December 31, 2019

Paul Narita walked through Horton Town Square with his boyfriend Haruto Ito on his arm. The two had been in Salem for almost two weeks.

It wasn't what Paul expected.

When Paul met Haruto, he was swept up in the bright lights and glamour of a runway show. Saving the day, becoming someone's savior once again, brought meaning to Paul's life. After Will, after leaving Salem, Paul was lost. He focused on nothing but his recovery and putting Will Horton far from his mind.

It worked. Paul clawed his way to recovery and trained himself to ignore any part of him that clung to Will. He traveled. He adventured. Then a friend invited him to a fashion show of the latest Tokyo sensation and Paul got to save the day. He literally stepped into the shoes of a model taken ill and met Haruto. Haruto who was shy and sweet, quiet and humble, and the opposite of Will Horton in every way possible.

Haruto was everything Paul needed at the time. Each day his feelings grew and grew until Paul decided to take him to Salem. It was the natural next step in their evolving relationship. His father begged him each phone call to come back home and now Paul could. Paul healed, mentally and physically. Paul wanted his family to meet his boyfriend. Wanted Haruto to meet his family and celebrate Christmas for the first time in his life.

Then Paul got to Salem and everything he pushed aside, every feeling he ignored returned. Not at once, no, but over time. Everywhere Paul went, Will haunted him. Paul heard the echo of Will's laughter in the square. Felt the warmth of Will's soft smile and glittering eyes when he went into coffee shops. Will followed him everywhere, every street, every restaurant, every inch of Salem.

Paul ignored it. Focused on the pain he felt when he left Salem, the pain Will inflicted when Paul needed him most.

Then Paul saw him for the first time in over a year. Christmas Eve. Horton Town Square. When Paul should have been at his highest, perfect boyfriend on his arm, surrounded by approving family members. Paul shouldn't have cared about Will at all. Instead, Will was all Paul could think about.

He couldn't get the sight of Will's stricken face when he saw Paul again. The flash of something akin to despair on Will's face when Paul kissed Haruto's hand without even thinking. The pinch of Will's lips any time Brady opened his mouth. Even the narrowing of Will's eyes when Sonny and Leo waltzed into the picture.

When he first heard the news, it gave Paul a thrill of delight. Will so thoughtlessly threw him aside for Sonny and it blew up so spectacularly in Will's face in the end. Paul clung to that thought, that cosmic justice. But, now, with the results of it all in front of him, Paul couldn't help but feel for Will.

Everyone had someone and Will was alone.

Paul didn't know the details. He didn't know the real truth and not Brady's exaggerations. But, here Will was all alone while everyone else paired off.

It was a stark reminder of everything Paul lost. Will was so intrinsically tied to Salem and all Paul's memories. Memories once tied to Sonny, erased in favor of Will's all-encompassing presence.

Then Will sat before him, whip cream on his nose, adorable daughter dominating his life. The way Ari once did before Will and Paul were Will&Paul. The two so entwined Paul couldn't differentiate himself outside of their relationship.

Will was before him and Paul couldn't think of anything meaningful to say. He knew this day was coming. He was lucky not to run into Will earlier in his visit to Salem but he still wasn't prepared for Will Horton in the flesh. He especially wasn't ready to see Will's flesh. A few tempting inches of skin Paul had never been able to resist. There had always been something about Will. About his perfect amount of muscle tone and tantalizing freckles. Where Paul would spend hours with his hand splayed across any part of Will he could reach, naked, clothed, it didn't matter. All Paul needed was Will beside him and he had everything he'd ever need.

Then Paul didn't have Will. He didn't have anything, not his life, not his home, not his love.

Now, Paul was in a good place, moving on. But, yet again, Will and his penchant for the dramatics wiggled his way under Paul's skin. Sitting there with a desolate yet resolved look on his face, voice so small yet eyes hard and enduring, Paul could feel the hold Will once had on him start to pull him under once again.

One minute Paul was staring at Leo and Sonny's atrocious matching suits, wondering not for the first time how the hell life in Salem could end up so topsy-turvy. Wondering how Sonny could ever leave Will for Leo. Wondering what made Sonny's relationship so special this time his brothers came to town, even the elusive eldest who never got along with Sonny at all.

