The words were still stuck in his head. He found he couldn't sleep, because the words Tobey had blurted earlier that day were stuck in his head.

You don't even like her. He had said, seeing the boy as merely another villain.

I like her.

TJ realized that the boy genius had followed that statement with as an opponent, but he was no idiot. He knew a crush when he saw one. And when Tobey said he likes Wordgirl, he knew what that really meant.

It meant Tobey McAllister (the third) had feelings for Wordgirl. It was so obvious, why hadn't I noticed it before? Tobey's not just any villain…he's a villain with a crush on his arch enemy. But, did that make him a villain? Why did he attack and destroy things all the time if he likes her that much?

TJ then thought through the average encounter between Wordgirl and Tobey. Tobey would attack the city with some random robots, Wordgirl would come in to save the day, as she did with every villain. They battle, Tobey loses and goes home to be grounded…so what part of that helped with his crush on her?

Perhaps just being able to see her every day was enough for Tobey.

But one other question plagued his mind…were his feelings ever going to be returned?

~…~

On the other side of town, Tobey McAllister was also thinking about how his day had gone. What a ridiculous waste of my time, he thought, picking a mere child's brain for secrets about Wordgirl. What did he know about Wordgirl that I don't already know, or that I can't figure out myself? He thought.

The nerve of the child, saying I don't even like Wordgirl. That's like saying TJ doesn't like Wordgirl…

The boy genius's head had flooded with thoughts about how untrue that was. Why, he loved everything about her. He loved the vigor she fought villains with, he loved her happy smile, her sparkling eyes, her immense intelligence…yes, he had to admit to at least himself that she was way smarter than him.

Tobey sighed and laid back on his bed. He laid on his side and looked at the picture of Wordgirl he had sitting on his nightstand. The question of his feelings towards the plucky superheroine used to plague his thoughts; he used to ask himself, 'why let yourself like someone who will never like you the same way?' but he had soon realized a very important fact of life: no matter how hard you try, you can't stop feelings from happening.

So when TJ had told him 'you don't even like Wordgirl', he knew it was such a ridiculous statement that he just had to correct it. He liked her more than anyone would ever know; including Wordgirl herself. It was just…impossible. She hated him, he was just another villain to get rid of in her eyes.

Why don't you just ask her yourself? The narrator had asked. Why don't I? He thought. He knew the answer to that. Suppose he was to tell her his true feelings, and ask for hers in return, what would happen?

He'd be painfully rejected, that's what would happen. Or so he thought. Little did he know that if he would only give it a try, it'd work out better than he thought.

Tobey decided to rid his brain of such painful thoughts for the night so he could get some sleep.

~…~

For TJ, however, that wasn't so easy. The thought that a villain could love in such a way made him seem nothing more than a good boy disguised by one prone to destruction of the robot variety. However, after the day's interesting encounter, the 7-year-old began to realize that Tobey was like a turtle; hardened shell on the outside, but soft and loveable on the inside. His soft, vulnerable interior hid inside his hard exterior in fear, and so he wouldn't get hurt. He was careful to never let anyone see that hidden soft interior, but TJ saw it in his eyes. If you took one look into his eyes and saw that sad, love-struck little boy hiding in there, there was no turning back from the sympathy you felt.

TJ, tired of not being able to sleep, decided to go downstairs to get a glass of warm milk to aid his insomnia. On his way downstairs, he began to think of Wordgirl's side of the story. She was a tough, strong-willed superhero who fought every day for justice and spared no expense to the villains she fought, no matter what the case. But then she would go toe-to-toe with a villain like Tobey, and wouldn't know what to think anymore. She didn't fight him the same way she did all the others. He didn't know why that was, but he knew that much was true.

But what was so different about Tobey?

TJ got downstairs and saw that Becky, too, was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking her own glass of warm milk.

"What are you doing up?" They asked in unison.

"Can't sleep." TJ replied.

"Ugh, me neither." Becky replied. "Why can't you sleep?"

"I dunno, the thing with Wordgirl and Tobey this afternoon is stuck in my head." TJ answered as he sat down across the table from Becky with a glass of warm milk.

