"She left me almost right after I was of legal age." Will starts. "Just went out one day, hotwired a car and drove away. Dumped it somewhere in Springfield. I was 19 before she turned up again. She was a slut when my dad met her. I got the talk before I was old enough to know what that even meant. Whenever she got in trouble, she ran back to Marlena and John, or the DiMeras. She was scared of losing her safety net--afraid she'd get arrested, or worse, or something else. So she married my dad, then left both of us. Only two things in the world I owe to her."
Wil draws in a breath, making himself sit down again. "Anyway, came back when I was 21, made all her phony promises about learning her lesson, she was sorry, she was clean. Stuck around for three days max, then took off again. Then the pattern repeats itself all over again, and has ever since. Sometime she'd show up all battered from whatever asswipe she'd been shacking up with. Other times she was sick, or flat out high. But Kristen DiMera always comes back."
Will falls silent, brooding over that singular, undeniable fact.
"And it always hurts when she does." Sonny says quietly. "Hurts both you and Marlena."
"She hurts everyone. Only talent she really has. She was high when she showed up at my graduation. We had a graduation party in the square, with family and friends, and she was baked, with some loser on her arm. It got really ugly really fast, and several of my family in the police chased them off. I need a drink." Will says, then leaves the room.
He comes back with a glass in his hand. "I had someone I was seeing, was crazy about him. I must've been 19, when she showed up. She got him booze and drugs, then fucked him. He wasn't much older than me, and bisexual, so I could hardly blame him for being stupid. She thought it was hilarious how I tripped over them right next to the river. She laughed her ass off. Still, when I got this apartment for myself, and she came back again, I let her stay with me. Better me than grandma, I thought. And this time...maybe. Just maybe."
"But she fucked guys in my bed and brought drugs into my apartment. She stole from me, then took off again. From that point on, I was done. I am done. And I never will be, Sonny. Nothing I will ever do will change the fact that she married my dad."
"Nothing she does can ever change who you are, either. Will, you're living proof of your own determination, and a testament to the ones who raised you. And she hates you just for being who you are."
Will stares at Sonny. "She hates me." he whispers. "I've literally never said that to anyone before. Why does saying a horrible thing, a truly horrible thing, make me feel so much better?"
"I'm not saying she'll never hurt you again, because she probably will. But now she can't hurt you as much, or as long."
Thoughtfully, Will sips his drink. "There I go again, underestimating you."
"That's fine. That way I still have a few surprises up my sleeve. Try this one on for size. She's connected to the DiMera Mansion."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"I actually don't know, not for sure, and I can't really explain it. I just know she is. I think she was meant to come back, here and now, to say what she said. One more loop in the belt. And I think she's just about done here, this time around. Call your grandma, Will. Don't let her put a strain on your relationship."
"I'm considering it. Maybe I will. Sonny." Will drinks again, then sets it down. "I was planning on ending things."
"You mean you were going to try."
"I mean it. We'd both be so much better off if we took a step back, and tried to be some form of friends."
"We can still do that. Our kids should have parents who like each other."
Will throws up his hands in frustration. "I have to get back to work."
"Fine. But listen. Speaking of weddings, there's a change of plans to Chad and Abi's. We've moved the whole thing to my place."
Will rubs his head, trying to switch his mood as smoothly as Sonny. "In...with all the half finished rooms and tools and lumber lying around, and--."
"That's a very bleak way of looking at it, and not even remotely helpful, especially since I was about to ask you for help. How good are you with painting?"
Will sighs. "You just love swooping in and saving the day, don't you?"
"Only for the ones that matter."
