Note: I'm going to be honest, I don't follow any storylines (or watch any, for that matter) besides Will and Paul-related stories. But I've seen recently a lot of people are...liking Ben. So I just want to say, in advance, you aren't going to find any love and redemption for him here. One; this is a story focusing on Paul and Will. Two; I don't care.

Enjoy it on the show, but that's just not going to happen in this story. Sorry.


When Will woke up the next day, Paul was looking at him again. He had his laptop in his lap, but his dark eyes were focused on him. Will gave him a sleepy smile, "Hey," he told him.

"Hey," Paul said, leaning down and kissing him on his head, "How are you feeling?"

"Good," Will told him, sighing, "Nothing new, really. I just...did you know I have a fear of tigers?" he asked, laughing a little, "But other than that, it's all the same. No headache this morning though."

"Good, good," Paul told him, sighing as well, "I have to go into work today. But if you need anything, don't hesitate to text me, okay?"

"Okay," Will crossed his arms, "But, I have a suggestion."

"What's that?" Paul raised an eyebrow.

"Skip work, stay in bed with me all day," Will said, making grabby hands at him, "I'll make it worth your while, trust me."

Paul laughed fully this time, "As adorable as you are and as much as I'm sure you would make it worth both our whiles, I have stuff to do today. I have to help my dad get this dirt on Leo before Sonny's trial."

"I guess you're right," Will sighed, "I need to finalize editing on his side of the story before I submit it anyways. I might go out and try to get some of my memories back too," he explained.

Paul groaned, getting up and stretching his arms as he did, doing his usual stretches that kept his bad arm from getting sore.

Will watched him appreciatively.

Paul glanced over and rolled his eyes, "Stop checking me out and get ready."

Will chuckled and got out of bed as well, going over to his dresser and picking out his usual clothes; a pair of jeans and a random plaid shirt. Half the time he didn't even pay attention to what he was grabbing anymore since he didn't really care...all he wore was plaid shirts, if he was honest with himself.

Will started to get dressed, having already showered with Paul last night, still watching Paul as he did. Will headed into the small bathroom off his room and started to brush his teeth and Paul came in soon after, grabbing his own toothbrush and playfully bumping his hip against Will's to make room.

Will looked at them in the mirror, his toothbrush still in his mouth. They looked...strangely domestic. Actually, it wasn't strange at all, when he thought about it. He always felt so calm and happy around Paul, even before they were together. Will assumed he probably felt this way before he lost his memories too, given that he'd been so drawn to Paul, from what he's heard.

They complimented each other nicely, physically and mentally. They supported each other, their relationship was pretty healthy (compared to everyone else in Salem, if he was honest), and they just always had a good time together.

Will felt happy around Paul.

Paul spit into the sink and rinsed off his toothbrush, "What are you smiling about?"

Will spit as well and did the same, "Just...you," he smiled slightly, putting his own away and giving Paul a minty kiss.


When Paul got to Black Patch Investigations, his father was already there.

They had rented out an office space before Paul even started working with him that was a decent size, enough room for a couple of desks, computers, and bulletin boards for all their current cases. The walls were a deep green color along with a dark hardwood floor. On top of the place being nice, the rent was a decent price that he could help his dad out now that he was working on wedding planning for his wedding to Marlena.

"'Morning, son," John said, looking up from the computer.

"'Morning," Paul said, smiling at him. He sat down at his own desk, logging into his computer as he did. He smiled slightly when his eye caught the picture on John's desk that was beside his own; there was a recently framed picture of Will and Marlena, both smiling at the camera.

"Anything on Leo?" Paul asked when they had just fell into a comfortable silence.

"Nah, not yet," John told him, "But we're getting somewhere, we just have to dig a little deeper."

Paul just nodded, opening up his browser and pulling up old Salem news articles, "Is it okay if I take the empty board on the wall?" he asked, looking at the empty case board. Right now, Leo was their main concern, given they were being paid well for the case by the Kiriakis family.

"Personal case?" John asked.

Paul nodded again, "Nothing I'm getting paid for, just something I need to look into for peace of mind," he mumbled, looking down at the article on the computer.

John sighed, "Paul…"

"I have to keep him safe, dad," Paul told him immediately, "What would you do if someone who tried to kill Marlena was lurking around the town you live in?"

John smiled softly at him, "Probably the same thing you're doing right now."