A few minutes in Will Horton's vicinity and Paul's whole world shifted. One moment Paul was moving on, at peace with someone comfortable if not boring. The next a pile of snow saturated Will and every safeguard Paul placed around his heart smashed into bits. One look at Will's cold, stunned, humiliated face and Paul was lost all over again.

Haruto kept Paul from rushing after Will. Every time Paul tried to sneak away, Haruto clung to his arm, whispering Japanese in his ear, asking about this family member or that.

It didn't stop Paul from worrying. It didn't ease Paul's guilt from leaving Will alone. It didn't stop him from staying up late that night, agonizing over it, gripping his phone so tight it left grooves in Paul's palms. Wanting to call Will, text him, anything to let him know Paul would be there in a heartbeat if only he could.

The next day, Christmas Day, was no better. When Marlena announced Will and Ari were staying in instead of coming over, Paul's worries intensified. Haruto must have seen it on his face because he never left Paul's side the rest of the day and night. All while Paul felt responsible for Will's absence. Imagined Will alone on Christmas because Paul brought someone home, because he wanted to rub it in Will's face he found someone new. Now, Will was missing out on valuable family time because of Paul.

Why else would Will stay away?

If Haruto wasn't watching him like a hawk, Paul would have called, texted, something, anything to let Will know he was welcome, he didn't have to be alone.

Even now, after everything, Paul couldn't stop protecting Will.

Will didn't come that day or the next. Paul didn't see or hear anything about Will again until now, New Year's Eve.

Paul, Haruto always by his side, accepted his father's invitation to ring in the New Year in the town square. When Paul arrived in Salem with Haruto he cared about his father's opinion on the new man in his life. He wanted to impress John, wanted to impress everyone.

Haruto should have been the perfect man for him. He was smart, sophisticated, sweet, and successful. His mother adored Haruto. Praising everything he did, always mentioning how pleased she was Paul was with someone like Haruto now, unlike before.

John said he liked Haruto as well. They didn't have much in common to talk about but Paul was always there to guide the conversation. Marlena enjoyed Haruto as well, welcoming with open arms and an open heart.

Paul should have been happy. Should have looked forward to starting a new year with his perfectly successful and wonderful boyfriend.

Instead, all Paul thought about was Will.

Wondering what Will was doing, where he was, if he was all alone. Comparing how different his night would be if he were with Will instead. How if Will held his arm, Paul wouldn't feel confined and trapped, lashed to a man who wouldn't let him breathe. How Will would talk back to John and Marlena, tease and challenge them. Laugh with his whole body, leaning into Paul's space because they couldn't exist without being in the other's orbit.

There wouldn't be awkward gaps in the conversation. Paul wouldn't have to explain to Will half the things Marlena or John spoke of under his breath. He wouldn't feel shackled, leashed, tied to someone he was beginning to regret ever bringing to Salem.

One thing Paul never did with Will, no matter how cracked and bruised his heart was, was regret their time together.

Paul always knew what was going to happen when he let Will into his life. He knew one day Will would get his memory back and leave him without a second thought. The longer they stayed together and when Will proclaimed his love, Paul doubted his belief but deep down he knew.

The feelings Will held for him before he almost died would one day return and no matter what Paul did to stop it, it wouldn't be enough.

All Will wanted before Ben tried to kill him was Sonny. It didn't matter if he loved Paul, that Will, pre-amnesia Will, was in love with Sonny.

Something had to give and Paul always knew it would be him.

In the end, he was right.

Will Horton was no good for him. He was too much and too little all at once. A contradiction wrapped in a beautiful package. Easy to get along with yet infuriating. Stubborn yet easy to manipulate. Confident yet insecure. Forgave but never forgot. Young but old, strong but weak, smart yet sometimes so incredibly stupid. Loving but hurt Paul more than anyone ever had.

Will Horton shouldn't be a factor in Paul's life anymore but one glimpse of Will and Paul couldn't get him off his mind. He knew the Will he saw a few days before wasn't the one he fell in love with, it wasn't his Will. But seeing Will strip off his coat and sweater to keep his daughter warm without a thought, watching Will leave Ari with Sonny and Leo when Will clearly wanted anything but, that was who Paul once loved.

