Chapter 9

February 14, 2015

Sonny's POV

Sonny had asked Will to drop off Ari with his mom. While Will was gone Sonny set the mood. He wanted to remember this night either as a last romantic dinner with a man he loved or their new beginning, their fresh start.

Sonny hated thinking that this could be the end for them. Even though he was confident in his decision to end their marriage if Will couldn't be honest with him. He hated the idea of hurting Will. Sonny wanted to make sure Will knew he was loved. He would never stop loving Will. He would just have to love Will from afar.

Sonny had set the table with a beige table cloth draped down almost to the floor. He had sprinkled rose petals on the table cloth and had a single red rose in a vase at the center of the table. Dinner was almost ready. Sonny had placed candles on the table and pretty much every other surface where it was safe to have a candle. He had just finished lighting the candles when Will walked in.

"Wow Sonny this looks amazing," Will beamed.

Sonny felt proud. "I want tonight to be special it could be a fresh start for us."

"I want that so bad, Sonny."

Sonny said, "I am so sorry about not talking to you before I took the money for the Southside location. And I am so sorry I didn't tell you about the kiss as soon as I got an opportunity. I cannot believe I kept all of these secrets from you. Do you think we could start over?"

Will said, "yes."

Sonny asked, "Pinky swear no more secrets?"

Will held up his pinky to Sonny. Sonny smiled. Will was going to tell him. He had to tell him.

"Are you ready for dinner?" Sonny asked.

"Absolutely," Will said. He helped Sonny bring the food to the table. He added, "Sonny this is so romantic."

"I wanted you to know that I love you no matter what." Sonny emphasized the last three words.

"I love you too, Sonny, so much."

They continued to talk and smile throughout dinner. Sonny felt happy. This night had been almost everything he wanted. Almost.

They sat on the couch. And Sonny is ready to be more direct with Will.

"I want everything on the table, Will."

"Me too," Will said.

"Ok. Well you know about the club and the kiss. There is nothing else I have done. Do you have any questions for me?"

"No, Sonny. I trust you."

"Good. Is there anything else you have been keeping from me?"

Will quickly said, "No. And I am still incredibly sorry that I lied to you about why I came home, but I did miss you like crazy." Deflection, Sonny thought.

Sonny hated the way this sounded, but he had to say it, "Are you sure Will? I just want everything out there, so we can deal with it."

"I am sure," Will quickly said. He was looking into Sonny's eyes with such sincerity.

Will is an amazing liar, Sonny thought. It was unsettling. There could be so many more secrets. More affairs.

"Ok. I have something for you. Wait here," Sonny said heading back to the bedroom.

Sonny retrieved the scrapbook Will had given him a year ago. Sonny took a deep breath. This was the moment he had been dreading. He put on a fake smile and went back out to Will.

"The scrapbook I gave you?" Well looked puzzled.

Sonny smiled and said, "Yes. I added some pages and thought we could go through them together."

"Sounds good."

They looked at the pages Will had put in the scrapbook last year. They both smiled while they reminisced over the beginning of their relationship. They got to February 14, 2014 and Sonny started tearing up with the memory of how happy he was one year ago, when Will had agreed to marry him.

The first page Sonny had added was April 3, 2014. Sonny had written, "The day we showed the world our love and devotion to one another." Will looked at Sonny with love and appreciation in his eyes. They continued to go through the pages. Memories of Arianna's firsts and family events. Sonny smiled, but he felt his heart breaking with each happy memory. How had they let everything get so messed up?

Will turned to the second to last page. It just said, "After everything we have been through this year I just have one question."Will looked into Sonny's eyes with curiosity. On the last page there was a wedding picture cut out like a heart and ripped in half. At the bottom it said "When were you going to tell me you cheated on me?" Sonny felt tears threatening to escape.

Will's POV

Oh my God! No! This can't be happening, Will thought. "Sonny..." was all Will managed to say.

"Will, I know we have not been in the greatest place and a lot of that is my fault. I just wish you could have been honest with me."

"I was going to..." Will tried.

