Soundtrack for this chapter:

She Will Always Hate Me - James Blunt

… And she will always hate me

No matter what I say

And there is no mistaking

The love is gone

Chapter 6:

She seemed quiet.

Not that that was something Tobey should have been complaining about. He liked the quiet. He preferred not to converse if it wasn't necessary. But not with Becky. Which confused him. It shouldn't matter to him.

Tobey peered back at her as she followed him through the entrance of his manor. Her entire demeanor was depressed. He felt a tinge of guilt in the pit of his stomach for her situation, but he shook it off. It was just unnerving for him that the usually chatty Becky Botsford was stricken silent.

As the three of them passed through the front lobby and towards a fork in the manor, Tobey passed and turned to face her. His butler followed suit, waiting for her to stop. Becky did and looked up from the ground, refusing to meet Tobey's gaze.

"Butler, would you mind taking her luggage to her room? I'm going to give our new guest a quick tour of the place," Tobey instructed, refusing to take his gaze off of Becky.

Tobey noticed out of the corner of his eye Becky raised her head ever so slightly in interest. It was subtle but he knew her well enough when she was feigning disinterest.

"Yes, sir," His butler said as he disappeared down the hallway with Becky's luggage. Tobey took this opportunity to face Becky once more.

"Follow me," Tobey told her, gesturing for her to follow him. He could hear her reluctantly follow him.

A part of him wondered what she was thinking. Probably about her family, maybe even Violet, even...Scoops. Tobey unfortunately remembered Scooops; remembered how much he despised the boy as a child. How much attention Scoops got from everyone. The amount of love and devotion he had inspired not only from Wordgirl, but from other kids in their class, especially Becky. Becky had worshiped him. And it had pissed him off.

Tobey had to keep himself from growling as he recalled the memories with Scoops from elementary school. He glanced back at Becky once again, but this time she caught his eye. He snapped his head back forward as if pretending it was nothing.

"What?" Becky demanded from behind him. Tobey almost winced at her tone with him.

"Just making sure you're following," Tobey answered, making up the excuse on the spot.

"Where else would I go?" Becky responded, primarily anger in her tone but also a hint of defeat.

"Well, you have the whole manor. Try not to get lost. Butler can escort you if you need assistance."

"I'm not going to call him butler. What is his name?"

"Emerson. Charles Emerson."

The silence following his answer caught her off guard as if she didn't expect him to answer her. Tobey peaked back again behind him after a few more seconds of silence. This time, Becky was expecting it; waiting for it.

"I'm still here," She sassed him, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes at him.

A familiar feeling filled up his chest. Tobey almost cracked a smile.

"This is the west side of the manor, where the rooms for my personal staff live. Butler has his room on this side, as do I, and as will you. Down here is where the cook staff reside, as is the communal women's bathroom," Tobey began giving the tour, pointing out the rooms around them, "This is the bathroom you will use."

"Where are the rest of the factory employees?" Becky pointed out. A question he was waiting for her to ask. Naturally she would wonder.

"On the other side of the manor or above the factory. The employees don't live on this side. I like to keep the different sides apart," Tobey responded, with the answer basically rehearsed in his head.

He could practically hear her eyebrows raising, "Why am I over here then?"

"Because you're our first volunteer. You get special privileges."

"But why?"

Tobey stopped in his tracks and turned around. He had to resist to raise an eyebrow with her.

"Are you complaining?"

Becky gave him a caught off guard expression, "Oh...no...no, I just…"

"Because if you want to be with everyone else, that can be arranged."

"No! I don't..." Becky paused instantly, appearing to have gotten an idea. Narrowing her eyes, she hissed, "You know what, no. You actually expect me to stand here and be grateful? Grateful that I get to have a "nice room" and "special privileges?" Becky used her fingers to do air quotes as her face continued to get angrier and angrier.

Tobey just watched her, deadpan look on his face as she yelled at him.

"I was GRATEFUL being in my nice, comfortable room in my own house with my own family. With my friends down the street. I was grateful then, Tobey. I have nothing to thank you for," She spat at him. She looked absolutely vexed, standing there in front of him.

Once again, Tobey felt strange. The blow up at him was warranted, but he usually didn't care when he pissed people off. In fact, he enjoyed it on occasion. But not this time. Not with her. He debated on how he wanted to respond to her. Knowing he needed her on his side to enable marketing off the factory, he couldn't piss her off any more.

"Of course not. Allow me to finish showing you around," He bowed to her. He knew he caught her off guard once again. Whether she had expected him to argue with her or banter with her, he did not know. But he almost thought he saw a glimmer of disappointment in her expression.

They continued walking down the vast hallway; a hallway Tobey typically enjoyed. It was quiet, often peaceful and serene at times, with its immaculate, polished marble floor and white stone walls. Becky still refused to walk by his side so he couldn't tell if she was looking around and taking in the architecture that he found endearing.

He felt like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. It was annoying how much he hated the silence between them. It vexed him.

"How much further, Tobey?" Becky demanded from behind him.

Tobey slowed his pace so he was walking side by side with her, a gesture she didn't seem to appreciate by the irritated look on her face. It was an expression that almost made him smile. But as much as he could control his facial expression, he wasn't able to control what came out of his mouth, "Why? What's the hurry? You sick of my company already?"

Becky narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn't hold back the small tug at the corner of her mouth.

"Oh because you've been such a gracious host? Wow, Tobey, what a lovely hallway," Becky replied, sarcasm just dripping in her tone. The smirk she had been trying to hold back creeped onto her face, causing Tobey to do the same.

