Note: We learn a bit more about what W/P/S were like as friends. It doesn't follow DOOL canon strictly, so keep that in mind.

"Well," Tori asked as she looked at Sonny impatiently. "I went to the address he sent me but there was no one there."

"Um," Sonny blinked several times. 'What the hell do I do now?' "We moved actually. Same complex different apartment."

"Really," Tori lifted one eyebrow. "Well, where is Paul now?"

"Let me go to my office and make a call to find out," Sonny told her with a weak smile. "I'll be right back." Whispering to Lauren that he would be gone a minute Sonny practically ran to his office.

Paul jumped when the office door swung open and slammed against the wall, "What the hell? Sonny," Paul shouted out, "You scared the crap out of me."

"Oh my god," Sonny closed the door and leaned against it, "Oh my god."

"What," Paul stood up and hurried to his side. Putting his hands on Sonny's shoulders Paul repeated, "Sonny what?"

"Your mom is out there," Sonny breathed out. "She's out there and she's asking for you. What are we going to do?"

"OK," Paul was panicking. "OK, um, wow. OK, I just, I can work with this. I can just tell her the truth now and then everything will be fine."

"Do you want me to go get her and you can tell her here," Sonny questioned carefully.

"I-I don't know," Paul began to pace, "I don't, I'm not ready for this. I just need a little bit of time. Just to wrap my head around what to tell her. I just need an hour. Just an hour."

"What should I tell her then," Sonny demanded, "She's waiting out there!"

"Go tell her that I'm in a meeting and I'll meet her at home," Paul decided.

"And what about Will," Sonny wondered as he put his hand on the doorknob. "What if he comes home?"

"I'll call and tell him to stay with Neil and Brian a little longer," Paul mumbled. "I just need a little bit of time. OK, just a little bit."

"Alright, I understand," Sonny tried to give him an encouraging smile. "I'll send you a text when she leaves so you know the coast is clear."

"Thanks," Paul leaned forward and kissed Sonny's cheek. "Thanks for helping me with this."

"Of course," Sonny nodded before he walked out the door. 'OK we just have to keep everything under wraps for another hour.'

Spotting Tori sitting ramrod straight at the counter Sonny leaned over the counter and said, "Paul said he was in a meeting but he'll meet you in an hour at the apartment."

Tori pursed her lips, "Right. I suppose that will be fine."

"Can I get you something to drink before you go," Sonny asked as politely as he could.

"No," Tori responded quickly, "I just need your new address."

Will pouted slightly when he saw neither Paul nor Sonny were home when he got there. 'I guess it's a good thing. If either were here I would get distracted.' Will wandered over to the kitchen for some water. Heading to the bathroom Will found his pain medicine. His head wasn't unbearable at the moment but he got the feeling it was going to get even worse.

Forcing down the pill Will used the restroom before slumping into the bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and neatly put them in the closet. Grabbing his sweatpants Will wriggled off his jeans and unbuttoned his shirt. In his sweats and a tank top Will curled up under the sheets and blankets.

He didn't think he was that tired but being surrounded by the comforting warmth of the blankets and the lingering scent of his boyfriends Will closed his eyes and easily drifted off to sleep.

After sneaking out of Common Grounds, leaving Sonny with a pained smile and a quick kiss, Paul slowly made his way home. He was going over and over in his head some sort of speech he could say to clear everything up for his mother. 'It's going to be impossible to get her to understand about Will after that article. And after Will answered the phone and she thought I was cheating on Sonny with him.'

Pulling out his phone and remembering he needed to keep Will away from home Paul dialed quickly and frowned when he didn't get an answer. Redialing and waiting Paul sighed when he still didn't get a response. Sending a quick message to Will Paul really wished he had Neil or Brian's number to get them to stall Will.

'I can't risk it,' Paul thought before messaging Sonny to get in contact with Neil. 'OK now think about what you can tell Mother. What would be the best way to go about this? I need to tell her the truth without making everything about sex.'

As he was turning towards the park Paul spotted Chad rushing from the park. Moving out of his way quickly Paul doubted Chad was in that big of a hurry to get to work. Biting the inside of his cheek Paul followed the path he just saw Chad on when he stumbled across Sami, EJ and Kate.

