FIRST DATE
Gabi was walking through the Horton Town Square, both hands full of bags stuffed with new clothes and shoes. She stops to look in the window of the new dress shop next to the café and in the window she sees the reflection of a familiar face. Gabi turns to see Will sitting on the couch in the center of the square biting on his fingernail and glancing around nervously. "Will!" She called after him "Will!"
Will looks over to see Gabi hustling toward him."Gabi, hey, what are you doing?" he asked as she sat down next to him.
"Shopping!" she said excitedly.
"Jeez, did you leave anything in the store?" noticing the abundance of bags she was carrying.
"Just the ugly stuff" she joked "What's up with you? You look nice." Will was wearing his favorite jeans, a light blue button down and the navy blazer with leather patches on the elbows that Gabi bought him when they were dating.
"Do I? Good, I was worried. I'm a little nervous. The jackets not too much?"
"No, it looks good. It makes your eyes stand out, that's why I bought it for you." she brushed some lint off of the lapel "Too much for what? What are you nervous about?"
"Uhm, nothing. I uh… I sort of have a date." Will said.
"Ooh, a date." said Gabi, smiling at Will. "With who, do I know him?"
"Sonny Kiriakis" he responded, trying to contain his excitement.
Gabi thought to herself, trying to place where she knew that name. "Wait, the coffee shop guy? With the hair?" she put her hand to her forehead simulating the shape of the coffee shop boy's hair quaff. "You finally asked him out?"
"He asked me out, and his hair is not that big." Will chided Gabi "Besides I really want to touch him…" Will cheeks turned red and he corrected himself "…touch it …his hair I mean, I really want to touch his hair."
"Will, I am so happy for you. What time is the date?" she asked.
Will looked at his watch "About 20 minutes ago."
"What!? He stood you up? I'll kill him." Gabi stood up angrily.
"No, No, calm down killer, he didn't stand me up." Will reassured her "He got held up at the coffee house, he texted me saying he wanted to go home and change real quick. I said I didn't mind waiting."
"Oh, good, I thought I was going have throw down on somebody."
Will laughed "Really? You, Gabi? You're going to throw down."
"Will!" he heard from across the square. Looking up, he saw Sonny jogging over to where he and Gabi sat. "Okay, there he is." he turned to Gabi "Please be nice, no throwing down, okay? For me?" Gabi made an 'X' sign over her heart "I'll behave." she promised. Will looked back to Sonny, who had closed the distance between them enough that he was now walking. It was as if everything slowed down around him as Will watched Sonny approach and soaked it all in, burning this image of Sonny in his mind. The first thing that caught his eye was the hair, dark and thick, perfectly imperfect and his smile, wide and big and inviting. Sonny was wearing dark blue jeans and a purple v-neck sweater with a white shirt underneath. He shuttered inside a little at the way the sweater clung to Sonny's body, showing off his broad chest. Will watched as Sonny walked the last few steps to where he and Gabi were.
"Will, hey. I'm so sorry I'm late." Sonny said.
Will and Gabi stood up as Sonny reached the couch. "Not a problem." replied Will "Like I said, I don't mind waiting." He extended his hand to Sonny just as Sonny was leaning in to give Will a hug. Noticing the others intended greeting, the boys quickly switched to accommodate the other, Sonny extending his hand and Will leaning in for a hug. The two stood there awkwardly, "Um, sorry, uh… Hi." Will said and patted Sonny on the shoulder. Gabi watched the two nervously greeting each other, shaking her head and silently laughing to herself.
"So you got held up at work, anything serious?" asked Will.
"No, nothing major. Someone called in sick and I had to replace the shift before I left. The joys of being the boss, I guess. Then I uh…" Sonny could not tear himself away from Wills eyes, the deep bright blue was mesmerizing "…I wanted to change for tonight, get out of my work clothes."
His smile is incredible Will thought to himself "Well, I'm glad. You look really good."
They stood there staring and smiling, saying nothing, lost in their own world. "Ahem…" Gabi feigned a cough into her hand trying to bring Will back to the present.
"Oh, jeez, sorry Gabi" Will said, startled. "Um, yeah. Gabi this is Sonny. Sonny, this is my best friend, Gabi."
Sonny turned and offered his hand to her, "Nice to meet you, Gabi."
"Nice to meet you too, Sonny," she said shaking Sonny's hand "and he is right, you look really nice."
"Thank you," he said glancing over to Will and smiling "I'm out to impress tonight."
"Well, I don't think you'll have any problem with that." Gabi said reaching over and pinching Will's arm whose cheeks reddened when all attention was suddenly on him. "So where are you two going?"
"Yeah, where are we going?" Will asked Sonny "You never told me."
"I made reservations at Vincent's, I hope you like Italian."
"I love Ital…" Will started to say.
