I can’t even begin to express how honored I am to have been asked to write a guest recc for TU! I can’t, so I’m not even going to make an ass of myself trying. Instead, let’s jump right into it, shall we?
When I started thinking about what stories I’d like to recc, I was slightly overwhelmed by the fact that every single one that came to mind was Jasper/Edward, and extremely well known and popular. I know that Edward and Jasper are by far the most well received slash coupling, but I will be the first to admit they aren’t even my favorite couple in slash pairings!
Yes, you read that right.
I am definitely a Carlisle/Edward fangirl. But I really appreciate the more eccentric pairings as well, which is why I made it a point to recc everything BUT Edward/Jasper today. I hope you enjoy these fics as much as I have.
Nightfall by MySlashyFriend
Summary: On September 13th, 1987, Renée gave birth to William Matthew Swan. Seventeen years later, he moves to Forks. Original Character/Edward
Excerpt: Chapter 4- When he felt my eyes, he turned back toward me, again examining my face. He didn't seem particularly annoyed or shocked, the reactions I'd expect if he just heard me figure out what he could do. Instead he looked a little guilty.
"You're an asshole," I thought clearly and distinctly.
No reaction. He just kept staring, his jaw set, his lips drawn in a tight line. He looked really good. Every now and then it still hit me.
Feeling more confident, I took another deep breath and held it, then kept my face still.
"I wish you liked me."
Again, he didn't move, so I slowly let out the breath. Not a mind-reader, I concluded.
Dear Agony by TwiBoy
Summary: Emmett suffered a staggering loss following a car wreck. He struggles to heal and find closure with the help of the last person that he thinks would give it. Emmett/Jasper
Excerpt: Chapter 5- Once I'm under the covers, I lie awake, listening to the creeks of the house and the hoot of the owl in the tree outside the window. I refuse to look at the clock, because the fact that I can't fall back asleep is fucking depressing and knowing it's that much closer to daybreak will just serve to piss me the hell off even more.
I finally hear the sound of Jasper's bare footsteps coming up the stairs, and the groans and whines of the hardwood floor as he makes his way across the room.
Feeling the bed dip beneath his weight brings back the questions that have been plaguing me for the last month since my first physical therapy appointment with Edward. My mind is so desperate to wrap itself around something that's not Rose or Bella that I speak before completely thinking things through.
"I'm quitting Physical Therapy," I announce as Jasper gets beneath the covers.
He immediately stills before he asks, "Why? I thought you've been making progress. You rarely use the cane any more and you've actually been exercising. Why screw up a good thing?"
This time I think before I open my mouth. "I think I can just handle this from my own now. I know what I have to do," I reply.
"Not that that's not a good thing, but is that the real reason?"
I swallow hard a couple of times before answering. "Edward's pretty fond of you, and I know it wouldn't be quite ethical for him to be seeing a family member of someone under his care, otherwise he would have already asked you out. If I was no longer a patient of his, he would no longer have that problem."
Jasper's so silent that I suspect he's holding his breath.
Potential by RosmarinaSummary: Edward Cullen, journalist for the college paper, has despised jocks since high school. What happens when he's assigned to interview Emmett McCarty, a decathlon athlete who challenges Edward's every stereotype? Emmett/Edward
Excerpt: Chapter 4- When he started moving toward me, I was the one fixed in place.
He crossed the room, fisted his hand in my shirt and tilted his face up to mine. I was tensed in an excruciating anticipation but my mind and body were in agreement. I'd put it all on the line, I'd come running over here, and Edward would have to close that last inch between us now to prove how he felt.
In those romance novels Rosie read there was always some kind of spark or electricity when the potential lovers eventually kissed. No, when Edward finally pressed his mouth against mine it wasn't electric, it was fucking kinetic. It was a triggered spring that set us both in perpetual motion.
He pulled; I pushed. He fell backwards onto the mattress and dragged me with him. I shucked his t-shirt off him and followed as he scooted towards the middle of the bed. I dipped my head to reconnect our mouths. He clawed my ass and bucked his hips against me.
