A/N: After two months, guess who's back! Sorry to leave you like this, but I had a lot of studying to do for my tests and exams. Plus, I also started another fanfiction, called 'Unsolicited (sequel)' [go check it out by the way, if you want], so that was another reason for not updating. But good news: I only have one week left of school, which means more time to write for both my fics (hopefully). But anyways, enough of my rant, and let's go! Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Just call me by my name, okay?

It all started a week before, when Monty and his classmates were assigned a five-page long essay in Cartoon Logic due to the next Monday. They were supposed to pick a Toon Power, out of the many that existed, and describe it in great detail. At first, the boy billionaire didn't really mind the homework. Maybe he was a little annoyed at how long it was supposed to be, but nothing else. However, Prof. Fudd then said that it had to be in pairs. Of course everyone immediately chose their partner, leaving Max only one last option. And that option happened to have red hair and a tight, deadly grip.

Monty had tried to calm himself down and fool himself that it won't be so bad. Who knew, maybe if he kept repeating it in his head, he would come to actually believe it? At one point, he ended up scheduling a meeting with Elmyra for the weekend. They planned to get together at his house on Saturday morning and by afternoon their project would be finished. The sooner, the better.

The day came and sure enough Elmyra rang the doorbell at 10 AM sharp. He let her in and led her to the library, where he (or Grovely, more like it) had already laid on one of the tables, books that could help them. Everything went fine for the first thirty seconds, when suddenly, Elmyra called him 'snuggle bear'. He paused and slowly turned to look at her with the deadliest glare in his eyes.

"What," he said in dangerously quiet voice, venom dripping out of every word, "did you just call me?"

"I called you snuggle bear," she responded, not seeing any of the red flags, "You know, cuz bears are cute and snuggly and just like you, my cute and snuggly Monty-Won-"

"Don't ever call me that! Understand, dweeb?! Never! I'm not cute and I'm not snuggly! I am Montana Max, the richest kid ever, that will also kick you out of the house if you don't cut it out! Got it?"

"Whatever you say, Monty," Elmyra smiled at him, still unaware of his anger.

He sighed and went back to working on the project, hoping this would be the last incident. Unfortunately, that was not the case. As time passed by, the brown-haired brat was called more and more 'cute' names that made his blood boil; 'pumpkin', 'sweetness', 'honey' and 'angel' just to name a few. And that wasn't even the only problem. Instead of working, she kept getting distracted and blabbed about whatever nonsense crossed her head.

By now, he couldn't even concentrate on the stupid essay anymore. All he could think of were the many ways he could strangle the girl with the table cloth.

After two exhausting hours (time during they could barely find the information they needed, let alone write something), Grovely came in holding a tray with some snacks and two glasses filled with juice. He sat them on the desk, then, with a respectful bow, exited the room.

"Oh, goodie," Elmyra said, reaching out for the food, "I was sooo hungry! All this work is making me very tired. How about you, Bunny Bun Bun?"

Monty, who had started drinking his juice, spat it all at once, coughing and trying to breathe properly.

"What" cough "did you" cough, cough "CALL ME?!"

"I called you… uhhh," Elmyra's beam turned to concentration. "I don't think I remember. Sorry, it was such a nice cute name. I could have called you that so many times, even when we got married-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT! UP!" shouted the boy red-faced and practically seething.

For the first time since that morning, Elmyra realised that Monty wasn't exactly happy. "What's wrong, sugar? You look kinda mad."

"Oh, ya cracked the case, Sherlock?! And what do you mean 'what's wrong'? YOU'RE WHAT'S WRONG!" He bellowed again, making the house shake. "Ever since you set foot in my mansion you did nothin' else than to Drive! Me! Nuts!"

The girl didn't seem to understand a word he had just said. She kept looking at him with the same blank stare in her eyes and the same confused expression as always.

Monty slapped his forehead. So he really had to spell it out for her. "You talk too much, you can't get any work done, you're basically useless for this project! And not to mention all those… disgusting names you called me since you got here!"

"But, Monty, those names are really cu-"

"No, they're NOT! I keep telling you this since forever and you still don't realize it!"

A few seconds passed, time during the redhead processed what she had been told. Suddenly, she glanced up at him angrily and spoke in the most sarcastic and annoyed tone Monty had ever heard her use.

"Well I'm sorry, mister Montana Max, for showing my affection. It must be horrible to have someone love you so much that they feel the need to say it every three seconds."

