Another one for your reading pleasure today! This story, I think, is very timely, considering some of us are about to give WilSon a second chance. I hope that adventure has a happy ending like this one does. Enjoy all!

Second Chances by Valorie818

(Christmas Eve 2012)

I stepped into the nearly abandoned café and shook off the cold still lingering on me. The inside of Mike's Café was set in the style of a 50s café but I wasn't really interested in the décor. I just wanted to get some food in my stomach so that I could get back on the road. I haven't traveled far enough to get away from my horrible past. I was not in the mood to be celebrating any holidays right now.

Once I sat down I shook my head to get rid of the depression that was trying to rise up inside of me. I picked up the menu already sitting on the table and started to go through all my options, which weren't many. It had the usual food that almost all the cafés in America have. After looking through all my options, I set my menu down and waited for the waiter or waitress to show up.

I looked over to where the kitchen doors were and just as I looked, someone walked out. His head was down so I couldn't see his face really well, but from what I could see, he was very good looking. He had blonde hair and a nice fit body but when he finally looked up at me, my body froze in shock. His brilliant blue eyes brought up too many memories that I was trying to leave behind.

When I finally broke eye contact, I studied his face and I felt like I was in one of my nightmares. I quickly looked down at my table hoping he wasn't headed toward me to take my order, but it seemed like the world hated me at that moment. The beautiful blonde devil stopped by my table, "Welcome to Mike's Café, home of our famous hash browns. My name is Will and I will be your server tonight. Can I start you off with something to drink?"

I toyed with the idea of just leaving and finding a different place to eat, but I wasn't a coward so I stayed in my seat. Picking up the menu I looked at the drinks for a few seconds, "Can I have a cup of coffee please and make it black."

Will wrote that down before looking back at me and smiled, "Alright I will bring that right out. Do you want me to give you more time to look at the menu or are you ready to order?"

His smile was so captivating, "I am ready to order now." I looked down at my menu so that I could try to focus. "Can I have the bacon cheeseburger please, with extra pickles?"

"Would you like fries, a salad, or chips as your side?"

"A salad with ranch, please."

He smiled again as he wrote that on the ticket, "Alright then I will put your order in and I will be right back with your coffee." Will took the menu from me and went to give the cook my order before he going behind the counter to get my coffee. I wanted to tear my eyes away and not watch him walk around, but I couldn't help but torture myself.

When he was heading back to my table I was mentally chanting to myself, 'You will not start a conversation with him, you will not start a conversation with him."

Will set the coffee cup on the table, "Here is your black coffee. So what brings you here to Glenbrook? Do you live somewhere else in Colorado or are you just passing through our state?"

"I am just passing through, trying to leave my past behind me." Why did I just say that, because that was pretty much a conversation starter.

Will nodded his head, "If you don't mind me asking, what are you trying to run from?"

Sitting up straight I glared at him, "I am not running away."

"I am sorry for saying that, I didn't mean you were running away from something, I was just curious about what you're trying to leave behind."

The depression tried to swamp me but I stopped it from spreading throughout, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay I will go check on your food. I am sorry if I was bothering you." He turned around and headed to the back of the kitchen. It was hard to tell but I think I just offended him and I felt bad. I could tell he was one of those people who genuinely cared about someone even though he just met me only a few minutes ago.

He didn't come back out of the kitchen and that gave me time to think about my situation. I still wasn't ready to talk about Patrick just yet, but I could talk about other things.

Will finally came out of the kitchen carrying my plate of food. He smiled brightly to me but I could see that it was fake, it was his customer smile and I wanted to try to get that real smile that he gave me before. He put the food on my table, "I hope you enjoy."

As he turned around to go. I grabbed his arm and stopped him, "Would it be okay for you so sit with me and talk? I haven't talked to anyone in a long time, and I seem to be in need of some human to human interaction."

He hesitated before he nodded and sat down, "I guess it would be okay since you are the only one in here right now."

I smiled, "So why are you working on Christmas Eve?"

"I haven't celebrated Christmas in a long time." He shrugged and looked down at the table.

Now I was curious, "Why is that, if you don't mind me asking."

A moment later he finally answered, "I don't really have any family to celebrate it with so I just decided to give it up."

"Oh I am sorry, did your parents die or was it something else?" I knew that I didn't have any right to ask that question but I couldn't seem to help myself.