Knowing Paul let him run off, alone, cold, and humiliated, hurt Paul. Will was in his every thought, agonizing over how Will spent his holiday, what he was doing now. No one in the family had seen him or heard from him since Christmas Eve. Will and Ari hadn't even gotten their presents from Marlena and John yet.

As he walked through Horton Town Square, Paul couldn't get Will off his mind. Haruto on his arm or not, with his father and Marlena chattering with his boyfriend or not, all Paul thought of was Will.

Which made the sight of him at the other end of the square cause Paul's heart to pound in his chest. Despite the cold air, Paul's palms began to sweat.

Will was sitting in the same chair as Christmas Eve. The same small table on the outskirts of the action, far removed from everyone else.

He was alone.

Paul paused when the others did in the thick of the crowded square. He remained silent while everyone else laughed, not even pretending to pay attention. He had been waiting for this moment since Christmas Eve, since Will left the square red-faced and teary-eyed. Boyfriend or not, Paul was going to Will. He'd shake off Haruto's once comforting presence, go to Will, take his hand, and perhaps ring in 2020 the way they did 2018.

As Paul grabbed Haruto's hand, moved it off his arm, and took a single step, Paul paused.

Will wasn't alone after all.

Paul watched as a tall, dark-haired man approached Will, shoving a steaming cup in his face. Paul watched as Will's pensive face lit up, blossoming to life and shining brighter than the tree in the middle of the square.

Paul's heart stuttered when Will took a large gulp, the tip of his nose covered in whip cream. The man shook his head at Will, wiping the cream away with his index finger and licking it clean.

Marlena and Haruto's conversation flew over Paul's head as he stared at Will. Saw the man plop in the seat next to Will, curling his foot around the leg of Will's chair, and yank him closer. Their knees brushing and Will leaning into the man's space, gravitating toward him.

Paul couldn't breathe when he saw the man grab Will's drink and steal a sip. The two passing the cup back and forth, conversation flowing, Will focused entirely on the man.

He didn't know how long he watched them, but Paul couldn't tear his eyes away.

A few minutes before midnight, Will and the man stood up, tossing their empty drink in the garbage. They stood close to each other as they walked, the man's hand low on Will's back, too low. A few feet away from Paul, he finally recognized the other man. Paul had seen him in pictures Sonny had of his family. Paul admired his looks once but knew better than to mention it in front of Sonny. Sonny who always resented any compliment directed toward his eldest brother.

Paul for the life of him could not think of one good reason why Sonny's womanizing older brother, Alex Kiriakis, would spend his New Year's Eve with Will.

Will's eyes were on Alex the entire time he walked, Alex guiding him through the crowd so he didn't plow into anyone. When they were right next to Paul, Haruto, John, and Marlena, Alex glanced over.

When Alex's eyes fell on him, Paul could have sworn he saw a flicker of recognition. Alex's eyes narrowed. Something so minute Paul would have assumed was a trick of the light if not for what happened next.

Right when Will noticed Alex's attention was elsewhere, he turned his head. Eyes following Alex's line of vision, Will would have seen Paul. He would have known Paul was there. He would have looked at Paul's face and read his every emotion just like he always had before.

But Will never got the opportunity. The second Alex realized Will was going to see Paul, Alex shoved Will to the side. It wasn't an accident no matter the blatantly false look of surprise on Alex's face or the deeply mumbled words of apology floating in the air.

To prevent Will from seeing Paul, Alex full on shoved Will face first into a snow pile.

Paul's jaw dropped and it took a few seconds for him to react. Wanting to knock everyone away from him and rush to Will's side. Paul wanted to push Alex Kiriakis to the side and attend Will. Brush snow from his eyes, and let him know Paul had no intention of ever letting him go ever again.

Once again, here Paul stood with Will mere feet away from him, covered in snow. Unlike last time, Will wasn't alone.

Alex turned Will over so he was on his back, leaning over him, hands hovering over his face. Mumbling lies about accidentally bumping into Will.

With snow clinging to his front, Will blinked up at Alex for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Shoulders pressed into the snow, head thrown back, Will laughed himself hoarse.

