A/N: This story is a collaboration between msarahv (Will's POV) and 1984winstons (Sonny's POV). This will hopefully be a light fun story which we can enjoy as we face uncertainty with the show itself. A few things have been altered to provide a new context for our story. Will is 23 and working. The twins are 9 and Sydney is 5. Sonny has finished school outside Salem. He is 25.

Will's POV

"Will, hurry, it's already 6:20!"

Will smiled. Who had taught the twins to tell the time ? They had woken up at 5:30 and for him and his mom, the night was over. His baby sister Sydney could sleep through anything and his stepfather EJ was away on a business trip. Will had stayed the night to help Sami prepare. Rather than use the guest room, he had slumbered on the couch after watching old black and white films on the cable. He had now lost all hopes of Brian ever calling. He had to face the facts : he had been one-night-stood. And it hurt to only realize that now, after all the attentions and gifts and dinners. Why make so much effort for just one time? If he was being honest with himself, Will was angry and embarrassed for being naive enough to believe Brian. He had really believed that Brian was falling for him. He should know better than to think someone like himself would be able to sweep an experienced man, like Brian, off his feet. Well, he had learned his lesson now and had chalked it up to experience. Now that the harsh truth was sinking in, he was glad to leave and be with his siblings for three weeks. They thought the world of him, even if Brian didn't, and that way, he wouldn't think about dating and romance. Knowing the little hoodlems, he would be beat every night. Sami had insisted EJ could pay for a baby-sitter but he had turned the offer down. He wanted to spend time with them. He didn't see his brother and sisters enough as it was, what with working and living on his own... Well with three roommates of course but still, he was a grown-up now. He stuffed the bags in the trunk and placed everyone in the right safety seats, joking as he was buckling them up.

"Come on Allie, there is no reason for you to think you will be sick. Just because your best friend gets nauseous, doesn't mean that you will. But if you feel unwell, we'll throw you out of the window!"

Allie giggled and answered deadpan beat, "Well, you shouldn't because I have the key to the rental house in my pocket. Mom said she could trust me with it. Do you think it'll be big there? Will we all share the bedroom?"

Will shook his head, "I read it was either 2 or 3 bedrooms, so don't worry. Maybe you'll be with Sydney. Will you mind?"

Allie smiled at her sister who held her hand out to her, making Will melt with tenderness "No, I love my sister, but Johnny snores!"

"Do not!" Her brother exclaimed and pushed her arm.

Will got stern, "Now, John, that was uncalled for. Apologize!"

Sami kissed all her children and hugged the bigger one tightly "Take good care of my babies, Will, and remember to have a little fun too. You work too hard."

". . . says the woman who's incapable and take vacations because the company really needs you right now?" answered Will, trying to hide his emotions under wit, as he often did.

His mother lit up "Oh, they do! We have that new line and I've been chosen among all the employees. Don't you realize what an honor that is?"

Will laughed "I do, mom, I was teasing you. Don't work too hard yourself."

Sami waved at the car until they could not see her anymore in the rear view mirror. Then Will suggested a car road-trip game. "The first to see a green car wins one point."

Soon, Allie had taken over and he focused on reaching the freeway. As he did, he heard a small beep. Was it Sami texting about something they had forgotten? Or his dad finally remembering to stay in touch? They had drifted apart since Will came out. Lucas was tolerant but ill-at-ease and Will had never introduced a boyfriend, not that there had been many of them anyway. Apparently, he was considered über-hot but not boyfriend-material. Well maybe that was a lie too, just like all the other's he had heard from his romantic interests to date.

He called his brother "Johnny, can you fish in the pocket of my jacket and find my cell? I got a text and I'd like to know who from." Johnny found it immediately "So, is it from mom or my dad or..."

"No" said Johnny said excitedly "It says 'Brian'! You want me to open it? I know how to do it and I can read now!"

Will cut him off,"No, no, Johnny, please don't! It's personal. I'll read it later."

