This Time: Will and Paul deal with the aftermath of Will remembering one of the most traumatic moments in his life with the help of their friends and family.


Will was sure if he was little more calm and if the events of the day hadn't happened, he'd be asleep right now. He was lying in the hospital bed, leaning his back on Paul's chest while Paul played with his hair. Maybe if they were at home, he could be asleep.

Will wished he was asleep.

He wished he'd never gotten out of bed this morning.

Will turned, burying his face in Paul's chest, holding his shirt and not saying anything

"How you feeling?" Paul asked quietly, looking down at him.

Will just shrugged, closing his eyes and trying to relax for a moment. But he suddenly felt someone grabbing his shoulders and shoving him against the wall, hands rucking up his shirt.

Will's eyes shot open with a gasp and he looked around the room.

"Will?" Paul asked.

He was still in the same place as before...Will was still lying on him.

"What happened?" Paul asked again, "Will?"

"A memory...I think," Will said, looking confused down at his shirt, "I, uh...don't remember...what else…"

"It's okay," Paul assured him, "Don't push yourself too hard right now, yeah? You don't look so good."

"Gee, thanks," Will said sarcastically, making John snicker.

"You know what I mean," Paul mumbled, eyeing the bruises on his neck.

"Mhmm," Will said simply, lying back on Paul again but not closing his eyes this time.

What was that? Will thought to himself.

"Will?" Marlena called, walking into the room quickly. She froze when she saw the bruises on Will's neck, her hand going up to her heart. She seemed to be in shock.

"I'm okay," Will whispered, "Sonny, uh...Sonny stopped him."

"Oh, my sweet boy," Marlena cried, walking over and pulling him into a tight hug, "What happened ?"

"Can, uh...we have a moment alone?" Will asked, looking at Paul, "Maybe you could find me a snack or something? I forgot breakfast this morning."

"Yeah," Paul looked over at his dad, "Hey, let's get a coffee too."

"Good plan," John said, leaving the room with him, Paul giving Will a last lingering look as the door closed.

"I remembered Ben killing me," Will blurted out immediately, "I could have remembered anything else in my life, but that's what I remember. What does that say about my luck?" he demanded, looking up at Marlena from where he was lying in the bed, "I'm getting really tired of having bruises on my neck that aren't-" he cut himself off, remembering who he was talking to.

He wasn't about to make a sex joke to his grandma.

Marlena sighed, "Sweetheart-"

"A-And then, I'm just laying here and trying to chill out and then…" he trailed off, looking down awkwardly.

"What is it?" Marlena asked gently, not wanting to push.

"It was just this...weird flash," Will explained, "I was lying here with Paul just trying to relax and I remembered someone pushing me...but that's it."

"Anything else?" Marlena asked, looking confused, "Do you remember where you were? Do you remember who did it?"

"No," Will said quietly, "Just that they, uh...were pushing up my shirt. I didn't like it," he said, his cheeks heating up slightly. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, a little aggressively, he'd admit.

"I just wish I could remember . I want to remember the things I want to, not…" he trailed off and sighed, looking down.

"Sweetheart," Marlena said, sitting down beside him, "Do you remember how excited you were for this serum? Or when you had your first memory of your family?"

"Yeah," Will said quietly, messing with his hands with a small smile on his face now, "I remembered Johnny and Allie's names...I was so happy," he laughed weakly.

"So hold onto those memories," Marlena told him, putting her arm around him and pulling him into a hug, "You have to take the good with the bad, but you don't have to focus on the bad," she told him, "A terrible thing happened to you, Will...but that's not all that happened to you. You have a family that loves you, friends that love you, and a daughter that loves you...and they're all waiting for the day you remember them."

Will hugged her back, holding onto her tightly.

"Please remember something," Marlena's voice echoed in his head, "I will never, ever judge you. I just want you to be happy."

Will knew it was a memory, but he didn't want to say anything...not yet. He would tell her another time when there was less going on in their lives. He would tell her when things were more clear and he could get a better picture.

