Honey, I Rose up from the Dead, I Do It All the Time
July 2018
Paul Narita walked up to the Kiriakis mansion, slow and steady. He didn't want to look too eager or overprotective but Will wasn't answering his phone.
Paul couldn't think of any reason Will would need to spend this long with Sonny. It wasn't jealousy, not really. Paul was still flying too high over Will's declaration of love a few hours before. Besides, he wanted to know Sonny's reaction to the news about Leo.
Most of all, Will should have been home already. Something about this didn't feel right.
Paul lifted his fist, poised to knock when the door opened. Sonny Kiriakis' stunned face stared at him in horror.
As Paul opened his mouth to say something, his phone rang.
Tokyo Fab's rendition of If I Fell by the Beatles permeated the small outdoor entryway.
Will's ringtone.
"Hey," Paul answered, angling his body away from Sonny.
He heard Sonny grumble something but Paul merely held up a finger, needing him to wait.
"Oh my god, oh my god, Paul, oh my god," Will frantically shrieked.
"What? What's wrong?" Paul asked, grip on his phone tightening, shoulders tense.
"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god."
"What?"
"Sonny killed Leo!"
Paul froze. Everything around him disappeared. The sounds of passing cars. Birds chirping. The spray of the sprinklers spritzing the lawn nearby. It all faded away.
"What?" Paul repeated. He surreptitiously glanced over his shoulder.
Sonny was still there, antsy and sweating. He looked back into the mansion every few seconds with shifty eyes.
"He killed him and he wouldn't let me call the cops or you. He thinks I'm going to help him hide the body!"
"Where are you?" Paul clenched his jaw, heart pounding against his chest.
"He left me with the body in the front room at the Kiriakis mans-,"
Paul didn't bother listening to the rest. He simply turned on his heels and slammed Sonny to the side. He ran into the mansion and tossed the double doors wide open.
He found Will crouching next to a rug with a vacant expression on his face.
"Will!"
Paul rushed to his side, pulling Will up by the elbows. Will threw himself into Paul's arms, phone clattering to the ground.
"Oh my god," Will repeated over and over without stopping.
"Hey, hey, shh," Paul held the back of Will's skull, fingers digging into his hair. "Tell me what happened."
When Will continued repeating the same words over again, Paul pushed him away. He cupped Will's jaw with both hands, looking into his wide, panicked eyes. His pupils were so dilated hardly any blue was visible at all.
Paul got a good look at the anxious expression on Will's face and the red, raw skin of his normally pale neck.
Eyebrows furrowed, Paul brushed his fingertips over Will's throat. He pulled his hand back quickly when Will jumped, stumbling several inches away.
"Hey, it's okay," Paul said when Will's face crumpled. "What happened?"
Will pointed to the ridiculously suspicious rolled rug near the fireplace.
"Will, please tell me that's not what I think it is."
Sonny – whom they both forgot about – staggered into the room. He stood in front of the door with both arms crossed.
"It's nothing. You don't need to worry about it."
"Sonny, give it up," Will said, clinging to Paul's arms.
"No," Sonny hissed. "I told you not to get anyone else involved. Now, look what you did."
"How many times do I have to tell you? What happened was an accident. It's not too late to call the police."
"What was an accident?" Paul asked. He ran one hand up and down Will's spine, holding him close.
"And of course the person you'd call would be him," Sonny glared at Paul. "Do you have to rub it in, huh? That you remember us but you're still with him?"
"Stop talking about that!" Will screeched. "A dead body is right there. How can you think about anything else?"
"Stop it," Paul ordered when Sonny took a deep breath, ready to argue again. Paul faced Will, turning him around so he couldn't see Sonny. "Tell me what happened."
"Leo, or Matthew or whatever his name is, hit his head on the fireplace," Will explained.
At the same time, Sonny yelled, "Nothing! Nothing happened."
Will and Paul both ignored him.
"I came over like I said I was going to and Leo was here. And we were yelling at each other and he grabbed my throat and – and – and -," Will gasped, wheezing for air.
He fanned his hands in front of his face, hyperventilating.
"Okay, okay," Paul helped Will put his head between his legs. "Hey, it's okay. Breathe, just breathe. You're okay."
