Hey dudes! It's time for another chapter of NCM. When we last left off, Rudy finally sees the error of his ways, and in this chapter, he's gonna work to fix his mistakes and make amends with everyone he hurt. Let's see how that goes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 14: Mending Wounds

In a complete distraught and tearful state, Rudy confessed everything to his parents. About hurting Russell, about beating up Bill, about being the reason Russell was in the hospital, and even about nearly hurting Melba (although he kept out the specifics on that one).

Afterward, he admitted that he needed help. Much to his relief, while his parents didn't approve of his actions, they were glad to see he was remorseful and promised to help him... although he needed to do his part as well.

When Rudy asked how he could do his part. His mother's answer?

"Sometimes, the first step to redemption is to make amends with those you hurt..."

So that exactly what Rudy set out to do...

On Monday, he stood outside out of the school. How was he going to approach this? He knew that Bill was really pissed at him, and would probably be so for a long while. The others might be wary of him...

"Well... here goes nothing..."

With that, he walked through the doors, and down the hall. As expected, he saw the rest of the gang standing around the lockers talking. He approached them cautiously. They didn't seem to notice him until he cleared his throat.

"Morning, dudes..." He greeted, "How're you doin'?"

Bill instantly glared daggers at him, but Albert spoke, "Hey, hey, hey, Rudy. We're doin' fine. You feeling better?"

Rudy nodded, "Yeah... I'm feeling much better. I... just needed to get stuff off my chest, that's all. Say..." He looked around the guys to notice that someone was missing, "Where's Russell?"

"He's at home recovering..." Bill answered bitterly.

"I see. Um, can I come over to your house after school?"

"Why?! So you can put your hands on my little brother again?!"

"No! No! Nothing like that... I just... want to talk to him..."

Rudy sighed, "I've been thinking... and I've really done some messed up stuff lately. So... I want to make it up to everyone I hurt. You, Bill... and especially Russell..."

The gang looked at one another. They were a little unsure if Rudy should be trusted or not. But before they could say anything, he spoke again, this time directly to Bill, "Bill... I'm sorry for kicking your butt the other day. I know you were trying to protect your brother. And you are a great big brother, better than I could be... so... I'm sorry..."

Bill continued to glare at him, "Why I should forgive you this time? I did last time, and look what happened! You nearly killed my brother twice in a YEAR! So excuse me if I don't quite believe you..."

"I don't blame you..." Rudy nodded, "I wouldn't believe myself either... after everything I've done, I wouldn't trust myself either... well... see you in class..."

With that, he walked off to homeroom...

"You think he's being for real this time...?" Harold asked.

"H-He seems to feel p-pretty bad..." Donald added.

Bill scoffed, "I don't believe him for one second. We thought this mess was done and over with this summer, and look what happened. Watch, he's gonna pull some more mess again.

Albert spoke up, "You all have a point. But I think Rudy really feels bad."

"Seriously. Fat Albert, you saw what he did. He was about to kill my brother! And you wanna give him another chance?!"

"I understand your concern. We should probably be cautious..."

And so, for the rest of the school day, Rudy had remained a little distance from everyone else, mostly to do some thinking and taking time to himself. While the rest of the gang didn't mind, they were still rather wary of him. They weren't sure if he was being honest about his remorse and pulling an act. That is... until lunch when he offered to share his lunch from home with everybody...

They had to admit, that was pretty kind of him. Even Bill, who initially thought the food might be poisoned, accepted the offer.

As soon as the last class of the day ended, Rudy made it over to the elementary section of the school. There he waited... until he found the person he was looking for.

"Melba! Melba, wait up!"

He walked up to the little girl, but when she spotted him, she flinched and started to walk faster, until he grabbed her by the shoulder, "No! Don't touch me!" She cried, tearing away from his grip.

"Hold on. I wanna talk to you." He said with a smile.

"What's there to talk about? You almost deflowered me..." She glared at him as she crossed her arms and turned away.

Rudy winced at that reminder, "I know... and I wanted to say... I'm sorry. For scaring you like that... it was completely wrong and uncool of me to do that. I know you probably won't forget that or forgive me... but I want you to know how sorry I am... so... I got there for you..."

