Will walked into the park and sat on the bench where he had previously met Paul. He hoped that this would be a quick meeting and he could get out of here as soon as possible. He needed to be able to move past all this, but he also needed time. Time that no one seemed to be able to give him. It had only been 3 days since Sonny had cheated on him, 3 days since he had seen how badly his marriage had fallen apart. Will needed time to rebuild himself and figure out how to deal with everything. But time was not on his side.
That fact became even truer when he heard Paul approach him. Looking at Paul, he felt all the anger, sadness and pain from the past few days bubble up again. He forced himself to calm down and greeted Paul.
"Hey."
"Hi. Thanks for meeting with me."
"No problem. I'm just about done with the article, though. I am going to submit it in tomorrow if you were looking to read it."
"Actually, the article is what I wanted to talk to you about. There is something else I haven't told you that I want you to publish."
The uneasy feeling in the pit of Will's stomach came back.
"Oh? What is it?"
Paul took a deep breath. "This is something that I have kept a secret for a long time. Something I haven't even told my family about. But recently, I've come to the realization that I need to be honest with the world. I have a chance to win back someone who I thought I lost a long time ago."
Will's throat closed up. He wanted to stop Paul, but his body would not cooperate.
"The truth is that I am gay. I am in love with a man, someone who I kept a secret from the public because I was afraid of being outed and losing my career as a baseball player. But now, I've realized that my career will probably be over anyway and I am free to be who I am."
"Paul, I need to stop you."
"No, don't. Will, I want you to write the article as my coming out story. I want to tell the world that I am gay and in love with a man. The man is actually here in Salem. We were recently together and I want to show him how much his love and our relationship mean to me."
Will couldn't take it anymore. He stood up from the bench and walked a few steps away from Paul.
"Paul, I can't write that in the article."
Paul looked surprised. "Why not? Do you have a problem with me being gay?"
Will laughed. Oh how he wished that was the issue. "No I don't. In fact, I am gay as well. I commend you for wanting to come out and tell the truth. I was outed through a news article, but it was not my choice. To have the choice to do this so publicly, I think it's great."
"Then what is the problem? I don't understand."
"The problem is that the man you say you are in love with is my husband."
Paul stared at Will, unsure if he heard him correctly.
"Did you just say…?"
"That Sonny Kiriakis, the man you slept with 3 days ago, is my husband. He is married to me."
Paul looked down and noticed the ring on Will's finger.
"I didn't know you were married."
Will stared at him, not saying anything further. Paul was quiet, but calculating in his head of what to do now. He never expected to find out the man who was interviewing him was the husband Sonny had been talking about. He was the big competition?
Will continued. "So, I'm sure you can understand, given the circumstances that it wouldn't be ethically right for me to out you to the whole world. I am happy to finish writing the article that I have now, and you can find another writer to write your 'coming out true story'."
Will began to walk away, but the anger he held in came forward, and he decided to issue a warning.
"By the way, stay the hell away from my husband. What happened between you two is over and done."
Paul smirked at that, and decided that the conversation wasn't over.
"It must kill you that Sonny came looking for something else. Someone else. I mean, if I was still with Sonny, there is no way in hell he would ever need to find someone else to be with. I knew, and I still know, how to keep him happy and satisfied. Physically, mentally and emotionally."
Will tried to force himself not to rise to the bait.
"You lost him years ago. You forced him to be a secret. I married him. He chose me. He is my husband."
"The only reason he was ever with you was because I was not ready to be out and proud. I am now. Do you really think that a small town guy could ever keep Sonny Kiriakis happy when he could have me? I've traveled the world. I can make all of Sonny's dreams come true. Now, that I am ready to be out, I am going to give him everything he has ever wanted and more. What could you possibly give him?"
"Shut up! Sonny loves me, and that is what matters."
