Will isn't a nervous person. He never has been. Growing up with Sami and Lucas as your parents, you learn to just deal with life and take it as it is.
But right now Will is very nervous – like jump-out-of-your-skin-want-to-fly-to-the-moon nervous. Because he's standing outside of the Kiriakis mansion, building up the courage to ring the doorbell to pick up Sonny for their date.
Sure, he'd been on plenty of dates with Mia and Gabi. But Mia didn't have parents and Gabi was Rafe's sister, which made her practically family at the time. Plus, this feels real. This feels right.
Shaking his arms at his sides a little and taking a deep breath, Will rings the doorbell. After a minute, Maggie opens the door (thank goodness!) and lets him in. After closing the door, she smiles at him, gives him a big hug, and whispers "Everything's set," before pulling away and leaving Will to the mercy of Justin and Adrienne.
Will smiles nervously at Sonny's parents, as if it was the first time that they were meeting. But he guesses, in a way, it kind of is the first time they're meeting – it's the first time he's meeting them as Sonny's boyfriend.
"Hi," Will says, his voice quavering a little.
"Hello," Adrienne responds, her eyes and voice a little colder towards him than usual. Will knows she doesn't like the idea of him dating Sonny, that she thinks he'll break Sonny's heart.
"Look, Adrienne, I know you don't like the idea of me dating Sonny –" Will starts, but Justin cuts him off.
"It's Sonny decision and if he wants to date you, then that's fine with us." He glares at his wife slightly as he makes his statement.
"Oh. Well, thank you, Justin," Will says and smiles.
Adrienne nods and says, "You just treat my boy right."
"I will, I promise," Will answers, anxious to prove her wrong.
"Mom? Dad? Are you scaring him away already?" Sonny's voice says. He's come down from upstairs and is standing at the foot of the stairs, hidden behind his parents.
"No. We were just having a friendly conversation," Justin says. "You two have fun." He takes Adrienne by the hand and drags her into the drawing room.
"Hi," Will says, slightly breathlessly, because wow, Sonny looks good. He's dressed in perfectly fitting jeans and a purple shirt that shows off his well-toned chest and arms in all the right places and makes his brown eyes really stand out.
Sonny smiles slightly and asks, "Ready?" Sonny grabs a tan blazer and heads outside.
Will nods and follows him out the door. "You look really good," Will says as soon as the door is closed and then he blushes a little, which okay, that's new too.
"Thanks. So do you," Sonny says.
They walk down the pathway and over to the Horton Town Square in a comfortable silence, until Sonny says, "Do you know where we're going? Because I thought we were going to the movies."
"I – um – I actually thought we could do something different," Will stammers and searches Sonny's eyes for disappointment. Instead he finds a flicker of surprise and delight and Sonny says, "Okay," letting Will lead the way across the square to the older part of town.
Sonny realizes just as the restaurant is coming into view that they're heading for Maggie's place, Chez Rouge.
"Chez Rouge?" Sonny asks, a small smile gracing his lips.
Will nods and holds the door open for Sonny. Once inside, Sonny is greeted with candles and softly playing music, as well as an empty restaurant and a table for two set out specifically for them. He gasps slightly as he realizes that Will set this up with his great-aunt and that maybe he's just trying to prove he's worthy of Sonny's love.
When his brain starts working more coherently, he finds Will staring at him anxiously, a look of fear in his eyes, like he's wondering if he's done something wrong.
"Will, this – this is amazing," Sonny says, attempting to arrest Will's fears and put him more at ease. He knows this is probably still a little uncomfortable and new to Will, being on a date with a guy. So he smiles encouragingly and walks over to the table, pulling out one of the chairs and sitting down. Will follows suit and sits down across the table.
A waitress appears at their table and offers them sparkling cider – Will isn't legal yet – and a few minutes to look over their menus. She comes back a little over five minutes later and they order their food.
When she leaves Sonny says, "You really didn't have to do this. I was fine with the movie and the pub."
"I – I know. I just – I still feel bad about reacting badly to your kiss and I wanted to show you that I'm just as invested in this as you are." And to drive his point home, Will reaches across the table and takes Sonny's hand in his.
Sonny's heart hasn't beaten this fast over a guy in a long time, and that's probably because a guy hasn't done this for him in a long time. His ex was selfish and only really interested in a physical relationship, so it's been a while since he was wooed. At the moment, Sonny's pretty sure he likes romance and candlelit dinners for two.
He grins widely but says, "You don't have to prove anything to me, Will. I get it. This is new for you. I've been there."
