Not This Time

Author's Note

     Thank you all for investing the time in this story, I know it's a long one. The hilarious thing is that this is the abridged version. I'm sorry I couldn't write the longer version, it was just too much and I would have never completed it. Over the course of six years, I've written three drafts of this story and now, of course, the finalized version that you've just completed. There were a lot of details that I got accurate, some were a little scary accurate on accident, some on purpose, and some were just not accurate at all because I only had so much time, internet, and attention span at my disposal. The point is, the story's over now, so unless I find a typo or grammatical error, I'm not touching this thing again. Lol. I invite you to message me if you have any thoughts, questions, or critiques on this or any of my stories. I would love your feedback!

     There are some really awesome people I need to thank(/blame?) for this story:

     Thank you, of course, to Bon Jovi as a band. That one was a given. The story literally would not exist with out the music that inspired it. I have no affiliation with them and (aside from details like tour dates, locations, and people's names) everything in this story is 100% fiction. (Between you and me, it was the time travel that gave it away.)

     Thank you to one of my best friends, tazmonet, who has been with me in my writing since before I even started this story. She has been my beta reader and proofreader ever since I started writing ages ago. For this particular story, she has been such a great help and encouragement!  She has been more than patient with me when I kept pushing back deadlines or insisting on getting a chapter back quickly. She is the inspiration for Penny's character, if that gives you any idea of what an awesome person she is. I appreciate her friendship beyond words, as well as her unwavering support of my writing (no matter how fangirly it has ever gotten).

     Thank you to another of my best friends (and self-proclaimed #1 fangirl), Em. You may know her better as TWDJoviGirl. You probably saw some of her absolutely hilarious comments on pretty much every chapter I've posted. She's been ridiculously (and aggressively) supportive of this story and her reactions to what happens in it have given me life for the last two years. Or three, however long it's been now. I would have given up on this story and/or short-cut the ending even more if she hadn't been so invested. So I owe her a lot and I really truly appreciate her friendship! (If you liked this story, you should totally go check out her Bon Jovi fic. It's called Take My Hand and it is an absolutely beautiful boy-meets-girl kind of love story that will give you all the feels. It has been rated #1 in multiple tags, multiple times and it has more reads and votes than I could ever dream of getting on this one. Lol. Seriously, go read it. Highly recommend.) 

     He will never see this because we haven't spoken in years, but my friend Matt (yes, the character is named for and loosely based on him) actually helped me quite a bit, in the beginning, with the time theory. As I wrote other drafts and the story evolved, so did my understanding of time theory and the usage of it within the story, but I still would like to acknowledge all his help, and indeed support, in my writing. He was always encouraging and helpful and I miss his friendship.

     Finally, thank YOU for reading and voting! I am proud to have written something that you were invested enough in to stick through to the end. Especially because this is a such a long story, I'm sure there were a lot of readers who couldn't be bothered to read it all (fair enough, honestly). I appreciate all the love you guys have shared in the comments and, again, I invite you to message me if you want to ask any questions, give me any feedback, or discuss. I would love to hear from you!