Animate Me by Abstract Way

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6989390/1/Animate_Me by Abstract Way
Professional animator Edward worships cartoon exec Bella from afar by day and draws her in his comic book late at night. When this Daffy Duck-loving geek comes face to face with his dream girl, will his fantasy world come to life?

I just loved this story. Bella is strong and confident but suffers from low self esteem due to her boyfriend, Aro, who claims she's fat and allows them to have an open relationship (Really? Do people have those?). Edward is an animator at Animation Nation (Bella and Aro run the joint) and works in a small department but gets the backbone one day to speak to Bella at work. He begins visiting her regularly and brings her a Starbucks coffee with a personalized drawing. These are the sweetest gems, I tell you. They strike up a friendship that becomes more after Edward tries to make her jealous by "dating" Alice, his co-worker/friend. Bella tutors Edward in the arts of dating so that he can win over Alice. Of course, he just falls further in love with Bella. YAY!

Bella and Edward explore a new world together where he teaches her how beautiful and perfect she is even with her curvy figure. It also helps that he loves her yoga pants! :) She teaches Edward how to date, flirt, and become a lover.

The author creates such vivid imagery in this story and writes Edward in the sweetest way. He is so kind and nerdy, and I love him. He reads self help books, is friends with his mother, and is constantly making lists and outlining plans to achieve his goals. He compares everything to cartoons and superheroes and is such a lovable geek.

This excerpt is from an early chapter where Bella is tutoring Edward in kissing so that he can kiss Alice properly. I just love his POV. He is adorable.

"Hey, would you mind if I practiced with you one more time? You know, to get ready for my date with Allie."

"You want me to kiss you?" she asks, not sounding entirely against the idea.

"I thought maybe this time I could try to kiss you. You know, learn to be more assertive."

"Are you going all alpha-male on me Edward?"

"Well, I thought I would try. But if you don't want me to…"

"No, I'm committed to the cause here. We are sacrificing for the greater good. Go ahead and pretend I'm Allie. Pull me in your arms and kiss me, you fool."

"Okay," I bite my lip and try to figure out which angle I should work from. "Are you ready?"

"Don't ask that. It's not sexy to ask a woman if she's ready. Just give her the look and if she gives the look back, go for it."

I repeat that advice twice in my head so I won't forget it. "Okay, the look." I narrow my eyes at her.

She giggles. "You look pissed, Edward. Why don't you take your glasses off?"

I pull my glasses off and carefully fold them, slipping them in my pocket.

"Wow, your eyes are gorgeous!" she exclaims. "We're going to take you contact lens shopping soon."

She loves my eyes. I'll put up with sticking painful plastic discs in my eyes just to hear her swoon like that again.

This time I just look at her without trying to say I want you with my eyes. Even with just a look I can feel it. I'm looking at her with my heart not just my eyes, and I think she sees it too.

Her eyes say yes back. She settles against the wall right next to the door and waits.

I lean down and move forward, leading with my lips, as if they are a missile, slowly heading towards a target. When they land I remember how soft and warm she had felt last time we kissed, and I relax into her and let my instincts take over.

She's tentative, seemingly not wanting to take over, but lets me give my best effort. If I were being graded, I probably would've gotten a C plus, not stellar, but a far cry from my previous total failure.

When we part she looks up at me and smiles encouragingly. "Once, more," she instructs, "but this time we'll get your hands involved."

She takes one of my hands and perches it on her shoulder, the other on her hip.

"Okay, that's good," she affirms.

Wow. What a difference; I am stunned. Maybe it's just because the kiss warmed me up, but it feels like there are sparks firing from her body right into mine. It's a super-hero force field. Surely if we harness this, we could save the world.


Some other players in this story that I adore:
Mike is rotund. For some reason, this makes me so happy.
Jessica is a fun secretary of Bella's who thwarts but later helps Edward.
Carlisle is Edward's dad, of course, and he is nerdy in the best way -- always talking stats and probabilities. He is hilarious, and I hope Abstract Way does something with his parents -- just a mini-fic. It'd be so cute.
Rose and Emmett are to die for. Rose is a tatted, bitchy comic book store owner who eventually dates Edward's brother, Emmett. She only agrees to sleep with him first though before dating him. Ha ha ha!

Here's a Rose/Emmett related excerpt (ch 8) . . .

Emmett never shows up for tennis and brunch at the folks Sunday morning. When I call him he picks up his phone but I can hear Rose giggling in the background.

"What's up, Bro?"

"Aren't you coming?"

"More times than I can count, dude. Thanks for asking."

"No asshole, to Mom and Dad's-it's brunch time."

"No shit, it's Sunday already!" He appears to pull the phone away as his voice gets softer. "Baby, did you know it's Sunday?" She squeals. In a million years I would have never imagined hearing Rose sound giddy like that. Emmett gets back on the line.

"Hey Bro, will you tell Mom and Dad that I'm tied up and can't make it." More loud squeals from Rose, holy shit does she really have him tied up?

I swallow hard. "Do you mean literally tied up?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he taunts. "Let's just say that Rose thinks I've been naughty."

"Too much information!" I yell into the phone. "I'll see you next week."
Team Jacob Safe -- he's a young boy and a friend of Edward's in this story.

Smut-o-Meter: There's an average amount of smut in this story, but don't let it deter you. Skip it if you need to.

On a personal note, Abstract Way loves Masen from Masen Days, so when it was my birthday she had Toonward draw me a Starbucks cup. I swooned about that for days. Who am I kidding? I'm still swooning. Also, a cartoon character named Robbie that's about to be pitched at Animation Nation is a high school skater. Coincidence? I think not! Masen's been animated, yo! Though, he's a vampire. Whatcha gonna do. She did, in fact, tell me that Masen inspired that. I was swoony again. I'm still swoony.