Instantly suspicious Paul took a step back so he would be out of sight. If he strained his ears he could just barely make out the words Will and Stefano. 'What the hell are they talking about? Is this the plan that Will was talking about?' Paul deliberated on moving to join them but figured EJ would dismiss him immediately.

Seeing Kate walk away and EJ pull Sami to sit down on the bench Paul took a deep breath and calmly walked over there. 'Let's see if my acting skills are any good.'

"Paul," Sami said, surprised to see him coming their way, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," Paul attempted to look startled at their presence. "Hi, I was just heading home."

"Where's William," EJ asked immediately, arm wrapped around Samantha's shoulders.

"With his friends," Paul responded. "He's supposed to meet me at home soon." Paul nodded to them both before saying, "I guess I'll see you later." Before continuing on his way Paul, remembering his manners, said, "Thanks for having us yesterday, by the way."

"Of course," EJ nodded back. He watched Paul walk away getting the distinct impression that he had overheard more than EJ wanted him too.

'Just focus on your Mother. You can worry about EJ later,' Paul thought as he slowly made his way home. 'Just try to figure out how to explain this without hurting Will or making her hate us.'

Sonny, helping a few more customers, was relieved to be so busy. If he was busy and moving he wouldn't have time to think about Paul and Tori. 'Or Will and Stefano or EJ and T and Gabi,' shaking his head Sonny handed back some change and forced himself to focus.

Looking up when the door opened Sonny visibly sighed in relief when he saw Chad walking through the door. "I have never been happier to see you in my life," Sonny called out to Chad.

Focused on the conversation he had with EJ Chad didn't even hear Sonny talking to him. Chad headed for the back office and sat in the chair taking a few deep, calming breaths. Head resting on the desk Chad tried to convince himself he could do this. 'EJ's wrong. Father is never going to stop. He isn't going to rest until he gets what he wants. Killing him might be our only option.'

After a few more inhales and exhales Chad stood up and walked back out. He picked up an apron he saw hanging and wrapped it around his slim hips. Standing near Sonny Chad greeted, "Hey. Busy much in here?"

Sonny narrowed his eyes at Chad, giving him a suspicious look, "Extremely. Now what's with you?"

"Nothing," Chad shook his head, rolling his shoulders forward and back a bit to relieve some of the tension building. "Just thinking about my father and about Will and what I'm going to do."

Stepping closer Sonny, pretending to wipe down the counter by the register, "I thought EJ had a plan."

"EJ's plan sucks," Chad admitted. "He doesn't understand what I understand. Father isn't going to stop."

"What the hell does that mean," Sonny demanded, turning to look up at Chad's face. When Chad didn't offer any information Sonny began to get ticked off. Shoving Chad slightly, just enough to startle him, Sonny hissed, "He's my boyfriend. Tell me what the hell is going on now!"

Looking at Sonny in amazement, having never seen Sonny like this before, Chad sighed, "I just mean that we need to do something sooner. Threatening Will is a good motivator for me but what about Will? Father was upset he left with you. Soon enough he's going to intimidate Will some other way."

Sonny stared at Chad a few more moments before ripping off his apron. 'I need to get out of here and away from Chad. I need to see Will and make sure he's OK before dealing with the mess Paul put us in. I don't have time for any of this.'

"Sonny," Chad said feeling alarmed. He didn't know what was running through Sonny's mind but he didn't like the look on his face. "I'm going to take care of it," Chad admitted. "Whatever it takes I'm going to deal with it."

"I hope that you do," Sonny responded before going into the office to get anything he needed. Telling everyone goodbye on his way out Sonny leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. 'Fuck, everything is getting so out of hand again.'

Opening his eyes Sonny reached into his pants to grab his phone. Finding Neil's number in his contacts Sonny dialed and waited for him to answer.

"Hey," Neil said into the phone. He was leaning against his headboard with a book in his lap and Brian's shoulders pressed against his own.

"Can you keep Will with you for a little bit longer," Sonny asked without preamble.

