Will's fists hadn't even connected before Sonny started screaming at him. Both breathless as they grabbled on the cement sidewalk, scrambling for purchase. Will hitting anything he could reach as Sonny attempted throwing Will off.

"Get off," Sonny screeched in a commanding voice, grabbing Will's wrists. "Will, stop it."

Will wouldn't stop. He refused to stop.

He wasn't listening to a single thing Sonny said ever again.

Sonny recoiled when several large red drops dripped on his face – Will's blood.

At the familiar tingle in his nose and the sight of Sonny splattered in his blood, Will fought even harder, letting out a raspy scream.

Paul, John, and Marlena stared for a few moments, eyes wide and jaws dropped.

A part of Paul, a rather large part, didn't want to intervene. Sonny spent months winding Will up. Why shouldn't he reap what he sowed when Will finally let go?

But, the logical part of Paul stepped forward to assist his father in separating Will and Sonny.

Will didn't make it easy on them. It took all of John and Paul's strength to haul Will's flailing limbs away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sonny yelled, rubbing the back of his head and easing onto his feet. Smudging the smears of blood Will left behind with the backs of his hands.

"Shut up," Paul and John yelled at the same time.

Paul wrapped both arms around Will from behind, the two nearly stumbling to the ground several times before Will settled. Collapsing against Paul, face red from blood and exertion, body trembling.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay. I get it. It's okay. You're okay, Will," Paul adjusted his grip on Will, arms caressing rather than restraining. Will leaned his forehead against Paul's bicep, clutching onto Paul as he calmed down.

"Come here," Paul murmured, turning Will around to pull him into a proper hug, Will melting into his arms.

"What the hell is this?" Sonny asked, glancing away from his blood covered hands, looking at Will and Paul with disgust.

Paul cupped Will's cheeks, wiping blood off his face and determinedly ignoring Sonny.

"The only words I wanna hear out of your mouth are a goddamn explanation," John spat with a menacing expression on his face.

Marlena, no less angry but much calmer, grabbed her phone. Before they left Isak's building, she took pictures of the formula and both batches of serum. Something inside her knew they might need photo evidence.

She brandished her phone in Sonny's face, swiping between both pictures.

"What did you do to my grandson?"

Sonny stared at the pictures with slack-jawed, wide-eyed disbelief.

"Where did you get those?"

"Where do you think?" Marlena said, eyeing Sonny with no small amount of disgust. "How could you be so irresponsible and idiotic? Did you even know what was done to the serum? What my precious grandson was injected with? Did you even care?"

Sonny couldn't find any words. He opened and closed his mouth several times.

"I – I – how do you even know about any of this?"

"We figured it out," John spat while Paul was still busy cleaning up and calming down Will. "You're disgusting. Making Will pay for the very substance you created to control him."

"Control him?" Sonny repeated, eyes drifting toward Will and Paul. "What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know?" Paul asked with a scoff, holding tight to Will's waist. "Like you didn't notice any difference the past few months?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sonny insisted, stamping his foot. "All I did was pay off some doctor to supercharge the serum and give Will his memories back."

"Yeah, right," Will let out a harsh laugh.

Paul kept a steady arm around his waist when Will tried to move forward.

"That's it!" Sonny argued. "I knew once Will got his memories back everything would go back to normal in my life. All I did was find someone who could make that happen. Okay, yeah, I asked if there was a way to only get specific memories back and he said he would try. And it worked, didn't it? He remembered me first."

"Specific memories?" Will repeated, stopping when Paul held him in place. "Who the hell let you decide what I wanted to remember? I spent months hoping to remember my daughter and all I got were memories of you."

"Because I knew if you remembered me you'd want our life back and get rid of Paul!"

"Well, I didn't. I didn't want to get rid of Paul and I never wanted to be with you."

"Yes, you did. You left him for me. You left him and our lives were perfectly fine until the past week."

"Perfectly fine? Perfectly fine?" Will hissed in disbelief. "I have been miserable for months. Miserable every single fucking day since you turned me into this. I hate you! I never wanted to be with you."

"I didn't make you do anything. I don't know what you're talking about. What have the past few months been if you didn't want them? Why didn't you leave?"

