Since Sonny's in the middle of nodding along with everything the Devereaux women are saying regarding their wedding agenda, the impending confrontation in Will's eyes is more than welcome.
"It has to be wrapped in tulle and lace."
"Uh huh."
"And we need baskets--white ones--of flowers hanging from the veranda.
"Of course."
"The florist needs to start early the day of, so just stay out of the way and make sure they can get to all the areas of the house marked on my chart."
"No problem at all. Will." Sonny reaches out and clutches Will's hand. A dying man grabbing a lifeline. "We were just talking about flowers."
"Flowers can make or break a wedding." Mrs. Devereaux declares, and makes more notes on the clipboard she carries on her at all times. "How are you, Will?"
"I'm just fine, Aunt Jen. Isn't this exciting? Cutting down to the wire. Abi, you have to be nearly driving yourself crazy."
"I hit nearly a long time ago, now I'm on the edge of full scale insanity."
"It's all going to be perfect." Will keeps his smile bright, as well as his voice even as the dark anger courses through him. "Those camellias are going to be wonderful on your special day."
"These gardens are going to be quite the sight." Mrs. Devereaux agrees, running a finger down the checklist again. "Pity there's not time to get an arbor, cover it in clematis." She looks at Sonny with only a slightly accusatory look.
"Maybe one of the workers can work something out. Uh, can you excuse me for a moment? There's something I need to show Will."
Sonny finally escapes, pulling Will towards the steps to the second floor veranda. Some of General Deveraux's cronies are still lurking down below. "They're like roaches." Sonny babbles. "Just when you think they're gone, boom, more pop up."
"What're you talking about?"
"People everywhere. Watch the bucket. I think we're safe in the ballroom."
"Feeling a little suffocated, aren't you?"
"I'm thinking of a little vacation in Costa Rica until everything is over. I have to say, I admire you a lot more now."
"Really." Will looks down at one of the ladders, tarps, debri from construction--and the two women picking their way through with visions of tulle and lace. "How so?"
"You can be ready to spit fire, and still make polite conversation about camellias." Sonny peeks through the ballroom doors, sighing. "We're clear. Anyway, usually when us guys blow a fuse, it goes everywhere. So…" Sonny steps inside. "What do you think?"
The walls are a pale pink, the floor gold and gleaming.
"It's huge."
"It has to be for this shindig. The General said we have about 300 coming. Otherwise, you can use the dividers to turn it into two rooms."
Sonny crosses the floor, drawing one of the huge dividers out. "Isn't this incredible?" He trails his fingers over the wood reverently. "The work that had to have gone into these. Decades ago. I hate hiding them away. Look how the pattern matches the ceiling. Eli did one hell of a job restoring it."
Will and worked himself into a frenzy since his talk with Marlena, but finds it trickling away as he watches Sonny's unfiltered excitement and pride.
"This is your true love, isn't it? This house. Nobody looks at another man or woman the way you look at a door."
"It's how I look at you."
Will has to turn away. "God, you make it so hard to stay pissed. Tell me why you're not pissed, Sonny. Why aren't you more pissed she stole from you?"
"Oh believe me, I am. And if I ever see her again, I'll be sure to let her know."
"You should call the cops."
"I did consider it. Might get some of the money back, but I don't want to embarrass Marlena."
"She already is."
"I know. So why make it worse? I got back the things I cared about."
The bitterness floods through Will. "She waltzed right into your mansion, and went through your personal belongings. She stole from you."
Sonny cocks an eyebrow at Will's tone. "Gearing up for another fight?"
"Godfuckingdamnit, Sonny, she invaded your home. It's not like stealing from me and my grandma Marlena. How much did she steal."
"Couple grand."
Will's jaw clenches. "I'll write you a check and give it to you tomorrow."
"And the first thing I'm gonna do is rip it up. Put your wallet away, Will. I figure I just learned my lesson the hard way. If you're going to live in a small town, with a mansion full of valuables and wads of cash, you can't just walk away and leave them unguarded."
