Disclaimer: SM owns the Twilight Saga Books, therefore its characters. No copy right infringement intended.

Author's Note: One-shot written for the Crayola Contest.

Thank you IChimpz for beta'ing this for me.

Now enjoy.

The Envelope

Edward was a humble kid; he had been well educated by his parents. He was raised to be a gentleman, to be respectful with everyone, no matter what. He had learned to love what he had and be grateful for it, knowing that not many had his luck. He knew that the only way to improve in life was by studying, so then he could have a respectful job and help his parents.

His parents, his family, were all he had and he loved them with everything in his heart. He would give anything for them, as they would do for him. Protecting what you loved was something his parents had taught him as a priority, and that's how he had it.

He didn't care much to appearances, but despite he was not a kid with a lot of money, his parents had worked hard enough to allow him to be well dressed all the time, to be able to wear clean clothes every day. His bronze hair was always unruly and messy, for one of his habits was running his hands through it. He had sparkling green eyes, those kind of eyes that were not found easily. He had inherited them from his grandmother, Granny Smith as he called her.

She was the one that took care of him through most of his childhood years, as his parents needed to work harder to give Edward what he needed as a baby. As a grandmother, Granny Smith loved spoiling her only grandchild, but she did it with healthy food. One thing she loved were apples, as her own parents and grandparents had cultivated them on their youth. Now though the weather was not appropriated for them, but she still had fresh apples on her fridge every day. Her favorite ones were the 'Granny Smith apples' and as she loved them so much she gave them to her grandchild as well.

Edward learned to like them as much as his grandmother had, and when she told him the story of how Maria Ann Smith was the first one to cultivate them back in the 1860's, he was enchanted by it. And just as Maria Ann Smith was called Granny Smith, he started calling his own grandma that way too, for she always had a fresh apple waiting for him every morning when he left for school.

But Edward didn't like them just because they were crisp, juicy, and sometimes a bit acid; he loved them because of their color. That light green was captivating for him, and soon it became his favorite color.

Given everything he had gone through in his life, he was still a happy kid. And as everyone else there were moments when he thought he wouldn't make it through, one of them was when Granny Smith left him.

He cried for so many days and nights that he couldn't even remember how many it had been. He had lost a crucial part of himself, as granny was more than just a grandmother, she was his best friend. She was there for him all the time; when his parents were working; when he had a nightmare and needed some comfort; when he tripped or cut his hand playing in the back yard… she was always there for him, she had been since he was born and now… she was gone.

Losing her had been the hardest thing for Edward, and even though he was not a child anymore, he was still young.

There's no age for hurting, right?

He knew this all too well, but he couldn't accept that she had just simply left him like that. He was not a stubborn kid of nature, but when it came to things and people he loved he wouldn't give up easily.

After his parents explained to him over and over again that Granny had gone to a better place, that she was happy there, he finally accepted. Though he had always thought she was happy here, with him.

In the beginning he thought he hadn't done enough for, but as he grew up he understood what it all meant.

On his first day of High School, he felt her absence more than any other day; he needed her reassuring words more than air in that moment, and though his mother had told him it would all be okay, it wasn't enough.

He had never had much friends as he spent his day with his grandma or reading his beloved books. The fact that he was a quiet, shy kid that usually kept to himself never helped him on getting more friends, either.

He was afraid though, as he knew no one, that the older kids would pick up on him for being a nerd. For that's how he saw himself, though he didn't looklike one.

He had always been a lonely kid… and being alone had never been a problem for him, for he knew his parents were working to give him everything he needed. He never complained, now though, he feared having no one to talk to, or being at lunch alone. But just because he had grown tired of it, he wanted someone he could share everything with, like he had done with his grandmother.

So as he walked towards Forks High he took reassurance in the only this she left for him… the apple.

He was captivated by the way the sun light affected the apple's color; the light green that was barely tainted yellow in some places made the perfect combination.

And as he was so focused on the apple as he walked he didn't see the small girl walking in the opposite direction of him, her head cast down as tears ran silently down her cheeks.

They collided,and fell to the ground, both on a sitting position. Edward was as started and confused as the girl in front of him was.

Her eyes were widely open with surprise and as he stared deep into them he felt lost. But there was something odd with them; they held such sadness that one wouldn't think possible.

As he stared at her, he noticed her tear stained face and frowned, concerned he had knocked her down too hard and had hurt her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you," he said, his voice so small that she barely heard him. He was embarrassed.

"It's okay," she said. "I wasn't looking where I was going either. Don't worry about it." She finished, her voice clearly shaking.

In a clumsy move she got up and turned to leave, but Edward called after her. "Wait," he said. Once she had turned around he spoke up again, saying, "Are you okay?"