"That'll be a little hard considering he left for your place a while ago," Neil remarked as he pulled his attention away from his book. "Why what's going on?"

"What," Sonny gasped suddenly getting a horrible feeling. "Why did he leave already," Sonny started quickly walking towards home.

"He was getting a headache," Neil told Sonny, feeling extremely confused, "We sent him home to take a nap."

"Fuck," Sonny sighed, "OK, thanks. I gotta go."

"No, wait," Neil demanded, "What the hell is going on?"

"Not now Neil," Sonny huffed before hanging up. 'Fuck Paul better get there before his mother.' Dialing Paul's number Sonny mumbled under his breath, "Pick up, pick up!"

Will mumbled softly in his sleep, holding tightly to the pillow underneath him when he heard a pounding on the door. Whining softly Will tried to ignore it even pulling the pillow over his head.

However, the hammering continued. It seemed to beat in perfect unison with the aching throb in his head. Sitting up slowly, feeling a bit disoriented, Will sighed when he thought the pounding stopped. Just as he was going to flop back over to bed the knocking continued.

Will reached for his glasses on the side of the bed, hand groping uselessly. Finally finding them Will rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the door, practically tripping over his own feet. Whoever was there was beginning to shout words through the door in a language Will didn't understand.

Looking out the peephole Will could hardly tell who it was. Despite his glasses Will's vision was fuzzy and all he could think about was the horrible pain in his head. Opening the door Will asked, words slurred, "What's the matter?"

As soon as Sonny informed Tori that Paul was at a "meeting" and he would meet her at "home" Tori was instantly distrustful. 'He's probably with that man again,' Tori thought as she stomped off to Paul's new apartment, address in hand.

Ever since the strange boy answered Paul's phone Tori knew that Paul was in trouble. Paul had never done anything like that before in his life. Tori knew she needed to speak to her son in person, get him to understand the magnitude of his actions. Remind him of the traditional upbringing he had. While Tori didn't exactly approve of his engagement she much preferred that to Paul sleeping around.

'Meeting? I know exactly kind of meeting he's having,' Tori thought as she quickly caught sight of the apartment. Finding a map of the layout Tori found the number she was looking for and set off. Climbing the stairs Tori knocked on the door fully expecting to find her son in a compromising position with a stranger.

When she received no answer Tori knocked and knocked determined to interrupt whatever nonsense was happening inside. Getting a little perturbed Tori started shouting at her son through the door in Japanese. Normally she would never do something so uncouth but she was desperate.

The door opened revealing a familiar entirely unwelcome figure. Tori's mouth dropped open and her eyes felt like they were bulging unattractively. So angry she could barely think Tori started shouting at the blonde boy in front of her, unaware she was still speaking Japanese.

Will blinked several times at the woman in front of him. Shrinking from the light filtering over the roof line of the building opposite theirs Will almost slipped when the woman elbowed her way past him inside while yelling things Will had no way of understand. Wincing at the way the strange words reverberated in his head Will guided himself towards the couch. Will wished he had his phone nearby because he didn't understand what was happening. He didn't know who this woman was or what she wanted. All Will wanted was to go back to sleep.

Tori shoved the boy out of her way as she started shouting for Paul. 'How dare he send this boy to answer the door in his stead? Now where is he?' Tori looked all around the modest apartment and couldn't see her son anywhere. Confused Tori turned back to the boy. 'Will, the article said his name is Will,' Tori reminded herself.

Standing with her arms crossed Tori demanded, in English, "Where is my son?"

Will, head resting on the arm of the couch, looked at the woman in front of him feeling lost. "I don't, who are you," Will tried to ask but his brain and mouth weren't cooperating. 'Why isn't Paul or Sonny home yet?'

"I just told you," Tori informed Will flatly, "Where is my son?"

"Paul," Will guessed, mind trying to work quickly, "I don't know. He's supposed to be here."

Tori observed Will lying on the couch. She noted his incoherent speech and wondered if he was intoxicated. From what she read in the article she wouldn't put it passed him.

"Were you waiting for him," Tori narrowed her eyes, "Waiting for him in his home?"

