Thanks everyone for your kind comments on Chapter 1! Here is Chapter 2. There'll be one more afterwards. Hope you enjoy this one too, and please continue giving feedback, it means a lot to me and helps me improve as a writer.

"Sonny, Nick isn't the father of Gabi's baby… I am."

Will's words hung in the air, the silence following them thick and heavy. The young blonde man waited with baited breath for his boyfriend's response, his heart drumming hard against his chest. He had been terrified of this moment, but he'd also realized it was inevitable – and the sooner he got it out of the way, the better.

"W – what?" Sonny said slowly. It was evident in his expression that Will's news hadn't yet sunk in for him.

"Gabi's baby is mine," Will repeated, trying to keep his voice steady and devoid of the anxiety he was feeling. "I know I should've told you right away… I'm sorry that I didn't."

"Uh…" Sonny ran a hand through his hair, visibly confused and trying to process. "How is that possible? You and Gabi broke up ages ago."

Will sighed. The hard part wasn't over yet. "Yeah, we did," he conceded, "But something happened… we were both upset that day, and we went to her place, and… we just ended up having sex. It was a stupid mistake… the kind I'm used to making," he concluded, his eyes darting away from Sonny's again because he felt too ashamed to look at him.

"Wait," Sonny said, realization creeping into his voice, "By the time Gabi got pregnant, you and I were already – "

Will's head snapped back up in alarm. "No," he said firmly, his hand clasping Sonny's. "Sonny, Gabi's been pregnant longer than everyone thinks… Nick was still in prison when it happened. That's how she knew I was the father. It was before we got together, I swear." He gave Sonny a look fraught with significance. "I would never do that to you. Ever."

Sonny smiled at Will affectionately, and Will felt an enormous burden being lifted off his shoulders. "Will, it's okay. I believe you. You didn't have to tell me any of this, but you did… I know I can trust you."

"I am so grateful to hear you say that," Will said emotionally, cupping Sonny's face with one hand. "But I did have to tell you… I should've told you the day I found out. It's just that Gabi made me promise not to."

The mention of Gabi's name seemed to make something stir inside Sonny. For the first time, Will saw a flash of anger across his face.

"When you first told me about this, I thought it was just Gabi's secret, so of course she could ask you to keep it. But this is your baby, too, Will. What gives her the right to dictate who you can and can't tell?"

Will shrugged and lay down on the bed, exhaling slowly as he did. He was starting to feel the tiring effects of such a long day followed by the emotional weight of the conversation they were having. "She convinced me it was the right thing to do. Well, actually, she and Nick both did that."

Sonny quirked an eyebrow. "So Nick knows?"

"Yeah," Will confirmed. "And they asked me not to say anything so that they could raise the baby as their own. They thought it would be best for her to grow up believing Nick was her father. And frankly, so did I… Sonny, when I was a kid, my parents just kept fighting over me like I was some trophy. I never had any kind of stable home." The pain of those memories colored his tone as he spoke. "And look how I ended up, a hot mess just like my mom."

"That's bullshit," Sonny said sharply, and there was so much conviction and resolve in his voice and expression that it gave a hefty tug on Will's heartstrings. "Will, you're so sweet and kind and loving… I wish you could see how amazing you are, because everyone else does. And Gabi ought to appreciate that more, because what you just told me proves, again, that you're the best friend she could ever ask for."

Will almost went into his default mode of defending Gabi to Sonny, but decided he'd rather just pull his boyfriend into a tight embrace. So tight, it felt almost as if he was melting into Sonny's body; and this sensation, on top of the reassurance Sonny had just given him, did wonders for Will's mood. "Thanks for saying that. God, I love you so much."

Sonny planted a kiss at the crook of Will's neck. "I love you, too," he whispered. "More than you know."

Hugging Sonny – like kissing him, or making love to him, or spending time with him in almost any way – had a way of making Will feel like time had stopped, and the two of them, in this moment, were all that existed in the world. He was dying to get Sonny out of his remaining clothes, to spend all night exploring every inch of that beautiful body… but there was one more thing he needed to talk to him about, first.

"Sonny," he said quietly, gently breaking away from the older man to make eye contact with him again, "There's something I need to tell you."

"Geez, more?" Sonny replied with a teasing grin. "I'm getting my mind blown tonight, Will."

Will gave a short laugh. "We're still on the same subject, it's just… you must have been waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"What d'you mean?" Sonny asked curiously.

Will chewed his lower lip for a moment. C'mon, he thought, just get it out. "Like I told you, Gabi and Nick convinced me not to say anything about the baby being mine so that they could pass her off as Nick's. But I can't do that anymore. Sonny, I'm about to have a baby girl… I didn't plan it, I didn't ask for it, and frankly it kind of terrifies me." He chuckled nervously. "But now that it's happening, I can't ignore it and frankly I don't want to. I'm gonna have a little girl, and I want to be with her. I want to put her to bed, and dress her in those cute little baby clothes, and go out for a walk with her in a stroller… most importantly, I want her to know that I'm her dad. Looking at her doing all of this stuff with Nick, and knowing I can't tell her the truth? That would tear me apart."

Unless Will was imagining things, Sonny's eyes had gotten moist while listening to his speech. As he finished, Sonny reached forward to caress his hair, running his fingers through the golden locks.

"Of course it would. Will, you have every right to be a part of your daughter's life. It's your call, not Nick and Gabi's."

"Yeah," Will agreed, not without hesitation, "But what does that mean for us?"

"Well, we – " Sonny began to answer, before suddenly stopping, the full weight of the question clearly hitting him. "I don't know, Will," he admitted after a beat. "I love you and I want to be with you, but I have no idea what this means."

Will gave a smile that was equal parts sadness and relief. The latter, because at least they had finally addressed the elephant in the room. Sonny was the most wonderful, supportive and understanding boyfriend Will could've asked for, but at the same time, they couldn't pretend that this wasn't going to change anything. It had the potential to change everything for them. And Will didn't know if he had it in him to ask Sonny to do this - accept such a burden - for the sake of being with him.

"Part of the reason I didn't say anything was because of this," Will confessed. "I was afraid of losing you. I mean, Sonny, you're 22. You've traveled the world, you have your whole life ahead of you… I know that being tied down with a baby right now is the last thing you wanted."

"Okay, yeah," Sonny conceded the point, "But that's true for you, too."

"The difference is, I can't afford to walk away," Will insisted. "It's my baby, Sonny. But you… it won't be fair for you to have to give up so much for me."

"I can deal with it."

"I know you can… but you shouldn't have to." Will absent-mindedly traced Sonny's well-defined jawline with his thumb. "Please, I want you to think about this a-and figure out how you feel. Don't make any decisions right away."

Sonny heaved a sigh and then looked lovingly into Will's sapphire eyes. "You know I can't say no to you." Will's snicker at those words was cut off when Sonny pulled him into a deep kiss. Feeling almost lightheaded, Will invitingly opened his mouth, and Sonny wasted no time in exploring it with his incredibly skilled tongue. It wasn't long before the clothes they had worn to the wedding ended up in a messy pile on the floor.

A couple of hours later, a still-sweaty Will lay on his back in bed, looking at the ceiling of the dark apartment. He could tell from the slow breaths of the man lying next to him that Sonny had already fallen asleep. Insistently telling himself that his problems – or was it their problems? - should be put off until morning, he turned over and rested his head on Sonny's torso. Listening to his boyfriend's steady heartbeat had a curious, lullaby-like effect on Will, and his eyelids slowly drooped until he too drifted off to sleep.

To Be Continued...