Chapter 3: Stop – Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Abigail and Gabi sat in Java Café waiting for Sonny to show up. Abigail's phone went off, and she quickly grabbed it to read a text message from her cousin. "Sonny's on his way. He should be here soon enough." Abigail was excited about their plans. "Soon we'll be laying out in the sun on the beach!" She looked at Gabi hoping that she would be as equally excited, but she was not. Not even close. "Gabi, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Gabi was a bit zoned out.

Abigail got a bit annoyed. "What is wrong? We're going to the beach today, and you're over here moping about something. Talk to me. Let's get whatever is on your mind off of your mind, so we can all be happy."

Gabi began to play with her drink. "I don't know. I guess Rafe is always going to haunt me, and I think it's affecting my relationship with Will. He's been very distant, and I don't know what to do about it."

"Well, I think that it makes sense that you're still thinking about your brother. There are times when I think about my dad and what he did to my mom, JJ, and me. It never really leaves you because you also remember the good times and want things to return to that even when you know it's not fully possible."

Gabi began to smile as it seemed that someone finally understood what she was going through. It was too bad that it was Abigail and not her boyfriend. "It sucks, but I guess I need to realize that I cannot change what my brother did."

Just then Sonny walked into the Java Café. "Sorry, it took me a bit longer to get here. I got lost for a minute there." He smiled as he hugged his cousin.

Abigail brought him over to Gabi. "Gabi, Sonny. Sonny, Gabi." Gabi and Sonny shook hands. Abigail was ready to get the show on the road. "So are we ready to go?" She clasped her hands together. "Let's go."

Sonny stopped them. "We can't go yet. I invited someone to go with us. I believe you know him, Abigail." Will walked through the door before Sonny could say anymore. "There he is."

Will smiled when he saw Sonny, but that smile quickly faded as soon as he saw Gabi. Gabi stood up and marched over to Will. "Are you serious? I asked you if you wanted to hang out today, but you told me you had plans. Why did you lie to me?"

"I do have plans. I did not lie to you."

"Wait. So you were going to the beach without me?" Gabi gave Will an angry look.

Abigail stepped in and put her arm on Will's shoulder. "Hey, Will. It's good to see you." She turned towards Gabi. "Gabi, how about we look at things in a more positive way. It looks like we all get to go to the beach together. Let's all get in my car and head over there." Abigail motioned Sonny to follow them to the car. Gabi glared at Will and closely followed Abigail towards the car. Sonny walked over to Will and shook his hand as they followed close behind the girls.

Meanwhile, at the DiMera Mansion, Chad was enjoying some down time with EJ and Johnny. EJ and Johnny were teaching Chad how to play chess, which was very important in the DiMera family. Chad picked up a pawn and tried to move it diagonally. "No. You can't do that, Uncle Chad," Johnny started. "You can only move it that way if you are going to kill one of daddy's pieces." Chad was impressed at how much Johnny knew about chess.

EJ sat back and enjoyed listening to his son instruct his brother on how to play the game. EJ raised his eyebrows at Chad. "You're very lucky to have little Johnny on your team. He's a very smart player." Chad agreed.

Chad had noticed the last few months that EJ had somewhat become a different person. He was not as cranky as when Chad first found out he was Stefano's son. He knew that it most likely had to do a lot with Sami being in his life again. Still in his thoughts, Chad asked, "How do you do it?"

EJ thought Chad's question was a bit random. "How do I do it? What do you mean?"

"I mean you and Sami are happy together, but dad doesn't want to have anything to do with it. How do you not let that bother you?"

EJ laughed. "Well, it took me years to figure it out, but it's rather quite simple." EJ paused to let curiosity take over Chad's mind to want to hear more. "Be your own man. Don't let father tell you who to be. I mean, family is important. Family should work together and as a team, but it's important that you never lose your individuality as a person. You are a DiMera, and we share that name, but you also have a first name that we do not share."