Paul hit print on the article so he could pin the mugshot that came with it to the board.

NECKTIE KILLER IDENTIFIED: BEN WESTON ARRESTED FOR MURDERS


Paul had been great at baseball and he'd admit that. He was a professional, of course. But now that he had other passions in life, he was pretty sure that being an investigator was definitely one of his callings.

Maybe it just ran in his blood.

Paul looked up at the board, satisfied with himself. While they were at a standstill with Leo's case, he was impressed that he'd managed to compile Ben's board so quickly while just in the office. He'd found his relatives names, relationships, and victims all online.

The most notable, in Paul's mind, being his boyfriend.

Paul touched the photo of Will that had been in the article, thinking to himself.

He couldn't let this guy hurt someone again, especially Will. He might have the rest of Salem fooled in believing he'd changed, but Paul wasn't going to be one of them.

"Hey," Paul said suddenly, "I know the dad is in jail, but have you heard anything on his sister?"

"Jordan?" John asked, "Uh...transferred to a clinic in New York City."

"I want to talk to her," Paul told him, "Do you think that would be okay?"

"Haven't heard from her in a while," John explained, "Did you ever meet her at the hospital?"

"She helped with my physical therapy, yeah," Paul explained, "I just...I think it would be good to talk to her, y'know? Maybe get a better background on Ben when they were younger, hopefully, figure out why he is the way he is...figure out the things that trigger him…" he trailed off, thinking, "You have the name of that clinic?"

"No, but she's well respected in her field, she shouldn't be too hard to find online," John told him, "If we can't figure it out, we can ask Steve to help as well. I'm sure he'd be willing on this one."

Paul nodded, typing in her name along with PHd, hoping to get results. He did, thankfully. He found her on the New York clinic's name that she was working at. He clicked the link and saw found her office extension and quickly wrote the clinic's number down as well as the number he'd need.

"Got it?" John asked.

"Yeah," Paul nodded, "Extension and all. I'm going to call her," he said immediately, picking up the office phone on the desk. He rolled his eyes at his dad's skeptical look, "I'll keep it professional, don't worry," he said, typing in the number.

"You've reached the voicemail of New York City clinic number three. If this is an emergency, please dial 911. Our office hours are from 9 am to 8 pm, Monday through Thursday, and 9 am to 5 pm on Fridays. If you know your party's extension number, please press two now. To leave a message, please press three-"

Paul pressed the two immediately and typed in Jordan's extension, getting her voicemail as well. He glanced over at the clock, seeing that it was just now around eight o'clock, probably why he wasn't getting any answers yet.

"Hello, you've reached Dr. Jordan Ridgeway, I'm the physiotherapist at the New York clinic. I'm currently with a patient or not in the office at the moment. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message, and I'll get back to you."

The line beeped and Paul cleared his throat.

"Hi, Dr. Ridgeway, this is Paul Narita, I'm with Black Patch Investigations in Salem. I'd like to speak with you, if that's possible. It's not an emergency, please take your time to get back to me. I hope to hear from you soon," Paul said before leaving the office's number along with his extension before hanging up.

"She's a nice woman, I'm sure she'll get back to you," John said simply, still working, "What are you up to today?"

"I'm going to get Ben's schedule down," Paul explained, "I don't want to run into him with Will around, he gets really uncomfortable with him around."

"I'd be worried if he didn't," John told him, "Look, I trust Marlena's judgement along with the place he was in...and I love her. But I don't trust that guy after everything he did," he took a deep breath, "Look, I've known Will since the time he was born...I know he's your boyfriend but he's also my grandson. Seeing him…" he trailed off, shaking his head, "Seeing Marlena's reaction to it all...how much it hurt her, how much we both missed him.

Everyone else might be able to forgive the guy, but I can't do that."

"I feel the same," Paul whispered, looking down, "There is no way I'm going to trust Ben Weston."


Will walked into Salem town square, his hand on his bag's strap as he did. He had his laptop on him, as well as his journal.

Will took his phone from his pocket and opened up his Instagram, then looking at the people Paul followed. Will didn't have much in the name of really...knowing his family members, but Paul did.

Will also barely knew how to use Instagram.

Will sat down on the bench, looking back at the plaque for Tom and Alice Horton with a sigh, "I wish I could remember you," he said, touching the metal softly.

