Exactly what it says on the tin: Will cheats on Sonny. Seriously, I cannot stress that enough. It'll take a few chapters but Will is gonna cheat on Sonny and Paul is all too happy to help. If that's not your cup of tea, please, don't read.

Title from the Sara Bareilles song King of Anything

Ride Off Into Your Delusional Sunset

When Paul Narita left him, Will Horton felt upset. Hurt, dismayed, and yes, upset. He knew better than anyone that Paul was a catch. He didn't work so hard to get him not to know that. Who wouldn't want to be with Paul?

What Will struggled to understand was why Paul left.

Will's insistence on getting his memories back and, admittedly, his rather unorthodox method of obtaining said memories didn't help things. But, Will felt incomplete without understanding everything he went through. It was like reading a book with missing pages. You could make assumptions but it wasn't the same as experiencing it yourself.

Paul didn't quite understand that, though. Paul, like a lot of people, assumed Will wanted his memories back for Sonny. While Will did remember his former life with Sonny, and, again, admittedly, spent a little too much time around Sonny afterward, that wasn't what motivated him.

Paul didn't believe him. He was so terrified of Will's past, so terrified of Sonny, he let everything else cloud his judgment.

Paul dumped Will before he could get dumped. Left Will, left Salem, left everything.

Will didn't have a mature, responsible reaction.

Instead of proving Paul wrong, he proved Paul right.

Will went back to Sonny.

It only took a few days to realize what a terrible decision it was.

"I don't understand why you can't just move in here," Sonny asked Will.

He gestured to the wide expanse of the Kiriakis mansion. The two sat in the front room arguing, again.

"I agreed to go out with you four days ago," Will said. It took all his strength not to roll his eyes.

"But, you remember everything now," Sonny shook his head with a smile. "So, that shouldn't matter."

"I remember some things," Will corrected. "But we haven't been together in years. I'm not going to jump into anything."

"Will," Sonny huffed. "This is ridiculous. There's plenty of room for you here. There's no good reason why you shouldn't move."

"Your uncle hates me," Will pointed out.

"Don't worry about my uncle," Sonny said. "It would be better for Ari if we were together."

"Why?" Will asked. "She knows we're barely seeing each other. Us living together again would only confuse her at this point."

"But if we were all here together she wouldn't be confused. She would understand you're where you belong, with me."

"I don't want to live with your family. I like living on my own," Will said. He didn't want to have this conversation any longer.

"On your own, right," Sonny snorted, crossing his arms. "What? You'll live with Paul but not me?"

"What are you talking about?" Will crossed his arms too. "I wasn't living with Paul."

He hated when Sonny brought up Paul. Didn't Sonny understand Paul leaving him was a fresh, festering wound?

"Could have fooled me," Sonny shrugged. "He was always in your room. Hell, I didn't even bother going to his room when I needed to talk to him. I knew he'd be at yours."

"We were dating. What did you expect?"

"That is what I'm saying," Sonny insisted, raising his voice. "You were only dating him. You and I are different. So, why won't you move in?"

Will took a deep breath, trying not to lose his patience.

"I told you why I'm not moving," Will said after a few moments. "I don't need to explain it again."

"This is what's best, Will," Sonny said, facing Will. "It's best for Ari and it's best for you."

"You don't get to make that decision," Will said in a strained voice. "Not for me or for Ari. In case you forgot, she's my daughter."

"And who's been here for her the whole time?" Sonny rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't here because everyone thought I was dead," Will said with a scoff. "And you weren't here all the time either. I might not remember everything but I know you left for Paris, twice. So, don't even try that with me, Sonny. You don't know what's best just because you say so."

"Why are you acting like this?" Sonny asked.

"Acting like what?" Will rubbed the back of his own neck.

"This," Sonny waved his hand in front of Will. "Why are you fighting me on everything? We're finally together after everything and you aren't even meeting me halfway."

"I don't know what you want from me," Will admitted. "I told you we could try things out. Not jump back into our marriage. I don't want things to be like before."

"Neither do I," Sonny adjusted on the couch, grabbing Will's hand. "I want the two of us to be better than before. No more lies and hiding things. No more mistrust. I want us to be good again."

"I want that too," Will mumbled even though something inside of him seized up at the thought. "I want a boyfriend, though, Sonny. Not a parent."

"Right," Sonny nodded. "Okay, yeah, I get that. I just can't help it. I want to make sure everything's perfect between us."

"Perfect isn't really possible," Will said in a quiet voice.

"Now, why don't you change into something nice and we can go out?" Sonny suggested.

Will looked down at his outfit. It wasn't fancy by any means, jeans and a button-up shirt. But it fits him well and there was even a collar on the shirt. He thought he looked good.

The last time he wore the shirt, Paul ripped it off him.

Pushing aside that memory, Will frowned at Sonny.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Oh – uh – nothing," Sonny said, expression hard to read. He adjusted his own suit jacket, straightening the lapel. "Well, in that case, we can head out."

Will let Sonny pull him off the couch and out the door. He spent the whole time yanking surreptitiously at his shirt. Straightening imaginary wrinkles.

"Why are we here?" Sonny questioned, lips pursed.

"You told me I could pick," Will reminded him with a sigh.

What was the point in telling Will they could go anywhere he wanted for dinner if Sonny didn't mean it?

"I thought you'd pick someone a little nicer," Sonny glanced at the old linoleum tile with a frown.

"I like this place," Will said with a shrug. He let go of Sonny's hand and headed for the back wall.

Will took them to a small hole-in-the-wall burger joint one town over. He discovered it with Paul a month or so back. They wanted to go somewhere they could experience for the first time together.

