I again want to thank the lovely ladies Rita and Tina. They are indispensable to me and this story.
Just as the men are about to touch their lips to each other, Chad steps up with a clearing of his throat.
"So, Will, who's your new friend?" Chad says, slapping Will on the back and looking at Sonny; as if sizing him up.
"Uhhh...n-nobody." Will stammers suddenly looking panic stricken.
"Hi, I'm Sonny. Owner and Bartender of this establishment." Sonny smiles and extends his hand to Chad.
"I'm Chad DiMera." Chad shakes Sonny's hand.
"Ah. Will's friend." Sonny clarifies.
It is this point that Will, who had been awkwardly inching away from the others, decides to make a run for it. He turns quickly and leaves the bar before either Chad or Sonny can stop him. Chad mutters a quick apology before running after his friend.
Once outside, Will walks quickly towards the car they came in. He goes over to the passenger side and sits on the ground leaning up against the front tire. He buries his head in his hands. Mentally he kicks himself for letting his emotions get the better of him. There was no way he was going to be able to talk himself out of this one. Chad was sure to figure it out, after all him and Sonny had been seconds from kissing. Will brings his head out of his hands in order to look skyward, as if in prayer, letting out his breath in a huff.
Chad runs out of the bar and wildly glances up the street to the right and then down the street to the left. He steps out into the middle of the road, trying to locate his friend. He even hollers out Will's name. After getting no reply and not seeing his friend, Chad turns to go back into the bar. That's when he sees a person out of the corner of his eye. The guy is leaning against the front tire of the car Chad borrowed. Coming closer, Chad realizes that it is Will. Approaching his friend, Chad squats down to his level.
"Hey man. What's gotten in to you?" Chad whispers trying to get Will to look at him.
"Nothing." Will mumbles his reply without even glancing in Chad's direction.
"Okay, that was definitely not nothing. Dude, you split from the bar as if it was on fire. You want to talk about it?" Chad places his hand on Will's shoulder in comfort.
"No! There's nothing to talk about. I just wanted to leave, okay?" Will exclaims finally looking at Chad as he stands up and brushes Chad's hand away. Will then walks off down the street.
Chad sighs and then follows, "Look, Will I don't know what that guy in the bar said to you but, it must have been something big because it sure did freak you out."
"I said I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone Chad." Will continues down the street not bothering to check and see if Chad was keeping up or leaving him alone.
"Look, you obviously know the guy. I am just curious about how you know him. Is it something illegal? Is that why you don't want me to know?" Chad gasps as he runs to try and keep up with Will.
"It's not illegal Chad." Will mutters, "Just go back to base camp without me. I'll be fine."
"If it's not illegal then why won't you talk about it with me?" Chad continues to hound Will.
"BECAUSE! I DON'T NEED EJ FINDING OUT!" Will finally stops and turns suddenly to yell at Chad.
"Dude, what is going on? I have never seen you more scared in all my life." Chad says trying again to reach out and touch Will in comfort, only to have him back away once more.
"There are things about me that you don't know, and if you knew them you wouldn't want to stick around. Trust me." Will mutters and continues walking forward, only this time at a slower pace.
"Like what? You've killed a guy?" Chad chuckles nervously, falling into step with Will.
"Worse." Will mumbles, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"What could be worse than killing someone?" Chad asks, putting his arm out to stop Will.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone and I will tell you." Will looks earnestly at Chad.
"Wow, this is serious." Chad exclaims.
"Just promise me Chad! No one, and I mean no one else can hear about this. Especially not EJ." Will says, fear mounting in his voice.
"Yeah okay. I promise." Chad looks at his best friend with a really serious expression.
With a huge sigh and a glance towards the heavens, his feet shuffling the dirt, Will continues. "I'm gay."
Chad stops in his tracks and his mouth falls open. He finally seems to gain some bearings, but no matter how many times he opens and closes his mouth he can't seem to find any words. So, he gives up and simply walks back towards their car. Will watches Chad walk off and kicks himself for even saying anything. Chad was the only friend he had and now he'd ruined that by telling him his deepest secret.
The two ride back to base camp in complete silence. Will looks towards Chad and opens his mouth to say something a couple of times, but chickens out and remains quiet. Once they are at base camp, Chad turns off the car but doesn't get out. Instead he turns to Will and the silence is broken.
"So, is that guy your lover, boyfriend, whatever?" Chad asks quietly, playing with the steering wheel and not looking at Will.
"Sonny? No. I barely know the guy." Will exclaims.
"But you do know him?" Chad replies.
"Yes. Met him at the beach earlier when I went for a run." Will states exasperatedly, "Will you just look at me Chad. You're my best friend. Please."
"I can't deal with this right now, Horton. Sorry." Chad sighs as he climbs out of the car and leaves Will behind.
