Five Fic Fridays (one day early)

I'll spend most of tomorrow in airports and on planes, so I'm releasing this a few days early. For those of you who missed last week's intro, I'll be rec'ing my favorite finds every Friday. The focus is on a combination of must-reads and hidden gems, and I'll make deliberate attempts to stay away from fic I suspect everyone knows. Since I'm new to the fandom, not all my fic recs will be new, but I can promise they'll all be really good :) Here's what I read and loved this week:

Wood by Algonquinrt (AU/AH,ExC,M,one-shot): The review I left about this one says it all: "Hells. Fucking. Yeah! What a hot one-shot. Carlisle + Edward = Mmmmmm". It was a D.I.L.F. contest entry, and Edward and Carlisle are both dads, Edward Bella's gay best friend and father of daughter Alice, Carlisle the divorced dad of Jasper. Carlisle moves into the neighborhood and the attraction is instant. I won't spoil the plot, but I will say this: I really liked the ending :)

Unspoken by stayceygirl aka jackbauer (AU/AH,JxB,M,one-shot): There's something I love about the idea of Jasper/Bella, but many I have come across are all smut, no story. This one is rich with plot and character and UST, and it is deliciously bittersweet. Bella and Jasper meet on the first day of college and are instant best friends. They stay close, but hide from one another for that they were each secretly in love. The fic culminates years later when they meet again and reveal their former crushes. The central question surrounds whether they'll abandon their lives for one another or let the past stay in the past.

Portrait of a Girl by Zors (AU/AH,ExB,M): This fic has a GREAT original plot. Teenage Bella is poor but smart and wants to "educate" her way out of Forks. The only good school is a private boys school, so Bella applies for (and wins) an exclusie fellowship but must pose as a boy to attend. Known as "Ben", she befriends Edward, and the predicted attraction is there. Bella struggles with how to rein it in and Edward struggles to make sense of his strange attraction to another guy. Meanwhile, Bella is not exactly proficient at being a boy yet, so there is tension (and humor) around her doing things like stuffing her pants, figuring out how to adjust her man-meat, and dealing with her period. Refreshingly, you have not read a story like this in the Twilight fandom before.

The Hills of Twilight by Melissa228, antiaol, tarasueme, and ScarlettLetters (AU/AH,mostly canon,M): This one's pretty well-known, but it's new-ish and too good not to rec. I don't watch The Hills, so I only have a vague idea of the reference, but "The Real Housewies of Twilight" and "Desperate Housewies" also fits. In this fic, the four women are wealthy stay-at-home wives living on a cul de sac in an elite gated community (canon pairings, except Bella is married to James). A former neighbor who has since moved away kept a diary of the neighbors' exploits and scandals--a diary newcomer Dr. Edward finds when he moves into the former neighbor's house. The strongest theme is that most characters have life-shattering secrets--you will *die* when you read what some of them are. Simple plot, but suspenseful, well-written, and fun. Another redeeming quality: I love their characterization of Esme.

Bright Like the Sun by Dryler (AU/AH,BxE,M): It begins with an AH interpretation of Edward saving Bella from the parking lot accident. Human Edward dives in and pushes them both out of the way and, in doing so, breaks Bella's arm. She can't drive with a broken arm and needs someone to take her to school, and Edward steps up to the task. A sub-plot, that Edward and all the cullens are allergic to sunlight, explains why human Cullens would be so antisocial. It's a classic tale of Bella discovering that misunderstood Edward is not what he seems. What makes it different is its lack of angst, its great use of humor (Carlisle is *hilarious*), and an Edward I love (e.g., acerbic wit, sweet, funny, shy). I know the title sounds kind of serious, but give it a try. It's nothing like Dryler's other (awesome, but very different one) Ethan Church.

So, what's pwning you this week? I need something good to read on the plane :)