A/N: my first one-shot. I have no idea where this came from but hopefully you enjoy. It's much more friendship based than anything else.

Summary: Brian and Neil break up and fight over who gets custody of Will.

"So you still haven't talked to him?" Will asked Neil carefully as he sat across from him at The Brady Pub.

"No," Neil said with a shrug attempting to appear nonchalant.

"Have you called him?" Will wondered. He wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. Neil and Brian both weren't talking about it.

After taking a deep breath Neil admitted, "No." Before Will could say anything else Neil continued, "But he hasn't called me either."

"What I don't understand is why you two broke up in the first place," Will explained. "I've never even seen you and Brian argue before."

"It happens," Neil sighed refusing to look at Will.

"But you won't even tell me what you're fighting about," Will shook his head. "How am I supposed to help if I don't know what the problem is?"

"Maybe you can't help," Neil pointed out. "Not all relationships last forever."

"But you and Brian are so good together," Will didn't understand. "Where is this even coming from?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. Just change the subject, Will," Neil ordered.

"OK," Will tried to think of something to say to cheer Neil up. Pulling out his phone Will said, "Here I'll show you a video I took of Santo trying to roll over. It's the cutest thing."

Leaning across the table to get a better look Neil snorted, "What other videos do you have on here, Horton?"

"Nothing," Will blushed heavily. "Don't worry about it. Here," he pressed play and grinned when he saw his newest brother rolling across the bed.

"Alright," Neil confessed, "That is adorable. Damn, why is that kid so cute?"

"I know, right?" Will felt proud that he managed to put a smile on Neil's face. "You should see what happens when mom and EJ take him to work. The whole company fawns over him."

"That's not too surprising," Neil knew how much the little thing meant to Will. 'And the whole DiMera family now.'

Seeing the time on his phone Will said, "Dang, I need to get going."

"Why?" Neil asked curiously.

"Uh," Will wasn't sure if he should say. "No reason."

"Uh huh," Neil narrowed his eyes not buying it. "Now why don't you try the truth this time?"

"I don't know if I should tell you," Will sighed.

Neil rolled his eyes, "You can say you're going to see Brian. "

"I just," Will tried to explain, "I didn't know if it would be weird."

"It's fine," Neil replied with a tight tone, "It's perfectly fine."

"Is this a fine where it is fine? Or fine where you're actually pissed off at me?" Will lifted an eyebrow at Neil. "I don't want to get stuck in the middle of something."

"You can do whatever you want, Will," Neil answered not looking at him. "I'm not in charge of you."

Will slumped in his seat slightly, "But I don't want you being mad at me. Both of you are my friends and I don't want to upset either of you."

"Just go meet Brian," Neil practically spat as he pushed away from the table. "I don't care what either of you do."

Will watched Neil stomp off with a frown. 'Now what do I do?'

"You're not going to tell me anything?" Will gave Brian an exasperated look.

"You don't need to know," Brian explained easily as he rubbed his forehead.

Will noticed the dark circles under Brian's eyes and the droop of his shoulders. The latest semester had really gotten to Brian.

"I think I do need to know," Will told Brian. "Because when I was with Neil earlier-"

"You were with Neil?" Brian cut Will off. "Why?"

Wrinkling his forehead Will tilted his head, "Because we were eating lunch."

"I didn't ask what you were doing," Brian shook his head, "I asked why. Why were you with Neil?"

"Because he's my friend?" Will phrased it like a question. 'What is going on here?'

Brian stared at Will for a few moments before he closed his eyes, "I can't do this right now."

"Have coffee?" Will didn't understand any of what was happening with Brian and Neil.

"No," Brian packed the books he got out back into his bag. "Just figure it out, Will."

Will frowned as he watched Brian stomp off too. 'What the hell did I do?'

"Hey," Sonny walked over and sat down in the seat Brian just vacated. "He ran out of here really fast. What happened?"

"I have no idea," Will looked at Sonny feeling completely lost. "I tried to talk to him about Neil and he got all weird."

"Did you mention that you saw Neil before you saw him?" Sonny gave Will a small smile, 'Still so cute and clueless.'

"Yeah," Will nodded. "And Neil was weird too when I said I was coming to see Brian."

"Oh, Will," Sonny tried not to laugh. "They broke up and they're both upset about you seeing the other."

"But I'm friends with them both," Will still didn't get, "Why would that stop because they're not together anymore?"

"Because babe," Sonny stood up and kissed the top of Will's head before heading behind the counter, "They're both afraid they're going to lose you now."

"William," EJ knocked on the door to his office. "Do you have the presentation ready for tomorrow?"

