Sonny was enjoying the silence of the early morning in the dormitory. He had just finished his shower and was doing a little research on Will's computer. He had set his phone alarm early as he was notoriously late for work, and he didn't want to be rushed today. He wanted to have time this morning. After seeing the disappointment on Will's face in Horton Town Square yesterday, he wanted to have that extra few minutes this morning to comfort Will if he needed it and just talk with him about their plans for the day. Also, of course, time to do what he had just finished, which was continue to research possible solutions or loopholes to extract his sweetheart from his current predicament. He knew Will's hope was misplaced yesterday when he went to meet Nick on the remote chance Gabi had talked sense into him. Sonny was again very sorry to be right when he learned that Nick was just as hateful and hurtful as ever. It shattered Sonny's heart to see someone treat Will this way. Sonny's Will who was all that was best in humanity. Despite all of his adversity, Will was full of trust, hope and compassion. One day, it might be too much for Will. Sonny never wanted to see Will lose that tenderness, so he was determined to protect him and find a solution. So, for all of these reasons, Sonny was uncharacteristically an early riser enjoying the silence of the morning.
Will had an 8am class today, so his alarm clock would go off soon. Sonny decided it would do no harm to wake him up 10 minutes early. Whatever Will lost in sleep, he would pay him back in comfort. Sonny tightened the knot on Will's dark blue robe that he was wearing and quietly climbed into bed with Will. He wrapped himself around his sleeping boyfriend while gently rubbing his back and peppering his cheek, neck and hair with small, gentle kisses. Slowly, Will started to show signs of life culminating with a soft moan.
"Good morning, sexy!" Sonny whispered in his ear starting the morning with a frisky tone.
Will rolled over to face Sonny, "Good morning. What are you doing up so early?"
"I just wanted to have time to chat before you had to run off to school," and with those words Sonny met Will's lips with a sweet and slow kiss.
Will sat up leaning against the headboard and Sonny joined him with his arm around Will's shoulders. Will leaned in taking another gentle kiss and then fixed his startling blue eyes on Sonny's.
"This is a nice way to wake up. I wish we could stay here all morning, but I definitely need to make it to my 8am class. I have an economics mid-term today. Do you have to work? Maybe I can come back as soon as it is over and we can pick up right here?" Will's eyes softened showing his hopefulness as he finished the question.
Sonny couldn't resist one more quick kiss to his lips followed by one to his nose and his forehead.
"I wish I could, but I have to work. I was hoping you could come to the coffee shop as soon as you were done with your classes. You can study and I can watch you while I work. Then . . . as soon as it gets slow, I can sneak out and end my shift early. You can have lunch while you study. How does that sound?" Sonny tried to mimic Will's signature hopeful look.
"And then we can pick up right here? You will end your shift early?" Will said to confirm the terms before he gave up on his alternate plan.
"Yes, of course, deal?" Sonny asked.
"Deal!" Will said sealing it with one more kiss before he headed to the shower.
"Good luck on the test! I will see you soon." Sonny said and then he got dressed and headed to work.
Common Grounds was kind of busy, but not busy enough to keep Sonny from checking the clock every 5-10 minutes. He had a new appreciation for being together with Will now that they had reconciled after about a month of separation. After that miserable experience, he found that he missed Will more when they were apart, even today when it was just a block of a few hours. Somehow it reminded him of that horrible emptiness that he carried with him during their separation and he found himself counting the minutes to the time that he would see Will next. Sonny thought to himself, so assuming he went to chemistry after his economics class, he should be out of class by 11am and here by 11:30, so 37 minutes to go.
Sonny pushed himself for the next 30 minutes to catch up on all the clean up and stocking so that when Will arrived he would be caught up or ahead and only would need to worry about serving customers. At 11:27, Sonny was looking at the clock again having finished cleaning and stocking when he heard the door open. He spun around just in time to see Will's face appear behind the opening door and he met him with a broad smile.
Will opened the door of the Common Grounds and saw Sonny smiling at him almost as if he had been standing there waiting for him to arrive. Will had been feeling down ever since his meeting with Nick yesterday and this was just what he needed to lift his spirits. He took three long strides and put his arm around Sonny's waist pulling him in for a kiss.
"How did your test go?" Sonny asked brightly.
"Pretty good I think. Only a few guesses. How has it been here? Busy?" Will replied.
"Just average busy. I should be able to wrap early, you know, like we discussed this morning," Sonny said with a wink.
Will scrunched his nose and raised his eyebrows saying, "Good! Don't keep me waiting too long," Will said as he scanned the room for an open table. "Well it looks like I will be over there in the back corner by the store room, but stop by when you can, OK?"
Sonny leaned in for one more quick kiss, "Ok, Will."
An hour passed as Will studied and Sonny worked catching each other's gaze now and then or gazing at the other without being caught. Sonny realized they were running out of creamer and the order due in today was late. He would need to go out and get some before he could leave just to be sure they had enough to finish the day. He walked up to Will's table.
