74. a kiss to forgive each other after an argument
Will opens Allie’s door to Sonny a half hour after Will walked out of the Kiriakis mansion.
“Can we talk?” Sonny asks.
Will steps aside to let Sonny into the apartment and closes the door behind him.
“I’m sorry,” Sonny says.
“For what?” Will snaps, crossing his arms over his chest. “Choosing Leo Stark over me?”
Sonny sighs and purses his lips. “I didn’t choose Leo over you, Will.”
“You did though, Sonny! I told you to have him leave and you choose for him to stay!”
“It’s Christmas, Will! I am not having him sleeping on the streets on Christmas!”
“Why not?! After everything he did to you, why do you care that he even exists?!”
It’s the same argument repeated from earlier and it’s no closer to a resolution.
“Because I’m not a monster, Will!” Sonny shouts. “Because I am a decent human being and I believe that everyone should have a roof over their heads, especially at Christmas, no matter who they are or what they’ve done!” Sonny’s breath is coming in hard, short bursts and his cheeks are splotchy with color.
Will swallows thickly, takes a deep sigh, and drops his arms to his sides. “I understand that,” Will says gently, calmly. “But Leo Stark?”
Sonny rubs a hand over his face. “You haven’t been here, Will.”
“So this is my fault?”
“What? No one is at fault here, Will, because nothing wrong has been done. You’ve been away and I’ve been lonely and Leo has been showing me a decent side to him in being kind and trying to be my friend. He hasn’t asked for anything from me, Will, other than a place to stay for the holidays. I really believe he’s trying to be a better person and he’s truly remorseful for the way he’s treated us, treated me.”
“You really believe that he doesn’t have an ulterior motive?” Will asks skeptically, his eyebrows raised.
“No I really don’t.”
Will shakes his head. “I don’t know, Sonny. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”
“What about Ben?” Sonny asks, his face grave and his eyes boring into Will.
“What about Ben?”
“He killed you,” Sonny answers flatly.
“So?”
“So, when you were in prison together you came to the conclusion that he was no longer a murderous psychopath and decided to be friends with him again, despite all of my misgivings. How is my wanting to be friends with Leo any worse than that?”
Will stares at Sonny. “I - I hadn’t thought of it that way. I’m just trying to protect you, Sonny. I don’t want to see you get hurt or humiliated again.”
Sonny’s face softens and he closes the distance between them to take Will’s hands in his. “I know. Don’t you know that’s why I don’t like you being friends with Ben?”
“Ben went to therapy. He’s on medication. He’s not a danger anymore,” Will argues.
“You can’t know that,” Sonny argues back. “He could relapse at any time. Isn’t it better that Leo has actually made the conscious decision to try to become a better person? Or at least equally the same?”
Will sighs again, relenting, and drops his forehead against Sonny’s. “Can we agree to disagree about Leo and Ben? I came home to be with you and Ari for the holidays and I don’t want to be fighting.”
Sonny nods against Will’s forehead. “Okay. I’m glad you’re here,” Sonny adds after a beat.
Will pulls his head back and grins at Sonny. “Me too.”
Sonny’s lips curl into a smile and he stretches his neck to press a soft kiss to Will’s mouth.
Will pulls Sonny closer by their clasped hands, circling Sonny’s arms around his waist and wrapping his own around Sonny’s neck.
“I love you,” Sonny whispers when they break apart, their foreheads still together and their eyes still closed.
“I love you, too.”
“Leo can stay at the mansion for the holidays,” Will says after a quiet minute, pulling back to look at Sonny, “but can you at least put him in a room on the opposite side as ours?”
Sonny snorts in amusement and shakes with laughter. “Yeah. I think that’s fair.”
Sonny breathes in the warm Los Angeles air as he steps off the Kiriakis jet, his suitcase dragging behind him as he walks down the concourse towards the gate and the airport.
LAX is a loud bustle when Sonny steps off the concourse. He hasn’t visited Will here often so he doesn’t know his way around the large and busy airport too well. He scans the area for signs and finds the one pointing the way to the baggage claim and exit.
Will is waiting for him at the bottom of the escalator, a JACKSON KIRIAKIS sign clasped in his hands.
Sonny grins and barks out a laugh. He’s glad he made the decision to come out here for the week instead of bemoaning that Will couldn’t come back to Salem.
“Your car awaits,” Will says as Sonny steps off the escalator.
“You’re ridiculous,” Sonny responds with a fond shake of his head.
Will grins and takes Sonny’s bag before turning and leading him out of the airport into the sunny LA late afternoon.
“How was the flight?” Will asks.
“Uneventful.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come to Salem this week,” Will apologizes. “But I’m glad you decided to come here!”
“Me too,” Sonny agrees, and he truly means it despite the still niggling resentment that Will’s job is more important than their marriage.
But he’d heard and listened to Maggie’s advice about meeting Will halfway, if he wanted to save their marriage, so he’s happy that he’s at least getting to see Will.
“I’m free for the rest of the day. Did you want to go sightseeing and get something to eat or did you want to go to my hotel?”
“Hotel.”
Will nods and they walk to Will’s car in comfortable silence.
* * * * * * * *
“Do you want room service?” Will asks when Sonny closes the door of the room.
“No. Just,” Sonny says and holds out his hand.
Will smiles softly and takes Sonny’s offering, pulling Sonny close. Sonny goes willingly, wrapping his arms around Will’s waist.
“Hi,” Will says.
“Hi,” Sonny replies and presses his lips to Will’s.
Will’s arms slide around Sonny’s neck as he returns the kiss.
Sonny breaks away just slightly to whisper, “I missed you,” before turning his head to change the angle and deepen the kiss.
Will hums into Sonny’s mouth, their tongues tangling together.
“I missed you, too,” Will says eventually, when they break apart for air. “I’m sorry again that I couldn’t get to Salem. I begged my director to let me work remotely for the week but -” Will doesn’t finish his sentence and sighs instead. “I really want this to work between us this time. I don’t want to repeat our mistakes.”
“It’s alright,” Sonny says, because it is. He’s determined to not let this break them up again and he’s relieved that Will feels the same. “Thank you for saying that and I agree. Which is why I’m here instead.” Sonny smiles, and nips at Will’s lips.
“You’re the best,” Will says with a crooked grin.
“Don’t you forget it,” Sonny teases.
Will’s face turns serious. “I won’t. I promise. I won’t take you for granted again. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Will’s lips curve again and this time it’s Will who kisses Sonny.
“Want to get some dinner?” Will asks when they separate again.
“Absolutely.”
Will kisses him quickly and leads him by the hand out of the hotel and into the LA evening.
11. a kiss that says “we’re late for work, but let’s be later”
The morning is chaos.
Will and Sonny sleep through their alarm because Sonny forgot to turn on the ringer when they went to bed last night. Instead, they’re woken by the sounds of babbling crackling through the baby monitor, Justin and Lucas’s baby talk to each other the signal that they’re awake.
When they realize they’re an hour behind on their morning schedule, they scramble out of bed. Sonny rushes into the shower while Will runs out of the bedroom to check on the kids.
He has to throw the blankets off of Arianna to get her moving (because at twelve she has no desire to get ready for school without a hard nudge) before he hurries into the twins’ bedroom to take them out of their cribs. He changes their diapers quickly and then dashes down the stairs to the kitchen, one baby in each arm.
He settles them in their high chairs just as Sonny walks into the kitchen fully dressed. He shoos Will away as he pulls out bowls and cereal and starts brewing coffee.
Will shouts at Arianna to hurry up if she wants to eat breakfast before the bus picks her up as he himself hurries back into the bedroom and jumps in the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, Will is back in the kitchen fully dressed, shoveling a bowl of cereal into his mouth as Sonny ushers Arianna to the front door where the bus is waiting for her.
Lucas comes up the driveway just as Sonny is closing the door behind Arianna to pick up the twins. Sonny hands them and their bags over to Lucas as Will waves a quick hello from the sink where he’s piling the dishes into the dishwasher.
Sonny closes the door behind Lucas and then they’re alone.
“Sorry about the alarm,” Sonny apologizes, as Will comes into the foyer from the kitchen.
