Chapter 51: Back Off – Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

At Sonny and Will's apartment, Sonny and Will sat on the couch as they talked about Will's issues with Chad. "I have not talked to Chad since the reception. I think I ruined our friendship when I told him everything." Will did not know what to do because Chad was avoiding him.

Sonny felt bad for Will as he knew what he was going through. "I think Chad is just scared because of what happened between the two of you. This is probably new territory for him."

Will shook his head as Sonny had a point. "I agree, but I don't know if he will come around."

Sonny took Will's hand. "Just promise me that you won't give up on Chad like I had to with my guy."

Will thought about how Sonny had changed over the past couple of weeks. He had lost a bit of hope about life. "Who is your guy?"

Sonny let go of Will's hand and turned away from Will. "I don't really want to talk about him." Sonny did not want to make Dario hate him more for telling someone else how he felt.

Will got up to answer the door when they heard a knock. Will welcomed Abigail in. "Do you want something to drink?"

Abigail walked in and spotted Sonny but turned back to Will. "No. I'm fine. I am hoping I can talk to you – alone."

Sonny took the hint and got off the couch. "I'll leave. I could use a cup of caffeine to lift me up."

Abigail turned to Sonny. "Thanks, Sonny. I appreciate it."

"Bring me back something if you can." Will watched as Sonny walked out and wondered what Abigail wanted to talk to him about.

After Will and Abigail took a seat on the couch, Abigail decided to get everything out in the open. "I thought you should know that Chad told me that he wants nothing to do with you." Abigail could see that her comment hurt Will, but she knew that Will needed to hear it. "I came here as a favor to you and Chad. I let you tell Chad about how you feel, so now I need you to do something for me."

Will felt sick to his stomach as he thought about how Chad told Abigail that he wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to fight the pain as he did not want to cry in front of Abigail. "What do you want me to do for you?"

Abigail looked straight into Will's eyes to get her point across. "I need you to back off now. Chad made his decision, and if you really care about family, you'll respect my wishes."

Will thought about how Sonny told him not to give up, but he felt he owed Abigail since she let him tell Chad his secret. Feeling defeated, Will nodded his head. "Okay. I'll stay away from Chad."


Chad paced in the living room at the DiMera Mansion thinking about Will. He felt guilty for avoiding him for the last few days, but he knew that he could not face him yet after what happened at the wedding reception. He tried to clear his mind about what happened, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw Will in his tux telling Chad that he loved him.

Kate walked in. "Oh, Chad. I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about Will." Kate wondered if Will had told Chad yet as she had her suspicions because of some of the things she witnessed at Sami and EJ's wedding.

"Will and I aren't really talking at the moment," Chad admitted. "I don't even know if Will and I are friends anymore." Chad wished he had handled Will's confession differently. He felt bad for just walking away.

Kate did not like hearing that Chad's friendship with Will might be over. "Well, when was the last time you talked to him?"

Before Chad could answer, Stefano entered the room. "Good… son. I need you to deliver a package to a man in the park."

Slightly annoyed that Stefano interrupted her talk with Chad, she turned towards her husband. "Can't this wait?"

"Unfortunately, it cannot," Stefano sneered as he wondered why Kate seemed like this was an inconvenience to her. "EJ is gone on his honeymoon for the week, and I need to send one of my sons to make this delivery. That leaves Chad. He's capable of doing this alone." Stefano turned to Chad. "This needs to be done immediately."

"What do I need to deliver?" Chad asked.

Stefano headed to the desk and pulled out a small package and handed it to Chad. "Take this. You'll recognize the guy. Make sure you are not seen."

Chad looked at the package. "Okay. I guess I'll be back later." Chad left.

Stefano turned his attention to his wife. "What are you up to? What were you discussing with Chad?"

Not wanting to delve into details, Kate decided to be vague. "I'm just trying to insure Chad's happiness."

Annoyed, Stefano shook his finger at Kate. "Leave him alone. I don't want you to mess with him this week. I need him focused." Stefano walked out of the room.

After Stefano left, Kate pulled out her phone and sent a text to Will: "When you have the chance, please come to the DiMera Mansion. We need to talk about something." After sending the text, she put her phone down. She hoped Will would be able to come over soon.


"Come in," Nathan announced when he heard a knock on his office door. He looked up when the door opened. "Dario?" he questioned as he stood up. "What are you doing here?" Nathan wondered if Dario's presence had anything to do with Melanie. He wondered if Dario would ask him to stay away from Melanie.