"But it's my home," Will answered not understanding.

Ignoring Will Tori began pacing in front of him trying to wrap her mind around the gravity of the situation. 'The article must have been true. That's what all those messages from Paul were about. He must have tried to spare me from the embarrassment but I thought he would have at least ended his affair.'

Remembering something important Tori paused, 'But the article said Sonny was involved too. That Paul and Sonny spent a weekend with him.' Staring at the ground Tori frowned, 'What the hell is my son thinking?'

Will closed his eyes, wondering if this was all a strange dream.

Putting her hand to her forehead Tori didn't even know what to think now. What to think of her son. 'I didn't raise him to act this way.' Sitting down on the coffee table Tori saw Will had almost fallen to sleep. 'He must be drunk,' she frowned at him. Reaching out with her hand Tori shook his bare shoulder, "Wake up!"

"Mmm," Will opened his eyes, confused by the woman's presence. "Why are you here," he asked quietly.

"To stop this," Tori responded sternly. "To keep you away from my son."

"Nu uh," Will rolled onto his back, head aching, vision blurred. The medicine was leaving him groggy and a little lost. "Loves me," Will smacked his lips together and curled into a ball wishing he had a blanket.

Sputtering a bit Tori was ready to reach across and shake him again when she heard a key in the door. Standing up Tori stood in front of the couch with her arms crossed as she saw her son walk through the door.

'OK, just sit her down and tell her how you feel about Will and Sonny. Get her to understand the article misconstrued everything. Tell her Sonny feels the same way and we're all happy,' Paul tried to give himself a pep talk as he walked up the stairs and opened the door. 'You can do this. You have to do this.'

Closing the door behind him Paul started unzipping his jacket when he looked up and saw his mother standing in the room. Screaming from shock and dropping his jacket Paul didn't know what to say, "Mother!"

"Son," Tori acknowledged none too pleased by his reaction.

"When did, how did you get in here," Paul asked, heart beating wildly in his chest. "I mean, um, it's nice to see you."

"Right," Tori examined her son's face seeing the panic painting over him. "I think you know why I'm here. Don't you have something to explain to me?"

Holding his breath Paul nodded. He knew he needed to focus and calm down. If he wanted his mother to see how serious he was about everything he needed to be confident and in control. 'It's just Mother. She's not that scary. Disappointing her won't be the end of the world.'

"Yes, Mother," Paul told her in as calm of a voice as he could. "There is something we need to discuss." Before Paul had a chance to escort his mother to the couch the front door opened, almost smacking Paul.

"Sorry," Sonny panted, having run almost the entire way, "Why didn't you answer your phone? Is your-oh. Hi." Sonny waved awkwardly at Tori. 'Oh god, is Will here?'

"Sonny," Tori acknowledged face displaying her displeasure. "I suppose you should be here for this conversation as well."

"Uh, right," Sonny tried to look towards the door to their bedroom. The sheets were messy but no one was in it. Sighing slightly Sonny figured Will must not have made the bed before he and Paul left this morning. 'Weird since he's been so OCD about having everything neat.'

"Mother," Paul put his arm around Sonny's waist, needing his support, needing to feel Sonny against him to admit this.

Cutting Paul off, glancing towards the couch, seeing Will's body bowed together, Tori cleared her throat, "Are we here to discuss your continued affair?" Seeing the disconcerted looks on Paul and Sonny's faces Tori added, "Because I did not raise you to behave this way Paul, I really didn't. Now have you been seeing this boy behind your fiancé's back or not?"

Will, hands on his temples, could barely follow the conversation happening around him. 'I don't understand any of this. I just want to go back to sleep.'

Paul swallowed and squeezed Sonny's hip, "Mother you've got the wrong idea. I can promise you that once everything is explained you'll understand."

"I understand plenty," Tori interrupted. "I know exactly what is going on and I am asking you to stop this charade."

"I don't think you do," Sonny chimed in, seeing how uncomfortable Paul looked. 'This isn't going well.' "Paul isn't doing anything behind my back," Sonny insisted. "I promise."