"Because I couldn't. I know. I've tried."

"No, you didn't. You're just lying because Paul's here."

"No, I'm not. Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"Because nothing you say is worth listening to. All you ever do is whine and complain and argue and I'm sick of it. This is ridiculous. I told you to stay away from Paul. Go in the damn house and talk to me like a normal person and stop making a scene."

Will clenched his jaw when his nose started bleeding once again. He also almost tumbled to the ground when Paul let him go without any warning.

Paul dealt with a lot from Sonny Kiriakis. He was left in San Francisco with no warning. Strung along for months while Sonny played him and Will off each other. Stood on what everyone thought was Sonny's husband's grave to wait for Sonny like a good little lap dog. Left at the altar for a ghost. Ditched without a word and a piss-poor explanation when Will returned. Dealt with months and months of Sonny's anger and resentment that Will found something in Paul Sonny never could. Dealt with Sonny's unneeded rage and disregard as he disrespected Paul and his relationship with Will. He walked away from Sonny's smug face when Will left him for Sonny.

Paul spent the past several months heartbroken and aching because of Sonny. Because Paul naively thought Will wanted to leave him but he didn't. Will never wanted to leave him. Will loved him then and he loved him now. All while Sonny spent the past few months turning Will into a downtrodden, insecure, neurotic mess and Paul hated him.

Paul dealt with a lot from Sonny Kiriakis but he was not going to deal with anymore. He was not going to stand by and see Sonny ignore Will, ignore all of them in the face of his own mistakes. He was not going to see him hurt Will ever again.

Paul let go of Will, took 3 steps, and punched Sonny as hard as he could right in the nose.

A satisfying crunch and spray of blood permeated the night air.

"I'm gonna pay you back for every single nosebleed you've ever given him. Do you get me?" Paul said, holding Sonny by the collar of his shirt and cocking his arm back again.

John grabbed his wrist.

"As much as he deserves it, son. Not here," John gestured to the nosy neighbors watching out of their apartment windows. "Too many witnesses."

Paul took several deep breaths before he nodded, letting Sonny drop to the ground with a thud. He turned back to Will, the two standing close with their arms around the other's waist. Will checking over Paul's fist while Paul wiped away more blood from Will's face.

Marlena, reluctantly, checked on Sonny's nose.

"You can either go to the hospital and get it reset or I can do this," she didn't give Sonny a choice before grabbing the tip and ripping it back into its proper place.

If she enjoyed the pained scream Sonny let out, no one was ever the wiser.

"What the hell?" Sonny complained with his hand over his face, attempting to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

John crouched down in front of Sonny, looking him over in disgust.

"So, you didn't even notice there was anything wrong with Will? You didn't notice any change, any strange behavior? Didn't realize he's been miserable for months? Didn't keep him from going to doctor's or offer him any help or support with anything? Didn't think there was anything wrong with the blood gushing from his face anytime you argued? Didn't realize there was anything wrong with convincing him to sleep with someone to give you a damn job?"

Sonny struggled to get up, knocking Marlena's hand away when she offered to help him. Something that made John's glare even sharper.

"No, I didn't notice. Will's always been dramatic and ridiculous. He's always been a pain in the ass who never does what he's told. After everything he put me through before he died, he owed me a few months of financial stability and help. That's what you do with people you love, help in ways you don't really want to. And who cares if he wanted to help me get a job?"

Sonny glared at Will, flapping his hand toward Will huddled close to Paul.

"It's not like Will cared anyway. I heard what Isak Larsson told me. Will wanted to sleep with him. Apparently, he's done it more than once. He was gonna cheat on me anyway, at least this way I used it to my advantage. It's not my fault he's always been such a slut."

Paul, John, and Marlena all shouted out protests while Will frowned, stepping closer to Paul.

"I'm gonna break your fucking jaw next if you don't shut up," Paul threatened.

"It's true," Sonny argued with an ugly sneer. "Look at him right now? In front of our home and he can't keep his hands off you. Might wanna watch your back Paul, the second you don't give him exactly what he wants when he wants it, he'll hop on someone else's dick too."