Will snorts in amusement and crowds Sonny against the front door. “We didn’t get to say this earlier but - good morning.”
Sonny’s mouth quirks up in a crooked smile, his arms snaking around Will’s waist. “Good morning.”
“We are very late for work,” Will says seriously.
“Yes we are,” Sonny agrees, cocking his eyebrows in a challenge.
Will accepts it for what it is and dips his face forward to catch Sonny’s lips against his. Sonny’s arms go tighter around Will’s waist, pulling him closer, and Will’s arms slide from the door to around Sonny’s neck.
Going to try to write little fics based on this post. Some might be more than one, or just individual.
73. kissing your lover’s forehead, then bending down to meet their lips
“Happy anniversary,” Sonny says, apropos of nothing.
He slides a plate of a stack of pancakes with a single candle sticking out in front of where Will sits at the kitchen table and drops a kiss to Will’s forehead first, then bends down to meet Will’s tipped up and waiting lips, before sitting down next to Will in front of his own stack of pancakes.
Will cocks his head and looks at Sonny curiously. “Babe. Our anniversary was yesterday. We had dinner at that new restaurant in the Square,” Will says slowly, half-afraid Sonny’s somehow gotten some form of amnesia overnight.
Sonny grins, popping a forkful of pancakes in his mouth. “I know.”
Will stares at Sonny for another second, panicking now that he’s gotten part of his amnesia back, but blows out the candle before it melts into his breakfast.
Sonny snorts and takes pity on him. “It’s ten years since you came out to me!”
Will’s mouth drops open with his fork suspended in the air. He turns to stare bug-eyed at Sonny.
“You know what date that was?” Will asks, recovering, and eats the pancakes that were momentarily forgotten on his fork.
“You don’t?” Sonny asks, curiosity sparkling his eyes.
Will scoffs. “No. Those three months from when I kissed Neil to coming out to my parents are all one giant chunk of time to me. I have no clue what happened when other than, like, vague generalities. Like the kiss with Neil was in February sometime, maybe? And I came out to my parents in May sometime, I think, after the school year was done? And everything else happened in between.”
Will takes another bite. “Why do you remember the date?”
“It was the week after the coffee shop opening. And because I was proud of you!”
Will smiles softly at Sonny and hooks their ankles together under the table. They finish their pancakes and clean their plates in comfortable silence.
As he’s closing the dishwasher, Will says, “I wanted to kiss you that day.”
Now it’s Sonny who stares at him wide-eyed, the dishcloth still clutched in his hand. “You did?”
Will hums in assent as he nods. “After we hugged, we had that moment. Remember?”
Sonny grins slowly. “Of course I remember.”
“I wanted to kiss you,” Will repeats.
“Why didn’t you?” Sonny asks, pulling Will closer by the hem of his sleep shirt.
Will’s arms fall automatically around Sonny’s neck. “I was terrified,” Will answers honestly.
“Of me?!”
“Yes!” Will laughs. “No. Not you specifically. I was terrified of what it meant. I had literally just come out. I was not ready for a relationship. And we’d just had that conversation about not being able to see ourselves settled and married and with kids. That’s funny to think about, considering.”
Sonny’s grin stretches impossibly wider. “You know I was lying, right? When I said I couldn’t imagine settling down.”
“You were?”
Sonny nods. “I had imagined it. I was already madly in love with you by that point.”
Will snorts in amusement. “Shut up. No you weren’t.”
“I was,” Sonny insists.
Will’s smile sobers and he searches Sonny’s eyes. “Your New Year’s Resolution,” Will says after a minute, a lightbulb going off. “Get Will Horton to fall in love with me. You really had written it at the beginning of 2012?”
Sonny nods, his smile soft and his eyes fond. “It took a lot of effort not to kiss you that night in the coffee shop.”
Will swallows, speechless, overwhelmed as he often is at Sonny’s grand gestures and reminders of the depths of his love.
“I love you,” Will says after a few seconds, a soft smile tugging at his lips again.
“Love you, too,” Sonny responds as the doorbell rings, no doubt Gabi come to drop Ari back home.
88. kisses in which ‘i’ll kiss you right now to prove i don’t feel anything for you’ but the kiss proves the opposite & 52. kisses in which, “i can’t believe this is real, but i love you so much”
It starts when Will walks into the Pub in the middle of June to find Abby having breakfast with a dark-haired man he doesn’t know. Within minutes, he’s discovered the man is her cousin Sonny, son of Justin and Adrienne Kiriakis. When Abby leaves for work, leaving Will and Sonny alone to talk some more, they hit it off right away.
In the first half hour of meeting they’ve discovered: that they both love baseball (although Sonny would never be caught dead on a field), they’d both come out to their families at fifteen, Sonny lived in Dubai while Will lived in Switzerland, they both love to read, they both love trashy TV shows (The Bachelor is Sonny’s favorite; Keeping Up with the Kardashians is Will’s), and that they each have three siblings.
Will is immediately smitten.
What Will hadn’t noticed at breakfast, however, was the shining gold wedding band on Sonny’s finger. So when he arrives that night at his grandparents’ townhouse for a welcome home dinner for Paul, Will is surprised to find Sonny there.
“Sonny?”
“Oh. Have you met?” Paul asks.
“We met this morning. I ran into him having breakfast with our cousin Abby. How do you know each other?”
“Sonny’s my husband,” Paul announces, a huge grin on his face.
Sonny laces his fingers with Paul’s, but his eyes find Will’s, almost in apology.
And so begins the longest year and a half of Will’s life.
Although Paul is his stepuncle, because they’re close in age, Will has grown up alongside Paul, as close as brothers, the only brother Will had known for thirteen years until Johnny was born.
So when Paul returns home to join John at BlackPatch, they fall into their natural rhythm of hanging out - watching movies, playing basketball, meeting for breakfast or lunch. Only, now Paul has a shadow, an extra appendage, a husband who joins them, but Will cannot separate himself from them without seeming suspicious.
But he’s gotten ridiculously attached to Sonny in so short a time and Will hates it. He doesn’t want to be attracted to his basically-a-brother’s husband, but Sonny is everything Will wants for himself: kind, funny, smart, beautiful, easy to be around, confident. So Will sticks around, spends as much time with them as he can, joins them in creating Sonny’s new coffee shop cum event space, and he tries to stop his feelings for Sonny, he really does, tries to see Sonny as a friend only, goes to The Spot, the gay club in Salem, to try to find someone else, except fighting his feelings only makes them stronger. By the time September rolls into October, and Common Grounds has its grand opening, Will is madly in love with Sonny.
Working at the paper, Will has much more flexible hours than Paul, who’s always off somewhere investigating and at all hours of the day and night, and so as fall turns into winter, Will finds himself alone with Sonny more and more often. His daily routine is to stop by for a cup of coffee in the morning, a cup of coffee and a bagel at lunch, and help Sonny close up shop after work. It’s so domestic and so ingrained into his life that Will can almost pretend it’s their life and that Sonny isn’t married to someone else. But he is and when Paul is there, Sonny only has eyes for Paul, and on those days, Will leaves them to it, slips out quietly at night while Sonny and Paul are laughing softly together or making plans for the weekend that don’t include him.
Will’s had unrequited feelings for guys before but it’s never been this bad, never felt so out-of-reach as it is with Sonny and yet so close as when he’s alone with Sonny and he can imagine them sharing a life together.
Things get strange when Paul goes incognito undercover with John and Steve just before Christmas.
From all the time they’ve spent together in the last six months, Will knows that the holidays are Sonny’s favorite time of year. He loves the cheer, the spirit, the generosity, the gift giving and receiving, and the time spent with family. But this year, Justin and Adrienne are in Arizona visiting Sonny’s three older brothers and Paul is literally nowhere to be seen or heard from. So Sonny is understandably a bit down.
Will makes it his mission to make Sonny’s Christmas and New Year’s cheerful ones.
“Are you doing anything for Christmas?” Will asks over coffee two days before Christmas, three days after Paul’s disappeared.
“Uncle Vic wants me to attend the annual Titan Christmas party but I really don’t want to. I don’t even work for Titan.”
