"Sonny. I'm here. I'm right here."

Someone's stroking a hand through his hair, touching his face. He feels someone's lips touch his. His vision is blurry when he opens his eyes, so he just closes them again.

"No, you're not doing that." He pats his cheeks with a shaky hand.

Sonny had fallen like a bowling ball, right after all the blood had drained from his face, eyes rolling into the back of his head. "Please, open your eyes."

"What happened?"

"You fainted."

Sonny opens his eyes again, focuses on Will's face. Embarrassment coupled with nausea takes over his own face. "Excuse me, I don't faint. I'm known now and again for passing out and losing consciousness, but not fainting."

The shuddering breath Will lets out upon hearing that is one of relief. Sonny could've literally cracked his skull, he thinks, but his sense of humor appears to still be intact. "Fine, have it your way. You passed out cold. Hit the floor hard enough to where your head literally bounced back." Will leans down again, brushing his lips on the newly acquired scrape on Sonny's forehead.

"That's gonna leave a bruise. I couldn't grab you in time. Although maybe if I had, you would've taken me down with you."

Will manages to roll Sonny over, stroking a hand over his pale cheeks. "You do that often?"

"Well, it usually follows me drinking myself into a coma, which I haven't done a lot of since I was a younger. But at the risk of completely humiliating myself again in the span of the next few minutes, I seriously need to get the hell out of his room."

"Okay, okay. Can you get up on your own? I'm not strong enough to lift you up by myself. You're pretty bulky."

"That I am." Sonny gets to his knees, trying to breathe, but it's once again choking him. It's like an elephant has decided to sit right on his chest, and his heart feels like it's trying to get back to its normal rhythm. He staggers, stumbling slightly.

Will wraps an arm around Sonny's waist, taking as much weight as he can handle. "One step at a time. Let's get you downstairs so you can lie down."

"No, it's fine. I'm fine." Sonny's ears are still ringing. The second he's out of the room, he goes towards the steps, then just sinks to the floor to put his head between his knees. "My God."

"There we go." Will consoles him as he strokes his hair.

"Can you close the door, please? Just close it."

Will hurries over and slams the door shut. "Take a minute so you can breathe again, then we'll get you into your bed."

"I've been waiting to hear that since the first time I saw you."

The feeling in Will's gut eases some. "You're back to your old self, aren't you?"

"Very." Sonny can finally breathe normally again, and the nausea is also ebbing away. "I'm just gonna have to beat someone up, or shoot something, to get my dignity back."

"Show me your face." Will tips his head back, studying him. "Still slightly pale, but the color's slowly coming back. I'm guessing my grandma was right when she said you're not eating full meals. What've you eaten today?"

"Cheerios. Breakfast of champions." Sonny manages to give a weak smile. "Don't think it worked, unfortunately."

"I'm gonna make a sandwich."

"Oh really?" Just the idea of it gives Sonny such a tickle of pleasure. "You're gonna make me a meal?"

"A sandwich isn't a meal."

"It is to me. Will, about that room…"

"We don't have to talk about it now-- after you've eaten something, okay?"

The pickings were slim. Will only has to take one look in the fridge that currently resides in the dining room, and he's already giving Sonny a look of pity. "How old are you again? 10?"

"I'm just a guy." Sonny shrugs. "Gay or straight, we all seem to have the same grocery habits. I have peanut butter to go with that jelly." Sonny looks around the room. "Somewhere, anyway."

He also has one measly piece of ham from the deli, some suspiciously pale cheese and a bag of pre chopped salad mix. "Looks like it's gonna be me cooking for you after all. Where's the stove?"

"Up here." Sonny taps the microwave.

"Guess we'll just have to improvise. Bowls? Utensils?"

"Uh…" Sonny goes through the box where he's currently keeping his kitchen supplies, pulling out the plastic utensils.

"Okay, now this is just flat out sad. Sit down, and good ol' Will Horton will take care of you. One time offer." Will adds.