"Why?" She asked.

"I don't know, I just noticed this weird side of Tobey…I saw his soft side today." TJ explained.

"I think your imagination is working overtime, TJ, Tobey has no soft side." Becky scoffed, also recalling the day's events.

"No, I saw it in his eyes. I looked into his eyes and I saw a completely different kid…a sad one. It was weird, I can't stop thinking about it."

"Why would he be sad?" Becky asked. "Destroying things makes him perfectly happy."

"Because he really is in love with Wordgirl. He just doesn't let people see that because he's afraid that if he does he'll end up getting hurt." TJ explained. Becky was surprised at what her brother had to say. She'd never thought of it that way. She'd always seen him as a boy genius who uses his talents for evil instead of good. She saw him as a liar, a manipulative little miserable existence. But now that she heard what TJ had to say, she began to picture it. She recalled the day she had spent with Tobey in pursuit of his master remote. He had been so happy that day, so carefree…so…different. Even if he was lying, it didn't seem like he had been.

"Th-that's ridiculous. He's just a villain, TJ, I think you're overthinking it…" Becky responded nervously.

"How would you know? Have you ever even cared to see him in any way other than as a villain? You haven't…I have."

"TJ, Wordgirl confided in me several times. Even she would think you're wrong."

Then, for some reason TJ couldn't explain, it all clicked. It all suddenly began to make sense. The piece of the puzzle he hadn't thought to look for became visible, and he connected it to the rest of the pieces.

"Wordgirl feels the same way…" TJ said quietly.

"What? No! TJ, that's ridiculous, she definitely does not feel the same way." Becky replied nervously and hastily.

"Yes, she does. She hides that part of her for the same reason Tobey does. She's afraid that if she lets people know she likes him they'll think she defected to the evil side for him. She's afraid that the people in the city won't see or respect her the same way. She's also a little bit afraid that if she admits that she's fallen for him, he'll turn around and stab her in the back and use her pain to defeat her. But what she doesn't know is that she's wrong about all of that." TJ explained. Becky listened in surprise. She was silent for a while, not knowing what to say.

"Where does your seven year old brain get all this? Aren't relationship problems a little too mature for you?" Becky asked.

"It's not hard to see; they both show the sides they hide in their eyes. The only ones who don't know it is them."

Becky didn't know what to say to that, so she decided to go to bed and forget about the whole matter for a while.

Before she did, TJ stopped her.

"Oh, why couldn't you sleep?" He asked. Becky was silent for a moment, searching for a response. The real reason was basically the same as TJ's; the day's events had made her curious about why Tobey would want to spend the day with her (not wanting to admit that it was merely because he had a crush on her). But she wouldn't let TJ know that.

"Oh, it's...it's nothing, don't worry." She said quietly as she went back to her room to sleep. TJ shrugged and went to bed, falling asleep easily now that the answers to his many questions had been answered.

Yeah, I meant to post this the day this episode premiered, but that was just too good to be true…man, I'm such a slow writer nowadays. /: Oh well. I thought the Tobeysodes this past week were just too adorable for words. I loved how he blurted 'I like her!'. He's just so adorable, I can't stand it! And in 'Win a Day With Wordgirl', how he kept saying 'date' instead of 'day'? Oh my dear, he is just too cute! Seriously, I can't wait to see the rest of the Tobeysodes in this season, cuz so far they've been awesome.

Oh, totally off topic, but may I just say, that in 'Dinner or Consequences', I'm just totally mad that NO CONNECTION- and I mean ABSOLUTELY NO CONNECTION was made between Wordgirl and Becky being the same person. Seriously? She's telling you guys that she was fighting crime and you don't have the brain capacity to think that hey, maybe she is Wordgirl? Like, even when whoever it is says 'you're not Wordgirl, you're not super enough to fight crime' or whatever, Becky didn't even get mad at hearing that for the millionth time in her life, didn't react to it at all in the way I thought she would've! I seriously half expected her to just blurt out that she's Wordgirl. Like, amiright?

…well, enough ranting, so review!