“Come to the Horton tree trimming with me tomorrow.”
“I’m not a Horton,” Sonny hedges.
“Your aunt and cousins are Hortons. I’m allowed to bring a guest. Aunt Jen won’t kick you out, I promise,” Will assures with a grin.
Sonny huffs out a laugh.
“Come on. Pleeeeeasssse,” Will begs jokingly and bats his eyelashes obnoxiously.
Sonny laughs fully and shakes his head in amusement. “Okay. Okay. I’ll close up here at noon and we can go to Aunt Jen’s.”
Will’s heart leaps and he just barely refrains from telling Sonny he loves him.
So at noon on the dot the following day, Will picks Sonny up at Common Grounds and they walk together to the Horton house. As promised, Sonny is welcomed with open arms and plied with eggnog and cookies. The rest of the day passes uneventfully with Sonny quietly observing the horde of Hortons hanging their ornaments until things get uncomfortable as they’re getting ready to leave. While they’re putting on their coats and saying their goodbyes, they inadvertently get themselves stuck under mistletoe in the foyer.
“Come on. You know what mistletoe means,” Julie insists.
His heart beating wildly in chest, Will stares at Sonny, who has a strange look on his face that Will can’t decipher. After a long beat, Sonny steps forward and pecks Will’s cheek quickly.
Will blinks, his cheek burning where Sonny’s lips touched it, and turns to Julie who is smiling, apparently satisfied.
They don’t talk as they leave the Horton house and they part ways soon after with a silent wave goodbye, their homes being in opposite directions.
For the next week, Will attempts to maintain their routine of coffee, bagels, and close up, but suddenly Common Grounds is twice as busy as it usually is and Sonny is almost always occupied when he comes by. Considering the strangeness between them after the mistletoe incident, Will suspects that at least part of Sonny’s constant occupation is purposeful.
The morning of New Year’s Eve is the first time in a week that Will catches Sonny alone and at a quiet moment.
“Hey,” Will greets him cautiously, unsure if Sonny will spook.
But Sonny grins at him and Will relaxes. “Hey. I’m sorry we haven’t seen each other since Christmas. It’s been absolutely insane here.”
“No worries,” Will says honestly since Sonny doesn’t appear to be weird around him. “Are you having a party tonight?”
Sonny nods.
“If you need an extra set of hands, I’d be happy to help,” Will offers.
“Are you sure? You don’t have plans or anything? Not meeting anyone for a kiss?” Sonny asks and Will has a niggling feeling that Sonny is fishing for information on his dating life.
“Nope. Completely plan free.”
“Okay. I’d love the help. Thanks. Actually, are you free now? I could use a hand doing some inventory.”
Will rolls up his sleeves dramatically. “I absolutely love doing inventory.”
Sonny throws his head back with laughter and Will’s heart flutters.
Twelve hours later, Common Grounds is packed like a can of sardines and so loud no one can hear anything even said directly into their ear. But the shindig is a hopping success and Will, Sonny, and Sonny’s staff are running themselves ragged keeping up with all the partygoers.
Will has been so busy that he doesn’t realize it’s almost midnight until the DJ announces it and the entire place erupts in a countdown. He thinks briefly that maybe he should have gone to The Spot instead to get a New Year’s kiss from a random stranger, but he’s never really been that kind of person and he would much rather be staring longingly at Sonny, imagining a different universe where he throws his arms around Sonny’s neck, their lips meeting at the stroke of midnight.
Will and Sonny finally collapse on the sofa in Sonny’s office at three in the morning, both yawning and half asleep.
“I should go home,” Will says, his eyes drooping.
“You’re almost asleep, silly,” Sonny mumbles. “C’mere,” Sonny adds and pulls Will’s arm as he lies back on the couch.
Will goes willingly, almost asleep, as Sonny said, slotting himself into the space between Sonny and the back of the couch. His head falls automatically onto Sonny’s chest and he’s fully asleep within seconds.
It’s only six hours later when Will blinks slowly awake that he realizes he slept curled into Sonny’s side, Sonny’s arms tight around him.
In the weeks that follow, they don’t discuss falling asleep together on Sonny’s couch but Will senses something has shifted between them. Sonny’s always been happy to see him, but Will’s almost certain there’s an extra twinkle in his eyes when he spots Will walk into Common Grounds or a wider grin at something Will says or that Sonny sits just a little bit closer to him when they eat together or just talk. It’s driving Will crazy because it’s not obvious enough for Will to broach the subject with Sonny but Will swears that he’s not imagining it either.
Valentine’s Day is when Will knows absolutely without a doubt that he’s not imagining it.
Sonny is short-staffed for all the reservations he’s booked for the night so, based on Will’s one summer waiting tables at the Brady Pub, Sonny hires Will for the night. After they’ve closed up, they share some left over food and Sonny offers to walk Will home despite living on the other side of town.
“If you ever get tired of writing your articles, I’d be happy to add you to my staff, even if you are a bit green,” Sonny propositions as they stop in front of Will’s apartment building, knocking his shoulder into Will’s playfully.
“Oh, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” Will teases with a laugh.
Sonny grins. “No but really,” Sonny says with a hand on Will’s elbow. “Thank you for the help tonight. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Will doesn’t know how to respond to that and is preoccupied anyway thinking about how beautiful Sonny looks in the moonlight and how much he wants to kiss him right now.
So Will just says, “You’re welcome.”
Sonny’s grin turns soft at the edges as his eyes trace Will’s face, flicking down to Will’s lips and back up to Will’s eyes. Will’s breath catches in his throat as the air thickens around them and he realizes just how close they’re standing, and that Sonny’s hand is still cradling his elbow.
They stare at each other, the moment of tension building and hanging between them, and Will’s face, unbidden, leans forward, slowly closing the space between them. His heart beats a drum against his chest as Sonny’s face moves forward to meet his and their lips are just about to touch when a car alarm goes off.
Sonny jumps like he’s been shot, his hand dropping Will’s arm and his eyes wide and horror-stricken, like a deer in headlights.
“I have to go,” Sonny says quickly and disappears into the dark within moments.
It takes Will a long time to fall asleep that night.
The next morning Will stands outside Common Grounds for five minutes before gathering the courage to walk inside. He needn’t have worried, though, because Sonny grins at him the second he sees him.
Will’s stomach flutters with nerves as he walks over to the counter but Sonny greets him like nothing happened last night and his nerves turn to confusion and a bit of paranoia when Sonny acts completely normal. It’s only when their hands accidentally brush over a packet of sugar and Sonny snaps his hand back like it’s a rubber band that Will knows he hadn’t imagined them almost kissing last night. But still Sonny doesn’t say anything and then quickly rushes off to his office to make an apparently very important phone call. Will leaves Common Grounds confused and returns later for their nightly close up only to find the shop already closed.
Hurt, Will retreats home like a wounded animal.
It doesn’t get any better as winter stretches into spring.
Sonny never acknowledges it, continues to pretend like there’s nothing wrong, like there’s no tension between them, like things are exactly like they used to be before Valentine’s Day, despite Sonny jumping a mile in the air whenever their hands brush, despite Sonny never letting himself be alone in a room with Will, despite Sonny unilaterally changing their routine to closing Common Grounds before Will gets off work and never mentioning it. Sometimes, when they are together Will catches Sonny staring at him and then quickly turning away.
It’s absolutely driving Will up the fucking wall with want and frustration and a tiny bit of anger. He wants to shake Sonny, to get him to admit his feelings, but Will has always been a bit of coward, and so he lets the tension between them simmer unacknowledged, albeit with great effort.
When he knew his feelings were one-sided, he was able to suffer in silence, to hope that one day they would morph into something softer, something more brotherly and he could let Sonny go. But with the way Sonny’s been around him since Valentine’s Day, Will’s got so much hope that Sonny returns his feelings, it’s all he can do to not do something stupid like ask Sonny to marry him.
It comes to a boiling point at the welcome home party at the beginning of May for the BlackPatch spies. The whole family is there at Common Grounds: John and Marlena, Steve and Kayla, Tripp, Stephanie, Joey, Justin and Adrienne, Paul, Sonny, Will, Brady, Eric, Belle, and even Sami makes an appearance.