"Shut up!" Will shouted, voice echoing around the complex. He didn't care who heard him or how many neighbors were watching his dirty laundry get aired. Enough people already witnessed the drama at Ari's birthday party. "Shut the hell up, Sonny! I've only cheated on you, you. Because you don't know how to keep me happy or satisfied. And yeah, I fucked Isak, a lot. Hell, I did it before your big fancy dinner at a restaurant you knew I hated. I fucked him and I liked it. I liked it so much more than any time you've ever put your slimy, useless hands on me. And I don't even know why I felt guilty when you don't care about me at all anyway. You never have. You only care about yourself and I'm done. I don't care what you say, how many nosebleeds I get, how much it hurts Ari, get the hell out of my apartment and out of my life."

Before anyone could respond, before Sonny could argue, before Paul could do anything but raise his brows and look at Will proudly, a car rolled to a stop in front of the apartment. A lone blonde woman stepped out with nothing but a large purse and a small thank you to the driver.

Everyone stared.

"Mom?" Will asked, confused.

"Hi," Sami Brady said, hitching a leather purse over her shoulder.

"Sami," Marlena asked, "what are you doing here?"

"I got a text from Paul," Sami explained, eyes drifting over everyone before stopping on Will. "He said you were in trouble. That there was something wrong with you and he didn't know what."

"You came all the way here because of a text?" Will asked, head tilted to the side.

"Of course, I did," Sami defended with a huff. "I know I'm not gonna win any mom-of-the-year awards but I'd never stay away if you need me."

After so many months of feeling lost and all alone, it hit Will hard. So many months of thinking he was useless, worthless, not worthy of anyone caring and his mom came all this way because his ex-boyfriend was worried.

"Now," Sami said, standing up straighter. "What did I miss?"

Paul, knowing exactly how much worse this was going to make things, said, "Sonny paid someone to tamper with the serum Will took for his memories. It damaged his freewill and Sonny tried to use Will as a prostitute."

Sami's left eye twitched before she moved, took the few feet between her and Sonny with no resistance. She reeled her arm back and put all her strength into the slap. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Sonny turned his head, catching the force of her slap on the ear.

Sonny's hearing went out as a sharp, severe pain radiated from his ear.

Sami ruptured his eardrum.

No one made any real effort to stop her besides Marlena saying in a dull, quiet voice, "no. Don't. Stop."

When Sonny yelled out, holding his hand over his ear, and rolling on the floor, Sami stepped away. She let out a puff of air, blowing her bangs out of her eyes, and casually stepped away as if nothing happened.

"Someone should probably get him out of here before the police show up. I'm pretty sure any more arrests and I go directly to jail."

"Do not pass go, do not collect $200," John said to alleviate the tension as they all watched Sonny writhing around on the ground.

"I didn't hit you that hard, you baby," Sami said with an eye roll before turning to face Will. She grabbed his elbows and yanked him into a hug. "Are you alright?"

"No," Will answered, drooping against her, chin on her delicate shoulder.

"Well, it will be," Sami promised, rubbing against his back. "We'll make sure of it, all of us."

Will apologized endlessly to the elderly woman who watched over Ari while they left for Isak's building. John was outside waiting for one of Victor's cars to pick up Sonny and Paul was in Will's kitchen fixing some tea. All while Sami sat on the couch keeping out of sight and Marlena quietly explained everything to her.

"I'm really, really sorry you had to see that," Will told the woman once more.

"Nonsense," the old woman said with a kind smile, patting Will's hand. "Much more interesting than my telenovela."

Will snorted and thanked her once again. Walking her to the door and watching as she took the few steps to her own apartment and went inside.

Will ignored his mother and her outburst of, "I should have smacked him harder!" He ignored Marlena's exasperated expression. He even ignored Paul's sweet, gentle smile.

Will walked right into Ari's room, wanting to check on her. Wanting to see her looking sweet and lovely before she woke up and he had to tell her he kicked Sonny out and Will never wanted to see him again.

He didn't think he'd get too many smiles and cuddles then.

Will sighed when he caught sight of Ari's rumbled bedding, watching her for a few seconds before turning to leave. His name caught his attention.

