On "Never Stop Believing" by seahaven;

**May contain spoilers. Go read the story first.**

So as some of you may know, I recently closed my first ever contest, found here. The first place winner of that contest was seahaven; with her entry Never Stop Believing.

This blog is dedicated to that story.


Official Summary
Austin Carlile/OFC
Warning: Abuse.
"Remember that storms don't last forever."

Synopsis
Emily and Austin Carlile are very good friends; him having even introduced her to her long-term boyfriend, Jaysin. Little does Austin know that Jaysin has been abusive to Emily for nearly the whole of their relationship. After a fight, Emily goes to Austin's for pizza, and they discuss him leaving for tour.

Here the reader discovers that Emily not only loves Austin as her best friend, but also has romantic feelings for him. Austin forces Emily to call Jaysin and promise that she'll be home, unknowing the danger she faces there. Pizza is had and everything is alright for the time being.

Then, Emily returns home to a passed out Jaysin who upon waking up, accuses her of sleeping with Austin. They turn in for the night.

There is a mild time lapse to the day when Austin returns from tour. This leads to Emily being excited, and Jaysin getting angry over that excitement, which quickly escalates into a fight. For the first time, Emily fights back, and is repayed with worse abuse than she has faced before. It is inferred that Jaysin is about to rape Emily just as the doorbell rings.

With one last threat, Jaysin leaves to answer the door to find Austin, eager to see Emily. Jaysin tries to shut Austin out and threatens him with trespassing when Austin attempts to come inside in response to Emily crying out.

There is a conflict between Jaysin and Austin then which leads to Austin punching him in the face, and taking Emily with him to the hospital where the police arrive. Emily finally admits her true love for Austin, who returns it to her surprise. The end shows the scene of their departure from the hospital to Austin's home, where he repeats the motif and basis of this story, "Remember that storms don't last forever."

Reaction
The story was received entirely positively; with comments from myself and user sheepcat;. The original ending was changed to what you see now due to some criticism.

Never Stop Believing now has six recommendations. A seemingly tragic and very, very realistic tale, Never Stop Believing keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

Thank you for taking the time to check out this story, and keep watch for another prize that this entry has won: a blog about seahaven; herself.
April 20th, 2014 at 06:50pm