Author's note- I am so sorry for the late update! I hope this makes up for the wait! Thank you so much to everyone who has been helping and encouraging with this story. I apologize for any mistakes in regards to restraining orders and legal contracts. Please review!
Walking into the mansion, Sonny still felt like he was in a daze. The past hour just didn't seem real to him. It seemed like such a nightmare for Will to be so angry and have so much venom spewed at him. He didn't blame Will though. Will woke up to a reality he didn't understand, and was already having a hard time coping with it. No, Sonny blamed himself and Paul for this one. He was even more determined to keep Paul away from Will and himself to ensure that he couldn't do any further damage. If he had to and could find a way to, he would sue Paul for everything he had. He would destroy Paul and make him feel every bit of the pain that Will felt. He would ensure Paul would never want to get within 100 miles of his family ever again.
It hurt so much that Will didn't want to see him. He remembered before, when he had woken up the next morning after cheating on Will and remembering what he had done, and the anxiety of never knowing when Will was going to come home, if Will was ever going to come home. Begging Will on the phone to please talk to him, to not give up on them, and never knowing what Will was thinking. He didn't want to have to go through all that again, but deep in his heart, he knew he would do anything for Will. He waited for over a year for Will to finally come out and want to be in a relationship with Sonny. He wasn't going to give up now.
But for the moment, the emotional toll of the day caught up with Sonny. The fact is that once again, he has to start all over again in trying to win back his husband's trust. This time though, Will was forced to remember everything because someone other than Sonny told him. He was forced to remember the article, the vicious fight they had, and the fact that Sonny was with his ex. Sonny had no idea what else Will remembered, and it hurt him to think that Will couldn't remember anything good. It may not have made any difference now, but to be able to remember anything good could help to soften the blow of what happened. The few kisses they shared, having family time with Ari, or even Sonny finally sticking up for Will against Abi.
Sonny couldn't get a statement Will said out of his head. 'I'm so glad that me nearly DYING was what convinced you that I was the one you wanted to be with.' Was that how it seemed to Will? That he was hit by a car and that Sonny felt guilty about it, and he decided to be with Will because of that? He knew it looked that way. And maybe in some ways, the accident did show him that he didn't want to live without Will. But it wasn't what made him realize that he wanted to be with Will only. He wasn't even sure he could pick out a single point in which he knew he wanted Will over Paul.
When he compared Will and Paul on paper, someone could probably make the argument that Paul was better for Sonny. Or that neither of them were right for Sonny. But the thing was, Sonny didn't care about that. Paul could make Sonny feel special for a moment, but that always faded. He could never keep that feeling going for very long. It never faded with Will. Sonny could look at Will and see their future together. He couldn't do that with Paul. And despite what Paul claimed, he would never see it with Paul. Despite their problems, Sonny couldn't see himself with anyone else for longer than a moment.
He had no idea how to convince Will of that though. Will was so angry, and so hurt, that he couldn't think. Sonny couldn't ever imagine a time when Will had been that angry, especially at him. He knew he had gotten that way with his mom, but never him. Will always told Sonny that he was a calming force for Will, but Sonny also knew how volatile Will could get if he felt like he was losing something he loved. Will had a tendency to act first and ask questions later.
Collapsing on the couch, Sonny pinched his nose to stop his headache from increasing. He had to figure out a way to make Will understand how sorry he was and how much he only wanted to be with Will. That their problems did not have to define how their marriage continued. But he knew that would be easier said than done. The one thing that Will has a hard time forgiving his mother for, still to this day, was the fact that she cheated on Rafe and broke up their marriage. And then when EJ cheated on her, Will was even further devastated. His dad had even been cheated on. Except for Sami and EJ, before EJ died, Will had not had the experience of a relationship being mended after someone cheating. So it was hard for Will to see how they could make it through.
Sonny broke from his thoughts when he heard Adrienne and Arianna come through the door.
"Dada!" Ari yelled happily when she saw Sonny sitting on the couch. She immediately reached out for him and he scooped her up into his arms, hugging her close.
Ari looked at Sonny. "Okay?"
Sonny sighed. "Not really, baby girl."
Ari's response was to only hug Sonny tighter. To her, hugs and kisses always fix everything. Especially hugs and kisses from her to her daddies.