"Oh, he loves Italian." interrupted Gabi. "So, Vincent's huh? Wow, you really are out to impress. Just remind him not to order ravioli, it makes him fart."
"Gabi! What the hell?" Will exclaimed.
Sonny's laughter was drowning out Will's protests as Gabi continued "Oh, and if he offers to share a dessert, don't believe him. He takes huge bites and by the time you get your fork ready, it'll be gone. Also, and you're going to want to remember this one," she grabbed Sonny's arm, leaning in as if sharing a secret with him "if he drinks too much he gets really hor…"
"Okay!" It's time to go. Goodnight, Gabi." Will cut her off "Start walking," he told Sonny pushing him along and pointing in the direction of the exit to the town square. Sonny stumbled slightly against Will's hands gently shoving him forward, "Nice meeting you, Gabi. Thanks for the advice!" he called over his shoulder. "I like her." He said glancing back at Will, still laughing. "Keep moving, chuckles." responded Will, smiling.
"Wait!" Gabi called after them "Guys, hold up a second."
The two boys stopped and waited for Gabi to catch up. "What now, Gabi" asked Will "Do you want to tell him that if I laugh too hard, I snort a little?"
"No, you just told him." Gabi smiled. "I just wanted to get a picture to commemorate your first date." she said pulling out her phone.
"Great idea." agreed Sonny putting his arm around Will and pulling him close.
Gabi fiddled with her phone and aimed it at Will and Sonny. "Ready?"
Time slowed down again for Will as Sonny embraced him. A comforting warmth took over Wills body as the weight of Sonny's arm landed on his shoulders. The warmth moved down his spine as Sonny slid his arm down Will's back. He felt the arm leave the small of his back and glide up the inside of his own arm. As the palm of Sonny's hand rested in the palm of his, he looked over to Sonny's face. He was facing the camera and Will caught the silhouette of his eyelashes in the lights from the street. Their fingers intertwined and Will smiled… and then a flash.
Will sat on the bench outside of Vincent's waiting for Sonny to emerge again from the crowd standing around the hostess station. After several minutes, Sonny maneuvered his way through the mass of people back to Will, "Um, a little bit of bad news," he said "because we were late, they gave away our reservation."
"What do you mean we were late?" Will teased.
"Okay, fine. I was late." Sonny corrected himself "Anyway, it's going to be like 20-30 minutes for a table. Is that okay."
"Sure, I don't mind waiting." Will replied, patting the space next to him on the bench.
Sonny sat down next to Will, one leg crossed underneath him, facing Will, and laid his arm along the back of the bench. "I'm really sorry, Will, I'm usually never late."
"Somehow I don't believe that." Will laughed, leaning back against the bench and Sonny's arm. "Besides, I said I don't mind waiting, it will give us time to talk."
"Sounds good to me." Sonny said smirking.
They talked and laughed and flirted with each other unaware of the time passing. Sonny looked at his watch "Wow, It's been over an hour." he said. "I'll go check on the table." Will watched him walk away, his eyes lingering a little too long on Sonny's rear. "Get a hold of yourself, Horton." he thought to himself "It's just a butt, a perfectly round, tight bubble butt that I just want to bite and li…" Will grit his teeth together lustily, "Breathe in, breathe out." He repeated to himself silently, as Sonny returned.
Sonny plopped down on the bench dejectedly "Well, apparently they called our name twice and when we didn't answer, they gave away our table, again. She was kind of snotty about it, too. So, it's going to be another 20-30 minutes." he pouted. "I'm sorry Will, I didn't even hear them call us. This night is not going the way I planned."
"It's fine, Son, I didn't hear her either. Besides, I'm having a good time." Will reached over and put his hand on Sonny's knee reassuringly.
He thought he felt his heart skip a beat and everything stopped momentarily as he stared at Wills hand on his knee. "Say something" he thought to himself "he's touching you, say something… wait, did he call me 'Son', nobody calls me 'Son', I like that. I like the way he says that… god he's cute… look at his collar bone sticking out from his shirt, I want to bite that… wait, that's not normal, why do I want to bite that… crap, say something, it's been way too long… say something, anything."
"Uhm… hung… food?" was all Sonny could get out.
"What?" laughed Will "Hung food?"
"Sorry, I meant hungry. You must be hungry, I know I am. We've been waiting a while." Sonny said as his brain returned to the conversation.
Will looked at Sonny slumped into the bench sulking at his date plan having gone to dirt. "Alright, change of plans." Will announced, standing up "Get up." he commanded Sonny.
"What are we doing?"
"I know another place, it's small and quiet and there's hardly ever a wait." he held his hand out to Sonny, "Trust me?"
Sonny met Will's eyes. Standing up slowly, never letting his gaze break from those blue eyes. He took Will's hand in his, and with a tone more serious than the moment called for, he spoke. "Yeah, I trust you, Will."
