Will shot to his feet, cheering wildly as Paul struck out his fifth batter of the game. The crowd was on their feet around him. The roar of the applause was neatly deafening and Will could not be prouder of his man.

He watched as Paul ran off the field toward the dug out with his teammates. Paul looked happy and carefree. Which was quite a change from earlier today.

He sat back down as the American league players took the field. The first batter for the National league stepped into the on deck circle and took a few swings before heading over to the batter's box. So far there had only been three runs scored in the whole game. Two by the National league one one by the American league. It was going to be a tight game.

"Great game." John said, standing up. "While they bat, I am going to run to the concession stand and get a beer, Will you want one?" he asked.

Will nodded his approval and John hurried off not wanting to miss anymore of the game than he had to. He was the epitome of a dad bursting with pride.

Marlena turned her attention to Will, "So young man…now that we are alone…." she said. "It has turned out to be a very big day for you, tell me how you are really feeling, are you overwhelmed?" she asked.

Will looked around. "Yeah, well since we are alone…" he chided, taking in all the people crowded in around them. There was not an empty seat to be had in the entire stadium, including the private box that they were in, there was barely even any standing room. The overflow from the press box had been allowed to stand along the back wall of the friends and family private boxes on both sides.

"Well, virtually alone." Marlena said. "These people are not paying attention to us you know."

"What you really mean is while Paul and John aren't around." he said, "Yeah, I know. But I am fine Grandma, really." he put his hand on top of hers. "If I am anything, I am strong."

"Honey, I know that." she said. "But I also know that you care very deeply for Paul."

"I do.." Will agreed. "And it really pisses me off that someone did this deliberately to hurt him, someone who claims to have loved him... Paul is amazing, and loving, and he didn't deserve this."

"No, he didn't." she said, "But I really don't think Sonny did this to hurt him." She held her hand up to stop the tirade when he opened his mouth to protest. "I know he did hurt him, and I know that he did this on purpose, I am just saying that I believe that his goal was not to hurt Paul or to punish him, I think he did this as a last ditch effort to get Paul back."

Will snapped his mouth shut. He hadn't thought about that. "In what world would Paul go back to him after what he did?" he asked. "He must be delusional."

"No no no, Honey. You misunderstood what I am saying." she said. "I don't think Paul is going back to him, I don't even think he would consider it, but I do believe that is what Sonny's end goal was." she said.

"Well, Paul is Mine." Will said possessively. "And I am not giving him up."

"He would be a fool to walk away from you." Marlena chuckled.

"Damn Straight." John said, walking up on the end of the conversation. He handed Will a beer. "And my son is a lot of things, but he is no fool."

Will grinned up at him brightly. "Thanks." he said, accepting the beer.

John handed Marlena a soda and his beer, then he turned to the young girl that was standing behind him. She handed him his other purchases and turned to walk off.

John tossed Will a bag of peanuts and then walked a few seats over. He squatted down in front of Timothy, the little boy from the restaurant. "Hey, Kiddo. You can't watch a ball game without a hot dog and popcorn and cotton candy." he said sitting the tray on his lap.

Timothy's eyes shined bright. "Thanks Mister!" he said, grabbing the hot dog and taking a huge bite.

"Thank you." his mother said, before John waved her off, "Don't mention it." he said.

They watched the rest of the game even though Paul was pulled out in the seventh inning to allow the relief pitchers an inning a piece to show off their own skills. The score was tied going into the ninth. And It was looking like they may go into extra innings when the National teams center fielder, who was the center fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks hit a home run over the left field wall to win the game for them.

They stayed in the friends and family box and celebrated for a while before heading down to wait for Paul.

They waited around outside the locker room until Paul finally appeared. There were hugs and congratulations all around.

"We have a couple of interviews and things before I am done here, and then the team is going out to celebrate. Paul said. "You coming right?" he asked looking at Will.

Will shook his head no. "Not this time." he said.

Paul's face fell before he could mask his disappointment. "Okay well then I will come to the hotel as soon as the interviews are done." He said decisively.

