"What are you going to do today?" Sonny asked.
Will rested his head on Sonny's pillow, buried in close. His fingers tugged on the tufts of Sonny's chest hair.
Eyes closed, Will sighed. "I told Kayla I would take a shift this morning."
"It means a lot to you, helping out at the pub," Sonny realized. "You've been there every day this week."
"I grew up there," Will stated. "It was one of the few places I was always welcomed. I want to do everything I can to help."
"That's one of the things I love most about you," Sonny lifted Will's hand and kissed it.
Will smiled and lazily opened his eyes. He rolled over so he was hovering over Sonny.
"You know what I love about you?" Will asked with a smile.
"What?" Sonny held onto Will's bare hips.
"I love how good you are to me," Will explained.
Will's smile softened. He reached out to trace a fingertip across the bridge of Sonny's nose and across his lips.
"Ever since that first time you kissed me after the explosion," Will inhaled and exhaled. He looked at Sonny in awe. "I never understood what someone like you was doing wasting their time on me."
"Will," Sonny whispered.
"No," Will shook his head. "It's okay. I," Will smiled confidently. "I think I'm beginning to see it, you know?"
Will laid his head on Sonny's chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"You love me," Will sighed, nuzzling against Sonny.
"I do," Sonny clenched his eyes shut. "I promise I do."
Sonny tried to fight back the nausea gurgling in his stomach.
"The babysitter can only watch Ari until noon," Will reminded Sonny and himself. "So, I won't stay at the pub too long today."
'Hopefully Paul comes by for breakfast,' Will thought as he packed Ari's bag. 'It would be a little hard explaining Ari to him.'
"Good, the apartment looks awful," Sonny hinted.
Will glanced over at Sonny with a frown. He didn't realize it was his job to keep the house clean.
"Oh," Sonny shoved a plate in the overflowing sink. "Do you think you can do the laundry too? I'm gonna need more socks soon."
"Okay," Will mumbled.
'I should do better,' Will thought, head down. 'Sonny loves me. I need to take care of him.'
"Are you going to interview whoever it is again today?" Sonny questioned as he got ready to leave.
"Uh," Will paused. It took him a few moments to shake out of his musings.
Will didn't know why he paused either. It wasn't against the agreement to talk about when he would be interviewing Paul. But for whatever reason Will didn't want to tell Sonny.
The few hours he spent with Paul were private. Yes, it was supposed to be work but it didn't feel that way. Will had fun with Paul. He enjoyed listening to him talk, learning more about Paul. For some reason, Will didn't want Sonny to know about it, not yet.
"I don't know," Will evaded the question. "I usually wait for whoever it is," Will smiled secretively, "To call and request a meeting."
"This interview process is going on pretty long," Sonny noted. He still had his suspicions about who exactly Will was interviewing.
'But Paul's never been one for interviews,' Sonny recalled. 'He never would spend this much time with a journalist.'
"What's the story even about?" Sonny asked.
'I have no idea,' Will realized.
Paul pulled the door open to the pub with a wince. His shoulder ached terribly after his physical therapy appointment.
During the session it felt fine, good even. Now, out in the chilly air, it tightened up. Paul could barely lift it.
"Hey," Will greeted. He walked by with a tray full of food balanced in one hand and a pot of coffee in the other. "I saved your spot for you."
Paul slunk to his booth and closed his eyes.
'Fuck,' Paul grit his teeth. He tried to focus his breathing, thinking about anything else.
"I don't know how to make green tea," Will set down a pot of tea and a box of tea bags. "And this is the only tea we have. I figured you could choose what you want."
Will sat across from Paul. The smile on his face slipped off.
"What's wrong?" Will leaned across the table. "Are you okay?"
"It's nothing," Paul dismissed through a grimace. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," Will noted.
Paul saw Will's concerned expression. As far as Paul could tell it was genuine.
'But he's a journalist,' Paul remembered. 'If he finds out about this he could ruin everything. No one is going to sign me if they find out my arm's in danger.'
"I have some aspirin in the back," Will offered. "Let me go get it. Have you eaten anything? I can bring you something."
Paul shook his head. He knew he needed to eat but he couldn't do this now.
"Will," Paul made to sit up. "I think I'm gonna go back to my hotel. I don't think I can do this today."
"Yeah, of course," Will began when he saw Paul struggling.
Paul set his jaw and grabbed his elbow, sitting down again.
"Oh my god," Will gently touched Paul's arm.
"I'm fine," Paul insisted. He breathed in and out heavily.
"Whatever you say," Will dismissed. "Come on; let's get you to the back."
Will carefully helped Paul to the office in the back.
"Sit," Will pushed Paul into the desk chair. "I need to go deliver some orders then I'll be back."
"You don't have to do this," Paul argued.
Will ignored Paul, walking out the door.
'Great,' Paul closed his eyes again. 'Fan-fucking-tastic.'