Alex shook his head at Will, shoving him deeper into the snow. He straddled Will's hips, the two play-fighting the other, Alex saying something to Will to get him to laugh even harder.

Paul couldn't hear what Alex said over the murmur of the crowd and Will's laughter but he had a perfect view.

Paul watched as Will laughed and laughed until he couldn't laugh anymore. Once, Paul thought he had seen every smile Will had but he'd never seen this one before.

Haruto nudged Paul in the side over and over but Paul didn't budge. He didn't turn away even when Alex pulled a slim digital camera out of his jacket pocket, aiming it at Will. Paul kept sight of the way Will tried to cover his face, bright red cheeks peeking through his fingers.

Over Haruto's tense hissing in his ear, Paul watched Will peel his fingers away. Watched as Alex snapped picture after picture of Will laid out in the snow, face red, eyes bright, lips stretched into a soft smile. Breathtaking in a way Paul would never be over.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

When the crowd began yelling "Happy New Year", Haruto yanked Paul away from Will, using more strength than Paul thought he possessed.

Haruto pulled them into a kiss. A kiss to start the new year and Paul's mind was anywhere but in the moment.

This kiss was nothing like the one Will surprised him with at the stroke of midnight of 2018. A kiss he too wasn't anticipating but ended up shaping Paul's entire year.

When it came down to it, Paul would have rather been kissing Will.

Before Paul could turn back to check on Will, to see what he and Alex were doing, Marlena pulled Paul into a hug. John following after, clapping Paul on the back and wishing him a happy new year. Paul couldn't recall if he responded or not. Most likely, he parroted a few nonsensical replies but he didn't remember.

By the time Paul turned back to the snow bank, Will and Alex were gone.

Alex pushed Will down the same side street they first met only a few scant feet from the town square. Hands tight on Will's hips, lips mere inches apart, Alex breathed, "happy new year."

"You already said that," Will teased, breath tickling Alex's lips.

"So, I'm saying it again, what's it to you?" Alex grunted, backing Will into a brick wall, connecting their lips together. Six days together and the feel of Will's lips against his, the slight intake of breath Will always did, the ever so soft whimper as his fingers scratched at the base of Alex's skull wasn't old.

A record for Alex, really.

Six non-stop days intermixed with an annoying six-year-old, an envious and spiteful younger brother, and Will Horton. Six days and instead of wanting to run in the opposite direction, Alex wanted to pull Will closer, bury himself inside Will in every way possible. Wanted to possess every space and crevice of Will's being.

Will nipped Alex's bottom lip, left hand rubbing up and down the zipper of Alex's jeans.

"Fuck," Alex panted, knocking his forehead against Will's and shoving him harder into the wall. "What the hell are you doing to me, kitten?"

Will, squeezing tight, didn't answer. He must have assumed the question was rhetorical but Alex was dead serious.

Alex did not do monotony or hang around children and if anyone asked him he would have laughed in their face if they suggested he would want anything to do with anyone who once touched his brother. Because anyone that once wanted Sonny had to be as uselessly, pathetically boring and non-sexual as Sonny.

Of course, that was before Alex met Will Horton. Will Horton who in less than a week managed to turn Alex's life upside down. Alex took one look at Will from across the square and Alex knew one way or another he would be taking the man to bed.

What Alex didn't know was watching Will alone and embarrassed while everyone laughed would ignite in Alex some newly formed shining armor complex. Where Alex wanted to see Will smile, wanted to alleviate his pain just for the sake of seeing Will happy.

Pushing down those feelings, Alex kissed Will instead. Sex he could handle, feelings, not so much.

But the longer Alex stayed in Will's bed, or his shower, or the kitchen, or one memorable time in the drive-thru line at Starbucks, the larger Alex's feelings grew. Between kisses and while recovering or the times they couldn't shake the kid, Will and Alex talked, both of them. Alex telling Will things he'd never told anyone before simply because Will asked with his wide eyes and a soft little encouraging smile and Alex couldn't resist.

Will Horton wiggled his way into Alex's life, latching on the way a virus would. Alex could treat his symptoms but only his immune system could fight Will off and so far, Alex's body hadn't been interested in fighting off anything.

Instead, Alex pulled Will closer, held him tighter, staking his claim on him in any way possible.

