Disclaimer: The characters belong to SM. I'm just having a little fun with them

A/N: This used to be up as part of my Witfit but I thought I'd repost this (and the others) as a one

EPOV

Bravery - having or displaying courage, resolution, or daring; not cowardly or timid

Synonyms - fearlessness, boldness, daring, heroism (just to name a few).

I had contemplated that word so many times in my 17 years, but I had never fully grasped what it meant to be brave. I had always shied away from the spotlight, let myself be bullied and ridiculed by everyone around me. I was such a wimp, I couldn't even ask the girl I loved out on a simple date, heck I couldn't even work up the courage to look at her in the school halls let alone say hi to her. Not that she would ever say anything back to me anyway. After all I'm just geeky Cullen to everyone (except my best friend Jasper) in the hell hole known to everyone else as Forks High School.

Yes brave is something that I have not and imagine I will never be.

October 2012 Senior Year

I was out shopping in Seattle with my younger sister Alice and my Mom. It wasn't something that I was doing willingly. I had been coerced into by Alice who took advantage of my weakness for her puppy dog eyes and stated that I apparently needed my wardrobe updating immediately. She said something about me thanking her for it later, whatever that was supposed to mean.

"Eddie, try these on," Alice cried running across the store to me, waving around several items of clothing that I would never be caught dead in.

"Uggh, Alice do I have to?" I asked, running my hands through my hair in frustration. She put on that face that always made me weak and I instantly caved and nodded my head in agreement.

I pulled up into the school parking lot. I was terribly angsty today and it was all because of Alice. I couldn't believe that I had conceded and let her dress me this morning in the clothes from our shopping trip.

"Edward put these on," Alice said handing me the sunglasses which I had been told earlier completed my 'new image'. "And stop worrying, you look great."

"Easy for you to say little sis," I said, ruffling her hair knowing that it was one of her biggest pet hates.

The whole day passed and several girls came up to me and according to Jasper "flirted shamelessly with me", which of course was a lie. And besides the only girls attention I wanted didn't even know that I was alive. She had barely even glanced my way in Biology, not that it surprised me at all since she was one of the untouchables.

At the end of class though Banner decided he was going to shake things up and decide who we were going to be paired with.

"Edward Cullen you will be paired with….Isabella Swan," he said, and my heart started pounding so quickly I thought it would burst from my chest.

The words that were spoken would haunt me for the rest of my life.

"Edward Cullen," her voice said from behind me. "Who the hell is that and what kind of name is that?"

That statement was enough to bring me crashing down to earth. The fact that she didn't know who I was didn't surprise me but jeesh did she have to make that comment so loudly.

And right on cue the laughter started, nothing that was remotely new to me of course but what stung the most was that it was her comment that made it happen and that made it so much more worse than all the other times I had be mocked in front of my class mates.

"Miss Swan," Banner said from the front of the class. "This is Mr Cullen," he said pointing towards me. "and I trust that you won't make him do all of the hard work."

Bella and I had agreed to meet up in Port Angeles at a small café to discuss our project and where we were going to start and write up our aims.

This is where I was now, waiting, waiting, and more waiting. She was 20 minutes late and that did not rest well with me especially since the last thing she said to me before walking off and sashaying her hips was "And Edward don't be late, I have places to go and people to see."

I drained the last of my hot chocolate and glanced at my phone. That was it I was so out of this place.

I walked over to the counter and said to the cute blonde, "If a girl with mahogany coloured hair and chocolate brown eyes comes in here and appears to be looking for someone, tell her I left and that I'll see her at school."

"Errm s-s-sure" she stuttered.

"Thanks."

I walked out onto the street and walked towards my precious Volvo, and was about to get into my car I heard a terrified high pitched scream.

Without a second thought I turned on my heel and ran towards the darkened alley way.

"Now sweet cheeks, are you going to give me some sugar or what?" A sleazy voice said, pulling on the girls hair hard and her head moved to the side and she made eye contact with me. And I would recognize those eyes anywhere.

Bella.

Every muscle in me froze even though I was trying to get the message to my brain to move and do something. Be brave for once in my god dammed life and stop being such a pathetic excuse for a man.

Her eyes looked pained and they were slowly but surely filling with tears.

"Get off me you asshole," she seethed. "Otherwise my boyfriend is going to hunt you down and beat your ass when he finds out what you're doing."

Her eyes were pleading with me. And then her face was yanked towards his and he kissed her forcefully on the lips.

Without even thinking I ran towards him and grabbed the back of his shirt and punched the mother fucker. I lost all control over my body and started beating him to a pulp.

"Edward, Edward. Stop." She said, gently placing her hand on my shoulder. "I called my dad and he's on his way over here with backup. And that scum is not going anywhere."

I stopped immediately. She started rubbing my shoulders soothing me in an instant. When she stopped, she turned from me and kicked the bastard right in the gut.

"That felt good," she laughed. "And thank you," she said sincerely.

"Bella I just did what anyone else would've done," I said just as Chief Swan turned up.

"Where is the bastard?" he said in a gruff voice and Bella pointed towards him led crumpled in a heap on the ground.

After spending nearly two hours at the police station giving a statement I left and was just about to get into the car when I felt Bella behind me.

"Edward. I really meant it when I said thanks. And just so you know yesterday in class I didn't mean it; I've always known who you are. It's just….I don't know. My whole life I've been who other people want me to be and well with Rose being my sister, it was just assumed I'd be part of the it crowd and so I was. And you know what I'm sick of it. I don't want that anymore." She said in a rush and I couldn't quite hear everything she said but the meaning behind it was clear. She was sorry.

"Don't worry about it Bella. I get it, with popularity come certain expectations, it's fine," I said, turning around to face her.

"No you don't," Bella said and she flung herself into my arms and kissed me full on the lips and before I knew it she was asking for entrance which I happily granted, whilst sending up a silent thank you to whoever had made it so that this gorgeous girl in front of me had honest feelings for me.

Bravery.

I may not have been all that brave before, but I guess everyone is brave and if you look inside yourself and really search, you'll find it. For me, it was the thought of that bastard hurting Bella.

Bella and I started dating after that and no one in our school expected that. Even though at first they didn't even recognize me, thanks to Alice changing my entire wardrobe, when they realized who I was it sent shock waves through the entire student body.