"Almost," Will looked up from his computer, "I just need to add one more graph and I think it will be ready."

"Good," EJ sat down in the chair opposite William. "Now why did you look so strange this morning when you came in?"

Will gave EJ a half smile, "You know how I told you Neil and Brian broke up?"

EJ rolled his eyes. "I seem to remember telling you I didn't care, yes."

"Anyway," Will pretended he didn't hear that, "Things are getting weird."

"Weird how?" EJ demanded. He was still extremely protective of William and probably always would be. "And what does it have to do with you?"

"Well," Will crinkled his nose, "Paul explained it to me better than Sonny did."

"Oh god," EJ groaned. "What is it now?"

Will gave EJ a disapproving glance before saying, "I guess Neil and Brian are both worried that I can't be friends with them both and I'll have to choose one over the other."

"OK," EJ stretched the word out. "What does that have to do with things getting weird?"

"I think Neil and Brian are trying to bribe me," Will attempted to explain. "Like to make sure they get to be my friend over the other."

"What kind of bribes?" EJ was beginning to get interested in this. Not that he cared about William's friends but he was vaguely amused that they were going to such lengths to keep his friendship.

"Well at first it was just messages," Will shook his head, "They would both text really nice things to me which was really odd because Brian only compliments my ass."

EJ frowned and crossed his arms.

"And it's turned into some sort of competition about who can get me to lunch first or dinner," Will made a funny face. "All of my time has been spent with Neil or Brian lately. I'm completely booked solid. They don't let me pay for things and they give me weird gifts. Oh and Brian said I was smart the other day. Brian! So I definitely know something is up."

EJ looked at William blankly for a few moments before saying, "Have you considered dumping them both?"

"EJ," Will complained. "This is serious. They broke up and they won't even tell me why. Now I'm starting to feel like I did as a kid when my parents were fighting over me."

'Why is my life reduced to this?' EJ thought to himself. Heaving out a long suffering sigh EJ said, "I think you need to figure out why they broke up before you do anything else."

"OK," Will nodded enthusiastically, "How?"

Rolling his eyes EJ stood up, "Figure it out and get back to work, William."

"Fine," Will went back to making his graph for EJ's presentation.

"Are we seriously going to spend the entire time talking about Neil and Brian?" Paul threw his head back so it rested on the arm of the couch.

"Seriously Will this is the first time we've gotten to you before either of them and we're not wasting it," Sonny complained before knocking Will on top of Paul. "No more talking about them," Sonny ordered before gently lying between Will's legs.

"Fine," Will adjusted until he was comfortable with his head resting between Paul's and the cushion on the back of the couch. "I'm just saying that that I need to-"

Sonny shared a look with Paul before he leaned forward and kissed Will. 'Definitely an effective means to shut him up.'

Will completely lost himself in the moment. He didn't notice anything around him for several minutes. Somehow he found himself sitting on Paul's lap with his hands digging into Sonny's scalp while they kissed heatedly as Paul sucked on the back of his neck.

"Ahem," a voice to the side of them said.

Disentangling from his boyfriends, Will, panting slightly, glared at Chad's easy grin.

"I seem to recall telling you not to do things on the communal furniture," Chad reminded Will as he crossed his leg and turned the page of his magazine.

"We were just kissing," Will huffed attempting to discreetly adjust himself in his pants.

"Uh huh," Chad blinked lazily, "Well since I'm here now why don't we continue our movie marathon, Will."

"You are not watching a movie now," Sonny spat out at Chad. "What happened to giving each other privacy?"

"But I'm bored and want to keep watching," Chad tossed the magazine aside and stood up. Shoving Sonny away from Will Chad managed to wedge himself on the couch separating the three of them. "Now where did we leave off?"

"You need a girlfriend so you can stop ruining our dates," Paul told Chad as he geared up for a long night.

"As nice as this is," Will smiled at the chocolate covered blueberries, "It really needs to stop."

Neil, looking a bit panic stricken, said, "But-but you were my friend first."

"What?" Will closed his eyes. He was getting sick and tired of this. "I'm not going to stop being your friend Neil. Or Brian's friend either. I'm not choosing between the two of you but this weird game you're playing needs to stop."

Neil looked down at his hands that were resting on the table top.

"Just tell me what happened," Will pleaded. "I know that you miss him and I know he misses you too. Just let me help fix this."

"There isn't anything to fix," Neil shrugged. "It just is what it is."

"Well what is it?" Will demanded in a firm tone. "I'm the one that you're playing tug-of-war with I think I should at least know why."

Neil put his elbow on the table and rested his head in the palm of his hand, "It's his internship."

