𝐒𝐎! Let's start with fun facts! Cause I promise you this story went through too many changes... LIKE A LOT. So let's get to it! (Author's thoughts are at the bottom)

━━━━━━ 𝐅𝐔𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 ━━━━━━

1. Joseph was actually originally supposed to be a 34-year-old and Alex was 23. I scrapped this mainly because I felt a bit weird about the age difference and I wanted him to be a bit more desirable and not some middle-aged man going after a fresh adult so I changed Joseph's age to (24.)

2. Originally the story was gonna end with Joseph and Lance getting married, then Alex would crash the wedding attempting to shoot Lance, but Joseph actually takes the bullet and ends up dying. It was very dark but I scrapped it mainly due to having more ideas for the story and not knowing exactly where to fit the wedding scene.

3. The story was gonna end super early at the chapter where Joseph proposed to Lance in front of everyone. It went pretty much the same. He goes up to his room to get Lance's gift, running into Alex BUT the difference is after he leaves the room, Alex shoots a bullet in the air and then takes Joseph's brother, putting the gun to his head. It ends about the same, with Joseph dying from a gunshot. I Scrapped it cause it was definitely rushed and of course I had other ideas..."

4. The few bits you get of Alex and the club was actually meant to be expanded upon way more then it actually was. Originally Alex was a gang member, and his pov was to actually move the story forward and create new drama with him and Joseph but for some odd reason almost 90% of his backstory never made it into the story. I think mainly because Joseph's backstory even from the beginning was A LOT more fleshed out then Alex's. His was mostly "Abuses Mom and manipulative" while Joseph had a bit more layers which i kind of wish i gave to Alex...

5. There was about 5 chapters worth of scrapped moments with Alex. Originally after Joseph calls Lance's ex-wife and storms away in the car, he actually goes to the club only to see Alex talking to another guy. So he slams the guys head into the table and continues to beat him, but he was only a friend of Alex's and after that I thought of making them a kind of harley Quinn, Joker couple. Joseph in that storyline would be a lot more aggressive and angry and Alex would actually be the rational one. I wanted to switch there dynamics but I scrapped this storyline mainly due to the fact that, they do have sex in those 5 chapters, and Lance didn't actually cheat so i thought it would have made Joseph look absolutely horrible so i threw those 5 chapters away... ( I really did like writing that storyline though and there banter was adorable but Joseph was very possessive and controlling in that draft. Totally different character.)

6. Lance never existed. (NOPE but lemme explain...) So basically the story was originally meant to be a SUPER slow burn and you would see more of Alex's manipulative side. Like he was originally gonna introduce himself to Sebastian as Joseph's (Old best friend) and snake his way into Joseph's heart slowly. (Which btw I expand more upon in the Authors thoughts part) But that never ended up happening so I made him storm off to his parents house on a whim hoping it would brew up more ideas THEN BOOM. Lance was born. After writing them in the hedge maze, I genuinely feel like i struck gold so i made them a whole backstory and Lance ended up being one of my favorite characters. All of there childhood memories they brought up? Never existed until I wrote them in the garden so Lance was tacked on last minute and i think i did a pretty good job fleshing him and Joseph's old relationship out a bit. (Too the people who want a boyxboy story with them as teenagers, I'm still thinking about it...)

7. I never knew what to do with Sebastian... I'll be honest with you guys. He kind of disappears out the story because i genuinely didn't know what to do with his character... He was mainly just backstory for Joseph (Even though in the original slow burn version of the story, he was much more important and you'd see more of him and Alex kind of battling for Joseph's attention...)

8. Pete was a potential love interest early on... It was originally gonna be Him, Alex, Sebastian. (Lance didn't exist at the time) With fan help, I would have chosen who Joseph would end up with but this was scrapped cause of Lance.

9. I didn't know wtf to do with Sarah and Pete by the end up the story. Sarah was just meant to get Joseph to the club and after Lance got introduced, Pete took a backseat for me. (I did try giving them there own chapters. Like the train chapter with Sarah and the Bakery chapter with Pete.) Hopefully next story i can do better with my side characters...

10. This whole story is a combination of all my fanfics. (Betrayal | Connor x Male reader - ex obsessed with good guy) (Corrupted | Nathan Prescott x Male reader - Fucked up love interest with problems) (Obsessed | Yandere x Male Reader - Kidnapping plotline) I knew i wanted to make a story that incapsulated all my fanfics, so His Therapist ended up being that.

11. The kidnapping plotline came last minute. This goes with the other fun fact, I was going to end it a little earlier but I knew i had to fit that kidnapping plotline in somewhere and Alex was crazy enough so i thought HEY! why not?