Will shifted around in his seat and he cleared his throat, "So where did you live before going on the road?"

I cracked a smile at his not-so-subtle way of changing the subject, but I respected that since there was information that I didn't want to talk about either, "I lived in L.A. all my life until 2 months ago."

His eyes went huge, "You have been on the road for that long? How are you able to pay for all your gas and food. Where do you sleep?"

"Well, my family is fairly wealthy, so I have a pretty big inheritance. That pays for all my gas and food. Now for where I sleep, well that all depends."

"Depends on what?"

I laughed, he was so into my story, "On where I am at the moment. If I am near a hotel then I will sleep there, but if I am out in the middle of nowhere I sleep in my car."

He nodded his head, "That makes sense I guess. How can you sit in yo…."

The rest of his sentence was cut off when someone yelled at him from the kitchen doors, "Will, get back here and help clean the dishes."

Will sighed, "Sorry that was my boss. He is not a very friendly person even on the best of days." He slowly stood up and smiled down at me, "Thanks for the conversation. I hope that filled your need for some interaction."

Laughing, I nodded my head, "Yeah that filled my need."

He smiled as he turned around and headed into the kitchen. I watched him walk all the way until he was past the swinging doors. It wasn't that bad talking with him, my heart did ache a little bit but wasn't that bad.

I finished up my food and Will came out periodically to check up on me but didn't linger too long because his boss wanted him to start closing down the café. We talked a little each time he came out but it was never anything deep, which was just fine with me.

Finally I was ready to leave, but I didn't want to say goodbye because I was afraid that it would hurt too much. So I set what the total would be plus a really big tip. I put my coat on and headed out the door, but once I stepped outside, I was shocked at how much snow had fallen while I was eating. Everything was covered in a thick blanket of white snow. I tightened my coat around me and headed toward the direction of my car.

As I reached my car I heard the door of the café open up behind me, "Wait don't leave just yet."

I turned around and faced Will, "I really need to get back on the road."

"I know you do but it's really bad outside right now as you can see, and it would be dangerous to drive in it."

"I will be fine; I have driven in worse weather before." I couldn't help but smile at the fact that he really did seem to care.

He shivered in the cold and looked down, "You probably have, but it's really bad here in Colorado. Could you just stay in a hotel room until after this storm has passed and the roads have been plowed?"

I wasn't sure what I thought about staying here in town where it would be possible to get to know Will better. "Okay I will stay, but only if I can see you one last time before I go."

Will's smile was so contagious that it had me smiling, "Sure I wouldn't mind that at all. Come wait inside while I finish cleaning the restaurant and then I can leave to show you to a hotel." I followed him inside once the door was closed he looked at me, "So what is your name by the way? I completely forgot to ask earlier."

"My name's Sonny."

"Sonny. I like that name." He turned and started to walk away, "Just sit down anywhere and I will be out as soon as I can.

Finally Will was done and we left the café, where I ended up following him to a hotel. But once we got into the hotel to get me a room, we find out that they don't have any. I turned to Will, "Let's just go to a different hotel."

Will shook his head, "But this is the only one we have in this town."

"Really? You guy only have one hotel here."

He nodded his head, "It's such a small town that all the other hotels we did have went out of business."

I scratched my head, "What are we going to do now?"

"How about you stay with me for the night. I have a really comfortable couch and it can be yours for the night." He looked at me hopefully.

I was hesitant, "I am not sure that is a good idea. You could turn out to be a murderer."

"So could you, but I am still offering up my couch."

It was so hard to say no because Will was right about the weather and I definitely couldn't stay in my car, "Okay fine, I will accept your offer."

Will practically jumped up and down with excitement, "Now we have more time to hang out like you were wanting too."

A chuckle came out because Will looked so excited for me to stay over. We left the hotel and went to Will's apartment. It was a really nice apartment, better than most apartments my friends had back in California.

Once we get settled in we both sat on the couch and just talked for hours about everything under the sun, except of course, the one thing each of us wasn't ready to talk about.

I was feeling so good sitting there talking with this man that I just met only hours ago and it made that ache in my chest lessen. At one point, Will was so into his story about one of his favorite childhood memories that he unconsciously rested the side of his leg against me. The move made my heart skip a beat, but I didn't let it show because I knew that nothing could be done about it. I was going to be leaving this town once the storm passed, and I wasn't going to come back.

