Thank you so much for the interesting reviews! Mina Crescini, thank you for the kind words and appreciation, and I have left a note for you at the end of this chapter.

Finally, the suspense is broken. The next chapter will be a happy one :)

Please read and review!

The next morning, Will's eyes slowly open to see a differently looking clock mounted on the wall. He feels a palm resting on his head. He turns to his right to get a view of Sonny in deep slumber. Sonny is lying on his stomach facing him. Will admires those thick curvy eyelashes and slightly parted lips. A smile spreads across Will's face, thinking about the previous night...the sweet whispers and passionate kisses, the warm embrace, and of course, the confession,... even though all happened under the influence of alcohol. But that smile slowly fades as Will becomes anxious about what will happen next, when Sonny wakes up. One thing is, there will definitely be awkwardness when they have a talk, and the other, what if Sonny backpedals? Will is certain that there is something that has been stopping Sonny to confess his feeling for him.

After staring at the sleeping brunette for some time, Will gets up from the bed. He walks a few steps forward and stands before a series of photo frames placed on Sonny's desk. Sonny is present in every frame, grinning widely. Apart from him, Will cannot tell who the others are. He guesses the old couple must be Sonny's parents. He likes one particular picture though.

Will feels his cell vibrate inside his pant pocket. It's his dad, Lucas. He ignores it. Lucas calls again. Will doesn't attend it. The third time, Lucas sends a message stating it's urgent. Will sighs and glances at Sonny, who doesn't seem to wake up any time soon, before walking out of the house to call his dad. "Good morning, dad! (…) I'm great, how about you? (…) Oh. (…) Ok, just a minute, dad." Will gently closes the door to Sonny's house and gets into his own to do some official on his computer as instructed by his dad.

After nearly 45 minutes, Will comes out of his house. Oh shit, I forgot to take his key! Standing in front of Sonny's house, Will contemplates whether to knock on the door or not. His cell beeps. He gets a long message from Sonny: *Will, I'm extremely sorry about last night. I know you must be feeling really uncomfortable and hurt. It's all my fault. I'm sorry I didn't apologize to you in person as I'm on my way to attend to an urgent personal matter, but will definitely do so after I return. Please be ok. Once again, I'm really sorry*

Oh god, what's going on!? What is Sonny really thinking? Please come back ASAP, Sonny. I'm going mad right now. Lines of worry are forming on Will's forehead as he sends a reply text: *Hi Sonny, don't worry. I'm fine, I promise. We will talk later. Take care*

As planned, Will meets his college mate from the UK for lunch at a restaurant. He is unable to involve himself in the conservation and often asks his friend to repeat what being said by her. He is physically present but mentally absent. He lies that he's having a bad headache. His friend understands and cancels their plan to watch a baseball game before bidding goodbye. Will feels sorry and hugs her.

As Will hits the sack for a late-afternoon nap, he gets a call from grandma Marlena.

Marlena's voice doesn't sound good when she greets him.

Will: Grandma, what really happened? Is John creating trouble again?

Marlena: No, dear. It's concerning you. I don't know how to bring this up.

Will: Grandma, tell me what it is without hesitance. I can handle it.

Marlena: Will, the last time we spoke about Sonny…well that's only a few days ago…you said he is single and good.

Will: Yes

Marlena: This afternoon I happened to meet a friend, Karen, at a restaurant owned by the Kiriakis family. While chatting, Karen said she is good friends with Adrienne, Sonny's mother. Karen mentioned about Adrienne's four sons, and then she said that the youngest is gay and currently lives in Philadelphia and….has a daughter…...Will, are you aware of this?

Will feels a dynamite exploding within him….his hand is trembling that the phone might slip out of it.

Marlena: Will? Sweetheart?

Will (says in a shaky voice): No, grandma, I…I didn't know about this….Does that mean Sonny is secretly married to or living with someone?

Marlena: I have no idea, Will. I couldn't ask Karen about that…. Will, now I'm really worried about you...

Will quickly wipes the tears and clears his throat "Grandma, please don't worry. Your grandson is a strong guy. Trust me. I will be careful in whatever I do. Ok?

Marlena gives a word of encouragement to Will and asks him to consider leaving Philadelphia, for better.

Will spends nearly one-and-half days of the weekends locked and crumbled inside his house, going through a lot of emotions about Sonny, mostly negative. He finally decides to visit the bar in the evening. He is even ready to take a swing at if that jerk, Brian, disturbs him.

Will opens the door to see Brian tossing the keys and talking to neighbor Maxine in front of Sonny's house.

Maxine notices Will and smiles. Will takes a deep breath and walks forward gently smiling at her. "Hi Will, long time no see" says the nurse. "Yes, Ma'am. We have all been busy. How you doing?" Will's says. "I'm good…tending to my dear patients. And, yesterday, I had one of my favorite persons visiting me at the hospital" Maxine smiles looking at Brian. Will gives a confused look at Maxine and quickly glances at Brian, who is smiling reservedly "Will, I'm talking about Sonny's pretty little daughter, Athena. She came in with a high temperature. Now, she is fine and has gone back home" Maxine says. Will forces a smile. "Ok guys, my eyes are already drooping after the 12-hour shift. Thanks for dropping, Brian. Have a goodnight, gentlemen!" Maxine walks off.

Once Maxine disappears, Brian says "Will, I'm sorry for being quite rude to you…Sonny and I had a talk this morning. I don't want to dwell into that, because Sonny said he will talk to you about it. You got his text, right?" Considering the pathetic state he is in, Will doesn't even feel surprised by Brian blunt apology. Will nods affirmatively and says "That's ok, Brian,…um, I want to know something about Sonny…I mean, I didn't know until today that Sonny has a daughter."

Brian ushers Will inside the house "What? When you guys, you know, talked about your past, didn't Sonny tell you about all the pain he went through after you left him?" Brian raises an eyebrow, standing with folded hands in front of Will.

Will swallows hard "I guess, he didn't."

"Well, all I can say is, 7-year-old Athena Kiriakis was born out of the mistake committed by Sonny and his friend Mia, who is the sister-in-law of Sonny's brother Alex. That mistake happened on the same day Sonny got the devastating news from the librarian about your true identity and betrayal" Brian says with a straight face.

Will's face is fallen, and he gets giddy. He leans on the desk for support and stares deep at the photo that attracted his attention a day ago: it is the picture of Sonny with his daughter. She is just the photocopy of her father – olive skin, dense dark hair, big brown eyes, and sunshine smile.

Brian retrieves something from the drawer and pats Will's shoulder as a gesture of leaving "Sonny will be back tomorrow in office."

Will walks into his house and falls on his bed. He buries his face in his hands and cries "What have I done to you, Sonny…"

(to be continued...)

A/N: Dear Mina, since you review as a guest, I'm not able to respond to you via PM. How I wish I could provide a daily update on this story:) Yes, you are right, I have college and work. Besides, the fact is, I'm new to writing. Even though my chapters are short, I take a lot of time to put my thoughts into words. That's why I'm providing the update on alternate days (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). Once again, thank you! - Romi