"Wow. When you said small, you weren't kidding, huh?" Sonny said staring at the little take out place. Goombah's Pizza was nestled in the back corner of St. Luke's Catholic Church, across from the Salem Park, in what used to be a church storage space, roughly the size of a walk-in closet. Goombah's was no frills all the way, from its lone brick pizza oven to the Dutch door where you ordered. There were no tables, no credit cards taken, no drinks, and no plates. Angelo, or Goombah as everybody called him, rounded all prices to the nearest dollar, so there was no need for a cash register either. A small metal cash box sat atop the Dutch door, no one would ever even think about stealing it, you just wouldn't. Only one size pizza was available, no slices, unless you were a cop then you can get a slice on the house, anytime you want. The rules were simple, no more than two pies per customer, no more than three toppings EVER, when he runs out of dough they close, if Goombah liked you, you get napkins and never, and this is important, never ask for pineapple on a pizza.
"I know it doesn't look like much, but I promise you there is no better pizza, anywhere." Will said.
He tugged on Sonny's hand heading him over. "Hey Goombah, any dough left?" Will asked the large, sweaty, balding man leaning on the Dutch door, reading a copy of US Weekly.
Goombah looked up from his magazine to Will "Am I still open?" he asked.
"Yeah" Will responded, somewhat confused.
"Then there's dough left, Horton."
"Cool, can I get a pepperoni, mushroom, and black olive please." he ordered, then turned to Sonny "Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, sound goods. Do you want to get sausage too?"
Will shook his head furiously at Sonny as Goombah slammed the US Weekly down on the top of the door and glared at him. "He didn't know Goombah, I'm sorry." Will moved to stand between Sonny and the pizza makers stare "Really, it's his first time, he didn't know, I'm sorry. Can we still get a pie, please?"
Goombah held his glare on Sonny as he moved to start their pizza, "Come back, 11 minutes." he said.
"11 minutes, great, thanks Goombah." Will said, ushering Sonny away from the window.
"What did I do?" asked Sonny "That guy looked like he wanted to stab me or something."
"He's very serious about his pizza, no more than three toppings, ever, and he means it. He says too many toppings fight with each other and the pie wont taste right. I'm just glad you didn't ask for pineapple, I wouldn't have been able to save you."
"Thanks for the warning." Sonny laughed. "Hey, wait here a sec, I'll be right back, okay?"
"Okay." Will watched as Sonny jogged into the corner store at the other end of the block, emerging a couple minutes later carrying a six-pack of beer. He strolled triumphantly back over to will, grinning at his accomplishment, holding the six-pack up for Will to admire.
Will laughed at Sonny, beaming with pride at his purchase, then he remembered what Gabi had said to Sonny earlier, "Are you trying to get me drunk?"
"Maybe." he responded coyly.
After 11 minutes exactly, Goombah called out "Horton!" They walked back over, "12 bucks." he said. Will gave him the cash, Goombah placed 3 napkins on top of the box and went back to his US weekly.
"Thanks, Goombah." Will picked up the box and motioned for Sonny to follow him.
Sonny followed Will across the street to the park; they walked along the brick path to the picnic tables next to the duck pond. They found the table furthest from the path and sat across from each other under the yellow glow of a nearby lamppost. Will set the pizza box on the table between them and opened it up.
"God, that smells awesome." Sonny said, taking the napkin Will offered him.
"Wait 'til you taste it." Will replied, winking at Sonny.
"You mean the pizza, right blondie?"
Will smiled back at him, blushing slightly. "Shut up and eat." he teased. "Oh, I hope you like black olives, I didn't even ask you, sorry." Will picked up a piece of the pizza.
"Please, I'm Greek, I was practically weaned on olives." Sonny replied, grabbing a slice for himself.
Will chuckled through mouthful of pizza, nodding as he wiped a bit of sauce off his lips.
"So how do you know about that place, I don't think I've ever noticed it before." Sonny asked taking a bite.
"Um, my grandfather took me…" Will started to answer.
Sonny interrupted "Holy crap!" he said, staring at the slice of pizza in his hand in disbelief, then looked up to Will.
Will smiled and nodded at Sonny "I told you. It's good, huh?"
"Good? This is the best pizza I've ever had. That crazy guy is a genius."
"Good, I'm glad you like it." Will watched as Sonny took another huge bite of pizza. "As I was saying, my grandfather took me there for lunch when I was a kid and would visit him at the station. We would come over here and eat by the pond, then he would let me feed the crusts to the ducks."
Sonny reached over and grabbed two beers out of the six-pack. He twisted off the caps and handed one to Will. Will thanked him and continued his story. Sonny listened to Will talk about his grandfather and noticed his expression sour a little as he finished.
"Anyway, we used to come here a lot, but I haven't been in forever. It's still just as good as ever." Will took a swig of his beer.