Adrienne smiled at the scene in front of her, but also felt a wave of sadness for her son. Victor has filled both her and Justin in on what had happened that day, and she nearly went over to beat Paul over the head. She couldn't believe he had the audacity to do something like this. Before, the only person she actually thought would do something like this was, ironically, Sami. She might have even accused Will of being capable of doing something like this. To her, this was going too far.
Hugging Ari close to him, tears came to Sonny's eyes. If Will couldn't forgive him, and refused to give their marriage a chance, he could lose Ari as well as Will. While Ari was not the only reason he wanted to be with Will, she had become such a huge part of his life. He couldn't imagine waking up in the morning and not having her there with him. He loved the days when she ate her food next to him, or curled up on the couch with him, gazing up as if he was the greatest thing in the world to her. She looked that way at both him and Will, and neither would want to give that up. But legally, Will was the only one who was her parent.
Sonny knew deep down that Will would never keep Ari from him, but the fact was that if Will wouldn't come home, Ari may leave as well. In that moment, Sonny vowed he would do whatever it took to prove to Will how sorry he was, and how much he wanted, and needed, his family.
The next morning…
Will woke up the next day still in a bad mood. His anger and agitation had carried over, and nothing could make him feel better. The pain that come from the memories ran through him, and anger was the only thing Will could hold on to so that he didn't collapse in despair. He was angry over the fact that, while everyone else could come and go as they please, he was trapped because of his body's weakened state. He still couldn't walk, could barely stand up, couldn't move his left arm, and he felt exhausted all the time.
On top of that, his mental anguish over remembering that Sonny cheated on him fueled his anger. He could clearly remember the drunken tirade Sonny was on when he revealed that he cheated, and the article about Paul and Sonny, but still had no good memories of them over the past few months before the accident. He couldn't remember Sonny telling Will how he wasn't taking off his ring, them kissing, and them spending time at the club or pub together or even any good memories from when Will came back from L.A., like Christmas. The last good memory Will had was them making up after their fight about Will's article and Sonny getting Will a job behind his back.
Pain and anger fueled Will all morning, and he wasn't able to eat anything for breakfast or lunch. All he could hear in his head was Paul telling him how much he was in love with Sonny and how they were meant to be together, or Sonny spewing the words "consolation prize" at Will. He heard it all through his physical therapy, which caused him to push himself too far and his muscles to seize up, which worsened his mood. The therapist finally stopped therapy early when Will nearly fell and was close to re-injuring himself.
When Melanie brought him back to his room after therapy, he asked to just sit in the wheelchair for a while. He was tired of being in the bed all day, and being unable to move worsened his anxiety. At least in the wheelchair, he had a sense of being able to get around if he really wanted to. He could move his legs around and started getting some strength back in them. Since it had been almost a month since the accident, Dr. Thomas agreed to let Will take off the sling for a while after physical therapy, but he still couldn't use his arm. He needed to wear it most of the day, so Will savored this moment.
Looking out the window, Will tried to make sense of everything that had happened. He tried to make sense of how Sonny, his wonderful and adoring husband, could have so much hate for him. Since he had woken up from his accident, Sonny had been so attentive and patient with him, but was that because he felt guilty? Did he feel like it was his fault that Will was hit by the car? Will still had no memory of what had happened, and the only thing he could figure out was that he saw the article, and somehow that led to him getting hit by the car. Was that Sonny's fault?
He wished he could quiet the thoughts and questions in his head, but he couldn't. And to further that, all Will kept thinking about was what Sonny was doing. Was he with Paul? Were they waiting for him to get better before they were officially together? A thought then came to Will that shot a pain right to his heart. What about Ari? Did she know about Paul? Had she met him? His fists clenched at the thought of his daughter anywhere near that man. Pain shot through his left arm, but he barely noticed it. He was completely focused on his anger towards Sonny and Paul.
How could Sonny do this to them? How could he make Will believe in happily ever after and then go and break the one vow he knew would hurt Will the most? Will knew it was a mistake to get married, that everything bad would happen then, but everyone made him believe that he and Sonny were different. That Sonny loved him and that they wouldn't make the same mistakes their families had. But they were wrong. Will took a deep breath in to try and stop the tears that were threatening to break through. He told himself he couldn't break down. He needed to figure out what his next step was and how much longer he needed to stay in the hospital. He needed to figure out how to put his life back together again.