Suddenly I was aware that Will was quiet. I realized that at some point I got so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't know that he ended his story. I looked up to see what he was waiting for and the look Will gave me made me freeze in my seat.

He was looking at me with so much heat in his eyes that I was instantly turned on. And by the look in his eyes, I knew what he wanted to do. I opened my mouth to tell him it was bad idea but I didn't get a chance because Will leaned forward and captured my lips in heated kiss.

This was such a bad idea, and I was about to pull back but he let out a little whimper which made my resolve a lost cause. I started to move my lips over his and my whole body became alive, which hasn't happened to me in almost 2 months. Placing my hands on either side of his face helped me to deepen the kiss and I let out a sigh. This was the most thrilling kiss that I have ever experienced.

When I felt Will's tongue brush my lips, that brought me back to reality and I pulled back, "This is such a bad idea Will."

Will looked dazed for a little bit before his eyes cleared up and he looked horrified, "I am so sorry, I just assumed that you were gay. I am so sorry."

As serious as this situation was I couldn't help but laugh, "Will I am gay but this is bad because I am leaving tomorrow and I don't plan on coming back."

He looked up at me with these puppy dog eyes and my heart just melted, "Why can't you stay? I feel this connection between us and I don't see a reason why we should ignore it."

"I can't stay because I want to be on the road and the thought of staying in one place too long makes me cringe. This journey of mine hasn't ended just yet."

"How about if I come with you? I have been wanting to leave this town for awhile but I have just been to afraid."

I sighed, "I will think about it but I am not making any promises. So no more kissing until I have made my decision, okay?" When I saw that Will understood me I lifted up my glass of water, "Do you have anything stronger?"

"Yes I do. Let me get the bottle and some shot glasses." Will stood up and went to his kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of Vodka and two shot glasses, "This is the last bottle of alcohol I have left."

"Well let's get to work on it."

A couple of hours later, Will and I were completely wasted. I found out that Will was a giggler when he was drunk and it was a beautiful sight to see him laugh so much. But after the giggling was over he became really serious, "The reason I ended up in Glenbrook was a little to what you are doing. When I finally came out to my parents they completely shunned me. They said that I wasn't part of the family anymore until I told them that I was straight. So I packed all the belongings that I could fit in my car and I went on the road."

"I didn't have that much money at the time but I had enough to get me all the way here. I found a job at that café and I have stayed here since then. It's really hard to leave because I love all the people, but I am not a small town person. I want to visit Italy sometime and see all the old buildings and just experience something other than American culture." When he was done he looked at me, "So what made you go on the road, what pain are you trying to get away from?"

I didn't answer right away, I just poured myself another shot and downed that one. When the burning had gone down a little I turned and looked at Will, "I don't want to talk about that right now." To make sure that he didn't try and bug me about answering, I did something I knew that I was going to regret later. I leaned forward and kissed him like I have been wanting to since I ended our kiss earlier. But this kiss was different, I was even more turned on than before and I could feel that this was going to end up in his bed.

He moaned into my mouth when I penetrated it with my tongue and mapped out the inside. I grabbed his hips and brought him forward until he was straddling my lap. My hips lifted automatically and rubbed his erection with mine. He pulled back just then and was probably going to remind me what I said earlier about not doing this, but I didn't want to stop. So I just pulled him back forward and continued to kiss him.

Slowly consciousness came to me and I wasn't aware of my surroundings because the major headache that I was feeling had my full attention. I groaned and rolled over to get into a more comfortable position, but I ended up practically on top of a warm body. My eyes flew open and Will's beautiful face was only a few inches away from mine.

Suddenly all the memories from last night came flooding back and I started to panic. Not only did I not listen to my own advice but I ended up sleeping with Will. This was not good; I wasn't ready to deal with this just yet, so I did the one thing I knew how to do and that was run. After I got up carefully and got dressed, I left Will's apartment. I got into my car and put his apartment and this town in my rearview mirror.

(Christmas Eve 2013… one year later)

I pulled to a stop in the parking lot and got out slowly. Mike's café looked just the same as it did a year ago and it also seemed just as empty. I walked to the doors and opened it with more confidence than I was actually feeling. The inside of the café did change. This time it was in the style of pop art. Different paintings were along the walls and most of them were Andy Warhol's.