He was clearly concerned, and she noticed it, her heart was beating furiously. If he were someone else, he would have simply ignored her tears, but he wasn't. He had grown up knowing how precious people were and that no matter what he could always help, but beyond it he couldn't stand to see her tears. It saddened him.

"I'm fine," she said after a few seconds hesitation, of which Edward was completely oblivious. Turning again, she left, never looking back at him.

He stood there stunned, confused, and unable to move for several minutes, until he couldn't see her any more. His first reaction was to look at his hand, which was still firmly holding the apple.

When he could finally will his body to move something caught his eye. There, lying on the floor, there was an envelope, but it wasn't just an envelope. Its color was what caught Edward's eye. It was exactly the color of his apple.

Cautiously he bent down and picked it. He thought that maybe he shouldn't, but he did it and turned it around, looking to see who it belonged to.

Bella.

Bella was all it said, he turned it a few times as if something would magically appear, but it didn't.

The envelope had been obviously open, for he could see a piece of paper peeking out from it, but he didn't open it to see what it was. It wasn't his place to do so.

After a few moments of deliberation he decided to put it safely into his backpack. He knew no one with that name, but in a town as small as Forks he would find someone who knew. With that done he kept his was towards High School.

There was one thing that never crossed Edward's mind as he walked, thinking about the mysterious envelope and its owner. He never thought of the possibility of its owner being the girl he had just ran into.

A few blocks away from him stood the girl in the middle of a crowed sidewalk. She wasn't moving, her eyes were wide open and her heart threatening to leave her chest as it beat furiously; one of her hands was lying limpidly to her side and the other was frozen inside her bag.

She felt she was breaking.

Her heat was falling, she found it difficult to breath as her mind struggled to register what had just happened to her.

What if they all find out, she thought.

Panic and desperation were rapidly consuming her frozen body.

Acting by instinct, she ran, she ran as fast as she could through the crowd.

It all felt endless to her, she didn't notice how the people were scowling and shouting at her as she ran past them. There was only one image in her face as she ran… her father's face.

When she finally reached the street where she had ran into the bronze haired boy, she desperately scanned the sidewalk, but there was nothing there; what she was looking for had disappeared, it was gone.

Falling to her knees in the middle of the sidewalk with a soft thud, she covered her face with her hands. Her breathing was raged from the running and her heart was still beating furiously in her chest. She didn't even try to hold the tears as they filled her eyes again, and fell down her cheeks, nor did she try to stop the pain, the defeat that was crushing her small body.

As helplessness joined her panic and desperation and pain, she allowed them to take her. She knew she had to fight, for that's what her father had taught her to do. "Don't let it take you, Bells. Fight,"were his words, but she couldn't, not anymore. She felt as if she had done everything she could, she had nothing to lose anymore, she had lost it all.

Why would I bother?She thought. She didn't have the strength to keep going, to fight any longer. She had lost, she waslost… they had won, it was over.

While she was there, Edward was already arriving at Forks High, his first reaction was to grimace as he saw who was blocking his way.

"Look who we have here," said a mocking voice next to him.

Newton,he thought, grimacing further.

Mike Newton and his gang had always been the first to bother Edward when they had a chance, and they didn't hesitate on doing so, knowing he never reacted to them, they just keep going.

Mike hated Edward for different reasons, but mainly because he was happy. He couldn't understand how a person that lived in the conditions Edward lived could be happy. He had it all, his parents being the owners of many of the little town's stores, he had always had everything he wanted, still he wasn't happy. He couldn't stand all the screaming and yelling from his parents every night when he went to bed, their arguing had been constant since Mike was ten years old.

He couldn't understand, so he envied Edward, but when he saw that he couldn't have what that nerdy kid had, he became angry and started bulling Edward ever since.

"What, Edward?" he said, "didn't you granny give you an apple today?" Faking confusion he continued. "Oh right! She's dead," he said mockingly.

Edward had learned to deal with Mike with the years as his offences were only verbal. But messing with the people who weren't there to defend themselves, messing with people he cared about was not going to be ignored. Least of all his grandmother, so he spat something he had never said out loud, "Fuck you, Mike."

That said he walked rapidly away, not wanting to hear what Mike had to say about it. He had never said that to anyone, and doing so didn't make him feel better about himself.

His first classes flew by and soon, much to his disdain, it was lunch time. He stood in front of the cafeteria doors, frozen. He was not entering, he couldn't.

Deciding that being alone was better when you weren't surrounded by other people he walked outside, sat on one of the picnic tables and started unfolding his lunch.

He had just finished unfolding it when he heard a sniff, he looked around, but there was no one there. After a few moments he heard it again.

Getting up from the table he walked towards the parking lot, to the closet cars to where he was, and sitting against one of them there was a small girl, curled up in a ball, her shoulders shaking lightly as she cried.