Meanwhile…
Sonny woke up the next morning extremely anxious and on edge. After everything that had happened the day before, he had no idea what to do. He knew he needed to talk to Will again, to try and fix what had happened, but he had no idea how to do that, especially since Will made it clear he did not want to see Sonny. The pain was too raw for Will. But no matter what he did, Sonny refused to let Will push him away and out of his life. He deserved the anger, but he would fight with everything he had to win back his husband.
He had no appetite for breakfast that morning, as his nerves were frayed, but he couldn't ignore Ari's needs. He had sat and played with her for most of the evening the night before, ignoring his mom's attempts to talk to him about what happened. She knew what Paul had done to Will, but he couldn't talk about the fact that Will refused to talk to him. Playing with Ari made him forget that pain.
When he and Ari arrived in the kitchen, however, it was obvious his attempts to avoid his mom were over. She had prepared a small breakfast for both him and Ari, and the look on her face told him that she wanted answers.
After getting Ari set up in her highchair and putting fruit and some cereal in front of her, Adrienne sat on one side of her, while Sonny sat on the other, not even touching any of the food for him.
"Sonny, talk to me."
Sonny sighed. "I don't know what to say."
"Start with what happened yesterday. Victor said that Paul went to see Will."
Sonny nodded. "He decided that he had waited long enough for me. He didn't know that Will had no memory of what had happened between us, and he claims that he only wanted to help Will 'understand' what was going on between us. Didn't matter that I had told Paul nothing would ever happen between us again, that I never wanted to see him again. God, Mom, he forced Will to remember and showed him the article of me and him. And because of that, Will nearly had a heart attack. He had a panic attack so bad they had to sedate him and the doctor said his heart cannot take any stress. He almost stopped breathing."
Adrienne gasped. She knew it was bad, but for Will to nearly have a heart attack?
Sonny continued. "I got there when they were taking Will to have tests run. When they told me what happened, I lost it. I attacked Paul, threatened him and had him thrown out of the hospital. I called Uncle Vic and told him I wanted a restraining order to keep Paul away from Will, Ari and myself. Especially Will. I can just avoid Paul, and Ari is kept safe here, but Will is vulnerable in the hospital."
Adrienne nodded. "I think that is the right thing to do. Paul is obviously disregarding any wishes people have about him staying away, and if it takes a court order, so be it."
"That is what I thought. I never thought it would come to this, but I'm actually scared for Will. If Paul came back again, he could cause Will to get so worked up that Will could die. I can't let that happen."
Adrienne immediately got up and moved to sit next to Sonny. "That is not going to happen, sweetie. You are doing everything you can to protect him."
Sonny sniffled. "I just hope he will let me."
"What do you mean?"
Sonny took in a deep breath and sighed. "I stayed the rest of the day in the hospital, waiting for Will to wake up. It feels like every time something major happens, I am not there. So I was determined to not let that happen again. But when Will finally woke up, he confronted me with what he remembered. I had to admit all over again that I cheated on him and broke his heart. But this time, instead of seeing the devastation I saw the first time, all I saw was anger. He was so angry at me, Mom, and nothing I said made it better. God, he even accused me of only wanting to be with him now because I felt guilty he almost died."
Sonny sniffled and looked down, beginning to cry again. "He got worked up again, and Maxine had to come in and try to calm him down. He threw me out and told me to never come back. He doesn't want to see me ever again."
Adrienne wrapped her arms around her son. "Oh baby, I don't believe that. Will loves you!"
"You didn't see him, Mom! You didn't see the anger and venom on his face. He was so angry and torn up about what had happened, and he just started screaming at me to get out of the room. If I can't get him to talk to me, how can I make any of this better?"
"You have to keep trying, Sonny. Will has been through a lot these past few weeks. I'm sure dealing with his physical limitations has increased his frustrations, and then being forced to remember what happened from Paul of all people I'm sure didn't help. He found out about what happened all over again, so he is angry. But I think underneath that anger is the hurt and devastation from before. The anger is a mask."
Sonny sighed and wiped his eyes, looking at his mom. "So what do I do?"
"You get this restraining order taken care of, and then, you fight for Will. Remind him of why the two of you fell in love, and let him know you are not going anywhere. Give him time and space, but not too much. Maybe your counselor can agree to see Will and can help you start the process."
