It had been a good Week for Will, he wasn't sure if his feet had touched the ground the whole week long. Paul had called him on Sunday, and they had texted a little on Monday and Tuesday. He had thought about asking Paul a couple of times about his shoulder, but he didn't want to embarrass him, so he had decided against it. But Paul had said that he was good after therapy so Will took that as a good sign.

The only thing that was bothering Will was that he had stopped to see Sonny on Sunday afternoon and Chad had said that Sonny went out of town with Brian for the weekend, so he had went back on Monday, and Lauren had said he just missed him, then Tuesday she had said that he didn't come in at all. And now it was Wednesday afternoon and Will was going to try again. He was sure that Sonny would be here today, he usually had orders coming in on Wednesdays.

He walked up to the counter, and sat down at one of the bar stools. "Hey T." he said as his friend nodded to him, as he handed a couple of lattes over the counter to students that Will recognized from Salem U.

"Hey Will, what can I get for you?" he asked, walking over to him.

"Just the usual." Will said. He watched T walk over and start getting the ingredients together for his frozen cappuccino "Is Sonny around?" he asked, looking around the club.

"Uhhhh no." T said. "He was in earlier, but I think he must have left for the day."

"Oh." Will said, "Is he okay, he hasn't been around all week?"

"Yeah, well at least I think so." T said. "He said something about trying to spend more time with Brian before his residency starts."

"Oh, that's good, I guess." Will said, taking the coffee that T offered him.

Will passed him a folded bill across the counter, and T pushed it back at him. "You know your money is no good here." He said. "After all the boss did give you a free coffee for life card."

"I'm pretty sure that expired when we broke up." Will said.

"Not as far as I am concerned." T said, turning to greet the new customer that had stepped up to the bar.

Will took a few sips of his coffee and then took the cup to go. "See you around T." he called as he walked out the door. He had an hour before his next class and he didn't want to go home so hewent to the square and sat down on the sofa. He would just have to try again tomorrow to see Sonny.

He was still sitting there enjoying his frappe when John walked by him, then stopped and came back to stand beside the sofa.

"Will." John said, "Do you mind if I join you? I wanted to talk to you a little about the article that you are going to be writing about the baseball thing this weekend."

"Sure." Will said, scooting over, making room for him to sit.

"Great!" John said, "I know I told you that we have a secret surprise guest, but I guess I should tell you who it is so you can do your research on him before it comes time for you to interview him." John said.

Will smiled broadly, "I already know who it is, and my research is well under way." Will assured him.

"Oh, okay then, well that's great kid." He said. "But how did you find out?" he asked confused.

"Oh… well Sonny is a mutual friend, and he introduced me to Paul." Will said, "I have already conducted my preliminary interview and started on the draft, of course I will want Paul to look over it before I hand it in."

"I think that is a fine idea." John said. "He is doing us a huge favor and I want him to be completely comfortable with whatever you write."

"I will make sure he is." Will assured him.

"Alright Kid, see you this weekend then" John said, as he got up to leave.

Will waved as he headed off and then considered his drink. He wondered briefly if he should have mentioned that he and Paul had gone on a date, but he quickly decided that he would rather wait to see if it went anywhere.

T walked to the back office of the club, and knocked on the door.

"Come in." came the gruff reply.

"He's gone boss." T said, sticking his head around the door.

"Who is?" Sonny asked.

T sighed, "Will…." He said, "You know the guy who used to be your best friend , the guy you have been avoiding for the last week."

Sonny looked up at T surprised. "Who said I have been avoiding Will?" he asked.

"It's pretty obvious." T said. "You come back here and hide in your office everyday around the time that Will usually drops in for his coffee…. You tell us that you don't want to be disturbed for anyone or anything, and that we should tell anyone who asks about you that you are gone for the day."

"Yeah…. So?" Sonny asked. "Maybe I just don't want to be around people."

"Maybe you just don't want to be around certain people." T countered.

"Mind your own business." Sonny said, "Don't you have work to do?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." T said. "I just wanted to let you know Will had come and gone, you know in case you wanted to get out of this office."

"Well thanks for that." Sonny said, "It would be very helpful, if I were avoiding Will…. Which I am not."

"Fine." T said, ducking out of the office closing the door behind him.

Sonny looked at the closed door and threw down his pen in disgust. He didn't think he had been being that obvious. It wasn't necessarily that he was avoiding Will per say…. He was more avoiding listening to Will gush about his date with Paul. He didn't know if he could stomach hearing about it. And he knew firsthand how charming Paul could be when he wanted to be.

He picked up his pen again, forcing himself to continue working on the books. He was going to get it finished before leaving, if it killed him. The last thing he wanted to do was prove T right by leaving the sanctity of his office right now.

When he was finally done and the books were balanced he looked at the clock, it was just after Six PM. Brian would be getting in around seven or so and Sonny wanted to cook him dinner. Things had been pretty good between them since they returned from their little weekend trip. They had been able to reconnect and Sonny felt like they were in a good place right now. He just had to keep reminding himself that Will was his friend and nothing more and he had no business trying to tell him how to lead his life.

Paul was lounging on his bed. The television in the room was on, but he wasn't paying it much attention. His mind was on Will and their upcoming date. He was already anxious to see him again. He had even contemplated 'running into him' somehow.

Bowling and Pizza with Will had been amazing, it had been carefree and fun, and Will had proven himself to be a very caring individual. Clearly he had not been thinking about his own health when he had chosen bowling for a date, but Will had been thoughtful enough to find him a lighter bowling ball that was easier on his arm.

Now he was trying to come up with something that was just as fun but less taxing, especially since he was going to be spending the whole weekend at the baseball camp. His shoulder was sore and he wasn't sure how much he was actually going to be able to do, but he wanted to do his best.