He didn't want to scare her with his voice, but before he could think it through the words had already left his mouth. "Are you okay?" he asked. Effectively she was startled, in a hustle movement she looked up which made her hit her head against the car's door.

"Shit!" she cursed loudly, rubbing her head.

"Sorry," he apologized immediately. It was the second time that day he had hurt her. First when he had knocked her down when he wasn't paying attention while he walked; and now he had startled her making her hit her head.

She sighed heavily and wiped the tears away as Edward fidgeted nervously with his feet, thinking about what to tell her.

"Why are you here?" he finally asked. Again he hadn't thought about it, he had just blurted it out and it sounded rude to him. "Sorry, I didn't mean… aren't you having lunch?"

"No," she said bitterly. "I have nothing."

Edward felt there was a hidden meaning to her words but decided that it wasn't his place to pry. Instead he asked her to join him. "Do you want to have lunch with me?" he asked. It wasn't usual for Edward to be so open, so blunt, but he felt he needed to make it up to her for the physical pain he had caused her.

She grimaced at the car in front of her. Not looking up at Edward, she asked, "Why would you do that?"

Edward frowned. "Because I want to? …I can share," he told her, smiling slightly.

"I don't need your pity," she spat angrily at him, finally looking up.

Edward was taken aback by her reaction. Looking to the ground, he apologized again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

She could see then, on the hurt look on his face that he had never meant to offend her so she accepted. "Okay," she said simply, getting up.

Edward smiled again and guided her towards the table he had been sitting.

He gave her half of his lunch, and despite her continues objections that he didn't need to share, he did it either way.

Slowly they started talking. He first asked if she was from Forks, she told him she had just moved here, but her eyes held extreme sadness again, for he chose to lighten the mood.

During their lunch hour he learned that she was living with her aunt and uncle, Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Esme Cullen, alongside with their kids, Alice and Emmett Cullen. He frowned at her reply, "Why aren't you with them, then?" he had asked, she just shrugged.

He apologized several times for their not so gently encounters, but she waved him off saying it was okay.

As they walked towards their next class she told him they had almost every class together. She said –snickering- that she had seen him taking notes furiously on some classes.

"Isabella Swan?" Mr. Banner asked as he signed her paper, before handing it to her.

"Bella," she corrected.

Edward, from his seat, had heard their exchange. His eyes were widely open as realization hit him.

"I like Biology, I'm good at it," she was saying as she sat next to him, oblivious to the way he as staring at her.

"You-you're Bella?" he could finally ask.

"Yes, I'm Bella, you?" she asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

"E-Edward," he finally choked out.

"Nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand for a shake which he took.

How could I not see it! He thought.

Only when Edward wouldn't look away did she realize that something was wrong. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Just," he held a finger up, telling her to wait a second as he searched through his bag. After a moments search he finally found what he was looking for.

"Is this yours?" he asked, handing her the envelope.

"Y-yes," she replied, reaching a trembling hand to take it. Her face was pale and it didn't go unnoticed in Edward's eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked for the third time that day.

She shook her head and raised her had to get the teacher's attention. Once he was looking at her she spoke, her voice was shaking, as was her body. "I'm not feeling well, may I go?" she asked.

Mr. Banner, not wanting a student fainting in his class let her go, but not before assuring she would be alright. "Cullen, walk her to the nurse," he said.

Without a word they rose up and walked outside the classroom.

"You can go to class, don't worry about me," she said as she started to walk away from him. Her tears were falling again.

He didn't leave though.

~:~

*Ten years later*

"I still have it," she said, squeezing his hand tightly to her.

"I know," he replied.

"Do you think I should keep it?"

"Of course you should, love. It's what he left for you, you should definitely keep it," he said, hugging her tightly to his body and kissing her lovingly on the forehead.

"I'm glad you stayed with me, Edward," she said, as she stared deep into his green eyes. "I'm glad you helped me keep fighting, that's what he always said I should do." A single tear fell down her cheek.

Reaching out he wiped it away with his thumb he said, "I know, love. That's what my grandmother always told me too, to keep fighting. Perseverance," he whispered.

She smiled up at him through her tears. "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you more," he replied, smiling crookedly and stealing a small kiss from her.

Never give up, always keep fighting...perseverance. You are not alone; there is always someone there to help you through it.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading.

The Envelope won 2nd place on the Crayola Contest.

I'd like to thank you all for reading, reviewing and spreading the word about this one-shot, it means the world to me that you liked it so much. :)

If you haven't read my other stories give them a try, you might as well like them too. :)

And lastly, I'd like to apologize to you because I still couldn't finish the outtake with the mysterious –or not so mysterious, letter that was in the envelope. I promise it will be here, eventually! :)

Thank you and please review.