"I read the article," Tori reminded Paul, "And you never once mentioned to me that it was ongoing when I talked to you." Glancing at Sonny Tori snorted, "For either of you. I rushed all the way here to convince you to stop carrying on like this. To persuade you that you shouldn't throw away your relationship with Sonny only to find out you both are involved."

Will frowned from his spot on the couch. 'What are they even saying,' he asked himself. 'I don't understand.'

"That article was so wrong," Paul tried to explain. "Mother, you just need to sit down and let us talk to you. You just need to let us tell you the whole truth. I was afraid to tell you the truth before because I didn't want to upset you."

"All I need to know is that you're ending it," Tori stated, exhaling loudly and lifting her chin. "That is all I want to know."

"I can't do that," Paul sighed, "If you would just let me explain-"

"No," Tori shook her head, "No. You kept this a secret from me. I told you how people confronted me about that article. And now to find out it was true. To find out that you lied to me. Do you have any idea how your grandfather is going to react? I've never been more ashamed of you in my life."

Sonny felt Paul slump against him. He didn't know what he was supposed to do other than defend his relationship, "Tori you have everything completely wrong."

"I think not," Tori shook her head. "I know enough. I know that Paul did not risk his entire career by coming out to be with you only to ruin it all for a barely legal slut!"

Sonny recoiled from Tori's speech. 'How does she have this all wrong?'

Paul felt stung by his mother's words. He'd never heard her speak so harshly in his entire life. Before he could even form a response Paul inhaled sharply, face paling when he noticed Will.

Despite the throbbing, crushing pain in his skull Will was aware enough to know they were talking about him. 'Paul didn't tell his mother about me? She thinks they're still engaged?' Rubbing his eyes tiredly Will listened carefully until he heard her use that word. The word he'd heard over and over from too many people in the last month or so. The word that Paul and Sonny always tried to assure him he was not.

'But why aren't they saying anything,' Will thought desolately, 'Why aren't they telling her the truth?' Disregarding his distorted vision Will pulled himself into a sitting position, holding onto the back of the couch, face pained, "What the hell?"

"Will," Sonny breathed dread filling his stomach. "This isn't, it's not what you think."

Will shook his head, closing his eyes and blanching, hand going to his head, "Yes it is."

"It's not," Paul whispered. Steeling himself Paul moved closer to the couch, "Baby it's not. I promise."

"You didn't tell her about me," Will whispered, face looking at his knees, "You let her call me that."

Sonny, moving with Paul, shook his head, "We were just surprised that's all. We just need to explain it to her and to you. Everything is fine."

"Excuse me," Tori called, observing the three with a pinched face, "What is happening here? Why was he even here when I got here? What are you even talking about?"

"We tried to explain it to you," Sonny growled over his shoulder at Tori. "But you wouldn't listen." Turning back to Will Sonny noticed the listless look in his eyes. Remembering Neil mentioning Will needing a nap Sonny realized Will must have taken his medicine. He reached his hand out to touch Will's face, "You need to go back to bed. And when you wake up we'll explain everything."

"No," Will moved his head out of Sonny's reach, "No I want to know now."

"Baby," Paul tried to mollify. He didn't want Will getting so upset when he was clearly in pain and didn't look completely lucid. "You need to rest."

"Don't call me that," Will scrambled off of the couch. "I'm mad at you and I deserve the truth."

"Why are you talking to him like that," Tori demanded from behind them, "Why are you even calling him that? You need to-"

"Mother," Paul yelled, finally getting upset, "Just stop talking!"

Will winced at the change in volume and moved around the couch, stumbling slightly, towards the counter. Seeing his phone and sunglasses Will grabbed them both.

"Where are you going," Sonny questioned moving to block the front door when Will made a move towards it. "You can't leave when your head is this bad."

"I don't want to leave," Will confessed sadly. "I just want to sit outside." His eyes were watering and as tempting as it was to go back to bed Will didn't think he could. Not until he knew everything. "I want to catch my breath and be alone."

Paul, standing in between Sonny and Will, looked between the two of them, "Will it's cold out there. You at least need a jacket."

"Just for a minute," Will begged. "I just need a minute."

