It was now Thursday. An officer from Campus Security or from the Ottawa Police department and sometimes both had been following Will around for going on three days now. Some were in plain sight, and some were shadows. It was a bit embarrassing, but a few of the officers took the opportunity to actually attend some of Will's classes. One such officer was sitting next to him, in his IntDevCan class with Professor Horvitz.
When Daniel walked in the room, he acknowledged Will with a wink. Will had not been looking forward to seeing the professor again, since he wasn't sure how he took Will's abrupt departure. However, the wink told Will that the professor must not have taken it too badly; or he did, but then heard about the reason through the ever-present and very active university gossip grape-vine.
The officer had even gathered the day's notes for Will and for himself, and started taking notes. When the professor commented on it, the officer stated that he was actually in Law school and he'd wanted to take this class, as an undergrad, but it never fit into his schedule.
After class, Will decided not to wait until Prof. Horvitz called him. He simply went up to him and said:
"Sir, I just wanted to say I'm very sorry about the way I left you…"
Daniel interrupted Will with a look and a smile: "Will, for heaven's sake, everyone knows what you went through that morning. I started to go after you, you looked terrified, but I lost you after you turned the corner; so no worries okay?"
Will thought to himself: "No worries? Easy for you to say"He tried to shake the memory off, but it came to him anyway:
On Wednesday morning Justin e-mailed Will with the news that Nick Fallon had been granted bail and transferred into the custody of his aunt Hope. The jury selection was still underway and so, Nick Fallon left the courtroom with his aunt. He was essentially a free man., at least temporarily.
The temporary measures concerning the three letter-receivers, instead of being suspended, were stepped up. Justin had said that Sonny's great uncle Victor would be acquiring a security team that was eligible to work in Canada and would send it to help guard Sonny, Will and even Marc
When Marc heard the phrase ""even Marc" he commented:
"Even Marc? I'm thrilled somebody thinks I might be worth saving. "
Will was less than thrilled at the prospect of being escorted around wherever he went. At least he didn't have to deal with any more people coming up to him with envelopes or anti-gay comments; although, he still had a few students expressing their sincere condolences and outrage concerning what he was going through.
As the day progressed however, Will found himself increasingly more agitated and at the same time rather depressed. He Skyped his Grandma Marlena and she suggested that he should contact his therapist in Ottawa. And when Will groaned at this, Marlena said:
" Sweet-ling, you know I am always here for you to talk to. But so is Dr. Pinot. You said yourself that he was good, if a bit unorthodox."
Will conceded that point but added one of his own: "But Grandma, He's not you." And Will smiled.
"Don't you flash that puppy-dog smile at me young man." And so the conversation went in that vain for a while.
Will couldn't let himself call Dr. Pinot. He knew what was wrong. He didn't need a therapist to analyse it for him. He also didn't want to bug his therapist for this little thing. He was going to see him in two days anyway.
And so, the funk went on. Both Sonny and Marc noticed it. Will hardly ate anything. Will was also rather standoff-ish when it came to physical affection towards Sonny. Sonny had immediately noticed that change from the very first kiss after a long day of classes before they went to eat. He didn't say anything, hoping that Will would snap out of his funk, or at least talk about it.
When the time came when Sonny would ask Wil, simply by standing and holding up his hand, to join him in his room for some alone time, Will looked at Sonny sadly:
"Sonny, I'm so tired… I'm sorry."
Sonny looked at Will, crouched down and kissed him on the cheek. Stood up and started for the door.
"Sonny, what are you doing?"
Sonny turned to Marc and looked at him incredulously: "I am giving my boyfriend some space."
Marc looked at Sonny: "And you're sure that is what he needs right now?"
"It's what he wants. So I'm giving it to him."
Will, who, was flabbergasted by the fact that they were discussing him as if he weren't there, said to Marc: "What's wrong with me wanting to be alone for just one night? And what business is it of yours?"
Marc stood up from his desk chair and walked towards Will: "You're right. It is none of my business. It is between you and Sonny. But Will, you have always had at least an hour of alone time with Sonny, since I came into the picture anyway, and you know what, I don't know what that entails. I don't know what you do. I do joke about it. But even yesterday, with everything that happened, you spent time alone with Sonny. And when you came back here, you were relaxed and you had the biggest smile on your face. You allowed yourself to be happy. So what is different? Why don't you want that today?"
Marc turned to Sonny and gave him a look that said:"You should be asking that question."