"You and your grandpa don't go to lunch anymore?"
"Um, not in a while I guess. Things have been a little weird since I, uh… came out. I'm sorry this is not great first date talk is it?"
"No, it's fine. I want to hear it. You can tell me anything you want" Sonny reassured him.
Will smiled. "Well, okay. Here goes. It took me years to come to terms with being gay and accepting it. When I finally got to a place inside where I was happy, where I felt like Will again, I decided to tell my family and friends." He looked over to Sonny's deep brown eyes, listening intently. "Everyone took it really well for the most part. My parents freaked out little, but came around pretty quick. Gabi and my Grandmas said they already knew. Grandpa Roman, however… Well, I guess he's still trying to wrap his head around it." Will took another swig of beer, finishing off his third slice of pizza. "Are you finished?" he asked Sonny.
"Yeah, I'm stuffed." he said, throwing his crumpled napkin into the empty pizza box.
Will picked up the pizza box, folded it in half, and shoved it in the trash can. "Come on." he said to Sonny grabbing his hand and pulling him up. He led him over to the swing set in the play area on the opposite side of the brick path. They sat and swung next to each other, talking and laughing.
"So, Gabi knew already, huh?" Sonny asked "She was your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, she said she knew. Looking back, it must have been pretty obvious. We had sex once, and it was fine, but we never… I never really… connected, you know?"
"Yeah, I get it."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking so much about my past, should I."
"Will, it's okay. Besides, I asked didn't I?"
Will's phone beeped and he stopped swinging to fish it out of his pocket. "Everything okay?" asked Sonny.
"It's a text from Gabi, speaking of the devil."
"What's it say?"
"Hope you guys are having fun! Love you." Will read the text, "She sent the picture she took, too."
"Cool, let me see it."
Will grabbed the chain of Sonny's swing and pulled him over. Sonny put his arm around Will's waist to keep himself from swinging back away, crowding up next to Will to look at the picture. "Don't laugh." Will said, tilting the phone so Sonny could get a good view. Sonny looked at the picture of himself from earlier, smiling at the camera and holding Wills hand for the first time, then he saw Will, looking at his profile and smiling.
"I like the way you're looking at me in this pict…" Sonny turned his head to Will and saw the same smile from the picture looking back at him, inches away from his lips. Their eyes met and Will leaned in to kiss him. The kiss was soft and still and tender and quick. As Will kissed him, Sonny moved his hand to pull Will closer. His arm let go of Will's waist and he was pulled away from the kiss.
"Shit!" he exclaimed as the swing drew him away from Will. Sonny steadied himself and stood up from the swing. "Stop laughing." he said pulling Will up. Will stood and smiled into Sonny's eyes, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around Sonny's neck. Their lips met again, soft and tender, then deep and sensual. Will moved his hand to the side of Sonny's face, accepting his tongue as Sonny's hold on him tightened. He wrapped his fingers in the back of Sonny's hair, resting his forehead against Sonny's as their lips parted.
"Wow." they whispered together, then laughed softly, holding each other.
They walked quietly hand in hand along the brick path out of the park, through the town square, until they reached Will's apartment. Will's pulled the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door; he stopped and turned to Sonny. "Do you want to come in? he asked, smiling.
"You know what, I really, really do, but…" he straightened the lapels on Will's jacket and rested his palms on Will's chest, "…next time?"
Will smiled again and nodded. "Next time."
"But, thanks for the pizza and the swings." Sonny grinned "And thanks for telling me about coming out and your grandpa. I hope it all works out with him, he sounds like a good guy."
"He is. I'm sure we'll get there eventually, I just don't know what to say to him anymore."
"Will, when I came out to my brother, he freaked the hell out. We didn't talk for almost two years. He kept saying he couldn't understand 'gay love', that it was unnatural and wrong. Finally, after another family holiday sitting in the same room and not even being acknowledged by him, I forced him to talk to me. It took a while, and some effort from both of us, but we're good now, really good."
"What did you say to him?" Will asked.
"The truth, Will. That I was the same person I had always been and that love is love, whether it is he loves her, or she loves her, or he loves him." Sonny took Will's hands into his own. "Love is Love, Will. The only difference is the pronoun."
Will was struck by the simplicity of Sonny's words. He held back a tear, pulling Sonny into his arms, tasting his lips once again. He would remember this kiss for all time to come. In later years, when asked, he would say this was the moment he fell in love.
Sonny hugged Will tightly, "I guess I better go, its late." he said "I had a great time Will. I can't wait to do it again."
"Me either." Will replied.
"Okay. Night, Will." he gave him another peck on the lips, "Oh, and I'm really sorry I was late, it won't happen again."
"No problem, Son. Goodnight." Will leaned against his apartment door and smiled, watching Sonny walk down the stairs in the fading light until he couldn't make him out anymore. "I don't mind waiting."