Sonny nodded as he moved from the door. He didn't want to be the type of boyfriend who would prevent his significant other from leaving.

Paul, grabbing the jacket he dropped to the floor, handed it to Will, "Please don't take too long. We can explain this. I promise."

Will slipped on the jacket and shrugged before opening the door and walking outside. He quickly put on his sunglasses and sat on the first step head leaning against the railing. 'Why doesn't she know about me? Why did Paul keep me a secret,' Will wondered as he tried to wake himself up in the cool air, eyes squeezed shut.

Paul leaned his forehead against the door as soon as Will shut it. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck. I should have told him sooner. I should have told her sooner. God this is all my fault.'

Tori was staring at a picture on the wall with a disturbed look on her face, "I don't understand what's happening here."

Moving towards his mother Paul set his shoulders, ready to make her believe him, whatever it took. Seeing the picture she was looking at, one of the three of them back when they were only friends, Paul took it off the wall and held it in his hands.

Sonny didn't know what to do. A part of him wanted to follow Will outside even though he said he wanted to be alone. He knew that Paul was going to hurt Will over this in the end. 'And I never told Will either. God, this is turning into a mess.' However, another part of Sonny wanted to stay and help Paul explain everything to his mother. When Paul first came out to Tori Sonny wasn't there. He wanted to be there this time.

Paul walked to the couch and sat in the middle of it. His mother sat on one side of him while Sonny sat at the other. Paul stared at the picture he was holding. It was taken a few days after Will had finally come out. He had a large grin on his face. Sonny and Paul were sitting on either side of him at Common Grounds.

Paul looked at himself in the picture. He had one hand on the back of Will's chair and another on the table. While his smile wasn't as bright as Will's he looked happy. 'Did I already know then what I felt for Will? Did Sonny?'

Putting the picture down on his lap Paul cleared his throat, "When Sonny moved to Salem, when he was fed up with my constant traveling with the team and wanted to be around his family, he met Will. When I got injured and decided to have my surgery here he introduced us.

"At first I didn't like Will. I just saw a young, good looking guy who my fiancé couldn't stop talking about or to. I wanted to hate him. But I couldn't. I asked Sonny to distance himself and instead he convinced me to befriend Will too. He noticed that Will was struggling with himself. So I started talking to Will.

"In the beginning it was kind of weird. But after we broke the ice a bit Will started opening up. He told me about his childhood and his family. I told him about baseball and not knowing what to do with myself. We got closer. And suddenly I could understand why Sonny was always talking about him. Because I was the one who wouldn't shut up about Will. There started to be some strain between Sonny and me.

"Then Will came out. Sonny and I already knew but we were waiting for Will to admit it. He was still really skittish about being gay. We invited him to a party and he met a guy. And Sonny caught them kissing. I think that was the night I knew that what I was feeling for Will transcended friendship. Will had a date with the guy he met and I went out to ruin it. And I almost ruined everything instead.

"Sonny and I were doing worse and worse together. We were always arguing or ignoring the other. Eventually we talked about it all particularly about the fact that we both had feelings for Will. After we admitted that to each other it didn't take us long to decide we wanted him to be a part of our relationship. That Will was what was missing from our relationship.

"Convincing Will took a bit longer but we did it. And it hasn't been easy by any means. There was the article and the pictures and something really bad that followed that too. But that's where we're at now, Mother. Sonny and I are with Will. The three of us are together and in love. I love Sonny and Will."

Paul felt immensely relieved to get that all off his chest. He lifted the picture into his hands again and really looked. 'Did I know then that what I wanted was right in this picture?'

Sonny, proud of Paul for telling his mother the truth, put his hand on his back and rubbed a slow comforting circle. "We officially broke off our engagement. We moved to this apartment with Will," Sonny added in a quiet voice.

Tori sat completely still on the couch. She didn't know what to think about her son's confession. He explained everything so easily and simply but Tori didn't understand a thing. 'How could they think this is normal? How could they think this would work?'

Pressing her lips together Tori stood up off the couch. She needed to get back to her hotel and think about this all.