He was tired of disappointing people by not remembering them, especially when he remembered the bad things

Focus on the good things, Will thought to himself, Good things.


"Careful getting up," Paul said, once he and John were back in the room. He was helping Will up, like he was going to break if he moved too much.

"It's my neck, not my entire body, Paul," Will laughed weakly, "I can walk."

"Hey, if it was up to me, I'd be carrying you out of here," Paul told him, grabbing both their bags and tossing John his keys, "Dad is gonna get my car from the mansion and your grandma said she'd give us a ride back home."

"You guys don't have to do that," Will sighed.

"We just want you two to get home safe," John told them with a smile.


Will had to admit he felt like a little kid, sitting in the beackseat with his grandmother driving, despite the passenger seat being entirely empty at the moment. He just really, really didn't want to be away from Paul right now.

He had his memory journal out, writing in it, despite knowing Paul could see what he was writing. He didn't care, really...it wasn't a secret.

He never wanted to keep a secret from Paul.

"Please remember something. I will never, ever judge you. I just want you to be happy." - Marlena said this to me once, I think her saying the word "remember" triggered something

I remembered Ben killing me today. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about that.

I remembered someone grabbing me and shoving me against a wall. I want to look into this more...it's concerning. They pushed up my shirt, not really a fan of it.

"Hey, whoa, whoa," Paul said quickly, looking down at the page, "What's that all about?"

"I don't know," Will said honestly, "When I know...I'll let you know," he told him, looking up at him and closing the book and shoving it back into his bag. He put his head on Paul's shoulder as they turned down their road to the apartment. He pursed his lips, "Hey, grandma? Do you think you could get us Austin or Carrie's phone number?" he asked suddenly.

"Oh, no problem," Marlena told him, not taking her eyes off the road, "I have Carrie's number in my phone, I'll send it to you as soon as we stop," she paused, "Did you...remember something about them?"

"I really love them," Will said quietly, ducking his head, "I remembered Switzerland and may have...accidentally called Austin my dad when I saw the picture."

Marlena just hummed, "He was always like a father-figure to you, Will, it's nothing to worry about."

"I just feel so awful and I don't know why," Will choked out, looking up at her, "Grandma...did I always feel like this?"

Marlena pursed her lips, glancing up in the mirror, "Yes, sweetheart, you did."

"Well," Will sighed, leaning on Paul again, "I don't like it."

Paul just rubbed his shoulder, sending a worried look to Marlena in the mirror.


"Thank you, again," Paul said, leaning in the doorway.

Marlena glanced over to where Will was sitting on the bed, his journal in his lap as he wrote, "Make sure he gets some sleep, okay?"

"I will," Paul told them, a weak smile.

"Let us know if you need anything ," John told him, "Don't hesitate to call us, anytime."

Paul nodded, giving both of them a hug and receiving a kiss on the cheek from Marlena before closing the door. He turned to Will and sighed, "How you feeling?" he asked immediately, crossing his arms.

"Fine," Will said simply, not looking up from his journal.

Paul walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, "Will," he said, looking down at the journal, "I know you want to write, but can you please talk to me?" he asked. He noticed Will was just writing in his journal, not his memory journal. If he'd been working on his memory journal, Paul probably wouldn't have interrupt him.

Will ducked his head, "I expected bad memories, I just didn't expect them to be this bad," he said, closing his journal, "I remember dying Paul. I remember Ben Weston playing around with me until he finally got bored and wrapped his hands around my neck. I remember not being able to breathe ."

Paul stared at him, before finally finding his voice again, "Will, I'm so sorry."

"I was alone," Will whispered, "I-I felt so alone , Paul-" he said, choking out a sob.

Paul immediately wrapped his arms around him, holding him close while he cried, "You aren't alone now, Will...you aren't," he said, pulling away. He put his hands on his cheeks, wiping his tears away, "Come on, let's get ready for bed and lay down."

Will didn't move.

"Will, c'mon," Paul said, rubbing his shoulder.

Will sighed, finally getting up and going to the bathroom.