My hand went to his zipper; his teeth clamped down on my neck. We rolled back and forth over the bed, wrestling each other's clothes off, mouthing, licking, biting. His hands dove down the front of my pants; my head snapped back against the headboard.
It was friction, gravity... momentum.
There was no stopping this.
Aberration by shoefreak37
Summary: Aberration: distortion, deviation, wandering. For centuries, Carlisle held fast to the plan he was sure had been laid out for him by a force much more divine than himself. After he takes Edward for a companion, the direction of his path becomes skewed. Edward/Carlisle
Excerpt: Chapter 8- Unexpectedly, Carlisle's face split into a wide grin, eyes travelling to his hands in his lap, his two perfectly straight rows of teeth making the right side of Edward's mouth upturn the tiniest amount.
"What?" Edward chuckled, Carlisle's sudden joy infectious. Carlisle's thoughts began flitting through numerous occasions on which he had sat outside of Edward's church, listening to the rich notes of the pipe organ as they filled the air, feeling the balm of solace that came along with the sounds.
Knowing that Edward plucked the memories as he thought them, Carlisle answered, "It seems as though you offered me comfort and companionship well before either of us knew it."
Edward reveled in Carlisle's musings, full of affection and gratitude. A tiny rush of delight circulated through Edward. Logically, he knew that Carlisle would never consider that something that had presented itself in Edward as something more, but he could not stop the hope that someday Carlisle would change his mind. For the time being, he pushed it down and filed that hope away along with all the other urges he had experienced since his turning. He would have to remain content with pleasing Carlisle in any way he could, survive off the small bursts of joy he experienced when Carlisle smiled.
"I will play for you as much as you desire," Edward said.
College Ruled by allryansSummary: He spends his days in college filling up spiral notebooks with meticulous notes, feeling listless and uninspired, until he recognizes himself in the mirror image of someone impressively bold. Edward/Riley
Excerpt: Chapter 2- "Kate went to look for you in the bathroom. You ok, man?"
A choke. He wanted to speak, but instead, he nodded affirmatively. Then, "She didn't say she was looking for me. She acted like she busted in on me on accident."
"Did she, like, see you?" Riley smirked.
"No! No. I was at the mirror, just ... I don't know." He wanted to hide inside his own skin.
"Well, I think she's trying to hide her interest a bit. But she, um, saw your ... notebook, and I guess, decided it was ok or whatever."
There was an interminable pause. Kate had seen and so had Riley. And she ... what? The confusion must have shown on Edward's face, as he couldn't bring a thought to the forefront of his mind, much less out of his mouth. Finally he choked out, "Thinks it's ok?"
"Well, yeah, it's kind of written there in black and white, if you know what I mean ... I mean, you're interested, right?"
Something wasn't computing. Riley was too affected in his nonchalance. Edward looked directly into him and knew the reflection was all wrong. But, for the first time, he wanted to be transparent.
"Yes." Resolute. Firm. "I am. Yes."
Darkest brown fell for just a moment, and then steeled. "Well, then, what are you doing out here with me?" Too casual. Too forced. "Knowing Kate, you could have her against the wall of that literal shithole by now." Steel. Hard. Wrong.
His resolve faltered with the realization that Riley didn't see him, didn't see what was evident on his page, didn't know he wanted him in so many ways. That is, until he saw the shadow of his own disappointment cloud Riley's black, down-turned expression. Of course. Riley had to know. He was the astute one, the observant one. Kate had come to the wrong conclusion - that Edward's page showed his affinity for her - and voiced her assertions with characteristic candor. As usual, she was loud and sure, but she was mistaken. And just like every other time, Edward knew that Riley saw the flaws in her thinking, but this time, Riley had wanted it to be false too much to deny it. Edward needed to be the one to claim it this time.
Excerpt: Chapter 2- I watch him as he talks. His long legs are stretched out under the table, his mug of tea swamped as he holds it in one hand. His expression is gentle as he speaks of his mother and how she used to make cakes and he and Bella would fight over who got to lick the bowl. I envy him, that he can speak of someone he has loved and lost like this. He drains the last of his tea and sits up, looking right at me.
