others to the have the wrong idea about them, but eventually you’ll get a chance to prove them all wrong. And even if you don’t, it’s the people that really care about you that matter, and they know the truth." Ethan was looking at her again, and he nodded and smiled slightly in agreement. "Jinkies, I didn’t mean to lecture," Velma said, suddenly feeling awkward. "It’s just that I know how you feel. I’ve had my share of rumors to deal with-- they’re only now starting to die out." She paused. "And I don’t want you to change, Ethan."

"You, either," Ethan replied softly, and they looked at one another for a long moment, understanding. Before things could become too heavy, Ethan reached again for his guitar, which he had abandoned during their conversation. Picking it up, he began to quickly and expertly tune it in. "You ready for some guitar?" he asked, and immediately received an affirmative answer. Velma settled herself into a more comfortable sitting position as he strummed lightly. "Any particular song you want?"

"You do requests? Wow."

"Sure. I used to get them all the time back in school."

"Impressing the girls, no doubt," she bantered in her classic monotone.

"Guilty," Ethan laughed. "Don’t be too hard on me, it was all I had."

"Don’t worry, I forgive you," Velma smiled. "Though I don’t believe that last part."

"No really, it was for awhile." Ethan began playing an improvised tune, lightly. "So what’s it gonna be?"

"Jinkies, I don’t know... anything that you’ve written."

"Really? ...Umm, okay, sure." He hadn’t really expected that, though he didn’t know why. Velma had always been so interested in what he had to say about his compositions-- he loved that. It was just that most girls he played for asked for the current popular tunes or very familiar guitar classics, which was fine, but very rarely was he asked to do one of his own songs. Of course, playing one of his own songs upped the pressure quite a bit, as it was his composition, as well as his playing of the guitar, that was on display. Quickly he ran through a mental list of songs, trying to find one that would not only sound good on acoustic guitar, but would match the romantic mood of the date. "Okay, I’ve got one," he told Velma, beginning to strum out a few chords experimentally. "I only came up with it about a month ago, and it’s just the guitar right now-- no vocals or background instruments or anything. So, you can...ummm.... tell me if you like it." Ethan was beginning to feel very awkward, even shy-- not unlike the way he had felt as an insecure, geeky preteen, playing the guitar in public for the first time. It was incredibly important to him, what Velma thought about anything, but in this case even more so. His music was so deeply ingrained into who he was as a person that what she thought of it would feel like a direct reflection onto him. Velma looked at him, listened to him, and knew this. I’ve never seen him like this-- he’s even nervous, she noted to herself. It’s not just his music that he’s laying on the line... it’s himself, too. He’s so open, always has been... Not like me. As the last of these thoughts were forming in her mind, Ethan began playing, and all her attention was diverted to catching every sound that emanated from the guitar.

The song was a romantic ballad, but intricately arranged in a minor key, giving it a haunting and beautiful tone-- a perfect musical accompaniment for the scene playing itself out around them. The sky was turning from its orange-streaked dusk to the deep blue of a gorgeous summer night, reflecting its colors on the darkening ocean waters and the pearly white stretch of beach. Off the waters came a refreshing ocean breeze, just strong enough to rustle the palm fronds and foliage of the rainforest beyond, and to make the light from the dwindling campfire dance in flickering patterns across the sand. Velma soaked in the breathtaking scene as she listened to Ethan’s song-- achingly beautiful--unfold from the guitar, but never took her eyes from the young man playing it. He wasn’t looking at her; his face bore a look of intense concentration as he watched his fingers form the difficult chords and passages. His skill was considerable, but the combining factors of the song’s complex nature and its short amount of time in his repertoire caused it to demand a good deal more attention than usual. It wasn’t until he reached a repeat of the more familiar chorus that he finally did look up at Velma.... and when he did, she felt a sudden wave of realization, as strong in its intensity as any that were breaking far off from the shore. She had a sense of absolutely clarity, just as she always felt during a mystery when, in a burst of inspiration, all the clues fell into place and she all at once knew the solution. Only this time her discovery had to do with a mystery of another kind entirely, one that she should have seen the truth of far earlier—the realization of how deeply Ethan loved her. She saw it the instant he looked up at her, though he’d probably looked at her that way dozens of times before that night. There was nothing in that look but pure, unrestrained love. But that wasn’t all--far from it-- for it was in that very moment that Velma knew that she returned his feelings fully. She loved him. Surely, she thought to herself, she had been falling in love with him the whole time, but it had taken the security of knowing the love was reciprocated --absolutely and totally-- before she could fully let herself embrace it. I love him, she thought, unwaveringly. And he loves me. There was no longer any reason in the world for her to hold back. I have to tell him. Or show him... or... Velma’s thoughts were still racing full speed as Ethan brought his song to a close.

"Jinkies, that was incredible," she managed to get out, her mind and emotions still reeling.

"Really?" he asked, the modesty, almost uncertainty, in his voice dashing any possible accusations of compliment-fishing.