"It is quite a marvel, yes?" Tobey gestured towards the ceiling above them, "Quite the pity only criminals get to see it."

He knew he hit a nerve with her. The smirk faded from Becky's face and her scroll grew back, "Yeah, well, seems fitting you're here with the rest of us."

Becky instantly started walking away from Tobey, leaving him standing and watching her walk away.

"You don't know where you're going," He called after her, genuinely curious about where she would turn at the end of the hallway. He got his answer when she turned to the left prior to her footsteps echoing down the hall as she climbed the stairs. Tobey didn't wait much longer to begin walking after her, no rush in his movements.

She was a fast walker, he remembered that from school. Somehow she always seemed one step ahead of everyone, how fast she did everything. She was almost halfway down the second floor hallway by the time Tobey emerged at the top of the stairs. Becky was peering into the rooms one by one as if trying to figure out which was hers on her own.

"Careful, some might call that an invasion of privacy," Tobey called once again. This time she actually paused and looked back his way.

"Are you the morality police all of a sudden?" She sassed him back, standing her ground.

"You passed your room up," He informed her, pushing the door to his left open and then putting his arms back behind his back, waiting for her to come back. As reluctantly as she wanted to, Bekcy began dragging her feet back towards him.

Becky walked past him without a second glance, as if avoiding his gaze, and into her new room. Tobey followed her in as she looked around and observed her new space. The room was a smaller version of his, with smooth, polished wooden furniture, big windows directly across from them, and a pastel yellow bed spread on the full sized bed. Becky's belongings were already sitting on her new bed.

Becky didn't do a ton of looking around. Instead, she gravitated towards the windows, gazing outside as the sun was almost set outside. Tobey stood quietly watching her, something he felt like he had been doing nonstop since she fell back into his life. He moved his gaze away from her, suddenly feeling frustrated by his own lack of self restraint.

The papers on her dresser caught his eye. It was the factory forms. Every new employee had to sign them. Well, no time better than the present to give them to her. He picked them up off of the dresser and held them, preparing to hand them over to Becky.

Becky turned around hearing the touseling of paper, curious as to what was happening behind her. She didn't appear to be as angry anymore. Her expression was definitely back on the sad side again. Tobey almost preferred the anger.

"You will need to fill these forms out and get them back to me as soon as possible. There are 3 packets in there to fill out. If you need help with them, my butler can be of assistance. You can also give him the completed forms if you'd like," Tobey informed her, shifting through the pages himself before extending his hand with the papers out towards her.

Becky hesitantly and sadly reached out and took the papers from him, before looking through all of the pages herself.

Tobey couldn't help but notice the awkwardness suddenly filling the room. He could feel something of a small knot in his stomach and it was a very uncomfortable feeling. Tobey watched Becky shift on her feet, trying to avoid looking at him as long as she could. He noticed this, realizing perhaps the reality of the situation was really setting in for her.

Tobey had stayed too long as it was. With him finally coming back down from the familiarity of their banter earlier, Tobey was beginning to remember himself why he didn't want to be around her. If only at the very least to avoid old mistakes.

"I will be taking my leave. My butler will have your schedule worked out by the morning. Make sure you stick to the schedule and we won't have any problems," Tobey told her, taking all of the emotion back out of his voice, going back to his regular poise.

Becky looked up at him, seeming to notice the change in his behavior once again. Normally, something like that should have pissed her off, but she only blinked a few times and nodded. She dropped her gaze back to the ground.

"Butler will be by in a short time to take you down to dinner. He will give you a smaller tour of the dining facility," Tobey added, beginning to take small steps towards the open doorway. He took his time, waiting for her to say something. Anything before he left. He didn't know why he wanted her to say something, but it didn't feel right. The silence between them again.

Becky continued to stay quiet, much to Tobey's irritation.

"Okay. Well, if you need anything else, butler can assist you. Just press this button on the wall" Tobey pointed to the blue button next to the light switch on the wall, "Good luck tomorrow."

Silence.

Tobey swallowed and took one last look at her, before shaking his head and actually started heading out of the door.

"I hate you."

Tobey stopped his exit, but didn't turn around to face her. He couldn't help the surprised feeling welling up inside of him. He kind of figured she did, but he hadn't expected her to say it. What could he possibly say to that?

Many people had said those same words to him. Tons of employees passing through his doors had similar outlooks on him and his work. It was not a shock to have hatred directly towards him.

There were many times back after their incident in elementary school he had felt like he hated her. Heck, even 24 hours prior, he had thought he hated her. But hearing those words shot right back at him...it was different. And especially from her.

Tobey shut his eyes for a second and took in a deep breath. He had no idea what kind of expression Becky was giving him but he had an idea. He opened his eyes back up slowly before fully leaving her room and closing the door behind him.

As he walked down the hallway, Tobey's thoughts were in chaos. The knot in his stomach seemed to be suffocating him. It was something he hadn't felt in a long time. Why Becky brought out the worst emotions and feelings in him, he did not know. He was excellent at keeping his walls up around everyone else. She had some bizarre ability to jump right over them and leave him in a state of havoc every time.

Tobey rounded the corner back into the staircase, ready to head upstairs to his room, but he stopped and leaned against the wall. The difficulty to breathe felt even worse the more and more he thought about what she had said to him.

She hated him. She hated him.

Not that it didn't seem warranted. He had taken her from her family, her friends, her life. But regardless of how he knew it to be true, it still stung. Like she had stabbed him in his gut.

Guilt hurt like a bitch.