Dario gave Nathan a defeated look. "You've won."

Nathan gave Dario a strange look. "I've won? Won what?"

"Melanie still loves you," Dario shared. "I think it's best if I let Melanie move on. She's not completely happy with me, but I think she can be with you."

Nathan did not know how to respond to Dario's thoughts. "Does Melanie know you're here?"

Dario shook his head. "No. I'm going to talk to her tonight. I'm going to tell her it's okay because I don't want to hold her back from what she really wants." Dario looked down. "I can see it in her face."

Nathan felt bad for Dario as he had wondered if Dario and Melanie would make it as a couple. "Are you going to be okay?"

Still avoiding eye contact, Dario answered, "I probably won't be, but all that matters is that Melanie is happy." Dario turned towards the door. "I'll let you get back to work, but I thought you should know."

After Dario walked out of Nathan's office, Nathan sat at his desk unable to work as he could not believe what just happened. He had a new found respect for Dario, but he wondered what would happen to him now.


Will arrived at the DiMera Mansion as soon as he got Kate's text. Once Kate let him in, he followed her into the living room. Kate poured two glasses of water and handed one to him as they took a seat on the couch. "I wanted to check in with you." Kate took her grandson's hand. "I worry about you because some people are not so accepting of homosexuality. I hope it's okay that we talk about this."

Will smiled at Kate as he knew she accepted him for him. "Yeah. I'd really like that." Will wondered if Chad was around. "Anyone around?"

Kate shook her head as she took a sip of water. "Stefano is in his room, Mary is upstairs with the kids, and Chad is running an errand. We are alone." Kate wanted Will to feel as comfortable as possible. "I hope you know that I love you no matter what, but like I said I worry what others might say or do to you." Kate took another sip of water. "How did your parents take the news?

Will took a sip of water as he wondered who he should start with first. "Well, mom has been very accepting and loving. She really has been there for me. She has allowed me to talk about it."

Kate smiled and thought that Sami finally responded correctly to something. "What about your father?"

Will did not know what to say about Lucas. "Well, I wouldn't say that dad had the opposite reaction, but sometimes it feels like it. He wants me to be straight and does not like when I talk about being gay."

Kate figured Lucas would react that way. "Your father has his reasons, but I'll try to get through to him. I'm sure I can make him come around."

Will doubted Lucas would ever accept him. "Sometimes I think it would take hell freezing over for him to accept me."

Kate played with her empty glass. "What about Chad? Have you told him?"

Will nodded his head. "Yeah. I told him at the reception Saturday night. It was awful. I think I scared Chad away, and I think our friendship is over."

Kate thought about her short conversation with Chad earlier. "I don't think your friendship is over. I think you should move back into the mansion, so that you and Chad can reconnect like you did when you shared his room."

"I can't," Will admitted as he thought about his talk with Abigail earlier. "I doubt Chad would even want to share a room with me. Besides, I promised Abigail I would stay away."

"What did you promise Abigail exactly?" Kate wondered.

"I promised her that I would stay away from Chad because she told me that he wanted nothing to do with me, and I owed her a favor for letting me tell Chad in the first place." Will hated the position he was in.

Kate hated that Abigail twisted Will's arm so that she could keep Will away from Chad. She figured Abigail lied to Will. "Whatever you do, you can't give up on Chad."

"I have to, grandma." Will believed it would be wrong if he broke his promise. "I don't want to be like my mom in the past – scheming to get the man that I love when he probably loves someone else. I saw what happened between my mother, Aunt Carrie, and Uncle Austin multiple times. It never works out that way."

Kate hated seeing Will look so defeated. She knew she had to come up with another plan. Kate realized that this time she could use her manipulative skills for good as in the past, the pairings she tried to manipulate were people who truly did not love each other. She knew with Chad and Will it was different. She could see the love between them. "I know that Chad loves you. Please don't let Chad go."


At Java Café, Sonny sat at a table alone drinking his second ice latté. He did not know how long Abigail wanted to talk to Will but figured Will would text him when she left. He wondered what they were talking about.

Manny walked into Java Café, spotted Sonny, and recognized him. After ordering and getting his drink he made his way over to Sonny. Putting his hand out to Sonny, Manny introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Manuel, but you can call me Manny. I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but I couldn't help but notice how attractive you are. Do you work out?"