"There's a Brian in my class! Is it him?" asked cute little Syd.

"No, pumpkin, this one is a big boy, and he's not my friend."

"Then why is he texting you then?" Trust Allie to point out the obvious.

"No idea. Hey, what about you guys teach me one of the songs from your school show? I loved the one with the train..." And with that, all talk about Brian was off the map,or thought for that matter. With Sydney shrilling slightly off tune and the twins competing on being the loudest. It was going to be a long ride. Especially with the bathroom stops, he thought as he was checking both the men and women rooms, looking for Sydney who was hiding under one of the sinks.

He got a dark stare from a well-dressed lady but she softened when she saw the kid "Oh, your daughter is quite mischievous! What an angel!"

Will blushed, "Thanks ma'am, but she's my sister really."

"Oh, of course! I'm sorry. You have quite an age-difference."

Will pinched his lips. Judge away, lady. Yes, his mom had remarried and she had him at 16 but this woman didn't need to know that.

Allie came out of the stall and she remarked innocently "Wow, that is a big wig you have, ma'am!" It was the woman's turn to blush and she strode out.

Will wanted to high-five Allie but reasoned with himself and instead planned a discussion on being considerate. After another few miles, the landscape changed. They left factories and big stores behind and saw fields and trees. There were cows and Sydney was a goner. Soon, they knew exactly how many they had passed.

Johnny sighed "Cows are boring. I want to see the sand and the ocean. Are we almost there?"

Will gritted his teeth. It had begun "No, Johnny. Do you want to play a new game?"

He glanced at his cell on the seat next to him. He hadn't read the message yet. Part of him wanted to wait till the end of the summer to read it, another part wanted to get this over with. And a tiny, minuscule little voice was warning him that he might be fooled again, charmed away to suffer, so, the cell stayed put during the next six bathroom breaks. Syd fell asleep and Will held her in his arms around the service station. She was all soft and he brushed her little arm, wondering at her being so perfectly beautiful and yet so small. Would he have a kid one day? His own? Not that he wanted one now, but he wondered.

Being gay was still a discovery for him even after all those years, and a burden sometimes. He wanted to meet someone. A guy that would behave like an adult, not like a slave to his hormones. Nor a big dreamer, like Neil whose dreams mostly consisted of meeting celebrities and sleeping with them all. Will felt old. He watched the fountain of youth that were his siblings and joined in their laughs.

They finally arrived around 7 pm. It was still very sunny and the ocean was sparkling thousands of diamonds in the steely blue azure. By the time he'd stopped the car, Johnny and Allie were out, running on the burning sand, still wearing too many clothes and sneakers and socks. They'd be full of sands later. Will let them go, he understood them. He woke up a groggy Syd and took her to the limit of sand of water edge of the beach, on the darker sand, filled with ruined sand castles. She laughed with abandon, splashing her little hand in the water and wetting Will's bermuda shorts, but he didn't care. He took a big breath, happy, taking in the peaceful horizon, that was turning pink and violet, slashing the sky with a few stylish clouds. Behind the twins digging up a big hole, he saw some kind of boat pass by. It had wheels and a sail and seemed to be wind-operated. He showed it to Syd who wanted to take a ride on it, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Maybe when you're older, sweetie. I don't know if that's safe for children..."

"Pleeeeeease!"

"We'll see." He called out Allie "We'd better go to the house, kids, it's getting late!"

"Oh, please, five more minutes, Will! We just arrived, that's not fair!" Will hesitated. He was tired but it was good to be here. The boat had stopped and the man driving it was battling with it. Apparently one wheel had fallen. That was it, then, it was dangerous. He walked to the two kids and extracted Johnny's body from the hole, brushing the wet and stained shorts with a sigh. They all went in search of the rental house, passing by the amateur mechanic. Will registered a mane of dark hair and tanned skin. Then the hair was lifted up and Will felt like he was kicked in the guts. Two earth-colored eyes were directed straight into his. Will froze on the spot, but Sydney pulled his hand, crying that she was hungry and they all ran out of the sand. Once they reached the boardwalk, he turned but the man was back on his work. Will shook himself and they opened the three-bedrooms little house. After a few fights over the beds, while Will was fixing a quick dinner, they sat at the kitchen table, looking outside through the giant bay window. The place was great and Will even took a room that would be just for himself. Well, unless there were nightmares and little visitors, of course.