It took several minutes for Will to get his breathing under control. Paul kept a hand on his back, warm and steady as he talked Will through it all.
They dealt with something similar when Ben unexpectedly visited a while ago.
Will and Paul sat closely together on the floor when Will recovered. He rested his forehead on Paul's bicep.
"What else happened?" Paul asked once Will calmed down a bit.
"He grabbed my throat and I froze," Will whispered. "I always freeze when that happens. Sonny threw him off me. I didn't get a good look but he went a long distance and hit his head on the fireplace. He didn't get up."
"Alright," Paul let out a deep sigh. He kissed the top of Will's head. "You're okay?"
Will lifted his head to look at Paul and nodded. His eyes were bright red now, face pale.
Paul gave him a half smile and said, "No, you're not."
Will frowned back at him.
"Why didn't you call the police?" Paul asked.
"I wanted to but Sonny didn't let me," Will said. His eyes drifted over toward Sonny who hovered in the background.
Paul glared at Sonny, wrapping both his arms around Will.
"What the hell are you doing, Sonny?" Paul demanded. "Call the damn cops!"
"I can't. Don't you know how this will look for me? Everything with the lawsuit and the board and-,"
"And nothing," Paul cut Sonny off. "It was an accident. He was trying to hurt Will. All the cops would have to do is take one look at Will and see the truth. What is your problem?"
"I can't risk it!"
"I don't care," Paul shouted. "You don't get to force my boyfriend to cover up your crime."
"I told him he could leave," Sonny yelled back, red in the face. "I told him to walk away. He's the one that said he was in this together with me. And that lasted what? Five minutes!"
"I lied. What did you expect me to do? Just walk away when you are acting ridiculous," Will interjected. "I said whatever I needed to to get you to see reason."
"You already helped me move the body and move that," Sonny gestured to the rug nearby.
"That's your grand idea?" Paul asked, incredulous. "Your family has done how many terrible things and the only thing you could come up with was a body in a rug?"
"He's not in the rug. I'm not an idiot," Sonny defended. "He's in a trunk."
"That isn't any better. Put him and the rug back. I'm calling the cops."
"No, I can't let you do this," Sonny argued.
Paul grabbed his phone out of the pocket in his pants. He hastily shoved it in there after hearing from Will.
"Paul, I am serious," Sonny stated, nostrils flaring.
"It was an accident," Paul repeated. "Put him back where you found him and say you tried to revive him yourselves. That'll explain any time inconsistencies."
Will saw Sonny move out of the corner of his eye. But he wasn't fast enough to stop him.
Sonny, in his desperation, ripped Paul's phone out of his hands. He threw it at the fireplace. Eerily, it hit the same place as Leo's head before bouncing to the floor with a cracked screen.
"What the hell?" Paul looked at Sonny in disbelief.
"I told you, no one is calling the cops," Sonny said in a deathly calm voice.
"Okay," Paul held both his hands in the air. "Relax, Sonny."
"Stop that," Sonny insisted. "Stop using that tone like I'm some crazed criminal. I am doing what I have to do."
"I don't think you're thinking clearly at all," Paul disagreed in a light tone. "Think about what you're doing."
"I know what I'm doing!"
"What would happen if someone found out about this? One of Ari's parents just got out of jail. Do you want to send another one back? Maybe even two? Do you really want Will to be an accessory to this?"
"That isn't going to happen."
"If you loved him, you wouldn't do this," Paul explained. "It is that simple."
Will, while the two were arguing, crawled over to the rug. He dropped his phone near there when Paul arrived.
While Paul distracted Sonny, Will dialed 911. He crawled behind the couch so no one would hear him.
"I do love Will," Sonny shouted. "I love him and I know he loves me. He's already remembering. As soon as he remembers everything you'll disappear and everyone will be happy again."
"Do you even listen to yourself when you talk?" Paul asked. "You're delusional."
"My life will be perfect," Sonny rambled. "Will and I will be together. I'll be happy. I'll have my family by my side. I'll be in charge of Titan. I-,"
"There are other people in the world besides you," Paul stated. "And even if there weren't, you aren't going to get any of those things if you're in jail."
"I am not going to jail. No one is going to find out about this," Sonny crossed his arms. "I'll make sure of it."