"Mother," Paul asked in a weak voice. He knew she was going to have a hard time comprehending it all but he had hoped she would at least say something, anything. Paul followed her towards the door.

In a low tone Tori responded, not looking at Paul, "I just need some time to reflect. I'll call you tomorrow and we can talk again."

"OK," Paul replied biting his lip. He felt Sonny grabbing his hand and he squeezed back gratefully. Paul opened the door for his mother not even surprised when she simply walked out without saying goodbye.

Sonny watched Tori head down the stairs and frowned. 'Why does she always act that way with him? If Will and I have overbearing mom's Paul has the opposite.' Stopping suddenly Sonny walked out onto the landing in a panic, "Paul, where's Will?"

EJ and Samantha walked hand in hand around Salem. He knew she was worried about William and so was he. But EJ was still certain his plan for overtaking his father would work much better than the one Chad, Samantha and Kate wanted. 'At least my way I can claim to have had no part. If we did it their way I would be the one taking the blame one way or another.'

Sami leaned against EJ's side. In spite of the beautiful, chilly day she felt dreadful. It seemed no matter which way she turned Will was getting involved deeper and deeper into things she had no control over. 'Stefano has some crazy scheme for Will. Chad is doing god only knows what. EJ is keeping something from me. I know Sonny is involved somehow. When is this ever going to end?'

The only thing Sami had to be appreciative of was that her three youngest children were all happy, healthy and safe. She had yet to tell them about Gabi's accident because she knew it would devastate them. Gabi was there for Johnny during his eye surgery. Gabi helped babysit them and was close to them. 'They aren't going to handle this well at all.'

Sami contemplated going to Rafe and offering her condolences. She felt like that would be the decent thing to do but she also knew how uncomfortable that would be for everyone. 'I don't think he needs the ex-wife who cheated on him with the man she's currently dating to talk to him about his dead sister who was once dating my son.' Sami also knew that EJ would not like it. Sami resolved to go to the funeral whenever that was but she would stay out of it otherwise.

Seemingly without her even realizing it she and EJ had walked to the apartment complex Will, Sonny and Paul lived in. Looking over and catching EJ's eye the two of them headed towards the apartment. Sami headed up the stairs first and frowned when she saw Will sitting on the top step.

"Will," Sami hurried up the stairs, "What's wrong?"

Will lifted his head and blinked slowly at his mom and EJ, having almost fallen back to sleep. He attempted to shrug but found his shoulders were too tense for it now.

Taking in William's sock covered feet and the morose expression on his face EJ was half tempted to storm into the apartment and scold whichever boyfriend was in there. However, his main priority was William.

Kneeling down next to him EJ asked, "Are you alright?"

"I guess," Will tried to explain.

"Why are you out here," Sami questioned putting her hands on Will's face. "What's going on?"

"Paul's Mom is in there," Will lifted his hand, hopefully pointing towards the door.

"Then why are you out here," EJ demanded.

"I'm a secret," Will sighed before leaning his head back on the railing. "And I want to go back to sleep."

Sami shot EJ a sharp look. "Then let's go inside," Sami suggested.

Will shook his head, "Mad at them."

EJ pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and made a quick call. "A car will be here in a few minutes. You can go with us and rest." Reaching down to help William stand up EJ helped him walk down the stairs, alarmed at how woozy he appeared to be.

Sami, following behind them, made sure to take Will's glasses and phone with her. She didn't want to make any quick judgements for once but she wasn't too happy with Paul or Sonny at the moment. 'Why is he outside when he's clearly miserable? And what is that nonsense about him being a secret.'

When the car pulled up EJ waited for the driver to open the door and helped William get inside before walking to the other side of the car and sitting down.

"Mom," Will asked quietly, already relaxing in the tinted shade of the car windows, "Will you send them a message saying where I went."

"Yes," Sami cooed as she reached out and put Will's head on her shoulder. "Now you rest." Opening Will's phone Sami sent a quick message to his boyfriends before shutting it off. 'He doesn't need to deal with them right now.'

Author's note:

Insert dramatic music here.

Please let me know what you think and review. I'd love to know what everyone thinks should happen next.

Thanks for reading!