"Absolutely," she continued, regaining much of her usual composure though she felt as if she were about to fly apart in a million different directions. "Don’t give up your music, Ethan. You’re too talented. I mean that."

"Thanks..." Ethan said quietly, too touched to add more. He was also busy watching her; she seemed to be acting... differently. He’d never seen her that way, and didn’t know quite what to make of it. Had he been able to read her thoughts, he would have known how she struggled with a dozen impulses at once. While part of her tried to cling onto her habit of holding back her feelings, the other part wanted to hold Ethan, be close to him, sing, dance, and tell him all in once breath her newly-discovered feelings...

"Could you teach me to play the guitar?" she suddenly blurted, not even entirely sure where the words came from.

"All of it tonight?" he asked, amused. "Well, you are a genius," he added, leaning in so the adorning words were spoken almost right against her ear.

"No, I meant..." she faltered, distracted by Ethan kissing her cheek. "Well, Shaggy taught me the basic chords once, but I never got the... D chord," she finished, memories of earlier lines with Beau and Freddy dancing around in her head.

"D?" Ethan clarified. That’s kinda weird, he thought. The easiest chord?

"Yes," Velma answered, trying to infuse some confidence into her tone.

"Okay. Here," he said, standing and then reaching to help her up, "you can sit on this. It’d be easier." He gestured to the nearby fallen log, which made a fairly good makeshift bench. Once she was settled he handed her the guitar and sat down next to her. "Uh, why don’t you just play all the chords you know? Then we can work on any that you need help on." Ethan couldn’t help testing her a little; he was just too curious.

Trying to remember what Shaggy had taught her during what would have been some long idle hours in the Mystery Machine, Velma strummed out several basic chords. Though it had been years, her good memory, plus the repetitiveness of her lessons with Shaggy, enabled her to produce a C, F, A minor, and G without any trouble. She was about to turn out a D as well when she remembered what she had told Ethan. Jinkies, I WOULD pick the easiest one! Dinkley! Well, you better just go ahead and do it anyway-tell him you made a mistake. However, this is not what Velma did. When she went to form the D chord, her fingers slid from the proper positions, producing a discordant sound.

"Not quite," Ethan laughed gently. "Just... here, like this." Moving his hand to cover hers, he guided her fingers to the correct positions. Given the chord’s simplicity he could have verbally explained it, and knew he was giving more help than she needed--- but she didn’t seem to be adverse to his hands-on instruction. He couldn’t help thinking-- could she... possibly... be doing this on purpose?! Ethan of course was familiar with this; when it came to flirting, the guitar help technique was right up there with the traditional hankie-drop. But Velma-- no way. That’s not her style. But she obviously doesn’t need help... what else could it be? Ethan grinned. And if it IS... hey, who I am to turn her down? With this in mind, he spoke up again. "I’m having to reach here... just a second." Hopping off the back of the log, which was very low to the ground, he moved behind her and crouched down, balancing one knee against the log, so that he could reach his arms around behind her. His hand slipped up to take its former place, and his face was just alongside hers. "Okay, now let’s try it again."

Velma knew immediately from his closeness and from the tone of his voice that he was flirting with her. He probably saw right through her little charade-- undoubtedly, he did-- but he was playing along because he knew that she was flirting too. Suddenly Velma felt embarrassed-- not because she was finally learning how to flirt, but because of the way she had done it. She had never once pretended not to be able to do something when in actuality she could, and it wasn’t anything she wanted to start now. What am I doing? I want to be close to him... why can’t I just tell him? "Ethan?" she began, hesitation heavily coloring her tone.

"Yeah?" he replied, pre-occupied, his voice a nearly indistinct murmur.

"I... I know how to play a D chord," she admitted, none too pleased with herself.

"Then wh-- " Ethan started to ask, wondering if his suspicions had been confirmed. He wondered only until she turned her eyes to meet his. There he read everything he needed to know. "Okay," he finished softly; there was no need for him to say anything more. Wordlessly he moved to sit next to her and then laid the guitar gently on the ground, all in one smooth, fluid motion. Just as she had the first time they had been in such a situation, Velma anticipated what was going to happen-- only this time, every part of her welcomed it. Ethan knew this as well as she did. Without any hesitation he leaned in and kissed her full on the lips.

Velma’s eyes immediately fluttered closed, and if by some instinct, she automatically wrapped her arms around Ethan, encouraging him to hold her even closer. His kiss was just like Ethan himself-- gentle but deeply intense, sweet and undemanding. He poured his weeks of pent-up feeling into it, determined after all the build-up, all the anticipation, to make it worth the wait for her, to show her just how deeply his feelings for her ran. Ethan didn’t have the arrogance to assume that he was the first man who had ever kissed her (though he had no idea how very nearly true this was) but he did know that she considered this very important, something not to be taken lightly, and so he wanted to make it as special as he could for her.