"Too late," Will said, ending his call. He came out from behind the couch. "The police are already on their way."
"What? Will, how could you do this to me?" Sonny rounded on him.
"I am doing this for your own good," Will argued. "You are not thinking straight. Earlier when I walked in on you and Leo and now."
Paul edged closer to Will's side. He didn't trust the unidentifiable look in Sonny's eyes.
"None of this would have happened if you hadn't shown up," Sonny spat.
"If I didn't, you would be marrying Leo," Will replied.
"What?" Paul asked. He stood next to Will, subtly standing just a little bit in front of him.
"Leo told Sonny the lawsuit would go away if they got married," Will explained. "And I walked in and told them what I found out and that's when everything went to hell."
"I didn't have any other choice," Sonny said through gritted teeth. "And now the police are going to know. They're going to know about the lawsuit and the blackmail and a few minutes later he was dead."
"It was an accident," Will repeated. "Why are you so worried about an accident? We just tell them the truth."
"It's suspicious and convenient," Sonny stated, crossing his arms.
"It's not like you wanted to kill him," Will rolled his eyes. "Leo tried to hurt me. You threw him off. He hit his head in the struggle. Everyone knows I don't have good experiences with men choking me. They'll understand."
"You weren't reacting and I did what I had to," Sonny stated, looking between Will and Paul with narrowed eyes. "And I'll do what I have to now."
Paul pointed at Sonny, moving further in front of Will.
"Don't even think about it," Paul warned. "You stay the hell away from him and me."
"What do you think I'm gonna do, huh?" Sonny took a step closer.
"I don't know," Paul responded. "I don't know what you're capable of anymore. Because the Sonny I know would never do something like this. What were you even expecting? That you'd carry the body out of here with Will by your side? In broad daylight? That no one would see you?"
Will winced when Paul backed up slightly, forcing Will to touch the rug.
"I had everything planned out. I was going to take care of Will."
Paul looked at Sonny's face, really looked. Understanding swept over Paul, hardened his resolve.
"No, you were going to use this as a way to get closer to him, weren't you?" Paul accused, shaking his head. "He'd have to lie to me to keep your secret, pushing me and him further apart. But you'd be right there, wouldn't you?"
"I never said that," Sonny growled.
"Do you know how disgusting that is? A man is dead and you were going to use that to try to steal someone else's boyfriend. You were already pestering Will about his memories when Leo's body is rotting as we speak. What is wrong with you?"
Sonny glared with his arms crossed.
"You claim you love him but you wanted him to cover up a crime. That is not how you show you love someone. If you love someone, you'd do whatever you could to protect them. You'd-,"
"I did protect Will," Sonny shouted. "I saved him from Leo!"
"Yeah, you did," Will said before Paul could respond. "And I'm thankful for that but you are losing it, Sonny. You're more concerned with me than the fact that you inadvertently killed someone."
Will heard sirens. They were close. Pandemonium would take over soon. He wouldn't get another chance to say this for a while.
"Even if I got all my memories back, I'd still pick Paul. I'm in love with Paul and a dead body certainly isn't going to change that."
Sonny stood there, face blank.
"Come on," Paul urged, bending over beside the rug. "Let's unroll this. In my experience, the Salem PD won't even notice anything ever moved."
The police arrived mere moments after Will and Paul recreated the scene. An ambulance followed right after.
The next few hours were spent answering questions and explaining everything they knew. At some point, Justin arrived and followed Sonny to a private room. All while Maggie flittered in the background pestering the crime scene workers about her precious rug.
Will told the police everything except for the part where they moved Leo's body. Not only to protect Sonny but to protect himself too. Even if he did lie to Sonny about wanting to help, the police might not see it that way.
He didn't need to worry, though. No one questioned the incongruent blood stains or the small deviations in the timeline.
As predicted, most of the officers took one look at Will's neck and believed anything he said. Having the same traumatic experience happen again and again worked in his favor.
Paul stayed by Will's side, explaining he arrived a few minutes after the accident. That he wanted to follow up on how Sonny took the news Will told him. He implied he didn't want Will around Sonny, played it up like he was seething with jealousy.
No one questioned him. And when they read the report John made, they didn't bother caring much about Leo, or Matthew, either.