During their talks, Alex learned all sorts of interesting tidbits about Will but things always seemed to cycle back to Paul Narita. The man Sonny basically dumped at the altar for Will but who ended up with Will himself.

Alex never considered himself a jealous or envious man. His looks, his talent, his intelligence, and his luck with stock trading never made it a possibility. But the look Will would get in his eyes, the crystal blue clouding over anytime he mentioned the name, ate at Alex's insides.

Alex never let anyone into his life the way he let Will and like hell was he going to let him go. If that meant Alex had to shove Will face first into a snow pile, well, so be it. Whatever it took to keep Will far away from Paul Narita and his lovesick face.

Will stroked at Alex's growing length, nuzzling the soft flesh beneath Alex's ear when a group of teenagers walked by, catcalling them.

"Gonna get me off right here?" Alex wondered, squeezing Will's hips before sliding his hands around to cup the rounded curves of Will's ass. "Pull out my fat cock in this dirty little street because you can't wait any longer to have it?"

Will moaned in response, fingers grappling at Alex's belt.

"Come on, my little exhibitionist," Alex teased, pulling Will away from the wall and further down the road. He grinned at the disappointed sigh Will emitted. "As much as I'd love for everyone to see those pretty pink lips wrapped around my dick, I'd much rather get my mouth back on this ass."

Alex punctuated his sentence with a sharp slap to said ass.

"You keep saying things like that and I'm not gonna care where we are," Will threatened, stumbling as he walked backward.

"But winding you up is becoming my favorite form of foreplay," Alex said, squeezing Will's butt. "Besides, in a few moments, we'll both get what we want."

"Is that so?" Will challenged, gazing up at Alex through his lashes.

"You can suck my cock as much as you want as long as you're sitting on my face to do it."

Will connected his lips with Alex's again, the two attempting to keep walking, bumping into the wall, debris, and knocking a trash can to the ground.

When they finally made it into Will's apartment, the door slamming behind them, the two tore at each other's clothes. Buttons popping, shoes flying, until they were naked with Alex flat on his back, Will straddling his face and slurping Alex's dick into his wet mouth.

The two took their time, savoring the other. They didn't have to rely on a quickie while Ari was in the bath or playing with the neighbor kids. Will and Alex had all the time in the world and they were going to spend it using every trick and move they had learned over the past six days.

When Will, oversensitive and sated, rolled off Alex, wedging himself between Alex's hard body and the back of the couch, he stated in a hoarse voice, "I can't feel my throat."

"That's because you spent the better part of an hour with my dick down it. I'm pretty sure my tongue went numb while it was inside your ass but you don't hear me complaining."

Will pinched Alex's butt, causing Alex to let out an as of yet unheard high pitched sound, and laughed.

"Don't be mean."

Alex rolled his eyes, grabbing Will by the arms and hefting him around until he was lying on top of him. Their sweaty bodies sliding together, overstimulated cocks brushing, causing them both to wince.

Will snuggled into Alex's hold, head on his chest. With his eyes closed, Will slipped his hand down Alex's left arm until he could slot their fingers together.

Alex could have fallen asleep with Will acting as a weighted blanket when a knock sounded at the door.

Will lifted his head, blinking long and slow, already half asleep himself.

"I swear to god if that's Sonny or Leo I'm punching them both in the fucking nuts," Alex threatened. He slipped out from under Will, looking for his underwear.

The high chance Arianna was on the other side of the door the only reason he bothered with underwear at all.

"Go to bed," Alex said off-handedly to Will. "I'll deal with this."

"My hero," Will teased, pressing their lips together in a soft, sweet kiss that Alex normally wouldn't care for but, like all things with Will, he welcomed.

Alex, distracted by the wiggle and jiggle of Will's ass as he walked, didn't answer the door until Will was in the bedroom.

Ripping the door open, Alex demanded, "what the fuck do you want?"

It wasn't Sonny at the door. It wasn't even Leo.

After realizing Will had left, Paul didn't know what to do. He couldn't stand the press of people all around him, the happy, warm greetings as everyone celebrated the start of something new. Paul couldn't celebrate that when all he wanted was to go back to the past.