"What if he refuses to listen?"
"You don't give up. You, Sonny Kiriakis, have never given up on Will Horton. It used to drive me crazy. But you have always known that Will is the one for you. Don't give up now."
"She is right, Sonny."
Both Sonny and Adrienne looked up to see Justin and Victor standing in the dining room. Justin walked over and handed Sonny several documents.
"These are the 30 day restraining orders barring Paul from coming within 100 years, or 300 feet, of you, Will and Arianna. He cannot see him in the hospital, he cannot come here, and he cannot come near the club. If he is seen near any of you, he will be arrested on the spot."
Sonny stares at the papers in amazement. He can't believe his father and Uncle Vic actually were able to get the papers that would force Paul to stay away.
"You actually got the court to issue them?"
Victor jumped in at this. "Like I said, Sonny, we have friends in high places. A judge I know heard the case, and agreed to give us a 30 day order for the moment. In light of what happened, the judge agreed to do this as soon as possible as we were able to show Will's life was in danger and there is a little girl to consider."
Justin continued. "The only thing left to do is serve them. They don't actually go into effect until Paul has them in his hands. We have an officer here who can go with us to serve the papers to Paul."
Sonny nods, then jumps up and hugs his father, quietly murmuring, "Thank you." Justin just nods and hugs his son back. It feels so good to be able to help his son in this way, to ensure that his small family can no longer be in danger from someone who simply cannot move on.
Pulling back, Justin nods over to Victor. "Victor and I are going to go with the officer to make sure Paul receives the restraining order. You stay here with your mom and Ari."
Sonny wanted to protest, but realized this was probably the best thing. It would show he was serious about the order, and that his family came first. He couldn't be near Paul anyway at the moment. He hugged his dad and uncle, thanking them both again. Before they left, Victor turned back to Sonny and handed him a manila folder.
"This is the contract verifying that Titan Industries owns both Sonix and TruVista, both under the name of Sonix, since their readership was larger than TruVista. We are still rearranging the management and staff from both to make sure we have the right people working together. Let Will know there is a position that will be held for him for as long as he wants."
Sonny nods gratefully, unable to say anything else. He feels so much gratitude and love for his family, knowing how much they have done to help him and Will during this time. Even though he is still unsure where he and Will stand, he feels like this is a good sign that things could turn out okay.
30 minutes later, Justin, Victor and the court officer arrive at Paul's hotel room at the Salem Inn. While Justin was not positive that Paul was here, he wasn't sure of any other place that Paul would be. The court officer knocked on the door, and both Justin and Victor were relieved when a man answered.
"Paul Narita?" the office asked.
Paul hesitantly answered, "yes?"
The court officer presented Paul with the restraining orders. "I am here to serve you with a restraining order. You are not to come within 100 years, or 300 feet, of Mr. Jackson Kiriakis, Mr. William Horton, and Ms. Arianna Grace Horton. You are to appear in court in 30 days regarding this order, but until then, listed on these documents are the premises to stay away from. If you wish to contest this, you may do so in 30 days. Until then, if you are to have any contact with Mr. Kiriakis, Mr. Horton, or their daughter, you will be arrested."
Paul stands in shock, looking down at the papers in utter disbelief. Sonny got a restraining order on him?! That didn't make sense. And who was Arianna Grace Horton? Then the officer's words hit him. Their daughter. Sonny was raising the little girl with Will. He had a family with Will. She was the little girl he saw that afternoon with Will and Sonny.
"I..I don't understand."
Victor decides to speak up. "Let me simplify it for you. If you come anywhere near Sonny, Will or their little girl, or try to have any form of contact with them, your ass will be thrown in jail."
Justin smirked at Victor's speech. He decided to speak up and be a little more professional. "You have been served, and as such, these documents are in effect as of now. You are not to come within 100 yards or 300 feet of these three, and in 30 days the courts will decide whether or not to extend this. Have a good day, Mr. Narita."
With that, the three men turned and walked away; satisfied their job was done, leaving Paul standing in the doorway of his hotel in a daze. He couldn't believe that Sonny had gotten a restraining order on him. What was worse, this really drove it home to him that he had no chance of winning Sonny back. Sonny had a family with Will, and wouldn't leave them. Paul had truly lost Sonny, and now, he wasn't sure what to do. He had nothing.