Will slumps back in his seat. He had expected some flak for his confession, but he never expected Chad to flat out abandon him. Will resists the urge to cry, after all EJ always said that crying was for sissies. Leaning his head back, Will closes his eyes and thinks about the events in the bar. Sonny and him had been so close to sealing the deal, and kissing. If Chad hadn't interrupted would they have kissed? Will hopes they would but, at the same time he's afraid of what would have happened if they had. EJ would surely have found out and then Will would never hear the end of things. With a mournful sigh, Will unbuckles his seatbelt and climbs out of the car. He half hopes that once inside he'll find Chad and they can talk, but the other half of him just wants to be left alone.
The next morning Will wakes up an hour before he needs to be down at the beach for a lesson with Sonny. The reminiscent thought of their lesson causes Will to get really anxious. He doesn't know if he should continue with the lessons after all. Looking over at Chad sleeping, two cots away, Will envisions what he would say if he saw him training with Sonny.
"Will, you can't seriously be spending MORE time with him. People are going to talk. I'm not going to tell them but, my god they'll easily know just by looking."
With a sigh Will turns away from Chad, his voice still echoing in his head. He knew that fake Chad was right. If he didn't want anyone to know that he was gay, then he needed to steer clear of Sonny. However, Will decides that Sonny does at least deserve the decency of hearing it straight from Will. So without further ado, Will gets up from his cot and prepares for his morning run.
As Will nears the spot where he had met Sonny the day before, he sees that Sonny isn't there alone. As a moment of second thoughts, Will stops and watches Sonny interacting with the other man. The two men are speaking in what is clearly Italian, so Will uses their body language as a way to try and discern what they are saying.
"Dovresti stare attento Sonny!" the other man is saying.
"Lo sono, Dom!" Sonny yells back, clearly agitated.
"Per questo lo hai quasi baciato in pubblico? E' un militare, giusto?" Dom asks, raising an eyebrow in skepticism at the first question.
"Sì lo è, ma anche lui voleva baciarmi." Sonny retorts as he starts to pace around slightly with his hands on his hips.
"Non importa! Gli Americani sono strani e hanno regole particolari nei confronti di persone come lui." Dom says with a sigh at his best friend.
"Se non sapessi come stanno le cose direi che hai un problema con lui! Il che è ipocrita da parte tua." Sonny yells, clearly getting aggravated.
"Proprio non mi va di avere una discussione per questo Sonny." Dom sighs reaching out to place his hand on Sonny's shoulder.
" Beh.. sei tu quello che la sta facendo diventare una discussione." Sonny replies, brushing off Dom's hand. He looks up and notices Will off to the right just hanging there, clearly trying not to eavesdrop. Sonny motions Dom to look up and notice that they are no longer alone.
Dom sees that his conversation with Sonny is done so he makes as if to leave, but then turns back and says one more thing, "Cerca solo di stare attento ok? Non voglio vederti stare male."
Sonny gives Dom a smile and then turns back to Will and approaches him.
With a smile Sonny greets him, "Hey, Will. Kind of thought you wouldn't come."
"Why wouldn't I?" Will asks, trying to hide the fact that he is very uncomfortable.
"Because of what happened last night." Sonny replies vaguely.
"Oh that." Will says in a defeated tone. "It was no biggie. I'm over it. It's cool." Will tries to save himself.
"Will, don't." Sonny says softly, stepping forward to be closer to Will.
"Don't what?" Will raises an eyebrow as if to say 'I don't know what you are talking about'.
"Don't pretend that you aren't unnerved by last night's events. I can feel your uncomfortable around me, even today." Sonny touches his hand to Will's shoulder.
"N-no I'm just fine." Will stammers, his train of thought scrambled by the mere touch of Sonny's hand.
"Will, you don't have to pretend. I'm sorry that things went a little far yesterday." Sonny says. Then grabbing a surf board, "Should we get started?"
"Yeah. That sounds great!" Will sighs and follows Sonny to a spot set up on the beach where it looked they would be working.
"I figured the best way to start is on solid ground. You have to get the body motions down before I would recommend testing the waters. Ready?" Sonny smiles, a little breathless from clear excitement.
"Totally!" Will says excitedly trying to shake the uneasy feeling he had.
"Ok first things first, take off your shirt." Sonny directs.
"WHAT?!" Will balks.
"Well, surfers don't wear t-shirts. Just to be more comfortable you should take yours off." Sonny explains with a slight chuckle.
"O-ok" Will stammers again.
"Now you need to lay down on your stomach on the surf board. Then you take your arms and paddle along the sides of the board." Sonny instructs.
Will does as instructed and awkwardly starts to paddle. Sonny squats down and grabs his arm and demonstrates the correct way to "paddle". Will closes his eyes and wills his emotions and hormones not to think of this in a sexual manner.
"Now we are going to work on your technique to get you standing on the board and 'riding the waves'." Sonny exclaims, after about ten minutes, with air quotes for the last little bit of his statement.
"Ok. Don't you think I need to work on paddling a little bit more?" Will asks nervously.
"Nah! I think you got that down just fine."
"Wow, umm...It's been my experience that I don't learn anything quickly." Will bites his bottom lip and looks at his feet.