Paul knew Will hurt him, broke his heart and left him when Paul needed him most. But loving Will had nothing to do with that. It wasn't like when Sonny left him in San Francisco where Paul moved on with his life, Sonny nothing but a distant memory. It wasn't even like when Sonny called off their wedding to go chasing after a ghost. It definitely wasn't like when Sonny broke their engagement and their relationship and acted like they were never a couple at all.

Paul knew there was life after Sonny. He had been there before. Will was different. He'd always been different. When he was a sexy journalist clinging to him in his hotel room, voice bouncing off the walls the same as their mattress. When Will was an amnesiac with a crush or when Will was head over heels for him, proclaiming Paul was the one and only man Will loved and Sonny was nothing.

Will was different and how Paul felt about him was different. There was no recovering what parts of himself he gave Will. There was only Will and even if Will didn't want him anymore, even if he had no lingering feelings or even a hint of anything left, Paul had to try.

A half hour after midnight, Paul did what he promised himself he would never do with Haruto again. Paul lied.

The first time was innocent really. Whenever a Tokyo Fab song came on, Paul rushed to change it, skip it, turn the whole damn device off, anything to not get the audio reminder of moving Will into the Martin house and the first thing they bonded over.

Haruto always laughed, enjoying that he finally found someone who hated Tokyo Fab as much as he did. Paul never corrected him. He didn't see the point.

This time was not as innocent. Paul, insisting he didn't feel well, left Haruto with his father and Marlena. Haruto offered to come with Paul, to take care of him but Paul and Marlena wouldn't hear it.

Paul insisted Haruto stay with Marlena and John, enjoy the rest of the evening, and celebrate in Paul's honor. All while Paul headed in the opposite direction of their hotel room. Instead, going to find Will's new apartment. He saw the address lying around John and Marlena's condo. He didn't intend to memorize it but he did.

Perhaps Paul knew, even then, it would come to this. Because Will Horton was a part of Paul and he still loved him.

During the astonishingly short walk, Paul had forgotten all about Alex Kiriakis. Throughout the time he saw Will and Alex together it never once dawned on him the two might have been anything more than mere acquaintances.

Which made Alex answering Will's door in his underwear a surprise.

"Oh, it's you," Alex said when he recognized Paul. He crossed his arms, leaning against the door frame.

"Uh – I – uh," Paul fumbled to find his words, mind whirling a mile a minute. "Where's Will?"

"Recovering," Alex responded with a nasty smile.

"From what?" Paul whispered, mind refusing to go there. It didn't make any sense. Every story he'd ever heard about Alex was in connection to all the women he slept with. Paul never once heard anything about him being attracted to men.

"Gagging on my dick, my tongue buried in his ass," Alex shrugged. "Take your pick."

Paul's eyes widened, the stark reality of the situation hitting him.

"Did you want something?" Alex asked with an irritating smirk. "Or can I get back to Will, now? It's been about five minutes. I'm sure you know that's more than enough time for him to be ready again."

Paul frowned, shock over the situation leaving him replaced with something else. Some horrible combination of envy, jealousy, anger, and disappointment taking over him.

Will, for all his faults and mistakes, deserved so much more than a man who talked about him like he was a piece of meat and knocked him into the snow.

It dawned on Paul then.

"You threw Will into the snow to keep him away from me, didn't you?" Paul asked, accusation in his face and tone.

Alex shrugged.

"You could have hurt him," Paul snarled. "You had no way of knowing what was under that snow."

"Uh-huh," Alex replied, sounding bored. "As interesting as this conversation isn't, I've had enough."

Paul grabbed the edge of the door before Alex could slam it closed. The two struggled for a moment before Paul got the upper hand and tossed the door open.

"I don't know what the hell you're doing here but I'm gonna put an end to it," Paul threatened.

"Ooooh, I'm so scared," Alex mocked. "What are you gonna end? The fact that Will's happy now instead of alone? Because last time I checked, you had your own boyfriend."

"It doesn't matter," Paul insisted, standing up to his full height which was a few inches shorter than Alex. "When it comes to Will, nothing else matters."

Alex narrowed his eyes, lips pressed together so tight they almost disappeared.

"I'm gonna get Will back," Paul promised. "If it's the last thing I do."