"Oh really? Sonny loves you so much that the first chance he got, he came running to me? Did he tell you what happened that night? How I found him upset, we talked, and how he was all over me the first second we were in my hotel room. It doesn't matter how many drinks he had, he wanted it. His body responded to my touch and there was so much electricity between us. He craved every touch and kiss I could give him. I could tell from the moment I saw him again. When I saw him in the hospital and we kissed again, the magic that was there all those years ago was still there."
Will was stunned for a moment. "What kiss?"
Paul laughed. "Oh, he didn't tell you? When I first came to Salem, right after I had my surgery, I saw Sonny in the hospital. I found him in the common room and we kissed. It was like the past 3 years didn't even happen."
Paul laughed at the tears flowing down Will's face.
"Face it, Will. You will always be his second choice. He will always, in the end, come back to me. You can't fight it, so you might as well accept it. You lost."
With that, Paul walked away. Will stood there, stuck to the ground, his legs unable to move. He felt like all the air had left his body. The words second choice and consolation prize kept screaming in his head, and he felt like he was dying all over again. He stumbled back to the benches and collapsed onto one of them, breathing deeply to try and get more air into his body.
Everything Paul said was true. He couldn't give Sonny anything that Paul could give him. Sonny wasn't happy in their marriage, and the first chance he got, he took it. He then thought about the other things Paul had said. Sonny had known for months that his ex was in town. It wasn't a surprise encounter, he knew Paul was here. He had kissed Paul before when Will was away. How many other times had Sonny been sneaking around or seeing Paul?
Will looked at the gold ring on his left hand. The wedding ring seemed like such a mockery now. It was supposed to symbolize their love and commitment to each other. They couldn't even last a year. Their wedding seemed like such a joke now. It was such a big deal for him to even get married, and now he wondered why they even went through with it. Because they loved each other? That obviously didn't matter, or the past few months would not have happened. He thought back to right after they got engaged, and were dealing with the Nick situation. He had asked Sonny why he wanted to marry Will. He told him that he wanted to make sure that Sonny was happy and that he was glad he married him. Sonny told him that they would always be happy and he would always be glad that he married Will. Apparently always had a time limit of six months.
Will took his ring off his hand and studied it. He wondered if the vows they made last April were still possible after everything that had happened. How could they rebuild their relationship? And now, with Paul still in the picture, things seemed even bleaker. Paul made it clear that he was not going anywhere, and that he was going to get Sonny back. He seemed to act like Sonny was a toy, something he had a right to have. How could Sonny have ever been happy with someone like him? Will began to wonder if he ever truly knew Sonny, the real Sonny.
Time slipped by as he sat on the benches and thought again about his relationship with Sonny. He got pulled out of his thoughts by his phone buzzing. It was Sonny calling. He numbly answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey! I was wondering where you guys were. I am just leaving work right now, maybe I could meet you?"
"I had to take care of something, so I left Ari with the baby-sitter."
Sonny was surprised by that. "Oh. Is everything okay?"
Will didn't say anything, and that told Sonny that something was wrong.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. I just saw Paul Narita."
Sonny felt his stomach drop.
"What happened? Why did you see him?"
"He asked me to meet him about the article. He kept calling me and texting me. I just wanted to find out what he wanted and leave it alone. As it turns out, he wants me to write the article telling everyone he is gay."
"What?"
"Oh yeah. He says that he found the love of his life again and he wants to show him how much he loves this guy."
"What did you say?"
"I told him that it was unethical for me to write the article about him coming out since the man that he claims to be in love with is my husband. I told him that I would submit the article I wrote already, and he should get someone else to write his coming out story."
"Okay."
There was a beat of silence, and Sonny could tell something was really wrong. There had to be something else other than just seeing Paul and telling Paul he can't write the article.
"Where are you? I can come meet you and we can talk."
Will sighed, but said, "I am in the park where the benches are. Where we were for the 4th of July."
"Okay, I will be there in about 10 minutes." Sonny hung up and hurried over to meet Will. Something happened with Paul and Sonny needed to make sure that Paul had not completely ruined his chances of making up with Will.