Sonny looked at Marc, and was about to say something angry towards him, but he stopped himself. He looked towards Will, whose head was hanging. Will was desperately trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, but especially with Sonny. Sonny crouched down to Will's level, gently grabbed Will's chin and looked into Will's cloudy blue eyes:
"He's right Will. I should have asked you that. I didn't want to push you. I'm always afraid that if I push you too far, you'll run away and I'll lose you forever. But Marc is right I should ask… there is obviously something wrong… talk to me. "
Will's eyes started to mist: "I got an e-mail from your father today saying that Nick is now out on bail. And I'm afraid, Sonny. I'm afraid that somehow he'll come after me. He promised me he would. I was going to ask you to do something with me today. I wanted to be bunnies. But if Nick is free, and comes after me, he'll come after you too. I want you safe Sonny. Whenever I get close to someone something bad happens. "
When Will wanted to look away again, Sonny pulled his gaze back: "Will, I won't tell you everything is going to be okay, because I don't know. I don't know Nick like you do. But I love you. And I know you love me. Letting me go is not the answer. We will face whatever it is we will face, together. Together we are stronger."
Sonny stood up and held out his hand. And this time Will took it. And as they both left hand-in-hand towards Sonny's room, Sonny looked back towards Marc. Sonny's eyes said simply "Thank you." But he put on an air of smugness and out loud he said: "You know the drill", as Sonny and Will left the room.
Will was jolted out of his memory when Daniel stated: "No worries? What am I saying? Of course you're worried! Who wouldn't be? What I mean to say is…. It's understandable"
Will was actually relieved. He wanted a good mark in this class and Sonny said it was a good idea to keep himself on Prof. Horvitz's good side. In order to do that, Sonny said that it would be a good idea to attend the little Horvitz get-together. Sonny had been approached by a few students and some professors, asking whether Sonny would be attending. That was a good indication that the party was not only going to involve the four of them. It had been a worry.
"Sir, Sonny wanted me to ask you if the invitation to your party on Saturday was still open."
Daniel simply looked at Will, smiled and said: "Of course Will, the invitation was never closed. Maybe you can bring that hunk of a bodyguard of yours; Cute and smart; a lethal combination."
Will tried to look serious: "I really don't have control over who I'm assigned to. I'm hoping it will be to no one by then." That was Will's hope; but he knew his hopes will probably be dashed. The police had leads concerning the four threatening notes apparently, but no one was sharing information with him. And then of course there was the situation with Nick Fallon. Will cringed inwardly again, although there was also a hint of a smile, as he remembered:
Will and Sonny were lying on Sonny's bed. They entered the room in silence. They sat down in silence. For the longest time Will simply stared into Sonny's beautiful chocolate brown eyes, absorbing the love and compassion, the heat and the coolness of those eyes. And then Will kissed Sonny, gently and firmly. He stood up and said to Sonny:
"I need to show you something. Something I have been avoiding to show you. Although you might have already seen it; since I know you have tried to look and touch every inch of me."
And then Will pulled down his jeans and his underwear and placed himself in an incredibly vulnerable position, exposing an intimate orifice; and mentioned for Sonny to come forward and look. And that is when Sonny saw the tear. It was still very pink, and had little marks from stitches. It was healing. And then very near, he saw several more little tears. These were the marks of violence; marks that will be forever a reminder of fear and hatred. These marks were healing; the psychological marks would take a little longer. Will straightened up, and pulled his underwear and jeans back up, turned around and looked at Sonny.
Sonny was crying. Tears had formed and were rolling down his cheeks. Will bent down to Sonny, gazed deeply into his eyes and said:
"Those scars are healing. Some scars…" and he pointed to his head "…will take a little longer. But I promise you that they will heal and that you will be there to see them heal. You have helped me so much Sonny; more than I can ever express to you,"
He brought a hand to Sonny's cheeks and wiped away the tears. "I promise you Sonny, I will never shut you out like I did. Ever again." He was about to bring his lips to Sonny's when they both heard a knocking on the inside door. And a voice, Marc, saying: "Guys, I told them all to wait, but they won't. You need to both come out. I'm sorry."
Will and Sonny came out of their sanctuary and into Sonny's Leader's lounge. And there standing with Marc were several officers. One of whom looked stern and worried. He looked at Will and said: "Will I'm sorry to interrupt you but you need to be informed of something. A few hours ago a group of people stormed your aunt Hope's apartment and Nick Fallon has escaped custody"
Will was shocked. He also learned that there was a statewide APB out on Nick and all major airports and railway and bus stations in the area had been notified. Will simply asked:
"Is my Aunt Hope okay?"
He was told that she had been hurt, but was in stable condition at a hospital in Salem. Will's fears were coming true; Nick was coming for him.
Will was only slightly startled by Daniel saying: "People should be arriving by 14:00. Please don't feel like you need to bring anything. Sonny of course knows where I live, so see you then." And Will looked at Prof. Daniel Horvitz, smiled and said: "We'll be there." At least he hoped they would.