Sonny’s been avoiding him all night, running around making sure the food and drinks are ready and available, counting and recounting napkins, plates and bowls and silverware, and mingling with his family. Will has watched Sonny’s frenzy, so unlike his usual calm and steady assurance, and his clinginess to Paul unlike anything Will has ever seen from Sonny in the year that he’s known him. Paul and Sonny have always been affectionate, never afraid of PDA, but Sonny’s never attached himself so thoroughly to Paul’s side before now, like they’re glued together.
It’s easy for the guests to pass it off as Sonny having missed his husband for six months, but Will is certain there’s a different reason for Sonny’s unbreakable attachment and it snaps something in Will.
As the party winds down, Will follows Sonny into his office at the back of the club.
“Need any help?”
Sonny nearly jumps a foot in the air at his voice. “No. I’m fine,” Sonny says sharply.
“Are you though?”
“Yes,” Sonny grits out, rifling through papers and not looking at Will.
“You know you’re a terrible liar, right?”
“What’s your problem, Will?!” Sonny shouts at him from behind his desk, spinning around to finally face Will.
“What’s my problem? Will asks. “What’s your problem, Sonny?”
Sonny’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Will barks out a bitter laugh. “Of course you don’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sonny asks angrily, finally emerging from behind his desk.
“How long are we going to deny this, Sonny?”
“Deny what?”
“My god. You are so frustrating,” Will mutters to the ceiling. “There’s something between us. You know there is. You’re just too afraid to do anything about it.”
“There’s nothing between us,” Sonny denies. “Anyway, even if there was, it doesn’t matter because I’m married.”
“I think we both know that doesn’t matter.”
Sonny glares daggers at him.
Will can’t blame him. He can’t believe he’s said that; after everything he’s said to his parents about unfaithfulness, he can’t believe he’s even thinking about hurting Paul like this. But he wants Sonny so much, desperately needs Sonny to admit that he returns his feelings, that right now Paul just seems like necessary collateral damage.
“I’m sorry,” Will apologizes, because he hates that he’s willing to hurt Paul to get Sonny. “You’re right it does matter. But Sonny,” Will almost pleads and takes a step into Sonny’s space. “Can you really stand there and pretend like we haven’t been dancing around each other for months?”
“We haven’t,” Sonny denies again, his mouth a thin, angry line.
Will takes another tentative step closer to Sonny. “So, us almost kissing on Valentine’s Day, and every time since that our hands have accidentally brushed and you’ve pulled away like you’ve been scalded, every time I catch you staring at me when you think I’m not looking, every time you run out of the room when we’re left alone, you purposefully changing the club’s hours so that I’m still at work when you’re closing up, that was all because I mean nothing to you?”
“You don’t mean nothing to me,” Sonny answers immediately. “But I’m not in love with you.”
“Prove it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Prove it. Prove you’re not in love with me. Prove that I’ve just been imagining the tension between us,” Will challenges.
Sonny stares at him, his mouth hanging open slightly.
Will stares back boldly, a dare.
After a long minute, Sonny says, “Fine. Fine. I’ll prove it. I’ll kiss you right now to prove that I don’t have feelings for you.”
“Great,” Will says, his heart beating a mile a minute against his chest. He hadn’t actually expected Sonny to give in and now he’s suddenly been granted the opportunity to kiss Sonny.
“Fine,” Sonny says again.
Then he swallows thickly, stalks forward, grabs Will’s face with both his hands, and slams their mouths together.
It’s a hard kiss, bruising lips and too much teeth, Sonny’s fingers digging painfully into his cheeks, nothing like Will imagined their first kiss to be, and it’s over before Will can fully process the feel of Sonny’s lips against his.
When Will opens his eyes, Sonny is back behind his desk and he looks absolutely wrecked, close to tears.
“There, see. Nothing,” Sonny croaks, a blatant lie.
“Sonny, I -” Will starts, not quite knowing what to say. This hasn’t gone at all like he planned and now he feels even more miserable than he’s felt all year pining after Sonny. Somehow this has made things worse and he thinks that he might have just ruined their friendship and possibly his brotherhood with Paul.
“Please leave, Will,” Sonny pleads, his voice a broken whisper.
Will swallows his heart and leaves, but not before taking a last glance at Sonny, who’s collapsed into his chair, his head in his hands, quietly sobbing.
Will avoids Sonny for the rest of May and into the beginning of June. When Paul asks why the three of them haven’t been hanging out the way they had before he’d left on his mission, Will says simply that he’s been overwhelmed with work and he’s leaving them alone to make up for the six months that they were apart. For his part, Sonny never asks.
But as Salem turns hot, Paul insists that Will start spending time with them again. Unable to decline without raising questions, Will agrees. The first time Will sees Sonny in over a month it’s at the lakeside and he’s shirtless and dripping wet. Will nearly turns around on the spot but Paul catches sight of him and waves, so Will swallows the lump in his throat, plasters on as sincere a smile as he can, and walks over to their beach spread.
“Hey! Haven’t seen you around in awhile,” Sonny says to him as Will drops his beach bag on their blanket. “Everything alright?”
Will stares at Sonny in disbelief; he never realized Sonny was such a good actor, or else that he is extremely successful at compartmentalizing.
“Uh, yeah. I was just giving you and Paul some space,” Will answers flatly.
“You really didn’t have to do that,” Paul replies, draping his arm across Sonny’s shoulders.
“It’s fine. I wanted to,” Will says, watching Sonny gently move out from Paul’s arm to grab a bottle of suntan lotion.
“In case you didn’t bring,” Sonny says, holding it out to Will.
“Thanks,” Will says politely as he takes it, deliberately brushing his fingers against Sonny’s.
Will feels Sonny’s fingers flinch under his, but he doesn’t jump away as he had been months ago, and Will’s certain Sonny holds his gaze for longer than is strictly necessary.
“Meet us in the water?” Paul asks.
Will nods and watches them walk down to the lake hand-in-hand. Five minutes later, Will joins them and it’s more than a bit easy to fall back into their old camaraderie. As they joke and laugh together and splash each other, some of the tension in Will’s shoulders eases and he ends up having the most fun day he’s had in months.
After that, Will finds it slightly less painful to be around them and he manages an internal balance of desperately wanting Sonny and studiously ignoring his feelings the way Sonny seems to have done himself. Thus, June passes in playing basketball games, going to baseball games, watching movies, and the three of them generally spending most of their free time together.
Things get uncomfortable for Will in the middle of July when Paul suggests they all hit The Spot for a night out.
“We can be your wingmen!” The excitement on Paul’s face sinks Will’s heart.
“I’m not interested,” Will says over the top of his coffee mug.
“Come on, Will. For as long as you’ve been out you’ve always been boy crazy,” Paul announces.
Will’s cheeks flame. “I have not,” Will mumbles, embarrassed, and avoids meeting Sonny’s eyes.
“Really?” Paul challenges with a raised eyebrow. “You had a crush on every football and baseball player in high school. And how many boyfriends did you have in college?”
“Two! I had two boyfriends in college! I’m not my mother, thank you very much,” Will replies, indignant and offended that Paul is making him out to be a runaround. But Paul just laughs and, to Will’s chagrin, Sonny is grinning into his donut.
“No, but really. Are you even dating around?” Paul asks more seriously. “Since I came back last summer I haven’t seen you with anyone.”
Will swallows. “I told you. I’m not really interested right now,” Will answers, but his eyes flick to Sonny, who’s frowning at something apparently very interesting on his napkin.
Paul shrugs. “Whatever. But come with us tonight. Maybe you’ll meet someone.”
Will turns his attention back to Paul and agrees to join them.
As it turns out, Will does meet someone. His name is Neil Hultgren and he’s wonderful. Smart, an athlete, kind, everything Will would normally be attracted to, if only he weren’t fiercely in love with Sonny. But Neil is fun and the sex is great, so they date casually, Will, Sonny, and Paul’s hang outs now becoming double dates, and Will thinks it might be the start of a long road of getting over Sonny.