"Who told you that? EJ?" Sonny cries out surprised.
"Let's just forget about it okay? I really don't want to talk about EJ, the step-demon."
"Okay. Okay. Well, let's work on your foot work to get you up on the board. Lay back down." Sonny says instructing Will, as Will lays back down on the board. "Okay now when you come up you're going to push yourself up as if you are doing a push up. Then you are going to jump up to your feet. Go ahead and try it."
Will gives Sonny's instructions a try. He paddles a little and then pushes his body up into a pushup position; a position that Sonny couldn't tear his eyes from. Then after a moment's pause, Will jumps up onto his feet. However just as he lands on his feet he starts to lose his balance. Sonny jumps forward to try and steady him, but his touch on Will's abdomen sends Will into shock and he falls anyways. However, instead of falling away from Sonny, Will topples towards him sending both men to the sand. Will lands on top of Sonny and as Will catches his breath he looks into Sonny's eyes.
Looking into Sonny's eyes Will becomes lost. He forgets about the world around him. Instead it is just him and Sonny lying together on the beach. The sand below them and the surf behind them. Will sighs and brings his lips closer to Sonny's. With a slight movement Sonny opens his mouth a small amount, inviting Will in. Will seizes the opportunity and connects the two men's mouths.
The kiss is electric. The best kiss Will has ever experienced. He refrains from moaning into Sonny's mouth, but that doesn't stop him from running hands over Sonny's arms and cheeks. Sonny in turn grabs the back of Will's head and brings it closer. The two men remain in contact for what seems like hours. However, they are brought out of their kiss by the sensation of water lapping their feet. Will pulls away and hurriedly gets off of Sonny.
"We shouldn't have done that." Will exclaims running the back of his hand over his mouth.
"Why not? I had fun." Sonny smiles up at him, still sitting in the sand.
"Because Sonny, no one else knows that I'm gay, just you and Chad. If the guys found out it would be hell for me." Will explains as he too plops down on the sand.
"They aren't going to find out. It's just you and me out here this morning. No one else." Sonny reasons.
"You also have a boyfriend, I don't want to get involved with a guy like that." Will mutters.
"Who said I have a boyfriend?" Sonny asks, looking at Will with a curious look on his face.
"No one. I saw you with him this morning when I first got here." Will answers, starting to draw in the sand at his feet.
"Oh Dom? Dom's not my boyfriend. Firstly, he's my roommate and best friend. Secondly, he's straighter than a board." Sonny chuckles at Will's mistake.
"Oh." Will mumbles, "Well this just got awkward." Will smiles at Sonny and then laughs.
The two catch each other's eyes and their laughter peters out. Silence ensues, but neither guy minds. Will allows his thoughts to wander. He imagines a life here in Italy where Sonny and him surf in the mornings and run a bar together at night. It is an imagining that comes to mind more clearly than any other dream or goal he has ever had before. It's as if the universe is telling him that he should seize his opportunity with Sonny.
Meanwhile, Sonny is imagining seeing Will work out, doing pushups and sit ups. Not that Sonny is all about the physical stuff, it's just that seeing Will in the pushup position earlier had been a real turn on for him. Never before has Sonny fallen for a guy so quickly. This sort of scares him, especially after the hell that Javier put him through the year before. No as much as Sonny wants to jump head long into forever with Will he will take things easy.
Will starts to freak out that his being here, on the beach, with Sonny is too much and that someone will surely see despite Sonny saying that no one was around. He decides that now is an opportune time to take his leave. While trying to get the courage to stand up and walk away, Will watches Sonny lick his lips and then suck in the bottom one. Sonny clears his throat nervously.
"We should probably call it a day." Sonny stammers, showing his nerves for the first time.
"Yeah. I gotta get back." Will says strongly as he gets up and shoves his feet into his shoes and puts on his shirt.
With awkward smiles towards each other, both guys respectively turn away and start walking back in the direction they had arrived.
Translations:
Dovresti stare attento Sonny = You should be careful Sonny.
Lo sono, Dom = I am, Dom!
Per questo lo hai quasi baciato in pubblico? E' un militare, giusto? = That's why you almost kissed him in public? He's military right
Sì lo è, ma anche lui voleva baciarmi = Yes, but he was wanting to kiss me too!
Non importa! Gli Americani sono strani e hanno regole particolari nei confronti di persone come lui = Doesn't matter. Americans are really weird about their policies about people like him.
Se non sapessi come stanno le cose direi che hai un problema con lui! Il che è ipocrita da parte tua. = If I didn't know better, I would say you have a problem with him. Which is hypocritical of you.
Proprio non mi va di avere una discussione per questo Sonny. = I really don't want to be having this fight with you, Sonny.
Beh.. sei tu quello che la sta facendo diventare una discussione. = Well you're the one who's making it a fight.
Cerca solo di stare attento ok? Non voglio vederti stare male. = Just be careful with him, ok? I don't want to see you get hurt.