When they finally parted, Ethan immediately brushed his lips very lightly against hers, wanting to stay in the heady first-kiss moment for as long as he could make it last. He tenderly cradled her face in both his hands, and as they came apart for the second time, he felt her hands cover his as they leaned against one another, forehead to forehead, their faces only inches apart. They already had such a closeness that there was no post-kiss awkwardness, no nervous small-talk. The kiss had been so much more of a cementing of the relationship, rather than a milestone of getting to know one another. Still, Velma felt as if it were all a bit surreal; the experience itself was so new to her. The whole thing was starting to feel like a wonderful dream rather than a reality, as if she were watching someone else participate in the scene and not she herself. As if to convince herself, she reached out and touched the lips she’d just kissed, and felt Ethan smile under her fingertips. His smile turned into the beginnings of light laughter--perhaps there was some post-kiss awkwardness left after all.

"What?" Velma asked, a dry tone returning to her voice despite all that had transpired.

"Nothing. I was just kinda hoping for a ‘jinkies,’ that’s all," Ethan joked lightly, giving her his best boyish grin. He looked adorable, and Velma simply couldn’t resist him. She thought of asking him if he’d like to make another try for one, for she very much wanted another kiss, but decided against it. Instead, she leaned back in, then hesitantly, experimentally, fit her lips to his. As soon as she determined that she had it right, she instantly deepened the kiss, pulling him to her and lacing her arms about his neck. Ethan was so surprised-- and of course pleased-- that he forgot to kiss back at first. There were years behind her kiss, and he really could have just ridden it out, accepting and enjoying it. However, he wanted her to know that he was as into it as she was, so he returned her action fully, stroking both sides of her face with his thumbs as he did so.

As soon as they had drawn back, words practically leapt from Ethan’s mouth. "I love you," he said all at once, breathlessly. His heart was pounding so hard in a combination of anticipation, nervousness, and excitement left over from their kisses that he was sure she could feel it, hear it, or both. Please answer me, he begged her silently, still holding her face in one of his hands.

"And I love you," Velma replied, not a trace of doubt anywhere in voice or countenance, even though she didn’t often say those words out loud. Certainly she never had in a romantic context.

"You do?" he confirmed, letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. She nodded, smiling softly back at him. "Then, Vel, I gotta ask you something. I know that in a couple of days you’re going back to NASA and around on mysteries, and I... well I don’t know for sure yet, but if I take the job or if I even stick with my music I’ll be back in Cleveland where I’m from... where I actually have some contacts... but I still want us to be together, even if we’re not ... together, you know? Everyone always says that long-distance relationships don’t work but I want to try, Velma. You mean too much to me to just say goodbye in two days... and then that’s it."

"I feel the same way," she told him. "But there’s something you need to know Ethan."

"What?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"I’m not going back to NASA."

"You’re not? But I thought you said you’re still gonna work for them even though you’re back with Mystery, Inc."

"I’m going to do independent research-- if they’ll let me. If not, I’ll give it up. The gang’s decided that we all want to be together again, so we’re moving back to our ‘home base.’ Shaggy and I are, anyway-- Fred and Daphne never did move. My family is there, and what with the gang all going back..."

"You’re going back to Coolsville?!" Ethan cut in happily. "That’s only about an hour and half away from me!"

"I know," Velma smiled. "I’ll still be doing a lot of traveling-- we already have some jobs lined up. Typical haunted house variety. And you’ll be busy too, but..."

"We can make it work," he finished for her.

"Yes."

"Then can I ask you something else?"

"Of course," Velma answered him.

"I wanted to know if--" Ethan paused, not knowing how to word his question properly. "--If you’d be my chick?" As soon as the words were out of this mouth, Velma began giggling, and he realized what he’d said. My chick?! This is Velma, he reminded himself, laughing right along with her. "Aggh, that isn’t how I meant to say it," he explained, shaking his head. "What’s it called when you get out of school, anyway?"

"Being exclusive," Velma supplied, not entirely sure herself.

"Ugh. That sounds so..."

"I know." Velma paused. "I think you said it better the first time."

Ethan looked at her, raising his eyebrows and laughing again. "Really? Well, okay... will you? Be my chick?"

Velma pretended to think about it, putting her finger up to her chin. "Hmmm.... on one condition."

"Yeah?"

"You’ll have to be my... ‘dude.’" The word sounded so unfamiliar and foreign in her voice that Ethan had to strangle back laughs to get his answer out.

"You got it," he told her, then kissed her warmly to seal his words.

"And one more thing," she added after a pause, feigning contemplativeness. "My D chord still needs some work..."

 

Author’s comments: Yes, I know, it was very mushy, but as you will notice, there is still some self-discovery going on so I am not totally off-track! I do admit that the title of this chapter if very weak, though; I had to rush. About that: The next update (there is one more chapter, plus a possible epilogue if there is enough interest in the story and I can figure out a good ending) will probably take a couple of weeks-- lots going on. But no, this is not the end...

On to Chapter Six!

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