Fic Rec Friday: Wide Awake

So! Another new segment: Fic Rec Fridays.

In all honesty, I read quite a bit of twific.* And (while we’re being honest) I’m a bit of a fanfic snob. I cannot stand it when people post things full of grammatical (and continuity) errors.  I’m pretty picky about all kinds of things, really, but I can sum it up with this: I like my fic well written. A few mistakes I can handle but if it’s enough to distract me from the story, I’ll quit reading. So yeah, kind of a snob. The good news is I’m going to allow you to benefit from my snobby ways and do fic recs every Friday.** That’s right, I’m going to dig through the crap so you don’t have to

I’m starting us off with a fic that is actually incredibly popular, but it’s my favorite and I couldn’t resist. It’s called Wide Awake, penned by the the lovely angstgoddess003. It’s completed except for the epilogue, which should be showing up any day now. Here’s what her summary says (if you’re new to fanfic and have questions about any terminology, ask away in the comments):

Edward and Bella have dark pasts that leave them severely emotionally scarred, with nightmares that force them to stay awake. They meet and begin to form a bond during the night hours. AH, Highly OOC, Rated M for dark themes. No rape, no cutting. BxE

Pretty vague, right? Well you’re lucky you have me I’m going to give you a bit more to go on than that. Bella moves to Forks to live with her Aunt Esme and cousin Alice after an incredibly traumatic experience that results in horrible nightmares and a need to avoid all physical contact with men (lest she be sent into a breakdown). Alice drags Bella to their neighbor Emmett’s (Edward’s brother) house party in hopes of finally winning Jasper’s affections. An overly confident (and decidedly tipsy) Mike Newton comes toward Bella and she, having no desire to — excuse the language — completely lose her shit in a house full of peers, searches for a hiding spot. And so they meet. Quote:

“BELLA! WHERE’D Y’GO” Mike called from the bottom of the stairs. His voice was slurred, verifying my suspicions about his drinking. Panicking again at his quickly approaching voice, I located the only door I could see and tried the handle. Unlocked. I flung the door open, and slammed it as quietly as I could in my alarmed state, and leaned my forehead against it.

I was panting and lightly shaking by now, and I worked to steady my breaths with my eyes closed, while listening intently to see if I could still hear Mike. My shaking hand was still on the knob, so I took a moment to lock the door, and backed away from it slightly.

When I didn’t hear anything on the other side of the door, I let out a deep sigh of relief, and closed my eyes. Just then, someone in the room behind me cleared their throat. I jumped around and hit my back against the door, making a surprised squeaking sound, and instinctively brought my hand up to my mouth. There, sitting Indian style in a large four poster bed was a guy who looked to be around my age. He had the strangest shade of disheveled bronze hair, a very pale complexion, much like mine, and startling green eyes that had very dark circles under them and were severely bloodshot. He looked almost as tired as I felt, but he was very… beautiful? Yes, beautiful. It was one of those moments where I wished I could get closer to someone of the male gender, because he was very good looking, almost inhumanly so.

But he was sitting there looking at me expectantly with his eyebrows raised. I was stunned in silence for a moment before I realized this must be his room, and I was being very intrusive.

“Oh my….I’m s-so sorry… I had n-no idea… I was just t-trying…” I stammered, trying unsuccessfully to explain my presence. I let out a deep breath and shuffled my feet uncomfortably, looking everywhere but in his eyes.

“Oh, no, it’s not a problem, really. I have girls busting into my bedroom to have weird random emotional breakdowns all the time.” He smirked.

Weird Random Emotional Breakdowns? I thought bitterly. You have no idea.

I know it sounds intensely angsty, and… it pretty much is. But it’s very well written and AG did her homework when it comes to their respective psychological issues. The characterization is well done and, though these two have their share of problems, they’re relatable and interesting and even hilariously funny. This fic is absolutely incredible, and if you haven’t read it, I highly suggest you do. Right here. A warning: this is not for those of you who are underage. It’s rated M for a reason or 20. [Edit: I totally didn't even mention Edward. He's so... guh. So amazing. Best version of Edward ever. I'd definitely die of a heart attack if Rob played him.]

Here’s a fan-made trailer for the fic that I couldn’t help but throw in:

Also, listening to Kings of Leon while reading this is perfect.

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*While I do read a lot of twific, there are those out there I simply won’t read. I never ever read any fic that contains the actors as characters (’cause seriously, that’s just f*cking weird) and I’m a fan of B/E. I attempted to read a few B/J but I just couldn’t get into them.

**I’m hoping I’ll have enough material to do this every Friday but things might slow down a bit when I start school in September.