He sighed and turned back to his phone, pulling up Sami's instagram again. He scrolled back further, until he found a picture of himself and the kids when they were younger. Will looked at the background, then the caption.

Sami had put "Finally back to see my favorite people in the world at home" as the caption. It had been posted back in 2013 and Will was on the couch of an apartment with his three siblings.

Will squinted, looking down at the photo before looking up. He looked around the square, trying to find someone that he'd met at the big Christmas party, hoping he'd find someone who could help him. He finally settled on Claire, one of the teenagers who'd been fighting at the party.

"Uh...hi," Will said, once he'd approached the teen who was on her phone, "I don't know if you remember me, I'm-"

"Will," Claire smiled at him, "Yeah, you're dating my uncle."

"Yeah, that's me," Will smiled at her, "So, uh...you might not know and that's fine, I was just wondering if you might by any chance...recognize where this picture was taken? I'm trying to work on recovering some of my memories and I think it might be good for me to visit some of these places," he said, showing her the picture on his phone.

"Oh, I think that's Sami's old apartment," Claire said, "I don't know where it is off the top of my head, but I can have my mom send you the address if you want, I'm sure she won't mind."

"Thank you so much," Will told her, "Here, let me give you my number."


Paul sat outside of the hospital in his car. He had a hat on as well as a pair of sunglasses on his face. He had followed Ben for most of the morning, from the time he woke up on the park bench he'd been sleeping on; he went to the pub for breakfast before going to Salem's library for a while, then he went into the hospital about twenty minutes ago and he'd been in there ever since.

Paul sighed, putting his head back and texting Will.

Paul Narita: Hey, how's your day going?

It didn't take long for him to get a response.

Will Horton: Back at home, just waiting on your sister to text me with Sami's old apartment address right now. Paul Narita: Sounds like a lot of fun. Will Horton: Bored? Paul Narita: You must be psychic. Will Horton: In public?

Paul raised an eyebrow.

Paul Narita: No, just me in the car.

The next thing he knew, he was sent an image.

Paul tilted his head and opened the image. He was met with a familiar shot of Will's chest, taken from above. He licked his lips, looking down at the light trail of blond hair as well as his boyfriend's unbuttoned pants. He had a glimpse of his boxers as well, but that was all he got.

Paul Narita: Will. Will Horton: Have fun at work. :) Paul Narita: Oh, very funny.

Paul was about to type another message when his phone started ringing, a call coming from Black Patch's office. He quickly answered it.

"Hello?" Paul answered.

"Son," John said on the line, "Steve and I put our heads together and dug into this research. We got a breakthrough on Leo. You're going to want to hear this in person."

"I'll call Will and let him know," Paul told him, "Want to meet for lunch? We can meet at the pub."

"Sounds like a plan, I'll see you soon," John said before hanging up.


Will walked into the apartment complex, looking around. He didn't really recognize anything there, but he saw the sign that indicated where the main office was and walked in. He walked up to the reception desk, waiting politely for the person who was working to look up at him.

"Hey, can I help you?" the person asked politely.

"Uh...this is going to sound kind of weird," Will sighed, "I used to live here with my mother and siblings...I think. I'm currently suffering from...amnesia, as dramatic as it sounds," he said, starting to ramble but he didn't stop himself, "I was wondering if it would at all be possible for me to look at one of the apartments that would have a similar layout to the one she had?"

The girl hummed, tapping her pen, "I doubt it would be a problem, our manager is really chill, but it's his day off," she explained, "I'll have to run it by him, but I don't see why he wouldn't agree," she told him. She grabbed a sticky note and put the pen in front of him, "Write down your name and number, I'll relay the message and he'll get back to you."

"Thank you so much," Will said happily, writing down his name and number, "Tell the manager it's no hurry, by the way."

"No problem," the girl smiled, taking the note back, "Nice meeting you," she said, giving him a wave.

Will nodded to her, turning around and walking out. Before he could even get all the way out the door, his phone started ringing. He continued to walk as he answered the call, smiling when he saw it was Paul, "Yes, dear?"

"Hey, can you meet me and my dad at the pub ASAP?" Paul asked, "He says he and Steve got information on Leo that would look great for Sonny's case."

Will's face lit up, "I'll be right there."


Next Time (July 21): As Will goes to the Kiriakis mansion with information that will help Sonny, it's up to Will to keep a level-head when the situation gets out of control.