Paul stood outside Will's door, and took a couple of deep breaths to calm his nerves. Then he smiled at his own unease. How long had it been since he was nervous to go on a date. He was a pretty confident guy and he really could not even remember the last time he had any kind of butterflies.

He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and knocked on the door. He was surprised when a young woman opened the door.

"Gabi?" he asked.

The young woman shook her head no…"Abby" she corrected. "I am Will's cousin, come on in." She said stepping aside to allow Paul into the apartment.

Paul walked in and looked around. It was a small little apartment with evidence of a baby in just about every corner. He noticed Abby watching him.

"Oh sorry," He said. "I'm Paul." He held out his hand to her.

"I know who you are." Abby said. "Will filled me in."

Paul looked at her curiously. She didn't seem to like him much. He opened his mouth to ask if he had offended her, but Will walked out of what had to be the nursery.

"Paul, you're here." Will said.

"Hey!" Paul said.

"I'm almost ready." Will said picking up his wallet and shoving it into the back pocket of the form fitting jeans he wore.

"Take your time." Paul said.

Will turned to Abby, "I won't be out too late, Arianna should be down for the night, but call if you need anything." He said.

Abby smiled at him. "This isn't my first time in the baby-sitting rodeo." She said. "Get out of here and have a great time." She pointed at the door.

"Okay… okay…" Will said. "He turned back to Paul, I guess I am ready."

Paul held out a hand. "Let's go then."

They walked out the door and out into the parking lot. Paul opened the passenger door for Will and waited for him to climb in before he closed the door.

Paul slid into the driver's seat. Will looked over at him. "So where are we going?" he asked.

"It's a surprise." Paul said teasingly.

"Oh noooo." Will groaned.

"What?" Paul asked. "Don't you like surprises?"

"Not really." Will said slowly.

"Oh!" Paul said. "Okay then, well I thought we would go bowling, eat some good ooey gooey pizza and then maybe get some ice cream or something." He said. "I know it is kind of a goofy first date, but I wanted to do something carefree and fun, sort of a no pressure date."

"That sounds fantastic." Will said. "I love bowling."

"Good." Paul said. It wasn't long before he pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. He hopped out in a hurry and went around to open Will's door.

Will was impressed, no one had ever opened his car doors for him.

They walked up to the counter and gave their shoe sizes to the teenage girl behind the counter and then Paul handed her his credit card, then signed the slip that she pushed across the counter at him.

They walked over to their lane and Will sat down to program their names into their teleprompter.

"I am going to go order the pizza, what do you like on it?" Paul asked.

"Whatever you like is good with me." Will said. "I like all pizza."

"You sure?" Paul asked.

Will nodded. "Yep, completely." He assured Paul.

"Want anything else?" Paul asked.

"Just soda." Will said.

"Mmmkay." Paul said. He turned to go to the food counter and saw a group of girls watching them intently. He wondered if they recognized him, or if they were staring at his incredibly hot date. He hoped whichever one it was… they kept their distance.

He ordered the pizza and took the number they handed him for the table. He hurried back over to the lane to see Will pulling his shoes on.

He noticed that Will had already picked out a couple of bowling balls from the shelf lining the wall.

Will followed Paul's gaze and smiled sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind but I got one that is probably a lot lighter than you must be used to, but I thought it may be easier on your shoulder."

Paul swallowed thickly. No one had ever did anything to sort of look out for him, like that. "Thank you Will." He said.

Will nodded. "Soo I feel like I should warn you, I am a pretty decent bowler." He said, grinning at Paul.

"That so?" Paul asked. "I used to do okay." He said. "I may be a little rusty though, I haven't bowled in a long time."

"Well, it's time to find out." Will said. "You are up first."

"Me?" Paul asked, "Okay then."

He picked up the ball, and swung it a couple of times… Will was right it was a good bit lighter than he was used to, but he thought it would be okay. He took the few steps that were necessary and swung and released the ball. It flew down the center of the lane and promptly knocked down all twelve pins.

Will watched in awe… "So that was you being rusty?" he asked.

Paul shrugged one shoulder. "I guess I haven't lost my touch yet." He said.

"Guess not." Will mumbled. He got up and picked up his ball, praying that he didn't completely embarrass himself. He eased up to the lane and took his turn. He watched the ball holding his breath.

Paul was so busy watching the way his body moved in those jeans that he forgot to watch what happened with the ball. Whatever it was, it must have been good, because Will jumped into the air and did a little fist pump. Paul glanced up at the teleprompter and saw that Will had made a strike as well.

Will smiled at him triumphantly.

They continued back and forth like that through the first game, the score was almost tied. Then they took a break to eat the pizza the waitress had brought to the table. The laughed and chatted easily as they ate.

"So what do you think, One more game?" Paul asked. Looking at his watch, surprised to see that it was still relatively early.

Will nodded eagerly. "Sure." He said.

"Alright." Paul said, getting up and getting the ball, the minute he picked it up, he felt the stir in his arm. It was a tense, achy feeling. He didn't think he had done all of that much, he thought he had been taking it easy. But he was definitely going to be feeling some pain in the morning. He didn't want to say anything to Will. He had been so eager to play another game, so he eased up to the lane and threw the ball as carefully as he could.

