The chimes have Will bolting straight up. It's Sonny's song. The first few notes. Fear and wonder closes Will's throat, have him fumbling to hold onto the bowl.
"Goddamnit, answer the door!" Sonny's voice blasts downstairs, clearly annoyed. "Then you have my permission to execute whoever it is stupid enough to ring the doorbell."
Doorbell? Will pushes his hand through his hair. Sonny has gone and installed a doorbell to play "Bewitched". That has Sonny written all over it.
"If you insist on yelling at me." Will calls as he marches down the hall. "You have a lot worse than a hangover in your future."
"If you'd go away and let me die, I wouldn't have to yell at all."
"In two easy steps, I'm gonna come up there and strangle you myself. Then I'm gonna kick your ass five ways to Sunday."
Will yanks the door open on that last threat, and finds himself glaring at a very good looking couple. One blink is all it takes to clear his temper, and a closer look shows Sonny's eyes looking back at him from the woman's face.
"I'm Adrienne Kiriakis." The woman, neat, blond and lovely, holds out a hand. "And who might you be? If it's my son's ass you plan on kicking five ways to Sunday, I'd rather know your name first."
"Mom?" Dripping wet from the shower, wearing nothing but beat up sweats, Sonny rushes to the top of the stairs. "Hi! Mom, Dad."
Despite the insistent hangover, he charges right down, throwing one arm around both and squeezing. "I thought you said you'd be here tomorrow."
"Change of plans. Are you just waking up?" Adrienne demands. "It's almost 2 in the afternoon!"
"Last night was the bachelor party. Hard booze, easy strippers."
"Oh really?" Adrienne says, eying Will.
"No no, not him. He's here to play army medic. Adrienne and Justin Kiriakis, I'd like you to meet William Horton."
"Nice to meet you." Justin, tall with dark hair streaked with silver, sends Will a warm smile. His eyes are bright and bold as he holds out his own hand.
Followed by narrowing in concern when he sees Will's thumb. "You're bleeding."
"Don't worry about it."
"What happened? You hurt yourself? Jesus, Will." Panicking, Sonny grabs Will's wrist, all but sweeping him off his feet and pulling him towards the kitchen.
"It's barely a scratch. Sonny, stop. You're embarrassing me in front of your parents." Will hisses.
"Shut up and let me see how deep the cut is."
Still standing in the doorway, Adrienne turns to Justin. "He's the one?"
"He definitely thinks so, from what you told me." Justin steps into the house. "Let's have a look-see. And quite the looker."
"I can see that, Justin." And she uses her eyes now to take the house in as they follow Sonny's steps.
It's so much more than she's expecting. Not that she doubted her son's taste. But up to now, she'd been led to believe the mansion was dilapidated, ready to cave in with one fatal blow. What's seeing now is elegant rooms, exquisite details, shining glass and wood.
And in the kitchen she sees her son, hovering over the hand of a very annoyed, very handsome man who looks more than capable of making good on his earlier threat.
"Excuse me." Will elbows Sonny aside and smiles coolly at Sonny's parents. "I just dropped a cup. It's very nice to meet both of you."
Sonny turns to search the cupboards. "You need some peroxide and a bandage."
"Would you stop? You're acting like I lost a digit. And if you don't watch your step, you're gonna step on the broken ceramic and be worse off than me. Sorry again, for disrupting your welcome." Will says to Sonny's parents. "I'm just gonna clean up this mess, then vamoose."
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Sonny demands. "You promised breakfast!"
Will briefly wonders if Sonny can hear Will grinding his teeth. "Pour what's in the bowl into a skillet, turn on the burner, and voila. It's food." Will forces open the closet. "Why haven't you offered your parents coffee or some other drink after their long trip? I thought they raised you better than that."
"We did." Justin agrees.
"Sorry. Watching the man that I love bleeding out sort of stole my focus."
"Sonny." Though Will keeps his voice low, the warning is loud and clear.
"Coffee sounds wonderful." Justin says lightheartedly. "Came straight from the airport, and wanted to see the place. You too, Sonny." he adds with a wink.
"Where're your bags?"
"Sent to the hotel. Sonny, this place is huge. So much space for one person."
"Will and I want two kids."
Will heaves the broken mug into the trash before turning on Sonny.
"Okay, just dogs." Sonny backpedals without a hitch. "But that's as low as I'm willing to go."
"I have enough." Will shoves the broom and dustpan into Sonny's hands. "Clean up your own mess. Enjoy your stay." Will says stiffly to Adrienne and Justin. "I'm gonna be late for work."
He goes out the back because it's closer, fighting over an overwhelming urge to slam the door hard enough to break a window.
"Isn't he gorgeous?" Sonny says with a huge smile. "Isn't he perfect?"
"You annoyed and embarrassed the hell out of him." Justin tells him.
"Good. That's how I know I'm making progress. Let me grab the coffee, then I'll give you a tour."