"You most certainly will not." Will said, "You go out with the guys from the team and celebrate the win for as long as you want."

"But, I want to celebrate with you." Paul said.

Will smiled wide, "We will celebrate together, I promise. But you should go out with the team, without me. If I come along, people are gonna make it about you and me and you were trying to avoid that remember?" Will said.

"Paul, I don't know where you found this guy…" Bridgette said, she had joined them just as Will ordered Paul to go out with his team. "But he is a keeper… he is damn smart."

Paul grinned easily, "He is, isn't he?" he said.

"Narita, picture time." someone called sticking their head out of the locker room.

"See you later then?" Paul said, backing away.

"Absolutely." Will said. "Have an awesome time."

When Paul disappeared behind the door, they turned and walked out of the stadium. John hailed them a cab and they all piled in.

A few minutes later, they all stepped out in front of the hotel. "What are you going to do?" Marlena asked looking at Will.

"I've got some work to get done and some calls to make, interviews to line up... stuff like that." he said. "What about you, what are you two going to do?"

Marlena looked over at John, who shrugged. "Whatever you want." he said.

Marlena's eyes twinkled. "We are going shopping." she said.

John groaned loudly, "Me and my big mouth." he said. "Kid you need any help with your work?" he asked hopefully.

Will chucked.

"Oh no you don't." she said. "You said whatever I want."

"Yeah, I know I did... One day I will learn not to do that.…" John teased, ushering her back into the same waiting cab.

Will watched as the car drove off and then he went inside.

Once in the room he sat down at the table and spent the next couple of hours typing out a story about the all star game and then another few minutes editing it and putting the final touches on it. Once he was satisfied that it was perfect he pulled out his cell phone. It was the first time he had looked at it in several hours and he wasn't surprised to see that he had ten missed calls, every single one of them from his editor.

He sighed and called him back, as he listened to the ringing, he already having a good idea of what he was going to say.

"Will, I have been waiting for your call." he said as soon as he answered the phone forgoing a normal greeting. He launched into his spiel about how it would be amazing to have an exclusive story from him all about his and Paul's relationship. Who better to write it than Will, who had all the intimate details of when and how they got together.

Will listened quietly and respectfully for him to finish. His mind already made up. Once the man finally quieted Will took a deep breath.

"Yeah, umm, that's not happening." Will said. "I would never share those details with anyone."

"This could make your career boy…" the editor said, "Get you out of here even and on to the big time."

"Doesn't matter." Will argued, "I would never use Paul or my relationship with him to further my career."

"Look, all I am saying is that someone is going to write it, and it may as well be you. That way it can at least be honest and factual." the other man said. "Just think about it?"

"I am not doing it." Will said stubbornly.

"Well, if you won't, Like I said someone will and well, I don't know that we need you on our writing team." the editor said in a threatening voice. "And I can make sure that you have a real tough time finding another job."

Will froze for a minute. His mind racing. He couldn't believe that the man could be such a sleaze.

The editor took the silence for an opening. "Now that we have that settled." he said. "I will expect it to be emailed no later than close of business tomorrow."

"You can go to hell." Will said, "I quit."

There was no response, other than the click of the line going dead. Will threw the phone down on the table. "Unbelievable." he whispered to the empty room.

He was about to head to the shower when he noticed the red light blinking on the hotel phone indicating that there was a message. He thought it kind of strange, since anyone who wanted to reach him or Paul would just call their cell numbers. He went over and sat down on the bed. He picked up the receiver and pressed the message button.

"Paul.." the message started.

Will recognized the sickening sound of Sonny Kirakis's voice from the television interview this morning.

"It's Sonny." he said unnecessarily.

Will scoffed. He couldn't imagine the nerve of the man calling here and leaving a message, after the stupid stunt that he had pulled.

"I have been calling you and calling you, for some reason I can't get through. But it doesn't matter, I have to see you." he pleaded.

Will's pulse was racing, the stirrings of anger were already taking root in the pit of his stomach.