As summer fades into autumn things get serious with Neil. Will likes him a lot, more than he expected to, and so Will agrees to be exclusive, considering he’s not seeing anyone else anyway. He’s still in love with Sonny and he’s certain he’s not in love with Neil, but he immensely enjoys the time they spend together and being with him greatly takes his mind off of Sonny, at least until Will is alone again without Neil to distract him.
Sometimes, when the four of them are together, Will thinks that Sonny has a scowl on his face after he and Neil share a kiss or that Sonny stares at their linked fingers just a little too long, but with how Sonny was before the disaster confrontation at Common Grounds in May and how he’s been since that brief unmentioned kiss, Will thinks he’s probably just imagining it.
September and October pass uneventfully under the same routine of work, dates with Neil, double dates with Sonny and Paul, and family gatherings. As November blows in with a blizzard, Paul insists on making Will and big 25th birthday party at Common Grounds.
“I don’t know,” Will hedges. “You know I don’t like birthday parties.”
“Come on, Will! It’ll be fun,” Paul promises.
“Everyone always says that and something always inevitably goes wrong,” Will counters.
“Don’t be a spoilsport.”
Will sighs. “Fine.”
Paul grins and sweeps Will into a big bear hug.
So for the next two weeks, Paul, Sonny, and Neil buzz around town inviting literally every person in town that Will is related to, any and all Hortons and Bradys, and all of Will’s other friends and coworkers. There’s sure to be at least fifty people there and Will dreads it.
But they’ve all worked so hard on this party that Will can’t do anything but appreciate it.
So on the morning of November 16th, Will is just getting ready to hop in the shower when there’s a knock on his door. As far as he knows he’s not expecting anyone; they’re all busy getting Common Grounds ready for his party.
Curious, Will opens the door.
“Hey,” Will says, surprised to find Sonny on his doorstep. “I didn’t think I was seeing you until the party tonight.”
“Can I come in?” Sonny asks and Will swears he sounds nervous.
“Sure. Everything alright? Where’s Paul?”
“He’s with your grandparents getting stuff ready for the party. Is Neil here?”
“No,” Will says slowly. “I’m meeting him at Common Grounds. Sonny? What’s going on?”
“I wanted to give you your birthday present before the party.”
“Oh no. Did you and Paul get me some kinky sex stuff you don’t want my family to see?” Will laughs.
“I love you,” Sonny blurts out.
Will blinks, thinking he’s misheard. “What?”
“Neil’s going to ask you to marry him tonight. Please don’t say yes,” Sonny responds.
“What?” Will asks again, confused because that’s definitely not what Sonny said before and also because he’s in a little bit of a panic now. Will’s been considering breaking up with Neil because despite how much he’s tried, he still hasn’t gotten over Sonny and he’s still not in love with Neil and that’s unfair to Neil who Will knows is in love with him.
“I don’t want you to marry Neil.”
Will is so confused. “What are you saying, Sonny?”
“I love you,” Sonny repeats and Will definitely doesn’t mishear it this time.
“Please don’t say that if you don’t mean it,” Will pleads.
“I do mean it. I love you,” Sonny says for a third time.
“Why would you say that to me?” Will asks angrily. “For almost a year you’ve made it very clear that you don’t have feelings for me and now you come barging in here on my birthday to tell me you supposedly love me and you expect me to believe you?!”
“I - you’re right. I’m so sorry, Will. I’ve been terrible to you. I have had feelings for you since Paul went undercover, probably even before. I was lying to myself and to you, trying to make myself believe that I didn’t because I didn’t want to. I’m married, Will! I didn’t want to fall in love with someone who isn’t my husband! But you - you just - you just happened. I don’t know. I don’t know! You snuck up on me. With Paul busy all the time and then gone without a trace for months it was just the two of us and it felt so domestic, y’know? Like it was our life,” Sonny says, pointing to himself and Will.
Will can barely hear Sonny’s ranting over the blood rushing in his ears and the pounding of his heart. That’s exactly how it had felt to Will, and Will has so much hope he doesn’t dare breathe for the possibility that this is all a dream.
“And it was so easy to imagine that we could have that forever,” Sonny continues, caught up now in his confession. “And when we almost kissed on Valentine’s Day, I got scared. I got scared shitless, Will, because I wanted to kiss you so much that night and I didn’t even think about Paul until that car alarm went off. I just forgot about my husband because I was with you. So I ran away.
“I pretended that things were the same between us, but I couldn’t, not really, so I kept my distance from you, just like you said at the welcome home party. And I hated being called out like that because you were throwing everything in my face that I was trying to deny. So I kissed you to prove you wrong but it only made it clear that I was in way deeper than I thought I was.
“With Paul back, I thought it would be easy for me to convince myself that I didn’t have feelings for you, but right away I knew that something had changed within me because suddenly things felt different for me between me and Paul. I couldn’t stop thinking about you and wishing that I was living with you instead of him. I was so grateful that you stayed away from me after the party because I thought with the space I could shift things back. Get myself back on track with Paul, but it just made things worse, honestly. Because you weren’t there, but I was thinking about you anyway all the time. Missing you and wanting to be around you. Paul started feeling like a nuisance and I hated that. I hated that I didn’t want to be around my husband but it happened and I couldn’t fix it.
“And then you started dating Neil and I’ve been so jealous, Will. Like, it’s insane how jealous I’ve been watching you with him. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to punch him in the face for kissing you or holding your hand. And that’s when I knew that I loved you. That I was in love you and that I wanted to be with you for real. Because I wanted to be the one casually kissing you and holding your hand.”
“You really love me?” Will whispers, hope fluttering wildly in his chest.
“I’m crazy about you,” Sonny answers.
“Prove it,” Will says, the ends of his lips curling up in amusement.
Sonny laughs a full-belly laugh and closes the distance between them.
Will’s heart is beating painfully against his chest, threatening to explode, and his breath in coming in short puffs, so close to an anxiety attack, as he watches Sonny walk towards him.
Sonny stops toe-to-toe with him, their faces inches apart. Will can see the gold flecks in Sonny’s brown eyes and the beginnings of the moustache and beard Sonny had mentioned last week that he wanted to grow for the winter.
“What about Paul?” Will asks quietly into the air between them.
“I have to have a long and painful conversation with him. Not tonight but I will. I promise. I don’t want to break his heart, but I have to because I want to be with you, Will. I want to be with you so much I can hardly stand it. Can I kiss you?”
“It wouldn’t be much of a birthday present if you didn’t,” Will deadpans.
Sonny laughs again, bright and loud, and shakes his head in exasperation. “C’mere,” Sonny mumbles and places his hands on Will’s cheeks, cradling Will’s face gently, so different from the pinching grip of the fleeting kiss months ago in Sonny’s office.
Their lips meet softly, and this time it is exactly what Will imagined their first kiss to be. Sonny’s hands slide off his face to cup the back of Will’s head, his arms resting loosely around Will’s shoulders and his fingers tangling in Will’s hair. Will whimpers when Sonny’s tongue darts into his mouth and he wraps his arms around Sonny’s waist, pulling him closer so they’re chest-to-chest.
They kiss unrushed and unheated for a long time, Will’s not sure how long, but at some point his lungs start burning and he regretfully breaks away for air. He drops his forehead against Sonny’s, his eyes still closed, and whispers, “Is this real?”
“Yeah,” Sonny whispers back.
Will opens his eyes to find Sonny watching him, a tiny smile curling his lips. “I love you so much, Sonny.”
“What about Neil?” Sonny asks, an echo of Will’s earlier question.
Will lifts his head away from Sonny’s to better look at him. “I don’t love him. That’s not true. I do love him. I’m just not in love with him. I’ve loved you since that first day I saw you with Abby and I’ve tried to stop, I really have. I tried to fall in love with Neil. I wanted to. But you’re the one in my heart, Sonny. You’re in my bones. You are a part of me. I’ll always love you.”
Sonny’s face splits slowly into a blinding grin and Will’s lips curl into a matching grin, his heart bursting with joy.
They grin stupidly at each other for a long minute, their arms still around each other, until Will asks, “What did you mean that Neil is going to ask me to marry him tonight?”