12. Alex being so liked was the craziest thing to me. I thought i pretty much wrote him as a villain from the beginning but maybe with the small bits of nonexistent backstory i sprinkled around actually made him somewhat likable? Or maybe cause he's hot? Who knows lol But a super hot business man wearing suits, paired with a tatted guy who wears ripped jeans and boots actually seems cute tbh...

13. Joseph's brother was actually a last minute thought, his parents too. Just like Lance, his parents and brother never existed in the original draft slow burn idea. Funny how the characters i came up with on a whim actually became my favorites... Cause i absolutely love Joseph's family and writing them was even more fun. A family drama story would be a goldmine for me.

14. That sex scene with Lance bottoming was actually a part of those 5 chapters i scrapped of Joseph and Alex. I basically just copy pasted it and changed some dialogue cause Lance doesn't call him Sexy lol But yeah I really liked it and had fun writing it so why not? You know?

15. I did write a rape scene. That was very uncomfortable for me but i did write it between Alex and Joseph while he was kidnapped but it was quickly scrapped cause not only does it tarnish any good left in Alex's character but also was very nerve-racking to re-read so yeah...

16. There was a Harley Quinn/Joker type of alternative ending planned for the book cause I knew some people liked Alex. BUT I decided against it. (Felt like this ending kind of pulls everything full circle and there was no need for that BUT AGAIN, if somebody wants it. I will definitely write it.

17. I didn't intend for the kidnapping storyline to be so dark. I was going through a breakup at the time so i believe that might have seeped into the story but re-reading it, It fits with Alex's characters pretty well...

18. All my future books will exist in the same universe, so Lance and Joseph will make many cameos in them. To unknown readers it'll be throwaway lines but to people who have read this book, it'll be cute little easter eggs. All my future characters will always be hinted at in some way or form.

19. The police officer "Jack" That gets almost no screen time in the book was actually gonna be a love interest oddly enough, competition for Alex and Lance but i scrapped that due to Lance. Once they went in that hedge maze and talked about there childhood. Lance was always gonna be the winner.

20. I created this therapist, patient thing in my head. It was odd but i saw this model (Cause i search for faces for my characters so i can describe them in the book) But i saw him and something screamed Therapist then i saw Alex's model and scenes on top of scenes bounced around in my head of them in a high rise building. It was like a strike of lightning and i quickly got to planning out backstories.

━━━━━━ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 ━━━━━━

OKAY! WHOO! That was a lot! But this story has changed so much chapter to chapter... Now onto my final thoughts! I am very grateful and appreciate of the people who took the time out to read this wild ride of a story. It means a lot!

BUT onto my opinions of this story. I genuinely think Its kind of a mess? Like i think its fun to read and can definitely keeps peoples attention but honestly I wish i had stuck to my slow burn vision i had for the book. Like after he leaves to go to his parents (Chapter 8) that's mostly where i believe the storyline becomes sloppy... YES i'm grateful for birthing Joseph's family and the mountain of drama behind it BUT imagine a slow-burn, very slick book that allows you to watch Alex really snake his way into a relationship and slowly pull Joseph out of his shell... A book that's all about the small details and the chemistry between them? That's originally what i wanted... A story about finding yourself and letting go of past trauma. Alex did have a super huge backstory that never got properly explored because it was made with a slow burn pacing in mind, not a wild dramatic ride.

I'm happy with what i made but i definitely see where i messed up. Instead of trying to keep people's attention and throwing stuff at the wall, I should have stuck to my guns and wrote a very personal story about Trauma and self-worth. All in all, i'm happy with Joseph's character and the ending but extremely displeased with Alex. The next story will be a bit slower in pace and really allow you to sulk up its atmosphere. (Hopefully someday, I can rewrite this story and give it the proper care it definitely deserved but it still wouldn't change the ending cause I love Lance and Joseph together!)

━━━━━━

THANK YOU SO MUCH! If you even made it to this chapter! I genuinely appreciate you guys reading and commenting INCLUDING YOU, SILENT READERS. Hopefully, you'll stick around for my next story which will either be.

"The Devil's Lake" or "The Outback" or a spin-off with Joseph's son.

The first one is about a man trying to keep his sanity after a hard breakup, only to fall in love with a cult member.

the second one is about a guy stuck in the outback with a hot australian.

The spin-off is untitled for now but i was thinking "His Popstar" to keep with his father's book lol. But I definitely plan to give him and his sister spin-offs since I've grown very attached to the characters in this book...

Let me know which one, you'd rather read!

♥ See you guys in the next story! ♥

━━━━━━