There wasn't a lot to do in Salem that wasn't physical. There were batting cages, rock climbing, bowling, golf, mini golf….. but there was no theatre… well there was a movie theater but nothing like Broadway, no opera, no comedy club, there was a dance club, but he wasn't really a fan of going to the club on a date. Besides if Will started dancing against him, he would probably burst into flames right there on the dance floor. His mind still went crazy every single time he thought about that kiss at Will's door.

He guessed it would just have to be dinner and a movie. Well…. It wasn't perfect but it was traditional if nothing else.

He looked at the clock. Just after Eight PM. Will should still be awake. He decided to text him the plans for Friday night and just say good night. He picked up his phone and scrolled till he found Will's name.

"Still awake?" he texted the simple question.

"Yes, actually working on my article about you." Will's reply was almost immediate.

"Oh? How is it going?" Paul asked, secretly pleased that Will was thinking about him too, even if it was due to the article.

"Really good I think" Will answered.

"I didn't mean to disturb you, I just wanted to ask if dinner and a movie are okay with you for our date on Friday?" Paul texted back quickly.

"You aren't disturbing me at all. And Dinner and a movie sound awesome." Will answered.

"Okay, goodnight then." Paul texted back.

"Goodnight." Will sent back.

Paul smiled and laid his phone aside. He picked up the remote and switched off the TV he was too keyed up to sleep now and it was early anyway so he decided to go out for a run. He changed into some sweats and pulled on his tennis shoes.

He grabbed a towel and threw It around his neck, leaving the unit and taking the elevator down stairs to the lobby. He left the hotel and jogged down the block past the row of quaint little shops, down another block and into the park, where he jogged around the trail a few times. It felt good to be getting some exercise and pushing his body past it limits again. He hadn't really put forth an honest effort since his surgery. He knew that he had been bitter about things, but he was finally getting past it.

He was running out of steam, his pace slowing to a crawl. He stopped and wiped his face with his towel and turned and started back toward the hotel. He was exiting the park, thinking that Will's apartment was just on the other side. He could just drop in on him….

No, he couldn't now it had to be after Ten PM and he had a baby…. He was wrapped up in that thought when he literally bumped into someone.

"Excuse me." He said reaching out to steady the young woman.

"It's okay." She said looking up at him.

Paul recognized her immediately as the girl from Will's apartment.

"Abby? Right?" he said.

She nodded. "Yeah. Hello Paul." She said.

"Nice to see you again." He said politely. "Please forgive me for near about knocking you down."

"No worries." She said. "What are you doing out this late?"

"Just running, catching up on exercise." He said. "What about you, is it safe for such a beautiful young woman to be out here alone this late?" He asked.

"I was just cutting through on my way home." She said.

"Let me escort you then." Paul said, determined to get her to like him.

"No, really it's okay." She said. "It's only a few blocks."

"I insist." Paul said, stepping out of the way for her to lead the way.

She walked ahead of him and he easily caught up with her. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until Paul broke the silence.

"So the other night, I got the impression that you don't like me much." He said.

"It's nothing personal." She said. "I guess I am just reserving judgment."

"Until?" Paul asked.

"Until I see if you treat Will right or not." She said honestly.

"Why wouldn't I?" Paul said curiously.

"I don't know, Will is one of the best, most sincere men that I know, but he has been hurt a lot." She said.

"Sonny?" Paul asked.

She glanced at him, surprised. "He told you about that?"

"We talked about old ghosts." Paul said, a guilty feeling stirring in his mind. He knew he hadn't been 100% honest with Will about his ghost. But it hadn't seemed appropriate to say "Yeah I guess the same guy broke both of our hearts." So he had kept his mouth shut. Eventually he would have to tell Will before things got too serious.

"Just be good to him, Okay, he had been through enough." she said, stopping in front of the walkway of a small house. "This is me." She pointed, indicating the house. "Thanks for escorting me home."

"No problem." Paul grinned. "Have a good night."

"You too." He said turning back the way he had come.

Clearly Will had a loving and protective family. He envied him that. It made him want to go back to the hotel and call his mom and his grandfather. He knew he had something to tell them before the rest of the world found out. He just hoped they would be as supporting and loving as Will's family seemed to be.

Will looked at the clock, It was after Ten PM but Will knew that Sonny would still be awake, on any other Wednesday night he would be the one closing down the club. He also knew it was late to be texting or calling anyone, but it had been a long time since he had gone almost a week without talking to Sonny and he hadn't heard from him since the day he had told Will it wasn't a good idea to go out with Paul. But surely Sonny couldn't be still mad about that could he?

He picked up his phone.

"Hey stranger, long time, no talk." He typed in and pressed send.

He laid the phone to the side and went to brush his teeth. Then he changed into his sweats and went back to the bedroom. He had just climbed under the covers when his phone beeped. He picked it up and opened the text message.

"Hey, sorry it has been a hectic week." Sonny replied.

"It's okay, just wanted to check on you, have been by the club a few times this week, you haven't been there." He answered back.

It was a few minutes more before there was a reply.

"Been spending a lot of time at home, Brian is getting ready to start his residency, neither of us knows how much he will be able to be home then." Sonny sent back.

"Gotcha. You going to be at the club tomorrow?" he asked.

Ten minutes passed by…..

"Yeah for a little while in the morning." Sonny answered

"Great, I will come by for coffee in the morning before class." Will sent back

"See you then." Sonny responded.

Will laid the phone down on the bedside table and turned over to go to sleep. Sonny just didn't seem like himself. Even his texts seemed off somehow. Hopefully he would be able to figure out what was wrong in the morning.

With that thought in mind he drifted off to sleep…