Sorry it has taken me so long to post again. Honestly, sometimes I just have to wait until the ideas come to me. Sometimes I can write four chapters in a row, and sometimes I write three sentences and they sit there for a month until I figure out what to do with them. I'm also sorry that you might be sorry you asked for another chapter. Nah, just a little soapy angst.
Will, feeling the gradual ease of pressure next to him on the bed, turns his head and slowly opens his eyes. The room is rather dark, but as his eyes adjust, he can clearly make out Sonny's silhouette sitting on the edge of the bed-his bare back, his arms at his sides, hands resting on the bed. As Sonny carefully presses down, balancing his weight on his hands, and begins to raise off of the bed, Will reaches over and grabs his right arm. Sonny takes in a sharp breath and quickly turns his head, his body returning to the bed with a squeak of startled springs.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Will says in a drowsy whisper.
Sonny recovers and replies, "No, I'm sorry. I was trying not to wake you. You slept through about half of the movie. No offense to your choice of movies…but you didn't miss much."
Will smiles, "Yeah, to be honest, it was just an excuse to be on my bed with you again."
"I know," Sonny says with a thoughtful smile on his face. He feels that nervousness settle in his chest again.
"You knew?" Will says, embarrassed, raising up on his elbow, and resting his head on his hand. It isn't until then he realizes that his other hand is still on Sonny's arm.
Sonny nods, "Yes."
"And you agreed to come in here anyway?" Will asks, rubbing Sonny's arm.
"Yes," Sonny admits, swallowing the lump in his throat.
"Why?"
"Why?" Sonny asks, dumbfounded. He turns to face Will, "because I wanted to spend time with you. To be close to you. Get to know you even better."
"Even if we don't…"
Sonny puts his right hand on Will's cheek, "Even if we never…"
"Never?!" Will says, exasperated.
"I'm not saying I never want to Will. I'm saying that this isn't about that for me. I care about you. I want to give this a chance…a chance to be something great…something that lasts."
Will smiles shyly, and puts his hand on top of Sonny's. "You know that just makes me want you even more, right?"
Even through the darkness, the boys can feel the profound tension between them.
After a moment of silently focusing on Will through the darkness, Sonny admits, "I want you too, Will. A lot…"
Will quickly brings his hand to the back of Sonny's neck. Pulling him down, their lips meet in a clumsy surprise kiss. Sonny's lips catch up to Will's quick pace. He lets himself be overtaken by Will's passion for a mere moment before freeing himself of Will's grip.
"but…" Sonny resumes, springing up off of the bed.
"But?" Will repeats, lips still parted in anticipation, but eyes filled with fear.
"But, we agreed. Slow."
Will looks up at Sonny for a moment before biting his lip and looking down, disappointed that they cannot experience this closeness now. Even more disappointed in himself for not better respecting Sonny's request to take things slow. Looking back up at Sonny, and opening his mouth to apologize, he is denied the opportunity.
"I should get to bed…Goodnight," Sonny says, walking out the door and down the hall.
Will is still contemplating stopping him to smooth things over when he hears Chad's bedroom door close. And with that, their night is over.
Sonny stumbles down the hall, yawning and running a hand through his hair. Recovering from the yawn, he opens his eyes as he enters the kitchen. He stops suddenly, as he sees a place set for him at the table. He picks up the tented note on top of the plate.
"Sonny-
Sorry about last night. You're right, we agreed, and I need to keep that in mind before throwing myself at you.
I wanted to return the favor of breakfast in bed, but didn't want to disturb you. Sorry, this is the best I could do. Chad usually does the grocery shopping. I guess I will have to get used to doing it myself soon.
Going to the gym. See you…sometime."
Sonny sets the note down and looks at the foil packet on the plate. Pop Tarts. He allows himself a slight chuckle before he begins to take in what Will has written in his note. "Throwing myself at you?" Sonny would hardly call it that. When two people are in a relationship, they obviously want to show their feelings for each other. Sonny had been flattered. Turned on. He just had to have restraint…and it had taken all he had to stop them every time things got heated. But it was something he had to do. For now anyway.
And what was with that, "See you…sometime?" Did Will mean he would come back from the gym later, but he didn't know how long he would be gone? Or was this Will's halfway polite way of saying "I'll see you on set Monday," or even "don't be here when I get back?" He sits down at the table, and, tearing open the Pop Tarts, buys some time to figure out what he should do, hoping Will will come home soon.
Will finishes all of his work with the weights and uncharacteristically moves to the treadmill. Unsure what he is running to, or running from, he just feels like running.
He has been in somewhat of a daze his entire time at the gym, but completely zones out during his run. His mind is consumed by Sonny, and the highs and lows of the last few days. He finds himself doubting if Sonny's feelings for him are as strong as his are for Sonny. No, Sonny is right about waiting. And just because he wants to wait doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings for Will. On the contrary, it most likely means just the opposite. And just because he wants to wait doesn't mean he doesn't want Will. Sonny himself had told him otherwise. Still, Will concedes that he needs to stop initiating nearly all of the physical contact between them. He needs to give Sonny space. After all, Sonny hasn't been broken up from Bethany that long, and they are both new to this. Sonny isn't even fully out yet, and only a few people on set know about Will either. Really, Will should feel flattered that Sonny wants to develop the personal, emotional relationship first, instead of jumping right into the physical part.
As the treadmill beeps and begins a five minute cool down, Will realizes his hour has passed by quickly. In fact, looking at his watch, he sees that he has been at the gym for over two and a half hours! He finishes his cool down time, grabs his keys and water bottle, and runs out to the car. Sonny surely thinks he has bailed on him!
After eating his Pop Tarts and getting dressed, Sonny spends an hour and a half waiting for Will to return from the gym. Opening up the fridge to grab a drink, Sonny sees its contents consist of ketchup, three bottles of beer, two cans of Diet Coke, and a bowl of questionable contents. Remembering what Will said about grocery shopping, Sonny grabs his keys and heads out to the store.
Sonny returns half an hour later, having hurried to get back before Will. Balancing grocery bags in each hand, he struggles to get the key in the door. Just as he is about to give up and set some of the bags down, the door flies open,
Seeing Sonny standing in front of him with his hands full, Chad asks, "Oh, man, can I help you with those?"
"Nah, it's okay. I have achieved balance now. If you take one, I might fall over."
Chad laughs and moves out of the way. Sonny goes to the kitchen to put the groceries away.
"Is Will back?" Sonny asks, hopeful.
"Back? I figured he was with you," Chad says, looking out in the hall, then closing the door.
Sonny's heart drops. "Well, I suppose that answers my question then."
"Your question?" Chad asks, confused.
"It's nothing. I'm just going to put these away and head out. I guess I'll see Will on set on Monday."
"What?! Why? What happened?!"
Sonny looks down, unsure.
Noticing Sonny's hesitation, and having noticed the sadness on his face, Chad reveals, "Look, I don't know what's going on between you two, and I don't need to know. It's none of my business. But I do know this: I've never seen Will happier than when he's around you. Looking back, I don't know how I didn't see it before. Before he even told me he was gay. He would invite friends over for parties, but it was always you he would eagerly wait for…and he was ecstatic when you showed up…even though you weren't alone. He waited for you then too…to figure it out in your own time. He's not going to give up on you this quickly. He'll keep waiting. However long it takes, he'll keep waiting."