“Oh. Neil told me and Paul last week that he was planning to propose to you at the party tonight. He has a ring and everything.”
Will bites his lip, thinking. “I have to talk to him before the party then. I can’t let him come and propose and turn him down in front of everyone.”
Sonny nods. “Can you ask him not to say anything to Paul? I can’t let him hear about us from anyone but me.”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“I should go,” Sonny says unconvincingly. “I told Paul I had to run an errand for the party. He’ll be wondering where I am.”
“Okay,” Will says and regretfully drops his arms from Sonny’s waist as Sonny’s arms pull away from Will’s shoulders. Will misses them already.
“I’ll see you at the party,” Sonny says and heads towards the door.
“Yeah,” Will agrees, following behind Sonny.
“Good luck with Neil.”
“Thanks.”
At the door, Sonny turns around and grins again at Will. “Happy birthday, Will,” Sonny says and kisses him quickly before slipping out of Will’s apartment.
Will closes the door behind Sonny, the reality of the last half hour fully sinking in. Sonny loves him. Sonny is leaving Paul for him. Sonny loves him!
Will laughs into the emptiness of his apartment, giddy with nerves and happiness. He knows that the fallout from this is going to be messy and painful for everyone involved but Sonny loves him and wants to build a life with him and that’s really all that matters.
As he makes his way into his bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the party, Will thinks this is the best birthday he’s ever had.
14. kissing under the stars & 51. spinning your lover into a kiss on the dance floor
“You know, I didn’t expect to be in Salem for our anniversary,” Sonny says, apropos of nothing as they walk towards the center of town.
His hand is warm in Will’s and the early April breeze is on the edge of balmy, the evening sky clear and full of stars.
“I know. I didn’t either. But thank you for agreeing to stay a bit longer. There’s so much going on with my family, I feel wrong for leaving.”
“I know.” Sonny squeezes Will’s hand and gives him a small smile.
“I know we’d planned on going to that new outdoor restaurant in Phoenix,” Will says. “But I thought we could try this.”
Will gestures as he pushes open the rarely-closed gate to Horton Town Square.
Sonny stares at the scene. There are fairy lights strung criss-cross across the Square from tree to tree with Christmas lights adorning the trunks and lampposts. Miniature cacti are interspersed with the flowers in the flower boxes that line the plaza and that surround the Tom and Alice plaque. The roof is open on this beautiful spring night, providing the illusion that they are outdoors. Soft music filters out of the speakers that are hidden around the edges of the Square.
Eventually, Sonny realizes that the Square is deserted and that there is a single table sitting in the middle in front of Sweet Bits.
“How did you do this?” Sonny asks, eyes wide with awe.
“Well, it is my name on the Square,” Will jokes. “I rented out the Square for a few hours with a private patio reservation from the Bistro and Chad helped get cacti and lights. Also, I’m pretty sure Allie and Chanel baked us a cake. I didn’t ask them to, but Allie seemed suspicious when I saw her this morning.”
Sonny grins as he follows Will to the table. A waitress from the Bistro appears as soon as they’re seated, offering them menus, pouring water into their glasses, and asking if they want drinks. They order sodas and a bottle of the restaurant’s best Pinot Noir.
“I still can’t believe you did this,” Sonny says, a grin across his face. He holds his hand palm-up on the table.
Will slides his hand into Sonny’s. “I know you were bummed about the Arizona plans. And it’s been kind of crazy since we’ve been back. I thought we could use some time for us.” After a beat, Will adds, “Also, I’m expecting something equally as breathtaking for our June wedding anniversary.”
Sonny throws his head back with laughter just as the waiter arrives with their drinks and for their dinner order. The waiter retreats once Sonny’s ordered a prime rib and Will’s requested shrimp scampi.
“I always forget that this place has a retractable roof,” Sonny says, tipping his head up to the sky. “It’s closed so often.”
“I requested the beautiful night weather, too,” Will cracks, making Sonny shake with laughter again.
“Will Horton, Weather God,” Sonny quips, returning his gaze to Will.
“When I was little, my parents took me camping once. It was one time when they’d stopped fighting momentarily for my sake. A snake almost bit my mom.” Will smiles fondly at the memory. “But I remember lying on my back on my sleeping bag, looking up at the stars. It made me want to be an astronaut. I thought it would be so cool to be able to get away from Earth, my parents. Find other beings. Maybe a new family.”
“What happened to the astronaut plan?” Sonny asks as he sips his wine.
“Too much math and science.”
Sonny grins.
“It’s crazy that it’s been eight years,” Sonny says absentmindedly, stroking Will’s hand with his thumb.
“It’s been a crazy eight years.”
Sonny nods in agreement, but smiles fondly. “I wouldn’t change it though.”
“Really?” Will tilts his head in curiosity. “I can think of one thing in particular I would change.”
Sonny doesn’t ask if it’s the cheating or the death but instead says, “Really. I wouldn’t change any of it. Because it all made us stronger and what we are right now.”
Will’s face goes soft. “Sap.”
Sonny grins just as the waiter arrives with their food.
They eat in comfortable silence, listening to crickets, the nighttime sounds of Salem through the gates and the open roof, and the soft music filtering around the Square.
When they’re finished, Sonny pushes his chair back and holds his hand out to Will. “Mr. Horton, may I have this dance?” Sonny asks dramatically, affecting a terrible British accent.
Will pushes his chair back, stands up, and bows to Sonny, equally dramatic. “You may, good sir,” Will responds with his own fake accent, slipping his hand into Sonny’s.
Sonny laughs and leads Will towards the empty part of the Square next to their table. Maintaining his part, Sonny places one hand on Will’s hip and holds the other out in the air for Will to take. Chuckling through a splitting grin, Will obliges and they dance formally across the Square for a bit, half dancing, half hopping their way from end to end.
When they pass by their table for the third time, Will huffs out a surprised laugh as Sonny lets go of his waist and spins him out towards the center of the Square and pulls him back in in quick succession, Will’s free arm flying around Sonny’s neck to steady himself. Sonny grins as their chests collide and he leans forward to steal a kiss.
Will shakes his head in amusement as their trance is broken by their waiter appearing with a cake.
“Aha! I knew Allie and Chanel had baked us something!” Will says triumphantly as they retake their seats.
It’s a beautiful chocolate cake with matching chocolate frosting and the words “Happy anniversary, Will and Sonny!” written on top in blue icing.
They devour half the cake in minutes and ask the waiter to wrap the rest of it. Arianna will love it.
“This was wonderful. Thank you,” Sonny says, his arms snaking around Will’s waist, as they stand outside the Bistro waiting for their dessert box.
Will’s arms find home around Sonny’s shoulders as he shrugs nonchalantly. “I love you,” Will says simply and kisses Sonny gently.
They kiss lazily, unheated, for a long time after the waiter has returned their leftover cake to their table, the stars shining brightly above them, illuminating the night sky.
Will helps Sonny through the anniversary of his mother’s death.
Sonny wakes to the sound of frying oil and silverware tinkling against glass. A smile tugs at his lips and he slips out of bed, clad only in the boxers in which he had fallen asleep.
When he pads into the kitchen, Will’s at the stove, a spatula in his hand and French toast frying in the pan, the table set for two. Basketball shorts hang low against his hips.
“Morning,” Sonny says, voice still scratchy from sleep.
Will twists his head around, smiles, and says, “Hey. Breakfast is almost ready.” A minute later, he’s plating two pieces of French toast and handing Sonny one of the plates.
“What’s this for?” Sonny asks.
“I knew today would be hard for you,” Will answers.
Mother’s Day. It’s why Ari isn’t in the house. She had spent the night with Gabi, so they could have the day together.
Will holds his hand out, palm up, on top of the table. Sonny takes it, laces their fingers together.
“I wasn’t able to properly comfort you last year when it happened,” Will continues. The events immediately after the accident hang heavy between them, the knowledge of Will’s innocence dissipating the residual pain. “But I want to take care of you today.”