Sonny sits on the sawhorse and watches Will beat the eggs, shred the ham, cheese, as well as sprinkle in some of the salad mix.

"Got any herbs or spices?"

"Salt and pepper. That counts, right?" Sonny mutters when he hears Wil sigh. "Salt is the spice of life."

"You had an awesome cook growing up, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?'

"What happened when you finally moved out on your own?"

"Microwave, takeout or delivery. Long as I had those three options, I never starved."

Will puts the bowl in the microwave, setting the time, then turning back towards Sonny.

"If you're gonna live here, you might wanna seriously consider hiring a cook."

"What's your price?"

"Very funny, Sonny." His face isn't pale anymore, and his eyes aren't bleary either. Whatever unsettling feeling he'd been feeling since Sonny first fainted seems to have come loose. "How come you're not taken?"

"I did have someone, but it turns out he didn't love me as much as I loved him."

"Oh really?" Will opens the microwave when he hears the beep, then whisks the eggs for a good minute before setting it again. "What happened?"

"Chad didn't already tell you?"

"He doesn't tell other people's secrets."

"I was with a man still in the closet. I gave him the ultimatum of marrying me or breaking up with me. Which, I know, makes me the asshole. A lot of people in San Francisco still want my head on a platter for that."

He's trying to make light of it, Will thinks, but he's not really selling it.

"That how you wound up here?"

"No, it's how I realized I needed to leave."

"But you did love him."

"Yes, I did love him."

"You're still sad just talking about it." Will takes out the bowl again, grabbing a plastic fork and handing it to Sonny. His eyes are wild again, Will notices. Full of regret. "Did he love you?"

"Yes. We were happy in the moments we had together. We were always behind closed doors. He thought I was fine to do that for who knows how long."

'But you weren't."

"I never was. And the longer we kept it up, the more I saw my life...reduced to this dirty little secret that deserved to be hidden away. Never seeing the light of day unless he said it was okay. I realized the way I felt about being with Paul was the same way I felt about being the CEO of Titan Industries, and if that was all I had to look forward to, I could either drive my car off a cliff, or not be that dirty little secret anymore while I still could."

Will brushes the hair off of Sonny's forehead, "It would've been more cowardly to jump than to get out."

"Maybe. This is awesome." Sonny says as he gets another bite. "So why don't you have someone?"

Will cocks his head, "How do you know I don't?"

Sonny grabs Will's hand before he can turn away. "I'm outright asking if you do."

Will looks down at Sonny's hand, before landing back on his face. "Why?"

"Because I can't get you out of my head. You're always on my mind, under my skin. Everytime I see you, my heart skips a beat."

"You're really good at that. Saying things you know will make a man excited." If that's really all it is, just Will being excited by Sonny, Will might actually get in between Sonny's legs and given them both a good time. But this isn't just some guy, he thinks.

Nothing about being with Sonny can ever be that easy.

"Eat your eggs." WIll tells Sonny, sliding his hand out of his. "Why start with the kitchen if all you eat is peanut butter and don't even have your own set of plates?"

"I do, but not the kind for eating. The kitchen's the real heart of the house. The mansion i gre up in-- big, beautiful mansion with big beautiful rooms. We had that cook I mentioned, but whenever there was a family emergency or a celebration, or just something we wanted to talk about, the kitchen's where we always wound up. Guess I was hoping to have that here too."

"That's really cool." Will leans against a cabinet to look at him. "Do you want to have sex with me, Sonny?"

Sonny's pulse falters, but he somehow manages to get himself off the sawhorse. "Course. Just give me a minute to get the plumber out of here." He loves Will's laugh. "Oh, you meant later. Right, that was a yes or no question. Gimme a second." Sonny pretends to check his pulse. "Yep. Still alive and well. So the answer is yes."

Will shakes his head, taking the empty bowl out of Sonny's hands, dumping it in a box he's using for trash. "You're quite an interesting guy, Sonny, and I really like you."