"Stop," Sonny yelled. With that command Will stopped being able to breathe. Sonny was giving him the same look he had given him the day he found out Will was the father of Arianna.

After taking a few deep breaths, Sonny continued calmly, "I have known for weeks. I have given you every opportunity to tell me. Now it is too late. But what I need to know is how many people? How many times?"

Will knew he needed to be honest with Sonny now. "1 person. 1 time."

"Who?"

"Paul Narita. It just happened." Will knew that was a terrible excuse, but he still didn't understand why he had cheated.

"Ok. Well, I am sorry that I kept my knowledge of the affair a secret. I just needed to know if you would be honest with me."

Will opened his mouth to say something.

Sonny stopped him by holding up his hand. Sonny continued, "There is something else you should know. Paul Narita is the ex-boyfriend that I kissed. He is also the one who told me about your affair. I asked him not to tell you. I told him for the sake of my marriage I needed to know my husband would tell me on his own." After this Sonny abruptly got up and walked towards the door. Will thought Sonny was about to walk out the door, so he ran after him. But Sonny stopped at his messenger bag by the desk and got out a stack of papers.

Sonny handed the stack of papers to Will. When Will looked down he froze. He never expected this, especially so soon. The papers read "Petition for Divorce." The pain in Will's gut was unlike anything he had ever experienced. All of Will's muscles felt tense. He physically could not move. He could not look up at Sonny. He just stared at the word divorce.

Sonny said, "I would like to have split custody of Arianna. I spoke with Gabi, and she is OK with that." That snapped Will out of his trance.

Will looked at a sonny and found the ability to speak, although he still could not move. Will found himself having to gasp for air between words as he cried, "Sonny... Please... I love you... Can we try... Try to work through this... Please..."

"It's too late. Too much has happened." Sonny explained. Sonny looked sad, which gave Will hope that a part of Sonny still loved him and wanted to be with him.

"I don't want this to be over. This can't be over..." Will exclaimed. He put the terrible papers down on the desk.

Sonny ignored Will and said, "I am going to stay at a hotel tonight and look for an apartment tomorrow. I will text you before I come over to get my stuff." And with that Sonny went to their bedroom grabbed a duffel bag and walked quickly toward the door.

Will ran to stand in front of the door. "No. No. No. Sonny, please. Please, stay. I will do anything," Will cried. "Please don't leave me." Will could no longer stand. His legs felt weak. He slid down the door until his ass was on the floor. He hugged his knees to his chest. His vision was blurry from the tears pooled in his eyes.

Sonny didn't speak for a long time. He just stared at the door handle. Will was desperate to keep Sonny at the apartment. As long as Sonny was there maybe he could convince him that they could fix this. Will knew they could fix this.

Will tried saying everything that was in his heart hoping something might help him keep Sonny. "Sonny. I messed up. I know. I made a horrible mistake. And I made it so much worse by not telling you. I knew if I told you I would lose you. You would realize that I am not good enough for you, and you would leave me. I don't blame you for wanting a divorce. But if you give me a chance I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you. We can keep going to counseling. We can fix this. Let me try to fix this. I love you so much, and I will do whatever it takes to convince you. Just please don't leave. I will sleep on the couch."

"Sorry, Will. I can't stay. I really need to leave." Will stood up and tried to read Sonny's eyes, but Sonny was looking away.

Will gave in. "Ok. But I am not going to sign those papers," Will said adamantly, while pointing to the divorce papers.

Sonny now looked Will in the eyes. He looked so hurt. "I know Arianna biologically is not my daughter. But I love her as if she is. I cannot imagine my life without her. I know split custody is a lot, but..." Will put his hand up to stop Sonny.

"You are her dad. You can see her as often as you want. But I don't want a divorce, Sonny. I cannot give you that. I am sorry," Will said softly.

"Goodbye, Will." And with that Sonny was gone. Will felt sick to his stomach. He collapsed to the floor and cried. Will knew no matter what happened he would always love Sonny. He would spend the rest of his life trying to show Sonny that.