Tears spring to Sonny’s eyes. Will jumps out of his chair and hurries around the table to pull Sonny into a hug. Sonny wraps his arms around Will’s waist and buries his nose in Will’s neck. Will’s fingers card through Sonny’s hair, comforting, his other arm tight around Sonny’s waist. Will’s lips dance feather-light across Sonny’s bare shoulder.
When they break apart, Will shifts his place setting so he can sit next to Sonny instead of across from him. They eat their now-lukewarm breakfast in comfortable silence, their knees brushing under the table, and retire to their bedroom to prepare for the day.
* * * * * * * * *
“How you doing?” Will asks, sliding his arms around Sonny’s waist as they stand at their sink.
Sonny had taken a long shower, unusual for him even on weekends, worrying Will.
Sonny leans back against Will, his hands finding Will’s against his stomach.
“I was in the middle of my shower when I panicked, thinking I forgot to buy Mom a card,” Sonny answers quietly.
Will kisses Sonny’s shoulder.
“I thought, uh, I thought we could go visit her,” Will says after a beat.
Sonny locks eyes with Will in the mirror and then turns around in Will’s arms, drapes his own around Will’s neck.
“Is that okay?”
Sonny nods and drops his forehead against Will’s, his eyes sliding closed. They breathe together for a long minute, Will steadying Sonny, before they pull apart to finish getting ready for the day.
* * * * * * *
The walk to the St. Luke’s cemetery is a slow one. They stop for flowers from the stand in the Square on the way and Sonny clings tightly to Will’s hand, while Will chatters away about the article he’s working on, the huge fight Aunt Jen and Uncle Jack had the other day in the middle of the Spectator office, some of the research he’s been doing about surrogacy, to keep Sonny’s mind occupied.
When they pass through the gate to the graveyard, Sonny’s steps slow and his face pales.
Will squeezes his hand. “We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready. I just thought it might help.”
“No. It’s okay. I’m okay,” Sonny responds and tugs on Will’s hand as he pulls them towards Adrienne’s grave.
They stop at the site where Adrienne is buried and they stare down at the headstone together. Sonny’s breath hitches as he places the bouquet of flowers on the ground in front of the headstone, never letting go of Will’s hand. Will squeezes his hand again.
When Sonny straightens up, Will lets go of his hand to wrap his arm around Sonny’s shoulders, pulling him into a side hug. Sonny leans into him, grabs Will’s hand where it curls around Sonny’s arm.
“Hi, Mom. Happy Mother’s Day,” Sonny says quietly after a while. Then, “I miss you.”
They stand in silence a little while longer until Sonny asks, “Can we go home?”
Will nods, slides his hand into Sonny’s, and leads him back home.
* * * * * * * *
At home, Will calls Gabi briefly to check on Ari and to wish her a happy Mother’s Day from him and Sonny. When he gets off the phone, he finds Sonny curled up on the couch, his knees pulled to his chest, his forehead on his knees.
“Son?” When there’s no response, Will sits down next to him, a gentle hand on Sonny’s back, tries again, “Baby?”
Sonny picks his head up at the endearment. Will’s heart cracks to see Sonny’s eyes red and swollen.
“Hey, come here,” Will says, holding his arms open. Sonny falls into them immediately, his head falling against Will’s chest. Will leans back against the couch, taking Sonny with him.
Will puts the Cubs game on low, as much for background noise as anything. They watch the game in a comfortable quiet for an hour, Sonny’s tears having mostly subsided although he still lets out occasional sniffles. Eventually, Will says, “Tell me about her.”
Sonny twists his head up to look at Will.
“Tell me about your mom.”
“You knew my mom.”
Will sticks his lips out a little, shakes his head. “I knew a little bit of her. Tell me what I don’t know.”
Sonny blinks up at him and then sits up, cross-legged. Will matches him and holds his hands out on top of his legs. Sonny takes them and stares at their joined hands while he thinks.
“She loved gardening but was terrible at it,” Sonny says after a long minute. A smile tugs at the corners of his lips.
“Yeah?”
“She had a garden in both Texas and Dubai. In Texas she tried growing vegetables. They were tiny little things. We couldn’t eat them. In Dubai she tried to grow flowers but they kept dying. But she kept at it, convinced that one day she would make edible vegetables or flowers bloom.”
“Did she?”
Sonny laughs and shakes his head. “No.”
Will huffs out a laugh. “What else?”
“She was the worst PTA mom. And by worst, I mean for me. She was at every event, bake sales, car washes, dances. She was basically the school mom. It was so embarrassing.”
“At least your classmates never walked around with your mom’s face on their faces,” Will says.
Sonny gives Will a startled, questioning look.
Will waves his hand. “Another time. What else about your mom?”
“She was so supportive when I came out,” Sonny says quietly, more seriously. “Dubai wasn’t an easy place to be out. She always made sure I was safe, had a safe place to land.”
Will squeezes Sonny’s hands where they rest, fingers laced, atop both their legs.
“I miss her,” Sonny says after a beat. “But this helped. Thank you.”
“I live to serve,” Will answers.
Sonny’s body shakes with laughter, and Will laughs with him, glad his joke had the desired effect.
When they catch their breath, Will asks, “What else can I do for you?”
“Could we maybe just watch The Real Housewives and eat junk food until Gabi drops Ari off?” Sonny replies.
Will nods and leans back against the couch, pulling Sonny with him by their laced fingers. Will stretches one of his legs out on the couch and drapes the other over the edge, falling onto the floor to accommodate Sonny. Sonny goes willingly, stretching his own legs out and slotting himself into the space Will makes for him, his head resting gently against Will’s chest. Will drops a kiss into Sonny’s hair and hugs him close.
When they’re settled, Will lets go of Sonny briefly to switch the TV to their desired channel.
They spend the rest of the day watching trash TV, moving only for Will to get snacks and drinks.
Will blinked awake to the early morning sun streaming through their window. Sonny’s arm was draped over his waist, his body a warm weight against Will’s back. Will turned carefully so as not to wake Sonny and smiled softly at his sleeping husband.
“Morning,” Sonny mumbled, half-asleep.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Will whispered.
Sonny smiled slowly and opened his eyes to look at Will. “I’m certain a little monster is going to wake us any second.”
Will huffed out a laugh and brushed his lips against Sonny’s before snuggling closer so they were nose-to-nose.
Sure enough, a minute later, the door opened and the bed bounced with the weight of a seven year-old.
“Daddies, wake up! It’s Christmas!”
Will and Sonny laughed together and let Ari drag them out of bed and downstairs to see what Santa brought her.
* * * * * *
2021
Sonny woke to the first rays of sunlight peeking through the slats in their bedroom shades. Will was sleeping peacefully next to him, their faces a breath away. Their legs were twined under the sheets and the hands in between them were brushing. Sonny lifted his other hand to trace lightly over Will’s face.
This past year had been nothing short of a roller-coaster of emotions: the divorce; finding out Maggie had been the one responsible for Adrienne’s death and that Victor had framed Will for it; Will being released from prison; Will insisting that Sonny be happy with Evan (”What happened will never go away, Sonny! It doesn’t matter that I didn’t do it!”); Sonny insisting that Will not being responsible did make a difference (”Of course it matters, Will! All the reasons you gave me for not being together don’t exist anymore!”); them getting back together on their anniversary (”Husbands for life, remember?” Sonny asked before kissing Will senseless); their third - and final! (or so Sonny hoped) - wedding in August on the anniversary of Will getting his memories back.
And now they were here, in their own apartment, settled again, and happy.
“I can hear you thinking,” Will said, popping open an eye to look at Sonny.
“Sorry,” Sonny said with a cheeky grin. “I didn’t mean to wake you. You looked so peaceful.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“Everything that happened this year.”
Will blinked fully awake and his hand found Sonny’s under the sheets. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They kissed lazily for a long time.
“It’s so quiet,” Will whispered.
“That’s what happens when there’s no almost nine-year old monster in the house on Christmas.”
Will grinned. They had dropped Ari (and all the presents for her) off with Gabi and Stefan after the Horton tree trimming the night before. She had spent Christmas with them for the past few years (just Sonny, last year); she had asked to be with her mom this year and they readily obliged.
“What do you want to do today?” Sonny asked.