Paul pulled Will close to him once they were in bed. He wanted to be close to him right now, especially with Will talking about...everything. He couldn't imagine his life without him now.

He couldn't imagine anything happening to him again.

Will huffed and turned over so he was facing him, leaving Paul's arm over his face, "Paul...I need you to answer something for me."

"Shoot," Paul told him.

"This is probably…" Will trailed off before deciding on the word, "An irrational fear. But i-if my memories start fading away again...don't let that happen."

"That won't happen," Paul told him firmly, "We'll work on your memories everyday, if that's what you want."

Will gave him a weak smile, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, "I love you, Paul."

"I love you too," Paul told him, leaning over and turning off the lamp, "Let's get some sleep, yeah? It's been a long day."

"Too long," Will sighed, relaxing onto the comfortable bed and closing his eyes, relaxing in his boyfriend's arms.


When Will woke up, it was slightly light outside. He felt someone shaking him and a hand on his arm. He opened his eyes and saw Paul staring down at him in concern.

"What?" Will demanded, voice full of sleep.

"You…" Paul trailed off, "Will, you were thrashing around...you were crying in your sleep."

Will swallowed, rubbing his eyes and taking a shaky breath. He sat up in bed and took a deep breath through his nose, breathing it out of his mouth.

"You were tossing and turning all night," Paul said quietly, "I didn't want to wake you, but when I saw you crying…" he trailed off.

"Sorry," Will sighed, "I...I actually don't remember what I was dreaming about," he said, looking confused. He wiped the tears away, "I don't...feel sad or scared or anything," he glanced at the clock and sighed, "Paul, it's six in the morning, go back to sleep."

Paul sighed, "Will, I'm not going back to sleep when you just woke up crying."

"Look, I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep, but you should. I'm just...gonna go write for a while, okay?" he tried, "I might see if anywhere is open yet to get us some breakfast," he said, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Will-" Paul started.

"Look, I'm going to get you pancakes, stop it," Will told him, giving him a weak smile. He grabbed Paul's sweatshirt from the floor and walked out the door, not caring if he was still in his pair of pajama pants.

He honestly didn't care what Salem thought of him.

He wondered how that would have made Old Will feel. Old Will, who was sad all the time...who was insecure and worried all the time.

"Love you," Paul called.

"Love you too," Will called back before closing the door.


Will wandered through townsquare, shuffling his feet as he did. He doubted anywhere would be open at this point, but he just needed some fresh air.

He looked down at his phone and saw the message from Marlena from last night...she had sent him both Austin and Carrie's numbers. Will bit his lip, debating for a moment. He typed in the current time in Switzerland, where he knew they lived, and saw it was already afternoon there, given the time difference.

And he hit Austin's number, shakily putting the phone up to his ear and listening to the sound of the two phones trying to connect. He sat down on the couch slowly, shoving his free hand into his pocket.

It didn't take long for him to answer.

"Austin Reed speaking," he answered.

Will froze up, not sure what to say.

"Hello?" the man tried again.

"Hi," Will managed to choke out, "Hi, Austin, it's, uh...it's Will."

"Will?" Austin demanded, "Will, christ, how are you?"

"I mean...alive," Will whispered, "I don't know if Marlena told you a-anything but...you were one of the first people I remembered," he said, his eyes filling with tears, "I remembered you and Aunt Carrie and Noah so fast, Austin," he said, wiping his eyes quickly.

"We wanted to come and visit you, but we heard about you not having your memories," Austin explained, "We didn't want to push things with you. W-We'll be on the soonest flight to Salem. Just wait until Carrie hears-"

"You don't have to-" Will started.

"Kid, I do. We both do...we have to see you're okay," Austin told him, "So cut the stubborn act and admit that you want to see us."

Will smiled weakly, "I do."

"Cool, then we'll be there soon," Austin said over the line, "So...catch me up on life, what's been going on with you?"

"Well…" Will trailed off.


Next Time (August 3): While Neil and Will hang out, Paul has family matters of his own to deal with. Paul realizes that he has a friend.