"Daddy?" Ari whispered.

"I'm here," Will said, closing her door behind him as he walked into her room. He sat on the side of her bed, brushing his hand through her mess of tangles.

"Why were you all fighting outside?"

Will swallowed, trying to think of a reasonable answer to tell a six-year-old.

"We were all angry."

"Oh," Ari said, blinking up at Will with large eyes. "What does slut mean?"

Will groaned.

"You heard that part?"

"Uh-huh," Ari nodded. "Is it bad?"

"Yeah," Will answered. "It's bad."

"Is it bad like when Daddy said mean things to you at my party? Like the f-word that Grandma Marlena said I can't say again?"

That was news to Will. Great, just what he wanted to worry about.

"Yeah, it's just like that."

"Why were you talking about Isak? You said you did the f-word with Isak and it made Sonny mad."

Will took a very long time to answer.

"Sonny was mad because I spent a lot of time with Isak, a lot of time."

"But you said Isak did things better than Sonny. What things?"

"Uh – well – Isak likes to kiss me sometimes and I told Sonny I liked Isak's kisses better than his."

"Oh," Ari blinked a few times. "I like it when Isak kisses me too."

Will recalled the few cheek kisses Isak gave Ari and nodded.

"Yeah, I noticed you like that."

Ari smiled before poking at Will's face.

"Your nose was bleeding again."

"Yeah, it was."

"I saw Paul again. He hit Daddy."

"Yeah," Will sighed. "He did."

"But he was nice to you," Ari said, sounding even more confused than before. "He hit Daddy but he cleaned all your blood away. Daddy said mean things to you and Paul yelled at him. Grandma Marlena and Grandpa John and even Grammy yelled at him too. Because he was mean to you."

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Will said. If she heard that, she must have heard everything. Must have heard Will tell Sonny he didn't want him around anymore.

"Why is Daddy mean to you?" Ari asked, grabbing the edge of Will's shirt and fiddling with it. "He says mean things all the time. He's supposed to love you, not be mean."

"I don't know," Will replied. "Sonny doesn't like a lot about me and wants to fix it so I'm different from how I am."

"But Marlena and John and Grammy and Paul want to keep you the same?"

Will nodded. Bracing himself for whatever cruel thing Ari would say next, waiting for the next eruption of how much she hated him.

"Oh," Ari responded. "I don't want you to change."

"You don't?"

"No," Ari shook her head. "I love you even if your nose bleeds and you work a lot and you don't make Sonny happy."

Will's eyes watered again.

"Stay with me?" Ari asked, grabbing hold of Will's arm and not letting go.

Will nodded, kicking off his shoes. He crawled on her small twin-size bed, back to the wall. He curled around her, letting Ari use his bicep as a pillow.

"Love you, Daddy," Ari said, snuggling into his hold.

"I love you too," Will whispered, nose buried in her hair. "Happy birthday."

Will closed his eyes, enjoying this moment for as long as he could.

Paul peeked in on Ari's room when Will didn't come out for a long time. He knew he was at a precarious position in Ari's life. It must be confusing for the poor girl. Having Will as her primary caregiver for the first few years of her life before he was taken away. Seeing Sonny and Paul get close, almost marry. Have her mother in and out of prison. Have Will come back but not remember her. See Will and Paul together. Have Will get his memories back and get together with Sonny again. Gabi left. Paul came back.

Ari's life was a mess and Paul couldn't blame her for wanting to protect what she had now. For wanting to see both her fathers' together.

Paul knew how important Ari was in Will's life. He understood and it made him love Will even more. But, Paul couldn't give up on Will, not again. If it took the rest of his life, Paul would work on getting Ari to accept him in Will's life. Begrudgingly or willingly, he didn't care.

Will was worth it.

Paul took a few steps into Ari's room and couldn't help his heart from melting.

Will was fast asleep, Ari's head nestled on his bicep. Both their pink mouths open a bit, faces serene, eyelids twitching.

Paul smiled before pulling out his phone. After making sure the flash was off, Paul snapped a picture. He needed to capture the moment.

As quietly as he could, Paul walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Will deserved all the peace he could get.