A dead hooker wasn't much of a loss to the pride of the Salem police department.
Will and Paul didn't know what Sonny said. As soon as the police burst into the room and Will explained what happened, they took Sonny into a separate room.
Eventually, Will and Paul were free to go.
"That was crazy," Will said as soon as they got back to his room.
"No kidding," Paul replied with a shake of his head.
"I was in Memphis for years and no one ever kidnapped me or pistol whipped me or tried to choke me. But a few short months in Salem and…"
Will trailed off with a loud puff of air, blowing a raspberry.
"Technically, you were only in Memphis because you were kidnapped. But, I know what you mean," Paul pulled Will into a strong hug. "You promise you're alright?"
"Physically, yeah," Will answered, squeezing Paul back. "I might freak out a little bit later. And I really need to work on how easy it is for someone to attack me."
"Probably a good idea," Paul agreed.
"I mean, my bicep is bigger than Leo's head. I could have squashed him and Sonny both at the same time if I tried."
Paul snorted, holding Will tighter. The two clung to one another for several moments, faces tucked in the other's neck.
"I can't believe Sonny wanted you to help him cover everything up," Paul said. "It doesn't make any sense."
"For a minute there," Will confessed, "I wanted to. When he was telling me why he had to make sure no one found out, I wanted to help. But the more he talked, the crazier it sounded. And when he said I couldn't call you, I knew for sure I had to stop him."
"Because you couldn't involve me?" Paul smiled, fingers clutching the back of Will's plaid shirt.
"Of course," Will pulled back to look in Paul's eyes. "You said earlier that you'd do anything for me. When I was in trouble, when Leo grabbed my throat, at first I thought of Ben. But, after that, I thought of you. And if I was in trouble, you'd be the only person I'd call. You were the only person I called. I knew you'd know what to do."
"Well, when I said that, I didn't think you'd, you know, be around a dead body a few hours later. Although, that doesn't explain why you called me and not the police."
"I told you, I wanted someone that knew what they were doing."
"Yeah, I am pretty great," Paul teased.
Will gave Paul a light push and laughed.
"It's your fault this happened anyway."
"What?" Paul scoffed with a wide smile. "How do you figure that?"
"I wanted to stay in bed," Will reminded him. "You answered your dad's call."
"It was important," Paul shook his head at Will, a smile lighting up his face.
"So was staying in bed," Will mock argued. "I'm just saying, a man is dead because you wouldn't make more memories with me."
Paul threw his head back and laughed.
"Ironic when you think about it," Will said with an exaggerated sigh. "We didn't have sex and a hooker died."
"Will," Paul said, trying to control his laughter. "He just died. You can't make jokes already."
"I'm in shock, I can't be held responsible for what I saw," Will shrugged.
Paul slid both arms around Will's waist, pulling him in close.
"Well, maybe we should celebrate," Paul suggested, eyes dancing. "You're alive. Sonny's not in jail."
"And we're in love," Will added with a grin.
Paul started walking the two of them toward the bed.
"Think there's still time to make some memories?"
Will answered him with a kiss.
When Paul pulled Will onto the bed, Will's phone loudly began to ring.
The two looked at each other and spoke at the same time.
"You're not answering that."
"I'm not answering that."
Paul leaned in for a sweet kiss, fingers unbuttoning Will's shirt when he paused.
"Whose ringtone is that?"
"Sonny's," Will said, hands sliding under Paul's shirt. At Paul's sharp bark of laughter, Will added, "he mentioned a while ago he liked Taylor Swift."
Will reached into his pocket for his phone, causing the song to play louder and louder. He tossed the phone near the pillows, yanking Paul into a deep kiss.
The song played for a few more seconds before cutting off, we are never ever, ever, ever getting back together.
Sonny rolled his eyes when he heard the automated voice of Will's voicemail. He couldn't believe this and neither would Will.
Beep
"Hey, Will, guess who isn't dead?"
The End
A/N:
As I watched Will's scenes this week, I kept imagining Will nodding along with everything Sonny said and the minute he left the room calling Paul to save him from the insanity. So, I started writing while my niece watched a million Taylor Swift videos on my TV.
Thanks for reading!
Title from Taylor Swift's Look What You Made Me Do