He stood there watching as it rolled down and knocked down the three pins on the edge of the lane. He winced and clenched his fist to keep from rubbing his shoulder.

"What's up hot shot?" Will teased. "You lose your edge?"

Paul shrugged, "I thought I would be a gentleman and let you win." He said.

"Oh… sure…" Will said.

A couple of turns later, Will excused himself to go to the restroom. He ducked out of site and turned back to watch Paul.

Paul sat down in the chair and slid his hand into the collar of his shirt. He rubbed his shoulder a few times and then rotated it back and forth while he waited for Will to come back.

Will watched him, and knew he was in pain. He didn't want to embarrass Paul so, he hurried on to the restroom, to give himself a chance to figure out what he wanted to do. When he came back, he dropped into the chair beside Paul.

"Hey…" he said. "I think I am ready for my dessert. Can we go get the ice cream now?" he asked.

"You sure?" Paul asked. "We can finish the game." he didn't want to disappoint Will.

"Nah, another time." Will said, "Let's go." He kicked off his bowling shoes and picked up his tennis shoes.

Paul followed his lead, and changed his shoes.

They returned their shoes to the counter and made their way out into the night.

Paul opened the door for him again. "So which Ice Cream shop do you want to go to?"

"Ooooh….. the one in the square." Will said. "It's the best."

Paul nodded and drove them toward the center of town.

They parked and walked into the square. Paul reached out and took Will's hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

Will looked at him, surprised.

"This okay?" Paul asked, holding their intertwined hands up.

"Yeah." Will said, smiling at him shyly.

They went into the creamery and waited in the long line to get to the counter. When they finally made it to the counter, Paul leaned over and whispered in Will's ear. "Order me whatever you are having." He said.

Will smiled and turned to the elderly lady behind the counter. "We want two banana splits with extra everything." Will said.

The clerk raised her eyebrows at him, but punched it into the register. "That'll be $16.00" she said.

Paul let go of Will's hand and pulled his wallet from his pocket. He handed her a $20. He smiled at the clerk, "No change." He said.

They moved down the counter to wait for the extremely large sweet concoction that was already overflowing the container even before the half a can of whipped cream was added to each one.

They were handed the monstrous bowls along with two spoons. Paul looked at Will, "Ummmm how are we going to eat all of this?" he asked laughing.

"Easily." Will said. "Come on I will show you." He led Paul over to the small table in the corner, and they sat down.

Paul took a few bites as he watched Will dig into his with gusto.

Paul had to admit, it was really really good ice cream, but there was no possible way he would be able to eat all of that.

Paul ate until he felt like he would be sick, then pushed it out from in front of him. He watched as Will ate, wondering where he put it.

Will ate all of his ice cream… every bite. "How in the world did you eat all of that?" Paul asked laughing.

"I didn't eat that much pizza." Will said. "And I didn't eat anything earlier today. I was too nervous."

"What were you nervous about?" Paul asked.

"I don't know." Will said. "It was silly."

Paul smiled. "You done, or do you want the rest of mine?" he asked.

"Ughhh no" Will laughed. "I probably won't eat ice cream again for a year."

Paul looked at his watch. It was nearing Eleven O'clock. "You want to go for a walk or did you need to get home?" he asked.

"How about you walk me home?" Will said, "It really isn't that far if we take the shortcut through the park."

"Okay." Paul said.

They walked through the park talking quietly. Paul reached out and took Will's hand again, rubbing his thumb over Will's knuckles.

When they emerged on the other side of the park Paul realized that Will's apartment was just across the street. How had he not realized that earlier.

They crossed the street at the crosswalk and Paul walked him to his door.

"I had a really nice time tonight." Paul said.

"So did I." Will agreed. "Thanks for taking me out."

"It was my pleasure." Paul said. "I would really like to do it again sometime soon."

"Me too." Will said, staring into Paul's eyes.

"Next weekend?" Paul asked.

Will nodded yes, then changed his mind and shook his head no.

Paul looked disappointed.

"The baseball camp is next Saturday and Sunday." Will said.

"Oh yeah." Paul said. "Friday night then?"

"Okay." Will said.

They stared at each other, neither making a move.

"Can I kiss you goodnight Will?" Paul finally asked.

Will nodded dumbly.

Paul smiled, his tongue peaked out to moisten his lips, before he pressed them against Wills.

That was all he was going to allow himself until Will's lips parted on a sigh. Then Paul couldn't help himself. He swept his tongue across Will's lips, parting them and exploring his mouth. Will kissed him back with enthusiasm, he matched him stroke for stroke. He kissed Will until he was dizzy and had to come up for air.

Paul forced himself to back away. "Goodnight Will." He said.

"Night." Will said, lifting his fingers to touch his lips. He watched Paul walk away until he was out of site, then he opened the door and practically floated into the apartment.

He saw Abigail asleep on the couch. He took the blanket from the back of the couch and spread it over her, then he snuck a peek at his baby girl to make sure she was sleeping soundly.

When he was satisfied that she was fine he went into his bedroom and sat down on the bed. Tonight had been pretty near perfect he thought as he stripped and went to the bathroom to shower. His lips still tingling from Paul's kiss.