The paintings were amazing but what really held my attention was the man behind the counter. Will looked just as beautiful as he did a year ago, but he was so into the book he was reading that he didn't notice me entering. I slowly approached the counter and sat down at the booth right in front of where Will was standing. That caught his attention and his eyes shot up to mine and then got huge.

I placed a smile on my face, "Hi Will. It's been a long time." Will didn't move or respond but I could see the hurt in his eyes and I didn't like that I caused it, "How have you been?"

That finally seemed to get him to talk, "How do you think I have been since you used me and then left me behind like I was some trash?"

"That's not what it was. I just couldn't deal with what I did!"

"Then why did you do it? Why did you sleep with me if you couldn't deal with it?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

I sighed, "That night I was wasted and I didn't want to answer your question. Do you remember what you asked me that night?"

He thought about it for a minute, "I asked you why you were on the road."

"Yeah that was it but at the time I wasn't ready. After I left you I traveled for a couple of more weeks before I ended up back in California. I went to a therapist because I couldn't get you out of my head but I was too scared to come back, plus I had some issues that I needed to get through. I was in therapy for 6 months before I stopped it because I worked through all that I needed to work through."

When I looked at Will I could see that he still wasn't convinced, "So what did you need to work through?"

I knew this was going to happen, so I was glad that I was prepared. I pulled out my wallet and took out the picture that I kept in there. Slowly I turned it around for Will to see and I handed it to him, "His name was Patrick and we were a couple since high school."

Will studied the picture and his eyes went huge, "He looks a lot like me."

"Yeah he does and that was why I was harsh with you when I was eating here. I felt like I was in a nightmare. But I felt guilty, so I started that conversation and when it was time to leave I tried to get out of here but that didn't work. Then it seemed like fate when I ended up at your apartment and I got to know you a lot more.

"That kiss was amazing, but I still wasn't ready to deal with all those emotions." I paused and looked down at my hands, "I wanted us to get drunk so that we could relax and not do something stupid but that didn't work either. We still ended up in bed and when I woke up to find out what I did, all of my past pain came crashing down and I had to run. I am not saying that what I did was right because it was wrong and now that I have finally come to terms with Patrick's death, I guess I wanted to try and win you back."

"And why would you want to win me back? We only knew each other for a couple of hours and we only slept together that one time." He seemed to be warming up to me.

I smiled at him, "Because I realized in therapy that I had fallen in love with you that night. Before you try and say that I only love you because you look like Patrick I want you to realize that it's not your looks that I love but your personality which is nothing like Patrick. He was stuck up and rude at most times but he loved fiercely while you are shy and have the biggest heart."

Will looked down at the table, "I don't know how I feel, I felt so sad and angry at you that morning. I am just not sure if I love you."

"That's fine I understand how you are feeling and that is why I am going to give you one day to figure it out." I pulled an envelope out of my pocket and handed it to Will, "Here is a plane ticket to Italy. You can finally leave this town like you wanted to and you will get to experience Italy like you talked about."

Will took the envelope slowly and clutched it in his hand, "The plane will leave Denver at 5 tomorrow afternoon. If you show up, then I know that you do love me and you want to be with me. But if you are not there, then I will know that you don't and I will leave you alone." I rubbed my thumb over the back of Will's hand, "I hope to see you tomorrow." With that, I turned around and left the café.

(Christmas Day 2013)

I was waiting anxiously by gate 10 looking around frantically for Will. There was 15 more minutes before the plane left the airport and I was nervous. I had gotten there 3 hours early to wait for him, and as time ticked by, I got more nervous to the point that I was thinking that I lost my chance. So now there was 10 more minutes left and I was completely dejected, "He isn't coming, it was too late."

My shoulders slumped and I turned around, so I could board the airplane when a hand landed on my shoulder, "It's not too late."

I swung around and came face to face with Will. He was standing there with a traveling bag hanging off his shoulder, "So you figured out that you love me too?"

He smiled, "Yes, I realized that I did love you a few minutes after you left, but I was still too scared to leave. Finally 2 hours ago I realized that you made me brave, so I hurried up, packed all that I would need and sped to the airport."

I still could not believe this was happening, "You really are here then, and I am not just dreaming?"

Stepping closer, he wrapped his arms around my neck, "You are not dreaming."

Sighing with relief, I pulled him forward and kissed him like I have been dreaming about for a year. This was the best Christmas ever.

*The End*