Will leaned over the table, "But he hasn't found out where he's going to do it at yet."

"Exactly," Neil told Will, "He applied to a lot of different places and he's gotten some offers already."

Will took in the wistful expression on Neil's face and realized, "But he hasn't heard from the one here in Salem."

"Right," Neil nodded.

"So you two broke up because of what?" Will started to get annoyed. "Because he hasn't heard from the hospital here yet?"

"That's not all of it," Neil sat up straighter. "We hardly get to see each other and he's just in school now. When he starts his internship we'll never get to be together and if he's not in Salem then what?"

"Then you work it out," Will gave Neil a sad look, "You don't just break up because it might be rough. Long distance relationships work all the time."

"Well obviously not this one," Neil crossed his arms, "So just stop worrying about it."

"Hey," Will yelled at Brian as he saw him coming out of his last lecture for the day.

"Jesus," Brian jumped, "You scared me. What are you doing here Blondie?"

"I'm here to knock some sense into you," Will divulged as he started walking with Brian. "About Neil."

"There is no knocking some sense into me," Brian grunted. "It's over and that's it."

"It's over for a stupid reason," Will argued. "I know you two want to be together so just be together."

"It's not that easy," Brian admitted.

"If anyone knows about relationships not being easy," Will pointed to himself, "It's me. Now why can't you two just work something out?"

"Because he doesn't want to," Brian yelled at Will.

Will stopped walking and stared at Brian for a few moments. "Oh," Will swallowed, "I didn't, I didn't realize."

Brian looked at his feet and kicked a stray rock, "Well now you know. Happy?"

"No," Will whispered. He didn't even consider the idea that Brian wanted to try to work things out but Neil didn't.

"Well that makes two of us," Brian stated before starting to walk again.

Will linked arms with Brian and said, "Come on Bri-Bri I'll buy you dinner."

"You don't have to come with me you know," Paul told Will as they walked into the hospital for Paul's physical therapy appointment.

"I know," Will nodded as they stepped into the elevator. He didn't particularly want to tell Paul his real reason for showing up. "I'm actually meeting someone."

"Really?" Paul looked at Will suspiciously. 'He's doing that thing where he thinks he's being sneaky but he's just being really obvious.'

"Yep," Will said before turning to Paul and kissing him.

Forgetting about his suspicions Paul eagerly kissed Will back when the elevator door opened.

Slipping out of Paul's grip Will waved, "Bye." 'Got out of that line of questioning.'

Will looked at the office doors searching for the right one. 'Where is it? Aha!' Will knocked on the door before opening it.

"Will," Kayla said in surprise putting down a file she was reading over. "What brings you here?"

"Well," Will closed the door behind him, "I wanted to talk to you about your intern selection process."

"OK so you'll do it, right?" Will grinned as he talked on the phone. "Please?"

"You're pouting right now aren't you?" the male voice over the phone asked sounding amused.

"Yes," Will confirmed, "Is it working?"

"Yes," the voice admitted reluctantly. "Fine, I'll do it. Just be there tonight."

"Thank you," Will cheered, "This means so much to me. I'll see you tonight. Bye."

Chad sat down next to Will at the counter in their kitchen, "What are you plotting?"

"I'm getting Neil and Brian back together," Will told him happily.

"Are they going to be OK with this?" Chad shook his head at Will giving him a small smile.

"They will be in the end," Will decided. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do Sonny and Paul know what you're doing?" Chad asked bluntly.

"…No," Will gave Chad a sweet and innocent smile.

Chad sighed, "So it's up to me to make sure you don't get into trouble. Got it."

"This is the worst plan ever," Chad yelled into Will's ear as they stood inside The Spot.

"But it's going to work," Will laughed as he saw someone eye Chad up and down. "Now come on," Will took Chad's hand and moved closer to the bar.

Seeing just who he was looking for Will sat down and grinned, "Hi!"

"Hey," Kyle laughed at Will's exuberance.

Chad, sitting down next to Will, frowned, "Who is this?"

"Oh," Will turned to Chad, "This is Kyle. He works here and is going to help me out. Kyle, this is Chad."

Kyle quirked an eyebrow at Will, "Another boyfriend? I thought you were supposed to let me know about that?"

"No," Will laughed. "He's my friend and roommate. Completely straight too so don't bother asking."

"And Will is still firmly taken," Chad warned Kyle not liking that smile he was giving Will.

Ignoring Chad Kyle asked, "So when are we starting this plan of yours?"

"Hmm," Will checked his phone for the time. "Right now."