"Paul, I know you are angry, but if you will just stop and think for a minute you will realize that I did this for us… for you and me so that we can finally be together. You know that I am right, and every fight we have ever had was because you were hiding, scared of people finding out your secret. That is all behind us now and we can be happy, I know it. Please meet me at the bar in the restaurant after the game. I will be there until midnight waiting for you. Please don't let me down."

Will looked at the clock, it was just a few minutes after Eleven. He closed his eyes, willing the anger away. But no matter what he tried, it didn't lessen, not one bit.

He made up his mind. He jerked up the key card and shoved it into his pants pocket. Then he went down stairs.

On the elevator ride he told himself that Sonny wasn't worth his time, he was only going to tell him to go away and leave Paul alone. Then he was going to go back upstairs and wait for Paul

to return.

He walked into the bar, and saw Sonny immediately. He was sitting at the bar twisting a drink back and forth between his fingers.

Will stepped up behind him and cleared his throat.

Sonny turned and looked at him. He eyes widened for a minute and then took on a hard glint.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he sneered.

"I heard your message." Will said flatly.

"Well then you know it wasn't for you." Sonny spat at him, "So why don't you get lost." he turned back to his drink, dismissing him.

"I want you to leave Paul alone." Will said.

"What?" Sonny snapped, turning back to him. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

Will held his head high. "I am the man that loves him." he said, And I think you need to leave him alone, you hurt him today with that publicity stunt of yours."

Sonny laughed, actually laughed at him. "I hurt him? I need to leave him alone?" he asked incredulously. "Me?"

"Yes." Will affirmed. "You."

"You are the one, who is fucking everything up." Sonny said sliding off the stool turning to face Will directly. "Paul and I have been together for over two years, I would say you are the one trespassing here." he said snottily.

Will looked at him strangely. "You talk about him like he is a piece of property." he said. "You don't own him."

"You need to shut the fuck up." Sonny snapped, "You know what I mean, I stayed with him for over two years, hiding and ducking, and acting like I didn't know him when people were around, and I will be damned if I am going to let some… some…. " he was almost yelling searching frantically for some kind of insult… "Some manwhore like you come in and take over now, just when things are fixing to get easier." he finished, chest heaving.

"He is not a piece of property that you own." Will ground out, "I love him and I know he loves me. I am warning you…. .alone." he said determindly.

"Warning me?" Sonny said, "Warning me?" he took a step toward Will. "You sure you want to do that? Do you have any idea who I am?"

Will could see his fist clenching and unclenching at his side. He had obviously had more than a couple drinks while he waited for Paul to come. "No, I don't and honestly I don't give a damn who you are, or how important you think you are."

That was enough to set Sonny into motion. He took a swing at him and Will ducked out of the way effortlessly.

"You don't scare me, not at all... Not you, your money, your uncle Victor or any other member of your family. I didn't come here to fight with you." Will said. "Just to tell you to leave Paul alone, I think you have done enough damage, don't you?"

Sonny jumped at him in a rage, the sudden attack took Will by surprise and he was knocked to the ground with Sonny on top of him. The air was momentarily knocked from his lungs, leaving him in a whoosh.

They scrambled for a few minutes, both tousling trying to get the upper hand. There were a couple of jabs exchanged, nothing that Will couldn't handle. He scrambled from beneath Sonny, attempting to get up when Sonny's fist connected wit his rib cage, again he felt a little breathless before he collected himself and slung his elbow back into Sonny's jaw effectively knocking the other man off of him. He quickly got to his knees and instinctively threw a hard punch, his fist connecting with Sonny's nose, the sickening sound of a crack filled the air.

Sonny screamed out, his hands going to his nose, as the blood flowed freely down his face.

Will gaped at him in horror. This wasn't what he came to do, Paul was not going to like this... He got up from the floor and just walked away. There was no point in trying to reason with Sonny.

Will made it to the room and went straight to the bathroom he quickly stripped off his clothes and turned the shower on. When the water was hot he stepped under the spray and let it wash away his tension. He stood there with his hands braced on the shower wall and just let the water hit him for a long long time. When the water was starting to turn lukewarm he quickly bathed and got out.