"Good luck with that," Alex quipped. "Now, why don't you run back to your little boyfriend? I didn't spend the better part of an hour opening Will up with my tongue to not fuck him."

When Alex slammed the door closed this time, Paul didn't fight him. Instead, Paul pulled his phone out of his jacket, trembling with rage and disgust he almost dropped it. He found Will's name in his address book and pushed call.

It didn't surprise him when it rang and rang before going to voicemail.

"Will," Paul took a deep breath, mind going a mile a minute. "I – I don't know what to say other than I have to see you. There's something I have to tell you, a lot of things. But, the most important being, I'm still in love with you. Please, uh, call me when you get this, day, night, I don't care when. Please, Will."

Paul hung up and let out a deep exhale.

When he came back to Salem, Paul thought he moved on, wanted to move on. But, it was like he told Alex moments before, when it came to Will, nothing else mattered.

Now, Paul had to think of what the hell he was going to tell Haruto to let him down gently and how was he going to get Alex Kiriakis as far from Will as possible.

Will threw himself across his bed, snuggling into a pillow. It was the same pillow Alex used every night for the past six nights. Six glorious nights spent with a gorgeous man who took one look at Will, alone and vulnerable, and was the only one to care.

Getting closer to Alex was different than any other relationship Will had. Alex was all sarcasm and jagged edges. He was all lips and tongues along Will's body and a fascination with Will's ass.

Alex was beautiful and scared and awkward with his daughter and Will hadn't felt this good in a long time.

Sure, dealing with Sonny's disapproval and Leo's strange combination of elation and jealousy was tedious. And yeah, it was annoying Alex was a Kiriakis but it wasn't like either could control their attraction, their connection.

But, with Alex around, Will wasn't alone anymore. He had someone who listened, who cared, who worshiped Will's body in ways Will never knew were possible.

He also kept Will's mind from drifting back to Paul. Paul and his perfect boyfriend who must have been spending a romantic New Year's Eve together. The perfect boyfriend who wouldn't have to force Paul into a kiss at midnight the way Will did two years ago.

With his mind so full of Alex, Will didn't have time to linger on all the ways Paul Narita deserved better than him. With Alex around, surrounding him, inside of him, Will's love for Paul, all the feelings he never resolved and never seemed to go away, were pushed aside.

Alex wasn't perfect and that's what Will appreciated about him the most. There was no pressure with Alex. No ideal Will was measured against. No hounds of people wondering why Alex would ever deign to be with someone like Will.

Will and Alex were equals in a way Will had never experienced with a partner before.

It was new and wonderful and Will didn't want to let it go even if sometimes when Will woke with his head on Alex's chest, it took him a few minutes to realize it was Alex, not Paul, he was with. Where Will would swallow down a lump of disappointment he had no business feeling, not when he had someone as amazing as Alex in his bed and slowly burrowing into his heart.

Which was why Will was getting irritated when it took Alex so long to answer the door.

When he finally, finally came in the bedroom, Will's cell phone in his hand, Will sighed in relief.

"Who was at the door?" Will asked, stretched out across the bed, bare and beautiful.

Alex stared at Will for a few seconds, eyes sweeping over Will's form. He didn't answer for a long, long time, thumb hovering over Will's phone before something settled on his face.

Alex jabbed his thumb on Will's phone and Will could have sworn he heard a, "message deleted. You have no more messages. Main menu," come from his phone but Alex tossed it on a dresser and pushed his boxers off.

Distracted by the sight, Will rolled onto his back and smiled when Alex crawled over him, hovering over Will.

"Who was at the door?" Will asked again, fingers dancing up and down Alex's biceps and forearms.

"No one," Alex answered, looking Will straight in the eyes. "Absolutely no one."

"But why did –,"

Alex shut him up with a kiss, lips and tongue silencing any further questions Will had.

Moments later, sliding inside of Will, forehead pressed to the back of Will's neck, Alex knew he made the right decision.

Alex wasn't giving Will up, not for a lovesick ex, not for his brother, not for anyone.

Will was his now and Alex had no intention of letting him go.

The End

Author's note:

I'm slowly making this a series. No promises on when the next part will come out.

Thanks for reading