"I know. I guess, maybe, I want to prove it to myself? And your mom," Will adds as an afterthought.
Sonny laughs a bubbly laugh, not sure when the last time he was this happy was. "Sorry. She can be a little intimidating. Especially once she gets stuck on something."
Will chuckles. "Hey, you don't have to tell me about intimidating mothers. My mother is Sami Brady. I know all about intimidating mothers. Did you know she and my dad once got into a food fight at my school?"
"No way."
Will nods. "I don't know if you heard about the whole Salem Stalker thing from years ago, but my mom was originally thought to be the one – she wasn't – it was Stefano," Will says.
"Shocking."
"I know, right? Anyway, for Halloween all the stores were selling Sami Stalker costumes and there was a party at my school and some of the girls were dressed in the costumes and my mom just lost it. She dumped one of the cakes on my teacher's head and then the rest of the parents just started throwing food at each other. I was so embarrassed. It was awful."
Sonny's bursting with laughter at this point, his whole body shaking with laughter. And even though it was a traumatizing experience for him, Will can't help but laugh too, because Sonny looks absolutely stunning with his eyes and face lit up with unadulterated joy.
Just as they're calming down, their waitress comes back with their food. It's only then that they realize they've been holding hands throughout their conversation. Reluctantly they let go, in order to eat. Every once in a while, Sonny will stare at Will or Will will stare at Sonny, grinning shyly when either gets caught by the other.
When they're done eating and fully satisfied with their meals, Will stands up and holds his hand out to Sonny. It takes Sonny a couple of seconds to realize what Will is asking, but when he does he slips his hand into Will's and lets Will lead him onto the dance floor that's in the middle of the restaurant.
When Will picks a spot, Sonny wraps his arms around Will's neck and Will wraps his around Sonny's waist pulling him close. They sway to the soft tinkle of music filtering out of the speaker system and Sonny's sure that he's never been happier than in this exact moment.
After a while, Will tightens his grip around Sonny's waist, but pulls his face back to look Sonny in the eyes. Will eyes flicker to Sonny's lips for a second and then he leans forward slightly to kiss him gently. Sonny moves his lips slowly against Will's, getting used to the feeling, memorizing the way their lips fit together so smoothly and effortlessly. This kiss is different than the kiss they shared in the coffee house last night; that one was about expressing feelings and desire. This one is slow and about romance, finding their way with each other, mapping out the way Will bites a little on Sonny's bottom lip, making him whimper slightly, or the way Will lets out a breathy moan when Sonny slides his tongue into his mouth.
They kiss slowly and carefully for a couple minutes before it becomes necessary for them to come up for air. Sonny breaks the kiss first, breathing heavily, his heart hammering madly against his chest. Will rests his head against Sonny's forehead, his eyes still closed, his own heart beating itself back to a normal pace.
"I really like kissing you," Will says eventually, when he can speak properly again.
"I really like kissing you, too," Sonny replies, smiling and tightening his arms around Will's neck.
They move a little more slowly to the music now, taking in the feel of their bodies against each other. They're just the right heights and builds for each other; Sonny is only slightly shorter than Will and Will's arms fit perfectly around Sonny's waist. Will finds himself feeling really comfortable dancing lazily here with Sonny, their bodies flush against each other, and their arms perfectly situated around each other, almost as if they were made to fit together like puzzle pieces.
After swaying on the dance for nearly an hour, and after some more soft and slow kissing, they decide that they should head home. Sonny has the coffee shop to run tomorrow and Will needs to make sure his little brother and sisters are still supervised by their mother.
They make their way back over to the table to find that their bill is on the house (good old, reliable, romantic Aunt Maggie), grab their blazers, and walk back outside into the cool mid-September air. As they enter Horton Town Square on their way back to the mansion, Will slips his hand into Sonny's, entwining their fingers together, and is again amazed at how perfectly they fit.
When they reach the door of the mansion, Will pulls Sonny into another sweet kiss, this one lingering a little longer than the last. Sonny grins when he pulls away, his face totally and completely alight with pure happiness.
"I should go," Sonny says quietly. Will nods. "Thank you for this. I had a great time. The best I've had in a long time. Certainly the best date I've had."
Will blushes again and says, "Me too," flustered and embarrassed. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
Sonny smiles and nods, and then kisses him briefly before unlocking the door and going inside the mansion.
Will stares at the door for a second before heading back towards the square and his family's apartment, more sure than ever that he's finally, finally done something right with his life.