"Oh, yeah?!" the boy snapped, his fists clenched and his face full of loathing. "Well, just so you know, bird-brain, I DON'T NEED YOUR LOVE! Ya heard me?! I don't CAREif from this day on you stop talking to me because I don't need someone as stupid as you in my life anyway! Your friendship means nothing to me, it never did! So you can BEAT IT!" His shouting stopped, leaving him huffing and puffing like The Big Bad Wolf.

A few seconds passed, during which Monty calmed down from the blind rage that had taken control over him. He glanced at Elmyra… and wished instantly he could take back his words. The girl was staring into space, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging, as if she was a fish out of water. The expression on her face was a mixture of shock, disbelief and pain. Before the boy could say or do anything, she burst into tears and exited the room faster than the Road Runner would have.

Monty stood still for a while, processing what had happened. Although he never missed the opportunity to insult Elmyra, maybe what he just said was a little bit too much. Even he knew there was a huge difference between calling someone 'frog face' and telling them they're useless and unloved.

Eh, whatever. She was going to get over it anyway. She always did. It was Elmyra after all. If he just gave her a bit of time to calm down, then she would show up, all smiles again, acting like nothing had happened. He sat down at the table, with the intention of continuing the project all alone until she came back.

Not even half an hour later, he had pushed all the books aside, unable to concentrate at all. Elmyra's tearful eyes, her pained expression, her heart-breaking sobs, the way she ran, all of it was replaying in his head and each time it was worse than the previous one.

Sweet Spielberg, it's like the Prom again. The boy tiredly dragged his hand down his face, telling himself repeatedly that the lunatic was fine and there was no reason to worry about her. If only that horrible, nauseous feeling would go away…

"Master Monty." The dry voice rang through the library, making Monty jump to the ceiling.

"Grovely, you imbecile!" he said, climbing down. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack again?!"

"My apologies, sir, but you had instructed me to let you know when lunch is ready."

Monty blinked. "It's already lunchtime?" He checked the clock on the wall incredulously. This meant that Elmyra had been gone for nearly an hour. Was she really that distressed? All his efforts to convince himself that everything was fine vanished and guilt took over, pecking mercilessly at his heartstrings. Not even looking at the butler, he asked weakly:

"Grovely, did you, by any chance, see Elmyra when she left?"

"Oh, as a matter of fact I did, sir."

"And how did she look?" He asked, although he already knew the dreadful answer. "I mean, was she in that much of a horrible state?"

"Hm, I do believe so. She couldn't stop crying. Her sobs were so loud and her speech was almost incomprehensible. When she told me she was going home, I barely understood her."

Max understood that he had messed up big time. What he had said to Elmyra was very different from his usual insults. He had actually hurt her. And for some reason, he cared. That prom incident really softened me, didn't it?

"Grovely, get the limo ready! You're gonna drive me to Elmyra's house!" And while the butler prepared the long limousine, the boy hoped it wasn't too late to apologize and make things right.

XXXXXX

Monty rang the bell. As he waited for someone to open the door, he considered the whole situation. It was completely embarrassing. Him, the richest, meanest, biggest bully in the whole Acme Acres, coming to apologize for his actions. And to a complete moron, nevertheless. All of it just because he couldn't live with the thought of the idiot crying her heart out. When did he become so mellow?

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a plump, middle-aged woman, with carrot-orange hair and sky blue eyes. She didn't even have to introduce herself in order for Max to know that she was Elmyra's mother.

"Hello, can I help you?" She asked politely.

"Yes, you can." He answered, his tone not as polite. "Get your daughter down here. I need to speak to her."

"Which one?"

Heavens, there were more than one? "Elmyra, duh. Can't you see I'm her age?"

Ignoring his rude response, Mrs. Duff turned around and shouted for the whole household to hear: "Elmyra, come here, please! There is this cute boy who wants to see you!"

Feeling his face burn with embarrassment, Monty lowered his gaze to the ground, wishing it could swallow him. Did she really have to announce his presence that way? It seemed like stupidity was something running through the family.

"She's not here, mom!" This time another feminine voice shouted, probably her sister.

Max raised his head, surprised. If she wasn't here, then where was she?

"Are you sure, Amanda?" Asked Mrs. Duff, sounding just as confused as he felt.

"Yeah, she came here a while ago, before leaving again. She said she was taking the bus to Grandma."