"Here," Will put the teapot and box of tea bags on the desk.
"Will," Paul attempted.
"Take this," Will found a bottle of aspirin in the top desk drawer. "One, two, or three?"
"I just want to go back to the hotel," Paul maintained.
"Three it is," Will offered Paul the pills. When Paul didn't take them, Will sighed. "Open up."
Paul opened his mouth. He didn't think Will was serious.
With a playful smile, Will tossed all three pills into Paul's mouth.
With a disgusted expression on his face, Paul reached for the teapot. He threw back a mug of hot water, shaking his head.
"You did better than my brother," Will commented. "I have to pinch his nose to get him to take his pills."
"Gee, thanks," Paul retorted.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Will leaned against the edge of the desk.
"I think so," Paul looked away from Will.
"You sure?" Will probed. "Wait," Will bit his lip. "You don't have to answer that. I get it, journalist and all."
Paul caught Will's downturned eyes. Maybe it was stupid but Paul felt like he could trust Will.
"No," Paul gave Will a half smile. "I'll tell you. It's why I'm in Salem in the first place."
"That was awful," Sonny leaned his elbows on the desk. He ran his hands through his hair.
"It needed to be done," Chad amended. "It's never fun letting employees go. I still say we should have given Ben the boot."
"I'm not interested in your grudge right now," Sonny hissed. "How are we going to get by when we're down two servers?"
"We'll have to," Chad shook his head. "Now, we need to figure out the advertisements we want."
"I really think we need to focus on finding new suppliers," Sonny argued. "And creating a new menu. It's not going to matter if we bring more people in if they don't like what we have to offer. Or if we end up losing money."
"Fine," Chad threw his hands up. "Fine. Let's go through our inventory."
Sonny shoved his chair back, storming for the door.
"Now it's starting to hurt?" Will frowned. Concern bled across his features.
"Yeah," Paul confirmed. "At first everything seemed fine with the surgery. But now," Paul closed his eyes and shook his head. "It stings every now and again. Or if I use it too much. I would ignore it before but today…"
"Is it," Will licked his lips. "I mean, have you talked to your doctor about it."
Paul shook his head.
"I guess I thought if I ignored it, it would go away," Paul revealed. "I thought it was getting better."
Paul shifted in the chair, wincing.
Will moved from the desk to stand behind Paul.
"Here," Will slipped Paul's jacket off. Without thinking about it, Will began to knead Paul's shoulders.
Paul, surprised, sat up straighter. He relaxed into Will's touch, eyes closing.
"Does this hurt?" Will queried. He kept his touch gentle.
"No," Paul softly answered. "No, it feels perfect."
"What happens if your arm doesn't heal before training camp?" Will wondered.
"I don't even want to think about it," Paul sighed. "My agent's still working out a deal, talking with teams. If they catch wind of this no one will sign me."
Will said nothing, fingers continuing their work.
"You know what?" Paul bitterly added. "When I refused to re-sign with the Giants my mother told me it was a mistake. She told me I should show them loyalty, not to get too greedy. But I wouldn't listen. I wanted to test the free agent waters. If I would have just signed the stupid contract…" Paul trailed off.
"Did the team know about your arm?" Will questioned.
"No," Paul stated. "I didn't want anyone to know. I knew my market value would go down. I thought this surgery would fix everything. That there wouldn't be anything to worry about."
"You don't know if there's anything to panic about," Will offered. "I mean, you're still healing. It's just starting to get colder out. Maybe you just worked it too hard today. You don't have to jump to the worst possible conclusion."
"I wish I had your optimism," Paul remarked. "I've been working my arm for about as long as you've been alive. I know when something's wrong."
"I wish there was something I could do to help," Will replied.
Paul kept quiet. He let Will's hands work over his tense muscles. When Will moved lower, Paul let out a soft groan.
Will smiled, cheeks pink.
It wasn't until Paul let out a compliment that Will realized he let things go too far.
"Your hands are like magic," Paul praised. "God, Will."
Will stilled. Just last night Sonny had told him the same thing. When Will eased his husbands sore muscles. And now here Will was, doing the same to another man.
"Good," Will patted Paul's shoulders. "I hope you feel better."
"I, uh," Will backed away. "I need to go check up front. I'll bring you something to eat."
Paul watched as Will practically ran out the door.
Paul chuckled with a smile on his face. He could feel the ghost of Will's fingertips left upon his skin.
Lifting his shoulder up and down, Paul had to admit it felt a little better.
Finally leafing through the box of teas, Paul put a bag in the teapot. Paul spied a business textbook and a large scattering of papers on the desk.
Without a thought, Paul read them over.
"There's got to be cheaper vodka," Chad remarked. "I mean, really. This is ridiculous. There's no need to be paying this much for something that tastes like crap."
Sonny disregarded Chad and continued his own assessment.
"Seriously? Nothing to say?" Chad looked at Sonny in disappointed. "You used to be fun."