He dried off and slid on some underwear then he walked out into the room. He was surprised to see Paul sitting there on the end of the bed.

Paul looked up when he came in. "Hi." he said quietly.

Will walked over and wrapped his arms around Paul's shoulders, pressing Paul's cheek to his naked stomach.

"Hi." he said in return.

They stayed that way for several long minutes, neither of them moving.

Finally Paul pulled away. "Hi." he said again letting his head drop back as he looked up at Will with unabashed raw emotion in his eyes.

Will smiled down at him. "You said that already." he teased.

"Oh." Paul said smiling wider. "Okay… I love you." he said.

"I love you too." Will said. "I take it you had a good time. You're drunk."

"Just a little." Paul agreed.

"Oh… more than that." Will said. "Come on, Up with you, you need a shower."

"You come with me?" Paul asked sweetly.

"I just got out of the shower." he said.

"So?" Paul asked, tugging his underwear down, without warning.

"Alright come on then Romeo." Will said kicking them off.

He pulled Paul up and led him into the bathroom.

Will helped him off with his clothes and turned the water back on, he grimaced because it was even more lukewarm than it was before he got out but Paul was so toasted he probably wouldn't even notice.

He maneuvered Paul in the shower and pushed him under the water.

Paul pulled, tugged, kissed and nipped at whatever part of Will's skin that he could get to as Will crowded close and bathed him off.

"I love you." Paul said again. "I swear Will, I love you."

"I know." Will said. "I know you do and I love you back."

Will rubbed some shampoo into his hands and massaged it into Paul's hair.

"I don't care that everyone knows." Paul said. "I'm glad they know."

"Yeah?" Will asked.

"Yep." Paul said, his hands exploring Will's back side. His fingers pressing against his entrance. "I don't want to lose you, like I lost…." He said. "I just messed everything up."

"Are you sorry? Will asked, suddenly scared for the first time that Paul still loved Sonny.

"What?" Paul asked pulling back, "Sorry about what?" he asked.

"That you lost Sonny?" Will said, rinsing the suds from his hair.

"No…" Paul said. "That is not what I meant." he said. "I'm just, I want …. I don't want to lose you because I am scared..." he said getting frustrated. He abandoned words and latched his lips onto Will's neck. Then he pulled Will close and rubbed their groins together.

"Mmmmm" Will moaned in spite of himself. "Come on." Will said stepping out of the shower and pulling Paul out after him.

He quickly toweled Paul off, rubbing him dry and holding a pair of underwear for him to step into. Then he quickly dried himself off and grabbed his briefs.

He slid them on and grabbed Paul by the hand. He led Paul back to the bed and the pushed him in and climbed in beside him. He pulled the covers over them.

Paul's hands moved restlessly over Will's body, pulling him close, touching him everywhere he could reach, wanting to do so much more. The desire was definitely there but between the alcohol and the warmth of the shower he had been reduced him to a relaxed pile of mush. He couldn't convince his body to aggressively pursue physical pleasure right now, no matter how badly he wanted to. He had to be content to be close to Will and sleep.

Paul had long been asleep, wrapped around him like an octopus as Will lay still holding him close and rehashing the conversation from the shower in his mind.

Paul obviously carried a lot of guilt over how things had ended with Sonny, not that he should. Will easily recognized all the signs of a possessive, asshole when he saw one. But wasn't sure it would be appropriate to point that out to Paul. He pushed the thoughts aside. No matter how he felt about Sonny now, Will knew in his heart that Paul loved him.

He allowed that comforting thought to lull him into a peaceful sleep.

Several hours later, the early dawn light streamed in through the window. Will woke to the feeling of soft fingers stroking his knuckles.

He blinked a few times, waking up slowly. The night before flooding into his mind. The confrontation with Sonny, the fight, Paul coming back drunk, the shower conversation…. It was all so much.

"What happened here?" Paul asked, bringing Will's hand to his mouth kissing each knuckle.

Will froze, unsure of how to answer.

"Well?" Paul asked again.

Will decided on the truth. "That's a long story…." he began.