"Oh no. Hold on a second." Sonny looks, picking up a screwdriver lying on one of his planks. "Here, take this." Sonny says, handing it to Will.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You're supposed to drill it right into my chest, immediately after you tell me we should just be friends."

"I'd be willing to bet money Paul's beating himself up for letting you get away. And you're right. I do want to be friends." Will turns the screwdriver over in his hands, before setting it back down. "But I don't know if that's all I want us to be. I still haven't made up my mind."

"Okay." Sonny takes Will's arms, running his hands up to Will's shoulers. "Make up your mind."

Will doesn't push him away, instead pulls his face to meet Sonny's so their lips can touch. He loves the easy segue from warm to hot, the easiness offered by a man who's not scared to be patient.

Will understands hunger. Other guys'. His own. Just like he knows a lot of that hunger can only be sated by a quickie in the dark.

He himself, now and again, had satisfied his own doing just that.

But this is more. Instead of hunger, this is coming across as longing. Longing, when felt, can cause more pain and suffering than hunger will.

But that doesn't stop him from resting his hands on the back of Sonny's neck, letting the kiss play out.

Somewhere, deep inside him, he feels something sigh.

"Will."

Sonny says his name, only a whisper, as he redirects the kiss, deepening it. A thousand different alarms go off in his head, and are promptly ignored. He lets Sonny take full control, giving over to the heat, the desperation. To the longing.

Then he pulls away altogether. "That is definitely something to keep in mind."

Will puts a hand on Sonny's chest when Sonny's tries to pull him back. "Whoa, slow down." He shoots Sonny a very tired smile. "I think you've worked me up enough for one day, don't you?"

"And here I thought we were starting to get somewhere."

"I can believe that." Will lets out a breath, fixing his messed up hair. "I gotta go. I'm working tonight."

"I'll come with. Keep you company, walk you home."

However relaxed Sonny's voice sounds, his eyes betray the truth. If Will's not careful, he'll fall for him before he ever has the chance to avoid the fallout. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Will, please. I want you. I want to be with you."

"If you want to be with me so badly, how about asking me on a date first."

"A date?"

"Yeah you know. Pick me up at my place, take me somewhere nice." Will taps a finger to Sonny's chest. "Dancing after, then walk me all the way back to my door, sealed with a goodnight kiss. Whole nine yards. Think you can manage that?"

"What time should I pick you up?"

Will smiles, shaking his head, "Mondays are always slow, so I have the day off. Pick me up at 7."

"Monday at 7."

Sonny grabs Will's arms again, pulling Will against him. There's no easy segue into hot this time, instead throwing him into it headfirst.

Yep, Will thinks, definitely a hell of a ride before the fallout.

"Just to remember me by." Sonny tells him.

More like to warn him away, Will thinks. This guy's nowhere near as gentle as he makes himself out to be. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget you, Sonny Kiriakis. See you later."

"Will, wait. We didn't talk about what happened up there."

"Oh we will." Will calls from over his shoulder, and keeps going.

He's not able to breathe easy until he's actually out of the mansion. Sonny's nowhere near the simple guy Will assumed he's be able to manage. His good manners aren't a charade, they're a part of who he is. But so is the heat and determination.

It's something Will can appreciate and respect.

It's not that he can't manage hi, Will tells himself as he gets into his car. Managing guys is his specialty.

But this guy is definitely way more complicated than how he acts. And way more intriguing than any guy he's ever met.

He knows what people see when they look at him. And he's okay with it, because there's more than just what they see. Or wanted to see.

He has a strong mind, strong back and an ease that he uses to get whatever he wants. He gets through life the same way he co runs the bar. With an appreciation for the gray area, but still built on the black and white underneath it.

Will looks in his rearview mirror at the DiMera mansion as he drives away. It worries him to no end that Sonny Kiriakis could mess up the black and white so easily, in a way no one ever has before.

It worries him even more to know he might not be able to pick up the pieces when he ultimately leaves him.

They always leave. Unless you're the one doing the leaving.