The restaurant was tucked away between a laundromat and a check cashing joint. From the outside, it almost looked like a convenience store. There were only about five tables in the place. The entire back wall was covered in refrigerated glass soda bottles, hundreds of them.

The first time they went, it took Will and Paul almost a full half-hour to pick what they wanted to drink. This time, Will didn't have to think at all.

Will went right to the large selection of Ramune bottles. It only took a few seconds to find his favorite flavor, green apple. Out of habit, he grabbed Paul's favorite, ginseng, before he remembered Paul wasn't there.

Paul wouldn't be sharing soda bottles with him for a long time, possibly ever.

Sonny spent a few minutes finding his own soda, an old-fashioned root beer. The two met in front of the cash register, ready to order.

Before Will could even offer, Sonny slapped a credit card on the counter.

The two sat at one of the only tables in the place, waiting for their food.

Sonny finally noticed what Will got to drink when Will popped the marble out of its place.

"Since when do you drink Japanese sodas?" Sonny asked with a frown.

Will finished taking a deep drink and shrugged.

"I like them."

"You mean, Paul likes them," Sonny rolled his eyes.

"He introduced them to me, yeah," Will admitted. "This one's my favorite. Try it?"

Will pushed the bottle toward Sonny with a small smile.

Part of Will's best memories at the place were stealing sips out of Paul's drink. The two of them trading bottles back and forth, ankles entwined.

"No, thank you," Sonny shoved the bottle back across the table. "I've had one before. I don't get the fuss."

"Okay," Will said, deflating. He waited a bit before saying, "Tell me about your day?"

"It was all business stuff," Said dismissed. "Nothing you're interested in."

"So?" Will asked. "I want to know what you did."

"Corporate stuff, Will," Sonny said.

"Like what?" Will fished.

"You wouldn't understand," Sonny leaned across the table and grabbed Will's hand. "Do you remember our first date?"

"Remind me," Will murmured with a sigh. A corporate thing or not, Will wanted to know. He didn't understand Paul's PI work but Will still enjoyed hearing about it.

But Sonny wasn't Paul.

Will needed to stop expecting them to act the same.

They spent the rest of their time reminiscing about moments that felt so far away to Will. The whole date left a sour taste in Will's mouth that had nothing to do with the sour apple Ramune.

The night ended with Sonny walking Will to his door. Something Will insisted wasn't necessary.

"So," Sonny leaned toward Will once they stepped inside Will's room. "Tonight was good."

"Hmm," Will hummed, neither agreeing or arguing.

"Next time we can go somewhere nicer," Sonny said flippantly, ignoring the frown on Will's face.

Before Will could say anything, Sonny kissed him.

It was a nice kiss. Sweet, genuine.

Boring

Kissing Sonny wasn't anything like kissing Paul. Any time Paul kissed him, Will felt it from his toes to his fingertips. Any kiss, no matter how small, lit a fire deep inside of Will.

Will didn't feel anything close to that with Sonny.

Their kisses were nice, yes. But Will didn't have an uncontrollable urge to rip Sonny's clothes off. His kisses with Sonny didn't leave him distracted and breathless and desperate for more.

Will didn't know what that meant. Wondered if there was something wrong with him. Something that prevented him from wanting Sonny close when he used to love him so deeply.

It wasn't like there was anything wrong with Sonny or the way he kissed. It was just too soon.

Will didn't want to jump into anything.

Yes, that had to be it.

Will slipped away from Sonny, keeping a fair bit of distance between them.

"I'll see you later?" Will asked, hand over his mouth.

"What?" Sonny asked, chest heaving. "That's it?"

"What more were you expecting?" Will questioned.

Sonny glanced between Will and the bed expectantly.

"I told you I wanted to take things slow," Will reminded Sonny.

"Yeah, and did you do that with Paul?" Sonny asked before saying, "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

"I don't want to talk about Paul," Will said firmly.

"You never do," Sonny pointed out.

"What do you want me to say?" Will asked. "He just broke my heart. It hurts to talk about him, Sonny."

Sonny gave Will a nasty look. A look Will saw every now and again and never cared for.

"I want you to say you're over him," Sonny said. "You don't need him. He left. He gave up on you. I didn't and I never will. It doesn't matter what it takes or who you're with, you'll always be mine."

Will wanted to find that romantic.

He didn't.

He also couldn't help but speak his mind.

"Paul didn't give up on me," Will said. "He let me go."

"It's the same thing," Sonny said with a shrug.

"No, it's not," Will shook his head. He gave Sonny a pointed look. "Paul thought I'd be happier with you. So, he let go. Would you do that?"

"I wouldn't have to," Sonny grabbed Will's hands and smiled. "I know you'll always be happiest with me."

"But Paul-,"

"Enough about Paul," Sonny interrupted, squeezing Will's hands hard. "He doesn't matter, not anymore. He's out of our lives, finally. We don't have to worry about him coming between us ever again."

"But Paul didn-,"

"No," Sonny's face started turning red. "No, 'but Paul' anything. I don't know why you're holding onto him. There wasn't anything between you two but sex. Hell, a year ago he was happy you were dead."

Will let go of Sonny's hands, taking a step back.

"You don't have to be cruel," Will mumbled.

"It's the truth," Sonny kept going. "He wanted to marry me. He almost let everyone believe you were still dead when we were in Memphis. He was only ever with you because I broke up with him. So, I don't know why you're acting like the two of you breaking up is a big deal. You're back with me, where you belong. So, let Paul go. We don't need him in our lives."

"It's not that easy."

"Sure it is," Sonny pulled Will into a hug. Ignored Will's stiff embrace. "You don't need anyone but me."

*Restaurant based on one of my favorites in Phoenix, AZ. Rocket Burgers and Subs. They really do have hundreds of soda bottles to choose from, including various Ramune flavors.*