"He smells like new leather, like the new car you sit into for the first time. Would he fit me like a glove? The way that first car did?" Sonny thought to himself. He stood up from the cafeteria table and hatred boiled in his belly. "How dare he make me feel that way!" He growled to himself as he stalked over to Will Horton's table.
Will smiles to his friend Brian, then frowns. Sonny watched Will's face change, watched the contours of his cheek bones meet his eyes. He had every centimeter of Will's face memorized, down to the tiny freckles under his ear. He watched, stalking him as if he was walking in slow motion to the other boy's table.
Sonny knew the exact moment that he was going to hit him. The moment Will touched Brian's leg his mind crashed with something liken to jealousy. Something Sonny wasn't familiar with, nor did he like.
"Freak!" Sonny called, "Yeah, you, look at your superiors when we speak to you!"Sonny spat as he grabbed Will by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up to his feet.
"How dare you look at another man!" He growled and punched Will in the abdomen. Will gasped with pain, not expecting the hit to be so hard. This was an every day occurrence for the two. Sonny bullied Will, Will broke off the relationship, Sonny came crawling back saying he was "Sorry" then it would start all over again the next day.
~~~~Flashback~~~~
"Sonny, please just come out. This is killing me." Will pleaded with his love. "We can't keep doing this. You can't keep hitting me, it's not fair to either of us."Tears began spilling over Will's crystal blue eyes. He wanted nothing but for the school to know that they were happy and together.
Sonny's stomach dropped to his feet at the sight of the man he was in love with crying. "Will, it's not that easy for me. I am a football player. The guys...they Would shun me...in The dressing rooms...*sigh* I'm not like you Will."And the conversations always ended there.
~~~~Present~~~~
Will held his hands by his sides, taking the brutal hits from his boyfriend, hoping beyond all hope that he would stop, or ease up on the hits.
Sonny released Will and looked one last time at the other boy, as if apologizing with his eyes; knowing that he may have just caused himself his most trusted friend.
That evening, Will didn't meet him at the cafe for coffee. The next morning Will wasn't walking on the track to school, neither was he in their first period class. Sonny looked at his phone multiple times, but there were no messages from Will. Sonny began to worry when Will wasn't at lunch, so he called Will's cell, which went straight to voice mail.
He continued the day in some sort of trance. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on without Will there to make him smile. He supposed that's how Will felt every time he hit him, every kick to the rib, every punch to the face must feel like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. Sonny thought, "How could I have done this to him?" With streams of tears running down his darkened face.
That evening, he went over to Will's mom's apartment, hoping to talk to the boy. After knocking 6 times with no answer, he decided to sit on the stairs and wait.
~~~~Flashback~~~~
Sonny texts Will during History class :Will: "Will, how is it possible to love this much?"
Will looks down at his phone and smiles :Sonny: IDK myluv but it is
~~~~Present~~~~
Sonny looks up at the sun, feels the warmth on his face and clutches his phone as if he's willing Will to call. But there was no call, there was no text. There was just an emptiness in his heart that Will used to fill.
He stood and went slowly home.
The next day was the same, no Will. By lunch time, he was so beside himself with grief he didn't know what to do, until Will walked into the cafeteria. His right arm was in a sling, with an orange cast on it. He had small bruises on his jaw and his cheeks and Sonny knew. Sonny knew that he had caused this pain, this sorrow, this anguish.
The duo locked blurry eyes for a brief moment before Will broke the contact and sat down.
Sonny grabbed his phone.
:Will: Did I do that to you?
Will felt his phone vibrate and shuffled to grab it out of his pocket. Upon seeing it was from Sonny, he shook his head and put it back in his pocket with no response.
Sonny frowned.
:Will: Please answer me...
Will looked up and shook his head and looked back down, and began to eat his lunch.
Sonny sighed. He stood up and began walking over to Will's table. He knew what he had to do.
*clap, clap, clap*Sonny started, "Can everyone stop for a moment, I need to say something." He was abandoning the track to Will's table for walking to the front of the cafeteria.
"Please, everyone. I need to say something, and if you don't lower your voices low enough the person I need to say it to won't hear me." Sonny said.
He took a long pause, just trying to slow his heart. Was he going to be able to say it?
"Three months ago, I began dating someone. I kept it a secret because I didn't know how others would react to me dating this person. Because I was afraid, I made this person keep it a secret too." He started. "They're not popular, they're not a jock, they're not even athletic. But this isn't why I was afraid." He paused as he saw Will's head snap up and jaw drop. Sonny nodded and gave a small sad smile.
"I was afraid because this person isn't a girl. I'm not dating a girl, I'm dating a guy. A guy in which I beat up on a daily basis because he's openly gay and I knew I couldn't be." All eyes were now on Will. Will stood up and began to slowly walk towards Sonny.
Sonny was fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall. "I was afraid that I would be ridiculed if anyone knew how much I loved this boy, so I hit him. I'm so sorry, I am truly sorry Will, please forgive me..."Sonny broke off there, unable to keep the tears from running down his cheeks.
Will rushed to Sonny as he fell to the ground. For a few moments it was silent in the cafeteria, when a lone person began to clap. The boys looked up to see Brian standing on his feet clapping. Then Another student began to clap, then another, then another, then another, until the whole cafeteria was standing on their feet, applauding the two boys who were standing in front of the room.
"Will you forgive me Will?" Sonny asked as he cupped Will's pale cheek with his tanned hands. "Forgive what? You're so brave. You finally said it." Will said with a smile. The two kissed and Sonny's head began to spin. Sonny stood up and yelled, "I love you Will Horton." And kissed him again.
Together, the boys walked hand in hand to the table where they had lunch and were able to begin again. As boyfriends.