"What?" Neil barked into his phone. He was watching Netflix on his laptop. It had been almost a week since he had broken up with Brian. 'And now Will ditched me,' he thought. Will hadn't responded to any of his messages all day. 'Probably with stupid perfect Brian.'

"Uh," Kyle said into the phone, "Is this Neil?"

"Yes," Neil responded confused as to why he was hearing loud music and voices in the background.

"This is Kyle, Will's, um, friend," Kyle started saying, "He's at The Spot and he's kind of in a bad spot. I think you should come get him."

Neil hopped out of bed and started looking for his shoes. "Why didn't you call one of his boyfriends?" Neil wondered as he grabbed his keys, locked the door and left.

"He said he didn't want to talk to them," Kyle explained, "He said he needed you."

"Alright, I'm on my way," Neil said before hanging up.

Brian burst into The Spot and started looking for Will. 'How does he manage to get in this much trouble all the damn time?'

Spotting Kyle near the bar Brian headed over to him, "Where is he?"

"Come on," Kyle gestured with his head, "I took him to one of the offices in the back."

"What happened?" Brian demanded as he crossed his arms.

"When he showed up he was really upset," Kyle said, "I didn't serve him anything so someone must have been buying them for him."

Following Kyle inside of the office Brian started yelling at Will, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Will, lying on a couch with his arm over his eyes, tried not to smile, "What?"

"You," Brian complained, "What are you even thinking coming here by yourself? And where the hell are Sonny and Paul?"

Before Will had a chance to respond Kyle opened the door again to let Neil inside. Winking at Will he walked back out to the bar.

"Will," Neil started to say before he saw Brian standing next to him. "What-What are you doing here?"

"He asked me to be," Brian responded in an aggravated tone. Dismissing Neil Brian turned to Will, "What the hell is going on?"

Trying to focus, hoping he sounded realistic, Will sniffled, "I got in a fight with Sonny and Paul and I didn't know what to do."

Making sure to stay on the opposite side of the couch as Brian Neil asked, "Why didn't you know what to do?"

"I always go to both of you," Will covered his face, trying to force out some tears, "And I couldn't so I panicked."

"What did you even fight about?" Brian made sure to keep his eyes on Will. 'Don't look at Neil.'

"They," Will sat up and wiped under his eyes, "They got mad that I've been spending all my time with you guys or at work and that I worry about you so much. And when I told them why you broke up I said that it could happen to us too. And they both got mad at me but I didn't mean that we would break up. And they wouldn't listen to me and I couldn't go to both of you so I ended up here."

"Will," Neil sat down on one side of him, "Are you really that upset about everything?"

"It's hard," Will admitted, looking at his lap, "Because I don't want to upset either of you and I just want things to go back to normal. And I feel like I did as a kid when my parents would fight over me."

Brian sat down on Will's other side. "I didn't think you were that upset about everything," Brian disclosed in a low voice.

"You two are my best friends," Will confessed, "And I know you two love each other and want to be together. I just want you to be happy."

"It's not that simple," Neil revealed quietly.

"Yes it is," Will insisted. "If you love each other you should try to work things out."

"It's-" Neil tried to say again before he was cut off.

"Oh shut up," Brian hissed getting annoyed with Neil. "It could be that easy but you aren't willing to try."

"I hardly get to see you as it is," Neil defended. "What the hell am I supposed to do if you have to leave?"

"It's called a phone you jackass," Brian huffed, "Figure it out."

"That's not good enough," Neil yelled. "I don't want to just talk to you on the phone or Skype you. I want to see you in person and touch you and kiss you and, and everything. I can't do any of that if you aren't here."

"You don't even know if I'm leaving," Brian shook his head, "I could still stay in Salem."

Will, butting in slightly, "You two had no problem seeing me this week so I'm sure you could figure something out."

"Oh sure," Brian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "You have no problem seeing Will but somehow you don't have enough time to fit me in."

"Uh," Will tried to say something.

"That's bullshit and you know it," Neil shouted over Will. "You know I don't feel that way about him anymore. God, I just want to be with you."

"Then be with me," Brian screamed. Once he realized what he said he closed his mouth and looked away from Neil.

The only sound was the pounding of the music and some loud whoops from the bar. Will, sitting between Neil and Brian, awkwardly tried to shift as far back as he could so they would be looking directly at each other.

Neil opened and closed his mouth a few times before he choked out, "OK."

"OK what?" Brian demanded. He wanted to hear Neil say it.

"OK I'll be with you," Neil whispered reaching his hand out for Brian's.

"Fine," Brian sighed trying and failing to hold in a smile.

Neil laughed a bit sheepishly before he reached across Will and kissed Brian.