After dinner, Will got cheers and yippees when he suggested they went out for ice cream. He put on his light leather jacket and loose jeans. Johnny had been wriggled out his wet shorts and underwear and looked almost correct. The color coordination was a little off but the violet and orange complimented his sister's yellow and blue nicely. It looked like he was a circus manager taking his clowns out.

He had been clear from the start, no buying anything tonight, just the ice cream. Of course, they challenged him and he was relieved to reach the stand. It offered quite a lot of choice in terms of flavors, some very weird. There was a blue one called 'Smurfs'. Sydney's tongue turned violet with it and Allie tried and taste her brother's ice cream, so Will didn't notice at first that one of the other customers was staring at them.

"Look" Sydney yelled, pointing a sticky finger in the man's direction, it's the dad with the boat that doesn't go in the sea!"

Will caught her hand in a handkerchief and answered "Don't point, sweetie, it's rude, and remember, I told you, all grown-ups are not necessarily dads or moms."

The guy was approaching and Will's heart beat faster. He looked like he wanted to join Will's circus with his purple shirt and his khaki shorts but he still managed to look gorgeous. Will forced himself to smile politely instead of gaping like an idiot.

The man knelt down and addressed Syd directly "It's called a land yacht little miss."

"I'm not a miss, I'm Sydney!" Will chuckled.

Sonny held out his hand to the kid "And I'm Sonny." They shook hands solemnly.

He held his hand out to Will, who lost ten IQ points in a second and gulped.

"I hope you don't mind me talking to this little angel?"

"No, no, it's OK, I..."

Sonny's hand was still unmet and Johnny stepped in "I like your boat, does it go fast?"

Sonny smiled "It can, when the wheels stay on, that is. Once, during a race, I saw one going over a 100 miles per hour."

"That's faster than a car! Do you use gas?" Allie asked.

"No, it's only the wind."

Will finally remembered his own name and said "By the way, I'm Will. Nice to meet you." He held his hand out shyly and his imagination ran wild at the touch of the strong hand joining with his. "Are you staying here?"

Sonny nodded "If one of you kids feels like being a passenger, I might be persuaded into short drives. I'd have to be bargained of course. Let me tell you I only cave for candy. Especially liquorice!" Will felt light-headed not hearing all of Sonny's words, but just gazing into his eyes man winked and Will forgot to argue about safety.

"Will you walk back with us Sonny?" Sydney asked and Will waited for a polite refusal, but Sonny actually agreed and started a conversation with Allie.

"That's a beautiful necklace you're wearing!"

"Thank you, Anna made it for me! Each time I visit, she gives me something. She's very nice and very pretty."

"Does she live with Will?"

"Yep, hmhm. Anna moved in with him at the beginning of 3rd grade."

"Oh, that's nice and what grade are you going into?"

"4th." Sonny was pensive watching Will as he reached the house.

Will stopped at the door.

"Nice place. So, it's only the four of you?" Will nodded.

"Yeah, I wanted to take some time to reconnect. I'm working a lot and they grow so fast!"

Sonny looked thoughtful "I get it. Well good-night. Let's meet on the beach tomorrow if you guys are early risers."

"Oh, they are" Will said melodramatically.

"Well, see you!"

And he was gone, without a look back. Will calmed the kids and put them to bed. Then he walked to the bay window that was now displaying a dark star-filled sky and dreamt about dark eyes. He shook himself after a minute and took his cell. To read or not to read, that was the question.