"I'm not in the mood for games," Sonny remarked. "This is important."
"How does Will put up with you?" Chad wondered. "I'd say you have a stick up your ass but I think the real problem is you don't."
"Shut up," Sonny growled.
"Ouch," Chad laughed sarcastically. "Touchy subject. Maybe I'll swing by and let Will know he's not keeping you happy."
"Fuck off," Sonny glared at Chad. "There's nothing wrong between Will and me."
"I was kidding," Chad told Sonny. He glanced at Sonny up and down. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing," Sonny ran his hands through his hair. "Nothing, I'm just, everything is freaking me out."
"No," Chad narrowed his eyes. "I don't think so. If I mention the club, you're fine. If I mention Will you flip out. What's up with you and Will?"
"There is nothing going on," Sonny spat out. "Will and I are fine. Everything is fine."
Sonny saw Chad didn't look convinced.
"No, you wanna know what's wrong," Sonny continued. "My family relies on this club. We don't have our DiMera millions waiting around for us to fall back on. This is it. And if this club doesn't make it, how am I going to tell Will?"
"That's not going to happen," Chad assured Sonny. "We're figuring this stuff out. Now, get back to work."
"I brought you some oatmeal and fruit," Will told Paul. "Um, I wasn't sure what you'd want."
"That's fine," Paul confirmed.
Will placed everything in front of Paul. He wasn't sure how to act now. Was he supposed to acknowledge the fact that he rubbed Paul down? Something that was entirely inappropriate for so many reasons.
Will thought about how he would react if Sonny did something like that to another guy. Will bit his bottom lip. Just thinking about it hurt.
Instead of saying anything, Will pretended it didn't happen.
Wanting to change the subject, Will opened his mouth. Only, he saw what Paul was reading.
"What are you doing?" Will asked.
"You left these here," Paul said. "I couldn't help myself. Is the pub really in that much trouble?"
"Apparently," Will made to sit on the edge of the desk before thinking better of it. Will sat in the chair across from Paul.
"My grandma's been taking care of the place for years," Will told Paul. "She has dementia and the past few years have been pretty hard on her. None of us paid enough attention to help her."
"My grandpa's like that," Paul confessed. "Independent," Paul clarified at Will's confused expression. "He needs to do things for himself. He doesn't have anything like your grandma but I think I get it. She probably didn't want to admit she needed help."
"I can relate to that," Will mumbled. "I started going through some records. Looking at my old textbooks. I mean, I don't really know what I'm doing. But I do know you aren't supposed to be in the negatives each month."
"No, yeah, I know that much too," Paul agreed.
"We already don't have enough staff," Will said. "That's why I've been in so often, free labor. I'm not sure how much longer we can hang on."
"Well," Paul had an idea. It seemed crazy. His financial adviser would probably kill him. But the publicity it could bring. That would be worth it.
'Paul Narita saves small town establishment,' Paul could see the headlines now.
"How would you feel about getting an investor?" Paul offered.
"I'll deal with the suppliers," Chad informed Sonny. "You talk with the chef. See if there are any changes she can suggest."
"Right," Sonny nodded.
"Cheer up, dude," Chad ordered. "We'll figure things out. And if not, I'm sure your uncle would offer you a job somewhere."
"I don't want to take a job from my uncle though," Sonny reminded Chad. "That's why I wouldn't take any money from my family. I wanted to prove I could do this on my own."
Chad nodded in understanding.
"Well, at least now you know what Will feels like whenever an article turns south," Chad pointed out helpfully.
"I'll see you later," Chad said before leaving.
Sonny headed over to the small kitchen. They didn't need a large establishment. Not that many people came in for the food after all.
'But hopefully we can change that,' Sonny thought.
"Hey," Sonny greeted their chef. "We need to talk."
"Paul, what are you talking about?" Will asked, stunned.
"I'm saying that I could pitch in some money," Paul offered. "Help things out."
"You don't, you don't want to do that," Will shook his head.
"How do you know?" Paul smiled. "I'm always looking to help out."
"I know the pub isn't really that cool," Will pressed his lips together.
"So, make it cool," Paul suggested. "We could paint, get rid of the tacky decorations."
Will smiled, picturing it.
Paul enjoyed that smile. It made it all worth it.
"Come on," Paul continued. "I'll get my lawyer to draw up the papers. Make it completely legit."
"This is too much, Paul," Will argued weakly. "I can't ask you to do this."
"I'm offering," Paul insisted. "I want to help you. It would give me something to focus on while I'm recovering."
"I don't know," Will shook his head.
"What's the worst that can happen?" Paul asked.
Paul leaned across the desk and placed his hand on top of Will's.
"Let me help you," Paul pleaded.
Will looked into Paul's eyes. He bit his lip and nodded.
"Okay," Will agreed. "Let's do it."
Author's note:
Any thoughts?
Thanks for reading!