"Haven't done this in quite a while." Sonny says quietly, sipping his hot cider as he lets it warm his stomach. He scoots closer to Will, letting his body heat warm him up. "A really long while, now that I think of it."

Will smiles, blinking at him. He inhales through his nose, letting it out in a huff. "After quite a while." he starts. "It felt like we didn't really have time to enjoy being together, let alone actually let our guard down, and just do things and be happy. It was." He gulps, and Sonny watched his throat pulse, transfixed. "It was so weird to, uh. To miss someone you saw every day, wanted to be with every second. But I really did. I missed you so much."

Sonny nods, scratching the back of his head, "While I was with Leo, we uh, met up in secret, remember?"

Will rolls his eyes, "Sonny, those moments were rare, if they even happened at all. You even tried to push me to stay away." He shrugs, and Sonny can see the hurt on Will's face. "I was fine being the other man, but…"

Sonny's really starting to wonder if he'll ever stop apologizing for all the ways he's hurt Will because of Leo. "Will."

Will quickly shakes his head, "No. I didn't mean that. Really."

Sonny puts a gentle hand on Will's thigh, "Yes you did. It's not your fault, Will. I was just so terrified, at the thought of Titan Industries and going to jail in one fell swoop. Remembering if I hadn't sought him out on that stupid dating app. Pulling away from you out of fear of pissing him off. It was so… I was so angry, at Leo and myself. I hated myself so much, for dragging you down with me."

Will turns to look at Sonny finally, eyes going soft as they reflect in the night. "I don't blame you for any of that anymore, Sonny. I swear I don't Everything we were forced to go through, for better or worse, has led us to being together. Do I wish we could've brought Ari? Of course I do. But I'd never forgive myself if I lost both of you because we tried to keep us all together. We're here, together, and until Ari's with us again, I wouldn't change a thing."

Sonny thinks that over, smiling at Will. Will smiles back, resting his head on Sonny's shoulder with a sigh. It makes Sonny's heart pound as he wraps an arm around him, how easy this affection is, the way Will willingly gives himself back to him, the way he trusts himself to open up to Sonny, let him be vulnerable.

"I…" Will starts again, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "I never thought I was good enough for you, Sonny. I think that's why I never let myself fully believe you when you said I'm the love of your life, even though I knew it was true. I never thought I'd get a chance to really prove myself to you, so I could be with you like that. To truly love you. To let you truly love me more than you already did."

Sonny sighs, sounding like he's disappointed but not entirely surprised. "There's never been one moment where I stopped truly loving you. It was always going to be you and me. We were always meant to be together, be it here or back in Salem. I didn't think we'd ever get this chance either, didn't think you'd ever forgive me for taking us away from our daughter, but I accepted that. I deserve to live with that, but I could've dealt with that, because I have you. With me."

Sonny kisses the top of Wil's head, waiting for Will to respond, watching him chew his bottom lip as he thinks.

"We've never been able to not be together, Sonny. Not even when we tried moving on with someone else, because we weren't there to fill that hole. Like Paul? Even when I was an amnesiac I knew that. I remember thinking that if my memory never came back, it wasn't the worst thing in the world, because he would still be there, and that was all that mattered. I was such an idiot."

Sonny lets a hand wander into Will's hair, rubbing the strands in between his fingers, smiling into Will's forehead as the noise that elicits.

"Will, are you sure you're ready for this?" Sonny asks against the skin, lips tickling his hairline. "Are you? We can just go back to pretending we're cousins, if, if that's what you need to happen. But I need to know now." but even as Sonny speaks, it makes him sick to his stomach, which is how he knows even if one day Will leaves him, goes back to Salem, Sonny knows he'll never stop being the brokenhearted man in love with the most selfless Horton in the family tree.

Will leans up to press his mouth to Sonny's, soft but sure. Sonny lets himself drown in it, the heat of his mouth, the wet tongue, the taste of the here and now, how much Will loves him, and always will.

"Does this." WIll whispers against Sonny's mouth, sighing into the kiss. "Answer your question?" Will slides off the bench abruptly, crouching in front of him.

When Will opens his hand, Sonny's wedding ring is sitting right in the palm of his hand.