His hands were behind his back until he revealed a bouquet of flowers to Melba, who gasped when she saw them, "Oh my gosh... these are... beautiful..." She carefully took them.

"I picked them myself..." Rudy explained, "So I hope you like them. I know it won't make up for what I did... but it's something to cheer you up... you're a good friend to Russell... you really are. Well... see you later. And tell Devery I'll catch up with him sometime..."

And so, he left, leaving a bewildered Melba with her flowers...

Two down... one to go...

Before Rudy made it, he stood in front of the Cosby residence. The other dudes had gone to the junkyard, so they didn't even know he was here. And even though Bill didn't really say he could come here... he had to make things right.

The rich boy knocked on the door, waiting a few seconds until it opened, revealing Mrs. Cosby, "Hello, Rudy. What a surprise. Where's Bill?"

"He and the other dudes went to the junkyard... and I wanted to stop here and check up on Russell... and talk to him for a bit. I won't be here long..."

"Oh, how sweet. He's in his room resting, but I think he's awake. Come on in..."

"Thanks..."

Meanwhile, with Russell, he was lying down in bed, having woken up from a nap not too long ago. His arm had healed up slightly, although there were still scars. And he honestly felt better than he did.

As he yawned, there was a knock on the door, "Russell, darling. You have a visitor." his mother called.

"Oh... okay. Come in..." He replied a little drowsily.

The door opened, and Rudy walked in, "Knock, knock..." He greeted with a smile.

Russell gasped in horror as he sat up, more alert and even more scared. Rudy saw this and frowned a little, "Relax, Russell... I'm not gonna hurt you... I swear..."

The small child looked at him fearfully, "You're... you're not...?"

The rich boy shook his head, "No... I just wanna talk."

He slowly walked over to Russell and sat down on his bed, all while the small boy watched him cautiously. Taking a deep breath, Rudy spoke, "Russell... I am so... so... so... so... so sorry for everything I put you through. I was angry, jealous, and petty. I blamed all of my problems on you. When really... my problems are my own fault. And the rest of the dudes are right... I overreacted. And all of this started after what happened this summer. You may be a pain sometimes... but don't think your existence is an issue to me... because it's not..."

Russell was taking time to let all of this sink in. For some reason, he didn't believe Rudy. Mostly because this was similar to what happened when Rudy was in the hospital after getting stabbed. Too similar to be true. How was he supposed to know if he was telling the truth...?

Before he could think about this further, he heard the teen sniffling, "And... Fat Albert's right... I have an anger issue that needs to be taken care of. And because of this... I beat the crap out of your brother... and I almost committed an unforgivable act... don't ask. The point is, I have a lot to make up for... and I have the most to make up to you... so... even if you don't forgive me if you have anything you want me to do for you... lay it on me."

Rudy wiped his eyes of the tears when he felt Russell's hand on his shoulder, "Rudy... there's a bunch of things you are. You're mean, crazy, selfish, vain, snooty, cocky, and you always try to get what you want, no matter the consequences." He said.

The teen couldn't even argue with that as Russell continued, "But despite all of that... you do have a heart... and you're always learning something. You have moments where you can be nice... and that's a good thing about a person. And you admitted your mistakes and owned up to them, not a lot of people do that. Yeah, it'll take me a while to forgive and forget unlike before... but I appreciate you coming here to speak with me personally... and I think for real... you're showing real class..."

Rudy smiled, "Thanks, Russell. And this time, I think we need to really work on getting along a little better."

"Yeah... we do... and I'm sorry for saying 'No Class Ever'. I think if I didn't, you wouldn't have gotten so mad."

"No, don't be sorry. I shouldn't have overreacted... so, are we good...?"

"I... guess... sort of."

"I'll take that..."

With that, the two boys shared a tender hug with one another. As they did, Russell got an idea, "You know... I think there is something you can do to make it up to me..."

"And what's that?" Rudy asked.

All Russell did was smirk, "You'll see..."

Well, looks like Rudy's on the road to redemption. He talked to his parents, the gang, Melba, and Russell. He's not quite forgiven for his actions yet, but he'll take what he can get while he works to earn everyone's trust again. Next chapter is sadly the last. We'll get a small time skip, and see what Russell had in mind for Rudy. Until then, I'll see you guys later. And don't forget to review, please. Thank you!