Sonny smiled and tried not to blush. Even though Manny was quite older than him, he could not help but notice how cute he was. Shaking Manny's hand, Sonny introduced himself, "I'm Sonny Kiriakis."

Sonny's last name intrigued Manny. "Are you related to Victor Kiriakis?"

Sonny gave Manny a questioning look. "How do you know my great-uncle?"

Manny took a seat and looked Sonny straight in the eyes. He bit his lip before answering, "Don't you think a little bit of mystery makes things a lot more exciting?"

Sonny smiled widely as he realized Manny seemed interested in him. He found Manny's forwardness extremely attractive. "Yeah. Definitely."

Dario walked in to buy a drink and snack to tide him over until Melanie showed up later so they could talk. He spotted Sonny, and then realized that Manny was sitting next to him. "¡Mierda!" Dario made his way over to Manny and pulled him out of his chair. Believing that Manny was giving Sonny hell for being gay, he felt he needed to stand up for Sonny. "Back off!"

"I'm not doing anything. Is there a problem?" Manny gave Dario a look so he would back off.

Dario noticed the look Manny gave him. "What are you even doing here with Sonny? What are you trying to pull?"

Manny motioned to Sonny. "I was just getting to know the guy. No harm done."

Sonny watched as Manny and Dario went back and forth. He did not understand why Dario felt the need to get in the way of him talking to the guy. "What is your problem, Dario?"

Dario realized he really had no say in Sonny's life since he had purposely avoided him since Sonny's confession. "Look, I was just worried about you."

Sonny noticed that Dario could not even look him in the eyes. "Do me a favor and stop worrying. Stop getting in the way when you don't even want to be a part of my life." Sonny turned to Manny trying to hide how upset he was. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. It was nice meeting you." Sonny walked out without his drink.

Manny gave Dario an annoyed look. "You made a huge mistake. I can see it in your eyes. You're not supposed to fall in love with guys, you're just supposed to have fun with them." Manny put his arm on Dario's shoulder. "Fuck them… but never fall in love."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Dario responded as he pushed Manny's arm off of him. He knew what Manny was saying but did not like what he implied. To throw his brother off, he decided to tell Manny why he was there. "I'm meeting my girlfriend here later. Leave me alone." Dario headed to the barista to make an order.

Manny shook his head at his brother but decided that maybe he was wrong about Sonny and Dario. He was happy to know that Dario was spending time with his girlfriend. Manny decided he needed to report back about Sonny. He looked back at his brother one more time before leaving.


Chad sat on a park bench with the small package as he waited for the guy to show up. He looked at his watch and wondered where the guy was. He wanted to get out of there because he could not stop thinking about Will and had nothing to distract him. He thought about how Will dared him to kiss him outside of Chez Rouge. He realized it was the first dare he never fulfilled and wondered if he ever would. He thought back to EJ and Sami's vows when he realized he did not love Abigail. Even though he knew he did not love her, he figured she would be the best way to have the life he always wanted.

Gabi walked up and realized Chad was sitting on the bench. "Chad. I'm sorry to walk up on you like this." Gabi looked down feeling a bit embarrassed. "I walked out here because I hoped to find Will out here. I know he comes out here a lot to think," she admitted.

Chad remembered talking to Will on the same bench awhile back. He realized why Will was so depressed before. Will did not want to be gay. He turned to Gabi hoping that Will would not become suicidal again. "You can have a seat if you want."

Gabi took a seat next to Chad feeling a bit awkward. "So how is Will doing?"

"I honestly don't know, but I'm starting to worry." Chad thought about how Abigail told him what happened when Gabi found out Will was gay. He wanted to hear about her experience from her though. "How did you deal when you found out Will was gay?"

Thinking about the whole ordeal caused Gabi to take a deep breath. "It was heartbreaking, and I never cried so much in my life." She thought about how Rafe's death did not help matters.

Chad began to picture Abigail going through the same thing. He did not want that to happen to her. Chad did not like entertaining the thought that he would even consider being gay. "I'm sorry you went through that." Before Gabi could tell Chad that she was able to heal over time, Chad spotted the guy finally walking up. He stood up. "You should probably go."

Confused, Gabi stood up. "Okay. I guess I'll talk to you later." After Gabi left to find Will, Chad walked over to the guy to make the delivery.