"I'm going to go home now. It was good to meet you, Jasper."
"Thank you." I think he knows that I'm not just talking about the tea.
I follow him to the door and he shakes my hand, folding his fingers around mine for a fourth time.
"See you again sometime. Take care." It sounds like both a hope and an instruction. I watch the lights of the little car until they disappear around the corner before I shut the door.
I go back into the kitchen to tidy up, but the sight of the two mugs on the table without coasters stops me. I look at Edward's chair, pulled out at an angle where Jake left it. No. It's not Edward's chair any more. It's just a chair. I smile, thinking of how cross he'd be at the potential damage to the table from the hot mugs. I decide to leave it all for the morning, turn out the lights and go to bed.
Say Something Else by vampireisthenewblackSummary: When he suffers the worst kind of heartbreak, Edward returns home, resigning himself to a lifetime of loneliness. But he had not counted on old friendships and old crushes. Edward is torn between old love and new... Edward/Alec, Edward/Seth
Excerpt: Chapter 1- I looked closely at the photo on the card and then up to the face that leaned over the bar towards me, a wide smile showing straight white teeth. I looked down again, and then up into the big, innocent blue eyes. I studied him carefully, but I was already satisfied that the licence was legit, now I was taking the opportunity to check him out properly.
He started laughing. "See anything you like, love?" he asked, and my cock twitched at his London accent, his face, the cheekiness of him.
I blushed, embarrassed at being caught out, but I refused to get all stammery and stupid over this cute kid, so I put on my sternest expression. "You don't look twenty," I said, pointing at the date on the card in my hand. "Now if this said eighteen I might believe it, but twenty's a stretch. Come on, this isn't your I.D. is it?"
His lips parted, his eyes opened wide, and then he pulled his lower lip between his teeth and bit down as a gentle flush coloured his pale skin. "Wow," he breathed. "Say something else."
Wood (The One-Shot) and Wood (The Continuation) by algonquinrt and d0tpark3rSummary: Single father Carlisle moves into a new house and finds more than he bargained for in his new neighbor. Edward/Carlisle
Excerpt: Chapter 1 (The One-Shot)- "It must have been difficult to uproot your entire life to keep your son close to your ex. You, uh, didn't leave anyone else behind?"
Subtle, Edward. Very subtle.
He catches on quickly, and rewards my bull-in-a-china-shop efforts with a huge fucking grin.
"No, Edward. I didn't leave anyone else behind in Washington. I haven't met anyone that I've wanted a relationship with since my wife and I split. There's something about meeting a man in a club that defies the possibility of a long-term relationship for me."
I'm sort of gaping at the fact that he came right out and answered my unspoken and totally fucking obvious question when I realize Jasper has returned with a soda, and is inhaling what must be his third piece of pizza. I haven't even managed a second bite yet, which is a damn good thing because I'd probably have choked, realizing that I pretty much hit on this kid's dad in the clumsiest way possible.
I glance over at him, praying to a god I probably don't believe in that he's got some deathcore blaring in his ears via iPod, but he's heard the whole thing, and rolls his eyes at us.
"Jesus, Dad, get a room. Quit eye-fucking the neighbor dude. He already admitted he was interested when he asked if you were seeing anyone back home. God, I hope I'm not this lame when I'm hitting on girls. I'll die a virgin if that's the case."
I spit a mouthful of beer all over myself, noting that this is the second shirt I've trashed today because I'm unable to drink and freak out at the same time. Maybe I should look into the use of a straw at all times.
Jasper grabs another two slices of pizza and takes off down the hall toward what I assume is his room, leaving me alone with Carlisle. Fuck. Maybe the kid isn't half-bad after all.
Carlisle chuckles. "I'd apologize for my son, because he's blunt to a fault, but he usually manages to cut right to the heart of an issue in a way I can't ever manage."
That’s all, folks! I hope you enjoy straying from the dynamic duo into some (potentially) uncharted territory. It’s been real...