“Can we stay in? Or do we have go to your family?”
“Staying in sounds like the best Christmas ever,” Sonny answered, kissing Will again.
After sleeping another couple of hours, Sonny made them pancakes and they exchanged their gifts for each other (a new watch [Will’s was lost in the accident] and journal for Will, and new gloves [Sonny’s were hopelessly worn out] and new pages for their photo album for Sonny).
Together they opened their families’ presents: from Eric and Nicole they received a framed photo of a quiet moment between them from their wedding that they hadn’t known he’d captured; Sami, Lucas, and EJ had jointly sent them Italian chocolates and two expensive bottles of wine; Justin had bought them season tickets to the Cubs home games; John and Marlena had bought them the stereo system they were missing; Kate gifted them a weekend at the Green Mountain Lodge; and Arianna had drawn them a picture of the three of them and a puppy (her way of telling them she wanted a dog) and bought each of them matching pens with her allowance money.
When they finished with all their presents, they settled on the couch under a fuzzy, warm blanket, with cups of hot chocolate in their hands, and spent the rest of the day watching silly Christmas movies and snacking on the Italian chocolate and popcorn.
* * * * * * *
2023
Will, Sonny, and Ari strolled through the Christmas market in Switzerland, Ari carefully cradling a cup of hot chocolate as she perused the stalls. They’d already purchased three bags full of jewelry, tchotchkies, and various gifts for Gabi, her grandparents, and great-grandparents.
This Christmas they had decided to take Ari to visit Sami, Lucas, EJ, the twins, and Sydney, and follow through on visiting the European markets they had talked about so long ago. They were also going to stop by Carrie and Austin (who had reunited) and Noah while they were in Switzerland. It was to be their last trip out of Salem for a while, with the babies due to be born in February.
“Daddy! Can I go on the carousel?!” Ari asked, looking up at Will. At almost eleven, she was in ways both very much a teenager and still a kid.
“Sure, Little Lady,” Will said. He still used the old endearment whenever possible, certain she wouldn’t tolerate it much longer.
She grinned, handed Sonny her empty cup, and ran to the carousel.
Sonny laughed, linked his fingers with Will’s, and together they followed Ari to the carousel to pay for her ride.
* * * * * * *
2024
Their first Christmas with the twins was chaotic. It started when Ari grumbled to get out of bed early, even though she was excited to open presents (although she would never let on that she was, she was too old now). Then it took them an extra hour to get out of the house with two ten-month olds and a pre-teen than it normally would have and they had four different places to hit before they could collapse back home.
Their first stop was the Kiriakis mansion to visit Justin, Maggie, Victor, and Sonny’s brothers who had surprised them all for coming to Salem for Christmas this year. They had planned on only staying an hour but Maggie had insisted they stay for tea.
So an hour behind schedule, they headed to the Brady Pub to visit Roman, Kayla and Steve, Stephanie, who had also come to Salem for the holidays, Hope, and Shawn, Belle, and Claire, who had been released from Bayview the previous year. At the Pub, they ate lunch, and the twins fell asleep in their carriage.
With the twins still asleep, and bellies full, they made a pit stop at Kate’s apartment, where they made up some time, managing to stay only a half an hour with the excuse that they had dinner plans and still needed to see John and Marlena. It wasn’t a complete lie as their dinner plans were with John and Marlena, but Kate didn’t need to know that.
The babies woke up crying somewhere between Kate’s apartment and John and Marlena’s townhouse, so they lost time again as they had to stop to soothe them. Eventually, with one baby in Ari’s arms and one in Sonny’s, and Will pushing the now empty carriage, they rang the doorbell to the townhouse.
Brady greeted them with his four-year old daughter on his hip.
As they were pulling off their coats and scarves, Paul appeared from the kitchen with his new husband, followed by Claire, Belle, and Shawn, who had beaten them to the townhouse from the Pub. John and Marlena appeared shortly after, hugging Will and Sonny and Ari and cooing at the babies.
An hour later, they sat down to dinner, Ari chattering away about the presents she received and loudly and pointedly about the ones she hadn’t.
* * * * * * * *
2030
The Christmas before Ari’s nineteenth birthday she didn’t spend in Salem. Johnny, Allie, and Sydney had decided to spend the two weeks covering Christmas and New Year’s in Aruba and Ari had cajoled Will, Sonny, and Gabi into letting her go with them. Allie had promised Will that they wouldn’t let Ari drink (”Will, Dad is an alcoholic and I’ve had more than my share of days clinging to a toilet bowl.”), but he knew in his bones that Ari would have a drink at some point during the trip.
“I have to give Ari credit though,” Sonny said after getting off the phone with her on Christmas morning. “In all the times we’ve spoken to her, she’s never sounded even tipsy.”
“Should that worry us?” Will asked on a laugh.
“No. I don’t think so. Ari’s a good girl. She’s not a partier,” Sonny said seriously. “I think I’m more concerned about her switching a paternity test or something.”
Will howled with laughter and the twins appeared from their bedroom to see what the commotion was.
* * * * * * * *
+ 1
2040
After Julie passed away earlier in the year, Doug already passed two years before, Jennifer had offered the Horton house to Will and Sonny. With Chad, Abby, Thomas, and Charlotte permanently living in Paris, and JJ in London, Jack and Jennifer had decided to relocate to Paris to be closer to their family. Because the apartment was feeling crowded with two teenage boys, and because Arianna was now married with a baby on the way, Will and Sonny thanked Jennifer profusely and accepted the deed to the Horton house.
And so it was their first year hosting the annual Horton tree trimming.
“Adam! Make sure the boxes of ornaments are down from the attic!” Will called from the kitchen where he was checking on Sonny’s cookies.
Adam huffed and begrudgingly put down his book to trudge up the stairs to the attic.
“Chris, can you help me with the tree?” Sonny asked, struggling. Chris jumped off the couch to help position the tree in front of the window.
“How does it look?” Sonny asked Will who appeared from the kitchen.
“Looks great,” Will said with a smile.
Chris and Sonny high-fived as Adam came back downstairs, the two boxes of ornaments in his arms.
“Thank you,” Will said, as the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” Chris announced. A minute later he came back into the room with Ari and her husband, Jake.
“Dads!”
“Ari!” “Sweetpea!” Will and Sonny exclaimed at the same time.
“Merry Christmas, Dads,” Ari said, enveloping them both in a hug. “Merry Christmas, squirt,” she said to Adam, ruffling his hair as she passed behind the couch where he was sitting, reading again.
“Ugh!”
Ari giggled as he fixed his hair.
“Who else is coming?” Ari asked Sonny as the doorbell announced another group of Hortons.
“Where are my favorite grandchildren?” Lucas called from the foyer. He, Sami, EJ, Johnny, Allie, and Sydney had all come in for Christmas. They were seeing Sami, EJ, Johnny, Sydney and their respective wives (Sydney had come out to the family as bisexual three years ago) at the Brady Pub tomorrow for Christmas.
“Hi, Grandpa,” Ari said softly, who was the first to reach Lucas. “Merry Christmas, Aunt Allie.”
“Merry Christmas,” Adam mumbled into Lucas’ hug. Allie laughed under her breath as she received the quickest hug in existence from Adam.
“Merry Christmas, Grandpa, Aunt Allie,” Chris said cheerily.
Jennifer, Jack, Abby, Chad, and the kids were the next to arrive, followed closely by Hope and Ciara. Eli and Lani came next, toting their baby daughter, Violet, who was named for Eli’s mother who had passed away last year. Maggie and Sarah were the last to arrive just as Will was passing around Sonny’s cookies fresh out of the oven, and eggnog.
“Before we hang the ornaments, I just want to thank everyone for coming,” Will said. “I know this year has been rough for some of us, but it’s also brought us some joy, I hope. I, um, I know living here, and hosting this party has a long tradition and is a lot to live up to. But I hope that we can do justice to Gran and to Doug and Julie, and Aunt Jennifer, of course. So Merry Christmas and let’s decorate this tree!”
They all cheered and clinked glasses, and Will started the tree trimming by hanging Tom and Alice’s ornaments right at the top of the tree under the star.