Will beamed at his friend's reunion before he realized they were getting a bit carried away. "Um," Will tapped Neil's arm, "As happy as I am for you can I get up?"

Neil was all for ignoring Will. In fact he wanted to get Will back for the time Will made out with Brian right in front of him when the door slammed open.

"Oh good," Chad declared, "Our plan was a success."

Brian, wiping his lips, pulled away from Neil and sat back down.

"Are you drunk?" Will giggled as he saw Chad swaying slightly.

"Little buddy I am never going to a straight bar again," Chad loudly proclaimed. "I'm slammed and I didn't have to buy a single drink. I just sat there looking pretty and I got so many drinks. My ego is like sky high."

"You could bring dates too," Will chimed in. He had been trying for weeks now to get Chad a girlfriend. "No one would care I bet."

"I'm not so drunk as to agree to that," Chad slurred slightly. "Can we go now?"

Will pushed himself off the couch only to be dragged back down.

"What did he mean by plan?" Brian questioned Will with a pointed look.

"And why are you suddenly perfectly fine?" Neil looked over Will's face and his completely dry, clear eyes.

Will smiled and put an arm around both of his friends, "I'm just so glad you're back together."

"You're a treacherous little thing," Paul laughed as Will explained everything to him and Sonny the next day.

"I did what I had to do," Will defended himself. "They were being stupid and needed a nudge in the right direction."

"You're just lucky it worked out," Sonny argued. "It could have blown up in your face."

"And what happens if Brian takes an internship somewhere else?" Paul wondered. "Maybe you should have stayed out of it."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Will stated. "I've got faith that the hospital will see how impressive Brian's resume was."

Before Sonny or Paul could question that any further Brian and Neil walked into Common Grounds and headed towards their table.

"So," Paul looked between the two of them, "Will managed to patch you two up."

"Yeah," Brian couldn't wipe the small smile off his face.

"He's a good friend," Neil told Paul before reaching over and patting Will on the arm.

"Which is why I figured I would open this when we were with him," Brian reached into his backpack and pulled out a letter.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sonny asked moving his chair closer to the table.

"Yeah," Brian started opening it. "Moment of truth I guess."

"Whatever it says," Neil put his arm around Brian's shoulder, "I've got your back."

"Aw," Paul cooed. "Aren't you two sweet?"

"Be nice," Will scolded with a laugh. He did everything he could to keep it together. 'Don't you dare give anything away Will Horton.'

Brian read over the letter nervously before handing it to Neil.

"So?" Sonny knocked on the table getting impatient, "What does it say?"

"He got in," Neil announced loudly.

"Yep," Brian smirked, "Guess I'll be in staying in Salem after all."

Will, washing his hands in the restroom, looked up when he saw Brian coming inside and locking the door.

"That was you wasn't it, Blondie?" Brian crossed his arms and gave Will a stern look.

"What was me?" Will finished rinsing his hands off before grabbing a paper towel and drying his hands.

"Don't try the cutesy innocent act," Brian shook his head, "I know you way better than that. I've got personal experience that you are anything but innocent."

Blushing slightly Will huffed, "You kiss a guy in front of their significant others one time and suddenly you can't get away with anything."

"Actually I was talking about that time you asked Neil and I to give you detailed instructions on how to use your dil-" Brian laughed when Will started waving his hands and hushing him.

"Stop talking," Will insisted loudly.

"Just tell me did you or did you not get me the internship," Brian poked Will in the chest.

Pressing his lips together Will gave Brian a tight smile, "Technically all I did was give you a recommendation. If you got in it was based on your own merit and not anything I did."

Brian frowned at Will, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," Will nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. All I did was ask my aunt about how they pick their applicants and I said that I had a friend I wanted to recommend. That's it."

"I doubt that," Brian stared at Will's eyes waiting to see if he was going to give away anything else, "But thank you."

"I wasn't taking any chances about my mommy and daddy getting back together," Will teased as they walked back out the door.

"I better be your daddy in this situation," Brian decided.

Paul and Sonny overheard Brian's comments and shot him identical glares.

Brian rolled his eyes as he sat back down, "Well that's one thing I wouldn't miss if I left Salem."

"You love all of us," Will rubbed Brian's shoulder, "I'm just your favorite."

"Technically I think I'm his favorite," Neil gave Will a defiant look.

"I didn't break up with him for a dumb reason," Will smiled sweetly, "So I'm the favorite."

Author's note:

No one asked for that but I wanted something fun and lighthearted to ease me back into writing this.

Please let me know what you think. I am working on a few requests now but if there's anything anyone wants to see please let me know and I'll try my best.

Thanks for reading!