The woman fell into deep thought. "That's odd." She said, more to herself than to him. "She only goes to Grandma so out of the sudden when she's very upset. Oh, dear… something must have been really bothering her."

Monty couldn't help but cringe with guilt. The constant reminder that he had hurt her so badly was eating him on the inside, like a parasite, and the dread he felt at the thought of not being able to comfort her was even worse.

"Mrs. Duff, where does Elmyra's grandma live?"

"Oh, you want to go after her and see what's wrong? That's very sweet of you, dear." She smiled warmly, then gave him the address.

XXXXXXX

Half an hour later, Monty found himself ringing another doorbell again. This time, the house didn't seem clean and tidy, like Elmyra's, nor was it in a nice neighborhood. Located at the end of the suburbs and isolated from the other residences, it was old and dirty, looking like it was going to fall down in any moment. A strange smell was coming from the walls, a combination of rotten eggs and naphthalene, that made Max instantly want to throw up.

Out of all the places in Acme Acres to visit whenever she felt sad and wanted to calm down, she chose this dump? The things I go through for a psycho... She better forgive me after this, because I didn't come to this pigsty for nothing.

The door opened, and before him stood an old woman, her face identical to her granddaughter's (only full of wrinkles), and her red hair tied up in a bun on the top of her head.

"Yes?" She asked in a rather bored manner. "If you wanna sell something, then I tell you now that I'm not interes-"

"Hold your horses, Grandma, I ain't no salesman. I just wanna have a word with Elmyra. Is she here?"

The elder eyed him suspiciously. "Why do you want to talk to my granddaughter for? Are you her boyfriend or something?"

"Wha-What? N-No, of course not?" Monty stammered. Why did everyone keep saying that? "I'm her friend. We had a fight earlier and I wanna apologize. Is that a crime?"

"No, I guess not." She sighed. "Alright, this way."

The boy followed Grandma Duff inside, down a long hall. Unfortunately, the interior smelled and looked just as bad as the exterior, with the small addition of a radio playing some music from the 30s or 40s. At the end of the hallway, there was another door that, according to the old lady, led to the garden.

"She likes to sit by the pond and stare into the water or pluck the flower petals. It usually relaxes her. Now, you be a good boyfr- I mean friend, and go comfort her. I gotta go back to beat some dummy at poker."

Just then, a female, raspy voice shouted from the kitchen. "We'll see about that, ye old hag."

Smirking, Grandma Duff wished him good luck, before heading back to her waiting friend.

Well, it looked like he was all alone now. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door. Indeed, there she was, just like the woman had said: sitting on the grass, in front of a small patch of water, she was staring down, facing away from him. Max knew her too well to realize that Elmyra was NEVER that still and quiet, unless something was very wrong.

He gulped. It seemed like he really had to do this… Cursing himself one more time for being so soft, he began walking towards her as slowly as he could. Maybe it was because he naively thought that if he took his time, something would happen; something that would save him from the awkward conversation that was about to follow. A falling meteor, a lightning strike, a nuclear explosion, he would take any of that rather than have a heart-to-heart conversation with Elmyra and admit that he had made a mistake. Since himself and his conscience weren't enough anymore to drive him away from his decision, he put his faith into whatever divine being was out there to STOP THIS!

But, of course, nothing happened. The world didn't end, the garden didn't catch fire nor did the house blow up. He couldn't be that lucky.

After what seemed like centuries, he was finally standing near her. If she had noticed him, then she didn't acknowledge his presence. This was an obvious red flag, since usually, whenever he was within her one mile radar, she would already be kissing and hugging the life out of him.

"Hey," He said in a soft voice, after the tense silence became too much to bear. "Can I sit next to you?"

She nodded, not lifting her gaze to meet his.

Ok, so far so good, he thought, as he sat down on the grass. She didn't look at me, but at least she didn't yell at me or told me to go away.

Another pause followed, which was even more awkward than the last one. With every passing second, Monty found it harder and harder to talk and form a sincere apology in his head. Come on, you wuss! Man up and say it!

"Listen, Elmyra, I-"

"I'm sorry."

Monty blinked. "What?" He asked, sure he must have misunderstood what the girl had just said.

"I said I was sorry." Elmyra repeated. "I should have stopped giving you cute nicknames ever since you told me you hate them. I just found them so adorable that I couldn't imagine you not liking them. I figured you were just being a sourpuss as usual. Guess I was wrong. Can you forgive me, please?" She finally looked at him, her brown eyes wide and pleading. There wasn't even a drop of insincerity in them.