"Will, I am so sorry, but I have to go buy some creamer or they won't get through the shift. I promise I won't be long and then we should be able to head out right after that, OK?"
"Sure, Sonny, no problem," Will said smiling up at him.
"OK, I will hurry," Sonny replied and then left for his errand.
Now that Sonny was gone, Will wasn't distracted and he was deeply focused on his chemistry homework. He didn't notice that someone was sitting on the bench at the table next to his. Further, he didn't notice that the new guest had moved the table about a foot closer to Will's so they were right next to each other on the bench. He did notice that he had been studying for awhile, so he decided to check to see if Sonny was back and maybe just forgot to stop by and see him. He raised his head looking around him for Sonny when his eyes met the guest to his right who was looking back at Will with a smile. The face was vaguely familiar, but Will couldn't recall it.
"Will, right? I think we are in chemistry together," he said as he scooted closer to Will on the bench so he could reach his book. He lifted the book cover so he could read the title. "That confirms it. We are in the same class," he finished as he was now essentially sharing Will's table.
"Yes, my name is Will . . . I am sorry. I am not sure I got yours," Will said as he took his book back and leaned back on the bench.
"I'm Sam," he replied reaching his hand up for a handshake.
Embarrassed to not have recognized his classmate, Will tried to make up for it with a firm handshake and smile. "Nice to meet you, Sam. Are you here studying? How is it going?" Will saw a flash of mild concern in Sam's deep blue eyes, along with something else that he couldn't label.
"Actually, I am struggling a bit. I am working on the 4th experiment scenario. Maybe, I wasn't listening in class, because I am definitely confused, " he said shaking his head.
"Let's see. I can probably help. What part is confusing you?" Will said as he turned his book back a few pages to get to the 4th experiment.
Sam leaned over the table and pointed to the second paragraph.
Sonny hurriedly parked his car. The errand had taken longer than expected as he had to go to two stores to find what he needed. As he walked into the coffee shop his heart dropped with a thud as he saw his Will leaning over the table with another man leaning in close sharing his book. He was struck by an image of predator and prey and in his mind Will was definitely the prey.
He stopped take a deep breath trying to refocus his eyes. Now in defensive mode his senses were heightened and he was able to quickly take in the following observations. Will seemed fine, comfortable even. The man to the left was young with skinny blue jeans and a tight black T-shirt. His hair was a bit too long, messy even but a soft light brown, and his large eyes were absolutely fixated on Will. Will's eyes were focused on the text book in front of them.
Unable to calm himself, Sonny dumped the creamer on the front counter and walked straight back to Will's table without blinking. He stopped abruptly when he reached the table and said, "Will!" a bit harshly.
Will looked up startled, but smiled warmly until he noticed Sonny's hard features and tense body. He flinched and furrowed his eye brows looking over to Sam and back up at Sonny.
"Hi, Sonny. Uh . . . uh this is Sam. He is in my chemistry class," Will said as he edged to the left putting some distance between himself and Sam. He could see that Sonny was irritated and he guessed it had to do with their proximity.
Sam rose and extended his hand to Sonny. Sonny glared back at him, hesitated but finally met his handshake.
"Will was just helping me with one of our homework assignments. It's a really hard class, but Will seems to always have the answers" he said smiling down at Will.
Will finally grasped the situation. Sonny must think Sam is interested in Will. He felt better because he knew that wasn't the case. Will rose and moved to Sonny's side.
"Sam, Sonny is my boyfriend," Will said the last word with emphasis and looked at Sonny.
Sonny's heart was pounding and he was using all his control to keep from knocking Sam to the ground. Sam's eyes looked longingly at Will even when he was shaking Sonny's hand. When Will stood up to come to Sonny's side (Thank God!), Sonny noticed Sam taking the opportunity to glide his eyes slowly down Will's body and back up again stopping at Will's face. Sonny also noticed that hearing the words 'Sonny is my boyfriend', had not deterred Sam's hungry gaze. That's it. Sonny was done.
"Sam, was it? Nice to meet you. Will and I have somewhere we need to be," he said a bit loudly and with poorly disguised anger. He grabbed Will's hand roughly.
"Well nice to meet you," Sam said smoothly as he turned back to his table.
"Sonny," Will whispered in his ear, "Just let my hand go for a minute so I can pack up, OK?"
Sonny turned his fierce glare from Sam back to Will. Will looked right into his eyes hoping to calm him. Sonny paused and then dropped Will's hand, "Sure. Hurry!"
As Will gathered his things, he looked back at Sam who was now reading his text book. Sonny was starting to realize Nick wasn't' the only person he would need to worry about if he was going to protect Will.
Will grabbed Sonny's hand giving him a peck on the cheek. "OK, Son, let's go," Will said tugging him gently toward the door.
Will held tightly to Sonny's hand leading him out. Sonny turned to tell Lauren about the creamer and he caught Sam drinking Will in with his eyes as they left.