"She'd just break a window."
"Exactly. That's why I'd get a couple of guard dogs. Always liked the idea of dogs. Maybe I'll go to the shelter after the wedding. Wanna come?"
Will shakes his head. "You lose a couple grand--which I'm betting is actually more than you said--to a junkie, and your solution is to adopt a dog."
"Thought it would be fun. What do you say? They'd be your dogs too."
"Sonny, just stop it."
"No way." With a satisfied smirk, Sonny walks towards him. "Let's get a couple of mutts, Will. Good practice before we have our kids."
"Go get your own." But Sonny succeeds in making Will smile. "And chase after them when they pee on everything and chew on your shoes."
"You're wearing my pin." Sonny says as he slips his arms around Will, pulling him into a slow dance.
"It's my pin now."
"You think of me every time you put it on."
"Maybe. Then I think about how good it looks on me, and I forget it had anything to do with you."
"Then I'll just have to refresh your memory."
"Cufflinks." Will skims his fingers up to the nape of Sonny's neck, into his hair. "Maybe a bracelet."
"I was thinking of an anklet."
Will laughs, eases himself closer so he can rest his cheek on Sonny's. They're waltzing, with a song in his head. The same one he'd heard Sonny hum or whistle multiple times.
Will can smell the day's work on him--sweat and dust--and underneath, the faint hint of soap from his shower. His cheek is slightly rough against Will's, from lack of shaving.
If life played out like a fairy tale, Will thinks, they'd be able to stay just like this. Waltzing around and around on the smooth floor, while the sun sets, the flowers protest, and the lights from tiny crystals cover them both.
"My feelings for you run so deep. You're in my heart. You're in my bones. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that."
"Give it to me." Sonny begs, turning his lips into Will's hair. "I'll never let you go."
It's in that moment that Will realizes he'd said that out loud. Definitely wasn't planning on it either. Now, when Will would;ve pulled away, Sonny pulls him closer. So close, so secure, Will scared to even breathe.
His head spins, and the music inside it crescendos. The strong scent of lavender roses reach his nose, almost suffocating him.
"You can hear it, can't you?" Sonny's hands shake as he grips Will's arms. "The music."
"I can't…" Sonny's voice sounds so far away, and as Will fights to stay focused on his face, another seems to take it over. "I'm disoriented."
"Let's take a seat." Sonny keeps his hands on Will's arms, lowering them to the floor. "You can hear it too. The music. And you can feel it."
"Just wait a minute." Will has to get ahold of himself. The room's still empty except for the two of them. There's no music, no crystal lighting, no vases overflowing with lavender roses. Yet Will had heard, seen, and smelled all of them. "I didn't know you could catch a hallucination."
"It's not a hallucination. You're remembering. Somehow, you're remembering. They danced in here, Tom and Alice, just like we did. Loved each other, like we do." When Will shakes his head, Sonny curses. "Fine, asshole, he loved her the way I love you. And there's something very much still alive between them. Maybe something that needs to be seen through to the end, or at least openly acknowledged. We're here, Will."
"Yeah, we are. But they're not living vicariously through us."
"That's not what I meant."
"That's how it feels. And living their lives just means dying their deaths. He drowned himself in that pond right out there, and she--"
"Died in the house."
Will takes a calming breath."Depending on which story you believe is the truth."
"I know it is. Upstairs, in the makeshift nursery. Something happened to her there. And he never knew. He grieved himself to death because he never knew. I have to find out for his sake. And for mine. I need you to help me."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Come back to the makeshift nursery with me. We're a lot closer than before. Maybe this time you'll remember. All of it."
"Sonny." Will tries to pull away. "I can't. There's nothing to remember."
Sonny goes to stop him,"You blessed my trees with holy water, but are refusing to deny the possibility of reincarnation, which was your idea in the first place? This is what we've been waiting for!"
"That's not what I'm saying. There's nothing to remember because I'm not Alice. You are."