When Sonny found Will, he was still sitting on the benches, looking down at his hands in his lap. The thing that alarmed Sonny, however, was that Will's wedding ring was off his finger and he was holding it in his hand.
"Will."
When Will looked up, Sonny could immediately tell Will had been crying.
"What happened?"
Will didn't answer at first, and then looked up.
"Do you remember, right before we got married, when I asked you why you asked me to marry you? We had just made love and you asked me what was going on."
Sonny was confused as to where this was going, but he nodded and said yes, that he did remember that day.
"I said that you asking me was proof positive that you loved me. You said that you do love me and always would; that you had never loved someone the way that you love me."
"That is still true."
"Paul doesn't seem to think so. He said that I will always be your second choice. That no matter what happens, you will end up back with him."
Sonny tried to grab Will's hands, but he suddenly stood up and turned away.
"How long have you known that Paul was in Salem?"
"What?"
"How long have you known that Paul was in Salem?"
Sonny didn't know what to say or where this was going. "Why does that matter?"
"It matters because apparently, you have known for months. That the two of you have been meeting and talking, and apparently kissing in the hospital. I knew he had been in town, but I didn't realize that you have been seeing him this whole time."
Will turned and looked at Sonny, wanting to know if that is the truth. Sonny didn't say anything, but his face gave everything away.
"So it's true."
"Yes, but please let me explain. No one knew about me and Paul, and he kept coming to find me. The only time I went to him was after he kissed me, which I was surprised at, and I went to tell him I was married and that the kiss would never happen again. I never told you because I promised Paul I wouldn't tell anyone who Paul was. I swear, when he kissed me, it was the first time I have seen him in 3 years. Yes, it was while you were gone. But nothing happened then."
Will fiddled with his wedding ring in his hand, and Sonny stood up and held his hands.
"You are not and will never be a second choice. You are my first choice. Yes, I was in love with Paul 3 years ago, and it ended because he was not willing to come out of the closet. But that doesn't matter now. I am with you. I want to be with you."
"Why?"
"Why? Why what?"
"Why do you want to be with me? I can't give you everything he can. As he puts it, he can give you the world and every other dream you have ever had. I can't do that. This is me, all I am ever probably going to be. A dad in a small town, trying to be a writer. That's it."
"Stop, stop. You are perfect in every way for me. I don't need the world. You and Ari are my world. You have given me everything I could have ever wanted."
"I can't help you fix your business."
"What? What does that have to do with anything?"
Will tried to pull away, but Sonny held on tight. Will sighed and said, "I can't do anything to help you fix your business. I can't fix our financial situation, I can barely pay our bills. He has enough money to help you rebuild and fix any problems."
"Do you really think that matters to me? I can go to our families to get money if we need. I love you. I don't know how else to prove it to you except to tell you and show you that I love you. I am not going anywhere. No matter what you do, I am not leaving. I don't want to lose you."
Will didn't say anything, trying to soak in Sonny's words. Sonny capped off his words by taking Will's ring and placing it back on Will's finger. He kissed the ring on Will's finger and cradled Will's hand against his face.
"This ring belongs here. Just like my ring belongs on my finger. As long as this ring is on my finger, we still have a chance."
He held up his left hand, showing off his ring.
"This ring is not going anywhere. Neither am I."
The tears continued to flow down Will's face, but this time he started to feel happier. He decided to let his guard down a little bit. He cupped Sonny's face, leaned in, and gently kissed Sonny. Maybe they could turn things around and make their marriage better.
Author's note- Thank you again to everyone who has been following my story. I apologize for the wait, I had a bit of trouble and was feeling uninspired. But I hope you enjoy these next chapters. I apologize if Lucas seems too different from the show, but I felt it worked for the story. Thank you again especially to Love DS and aphass for your ideas and help with this story. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to PM me. I always welcome ideas!
Please review!