"Daddy, it's your turn," Johnny interjected. EJ looked at the board to see where he could play next knowing that in the end he would win. There was no way he could let Chad or Johnny win. They had to earn the honor.

Chad really liked what EJ had to say. It was something that he had always tried to tell Abigail to affirm that Stefano would not change him. Just then he got a text message from Abigail telling him that they were headed to the beach. He quickly replied: "I'll finish this last game with Johnny and EJ and I'll head over."

Melanie had just finished her shift at the hospital. She was a bit tired from it all, but she still had quite a bit of the day left. She contemplated whether she should go home and rest for a bit or hang out with someone. She placed a few forms in a filing drawer at the nurses' station when she heard someone say hello. She looked up and was a bit surprised when she saw that it was Dario. "Dario. What are you doing here?"

"I knew you were working, so I thought I would stop by and say hello."

"Hi." Melanie looked down at her watch. "Well, I just got off, so I probably should get out of here." Melanie began to walk away.

Dario stopped her. "Wait. Maybe we could grab a coffee or something since you got off?"

Melanie stopped and thought about Dario's invite. She was not sure if it was a good idea because of the growing attraction between the two of them. She really wanted to be single for a while longer so that she could think things through.

Dario could tell she was not sold on the idea of them hanging out. "Just as friends, of course."

Before Melanie could answer, Nathan walked over to the both of them. Melanie took the opportunity to stall on answering Dario's question. "Nathan. What are you doing here?"

"Just solidified my return. I got my old job back, thankfully." Melanie congratulated Nathan and smiled at him. Nathan thought it was a bit odd that Melanie was being so nice and seemed interested in talking to him. He noticed the other guy standing there and wondered if he had anything to do with it.

"Sorry. Melanie is a bit rude sometimes. I'm Dario Hernandez." Dario put his hand out to Nathan. Nathan shook his hand and introduced himself to Dario.

Nathan turned his attention back to Melanie. "So what are you doing? Do you want to grab a bite or maybe some coffee?"

Dario did not like that another guy was asking Melanie out now. He wondered who Nathan was to Melanie.

Melanie was not very happy either but knew it was her fault that she was in this situation. "Ah. I can't go. I already made plans with my dad."

Dario was happy that Melanie rejected Nathan's request.

"Well, maybe another time." Melanie agreed. "Well, I should go." Nathan got on the elevator, and the doors closed.

Dario smiled at Melanie. "So where do you want to go?"

"Oh." Melanie felt bad that Dario assumed she was covering so that she could go with him. "I really did make plans with my dad. He's waiting for me at the house. Rain check?"

Dario was disappointed that Melanie did not want to go with him. "Sure. I'll see you around." He could not believe he wasted gas to get rejected by her.

After setting up the towels and chairs at the beach, Gabi walked away from the group to think things through. She also hoped that Will would follow her so that they could talk in private. She made her way towards the water and allowed her feet to get wet by the tide that was coming in. Before her feet could fully sink into the sand, she turned around and saw that Will was right behind her. "Oh, Will. You should not have followed me over here. I want to be alone."

"I thought that maybe we could talk, but if you want to be alone, I can give you some space." Will began to turn around, but Gabi grabbed his arm and stopped him. She pulled him closer. "So you want to talk?"

"I don't get our relationship sometimes. I mean, you say that you're really into me and you care about me, but I am not feeling it. I am not seeing that you want to spend time with me. Don't get me wrong, Will, but when we first started dating you used to be with me. You were sweet and present. You really held onto my hand. Now you're just distant even when we are together." Gabi thought about the many times she came onto Will, but he would always have an excuse to leave. She also thought about the many canceled dates in the last few months. She began to wonder if he secretly hated her. As a tear formed in her eye, she asked, "Do you even like me anymore?"