Monty couldn't believe his ears. She could have screamed at him, she could have told him to go away, she could have insulted him, she could have hit him, she could have done any of that, and he would have understood perfectly. He deserved it, after all. But, instead, she said she was sorry. When HE had been the one who made her cry, when he should be the one on his knees, begging for forgiveness, SHE chose to apologize for making him angry and still wanted to be friends with him.

"But why?" Was all he could say. "I said all that stuff to you. Why do ya still wanna hang out with me?"

Elmyra shrugged. "Because I love you."

That did it. That was simply too much for him. He burst into tears right then and there.

"Monty, what's the matter? Are you alright?"

The boy then felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pulling him into a hug. And not an exuberant or exaggeratedly tight one. Although a little firm, it was also soothing and loving.

"Shh, my Monty. It's alright." Elmyra's tone was softer than cotton, yet it did nothing to calm down his crying or erase the feeling of absolute guilt.

He was such a loser! She loved him so much that was willing to forgive him for anything, and he was still so mean to her! All this time, he never thought she cared for him. Elmyra said 'I love you' so often and so easily to anyone, that the phrase kind of lost its value. Not that those words had ever meant something to Monty since he never said them to anyone. So, whenever that phrase escaped her mouth, he would simply brush it off and assume it was just Elmyra being Elmyra, nothing special. Not once did it cross his mind that the girl might actually mean it.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" He blurted out through choked sobs and salty tears. "I was a jerk! I shouted at you over nothing, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Monty, really it's-"

"No, it's not!" He pulled away from her embrace in order to face her. "I yelled at you to get out of my house! I said all those things to you when I shouldn't have! Elmyra…" He swallowed, trying to get out what he wanted to say next. "I… I didn't mean it. I didn't mean any of that. I was an idiot for even thinking it. In fact, I, uh, do c-care if you are my friend or not. And, uhh, I th-think I need your friendship. " His face turned a deep shade of pink at admitting it.

"Really?" The girl asked incredulously.

"Yeah, really. I mean, I decided to go after you not even an hour after our fight, so… I guess it must mean something."

A few seconds passed. Elmyra stared at him, dumbfounded. Then, without even a single warning, she exclaimed. "Oh, Monty, I knew it! You love me!"

"Now, wait a minute. When did I say anything about love?" Monty asked, his tone sounding just a little irritated.

"Oh, you didn't say it, but you meant it!" She then threw her arms around him. "Oh, Monty, I'm so HAPPY!"

And she was back to her normal self. Strangely, this comforted Max. Despite his protests when she started squeezing the life out of him, it was actually refreshing to see her all cheery and smiling again.

"So you'll forgive me?" He asked her, once she had released him.

"Of course, Monty! And I promise not to call you cute nicknames again!"

That actually surprised the boy. He knew that Elmyra gave 'cute' names to everything, so this would be a real challenge for her. And she did it for him. It was rather touching, actually. It made him want to also do something like that for her…

"Monty? What are you thinking?"

"Tell you what," He said after a while of consideration. "I say we make a compromise." Seeing her confused expression, he began to explain. "If try to stop calling me whatever crosses your mind, I promise to try and be more patient with you. And, maybe, from time to time, on special occasions, we can make exceptions, like me yelling a bit at you or you calling me one of your special nicknames. You know, for the sake of comedy. What do you say?"

"Hmm, Mondays and the summer vacation could be those special occasions."

Monty shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. So what do you say we go back to my place and finish that essay?"

"Okay!"

The two got up, ready to leave. But, just as they were about to go back inside, Elmyra accidentally called him 'Monty-Wonty'. The moment she realized it, she clasped her hand over her mouth, looking at Monty with a look that literally said 'I swear I didn't mean it'.

"You know what?" Monty said. "I think I'll let you call me that. I mean, 'Monty-Wonty' is a classic by now."

Elmyra's eyes lit up. "Really?!"

"Yeah, sure." Then he glared at her. "But if you ever tell anyone that I said this, or about anything that happened today, you are dead, dweeb. Get it?"

"Whatever you say, Monty-Wonty." She said giggling.

Rolling his eyes, but not feeling annoyed in the slightest, he took her hand and the two headed back to her grandmother's house.