Gabi's question hit Will like a ton of bricks. Guilt suddenly took over as he began to ask himself that very same question. Did he enjoy spending time with Gabi? He realized that he had been annoyed with her a lot recently. There were times when he regretted having to meet up with her. There were times that he counted down the minutes of when he could leave and say goodbye to her. This was not what he wanted. When he first met Gabi he really did enjoy their time together. They had fun. They smiled a lot, but now things were different. Things got really serious, and he was extremely out of his element.

Gabi watched Will as he remained silent. More tears began to form in her eyes. "I guess that settles it then." Gabi began to walk away from Will as it dawned on her that not only did she just lose her boyfriend, but she had also lost a best friend.

"Wait!" Will grabbed Gabi's hand this time to stop her. "I do like you. I'm sorry. I just realized how much I have changed on you. Please let me explain."

Gabi's heart began to beat faster as Will pulled her closer. She was hoping that he would stop her, but her expectations were not that high. She looked at Will as he began to wipe away her tears.

"I don't know what I am doing. I've never got this serious with a girl before. I'm so out of sync. I am so nervous that I might say or do something wrong."

"Oh, Will." Gabi pulled Will into a hug. She appreciated the honesty. "I don't know what I am doing either. I'm sorry that I have been putting so much pressure on you. We'll take things slower if that's what you want us to do. I am okay with that." Gabi and Will separated from their hug, but continued to hold hands. "How about we just work on this together? That way we can just help each other decide what we want from our relationship. I think that would make it easier for the both of us."

Will agreed hoping that he would feel better about himself and his relationship with Gabi.

While Gabi and Will were figuring things out, Abigail and Sonny laid out in the sun on their stomachs talking about life in Salem. Sonny turned his head towards Abigail. "So do they fight a lot?"

Abigail turned her head to Sonny after sending a text message to Chad. "Will and Gabi? All the time. It's actually pretty bad. I can tell neither of them is happy in the relationship."

"Why are they together then?"

"Well, I do think they care about each other. They have been through quite a bit together." Abigail then spoke in a low whisper. "Her brother almost killed his mother twice. That was crazy times, let me tell you."

"Looks like I came to Salem just in time." Sonny pulled his body up to check on Will and Gabi. As he moved his body down, he made a comment. "It sucks that they are fighting, when they could be over here with us having fun. What does Will do for fun? I'm looking for a workout buddy."

Abigail had noticed Sonny seemed quite interested in Will and Gabi, but this was the first time Sonny had singled out Will. "He plays a few sports like baseball and soccer. I'm sure he goes to the gym quite a bit. I think he used to go with my boyfriend, Chad, but they don't go together anymore." Abigail wondered if Sonny wanted more than a workout buddy. "Can I ask you a somewhat random question?"

"Sure."

"Why did you invite Will?" Abigail did not want to just ask him if he was gay. She thought that maybe she could get the answer to that question without having to accuse him of something that might not be true.

Sonny knew that Abigail wanted to ask him something else. He could tell by the way she nervously looked at him. He got up and sat on a chair. "I think I am done with the laying out. A swim sounds good."

Abigail got up as well. "Wait, you didn't answer my question."

"Well, you didn't ask what you really wanted to ask me," Sonny shot back. "Just ask me. I know what you want to know."

"Fine. Are you gay?"

Chad had just walked up to hear Abigail's question, and Abigail froze as she spotted her boyfriend.

Sonny had not noticed that Chad was behind him. "The answer to your question is yes. Can we swim now?" Sonny was trying not to make a big deal about it. Chad made a noise to make his presence known. Sonny quickly turned around and gave Chad a look over. "Hi, who are you?"

Chad gave a closed smile. "I'm Chad. Abigail's boyfriend… and you are?"

Abigail stepped in. "This is my cousin, Sonny. The one that moved into Salem, remember?"

"Right." Chad walked over and shook his hand. Chad began to search for Will and Gabi and spotted them kissing by the water. "I thought you said they were fighting? It looks like they made up."

Abigail made her way to Chad and put her arm around his waist. She looked up to him and smiled. "Thank God. I am so glad we do not have problems like them."

Chad forced a smile and decided not to remind her of their problems.