It was Sunday afternoon and it had been one hectic weekend. He had seen Paul one way over yesterday morning and on the way home last night and then again this morning, but not in between. Paul had been in demand every second that he was here.
The kids were beside themselves when Paul stepped up to the microphone to address them yesterday morning. Paul had devoted every minute to them. He showed them how to properly throw a ball, and how to hold a bat. He even threw a few pitches. Not many, but enough for Will to see firsthand how much he loved it. Then after lunch he signed endless autographs and took a million and one pictures. Will knew he much be exhausted, but he never complained, not one time.
Will left Paul covered in kids and ducked into the make shift cafeteria that had been set up. He pulled out his laptop and opened it up, then sat it down on the make shift table top and opened up a new word document. He went to typing furiously. He had an idea for his follow up article and he didn't want to lose it. It had been floating around in his mind all day, but he had been hard pressed to find a few minutes to himself so that he could get it on paper. Paul had been happy with the article that he had put together talking about his recent injury and the surgery that followed. He told Will to come up with something announcing his retirement from baseball. Will had called his editor who was more than happy to have one exclusive article featuring Paul Narita, never mind two, he gave Will free reign on the story.
He was so lost in thought that he was startled when Paul sat down beside him and looked at the screen. "What did you sneak back here to do?" he asked.
"Hey!" Will said. "I had an idea for the next article and I wanted to get it down before I forgot."
"Will, relax… your first article isn't even coming out until in the morning, you have plenty of time to work on the second one." Paul said, rubbing Will's shoulders.
"I know." Will said. "It was just a really good idea."
"All of your ideas are good ideas." Paul teased.
"Thanks." Will said chuckling. "What are you doing in here?" he asked. "I didn't think you were going to be free for at least two or three more hours."
"I'm not… not really." Paul said, "But I told John I had to duck in here to grab a snack."
"Oh!" Will said. "You're hungry, let's see what we can find."
"No… I'm not hungry." Paul said, but I knew you were in here."
"Hmmmm" Will said. "You were looking for me?"
"Yeah, I have been dying to kiss you all day." Paul said.
Will's eyes widened at the admission. "Oh." He said again.
"Come on." Paul said, grabbing Will's hand and pulling him up. He led him back to the deserted kitchen. He closed the door behind them and pulled Will close. "I haven't been able to think about anything other than the feel of your lips against mine, and the taste of you on my tongue since last night when I left your apartment." He whispered against Will's ear.
"Ummm…. Maybe we shouldn't do this here." Will said, trying to extract himself from Paul's grasp. "Someone may see us."
"I don't care who sees us." Paul said. "I just don't want to be interrupted."
"Oh." Will said again.
Paul laughed, "Will if you say that one more time, I am going to wonder if you lost the ability to speak the English language."
Will groaned. "Sorry…" he said, "I guess I just don't know what to say."
"Say you want to kiss me too." Paul suggested.
"God yesss….." Will breathed out.
"Good." Paul said, "That's all the encouragement I need."
Paul pulled Will flush against his body and fit their mouths together. His tongue immediately slipping past Will's already parted lips, dueling with Wills.
Will groaned into his mouth, clutching Paul closer, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He felt Paul's fingers dig into his hip bones.
Paul's mouth left Will's, his lips travelling down the column of his neck, tasting the skin there. Will shuddered involuntarily, and leaned his head back giving Paul more room to explore.
Will whined when Paul's teeth nipped his collar bone. "Paul…." He gasped.
"Hmmmmmm." Paul said, his mouth never leaving Will's skin.
"They are going to be looking for you." Will groaned.
"Let them look." He said, moving to Wills ear pulling the lobe into his mouth and sucking on it.
Will was getting pretty worked up, he hadn't been with anyone at all since Sonny, and he was dangerously close to begging Paul to take him right then and there.
Paul's fingers urged Will's hips into a rhythm against his own. "Yesssss." Will hissed.
"HEY PAUL!" John's voice broke through the spell that surrounded them. They broke apart and Will turned to face the counter, trying to get his raging hormones under control.
"Did you find that snack?" John asked as he strode through the door.
"Uh yeah." Paul replied, "I was just about to come and find you."
"Good." John said, "You had better take a minute or two to get… settled. And then I will see you out there."
Paul nodded, looking down at himself, he knew there was no doubt in John Black's mind about what had been going on in the kitchen. Not that he cared.
He turned to Will. "I'm so sorry." He said.
Will turned to face him. "I should be the one saying sorry to you." Will said.
"I told you, I don't care who knows, or who sees me kissing you." Paul said. "I just don't want you to ever be embarrassed because of anything that I have done."
"The only thing I am embarrassed about is my lack of control." Will said sheepishly.
"I have to get back out there…. But I want to take you to dinner after this if that's okay." Paul said.
"I will call Abigail and see if she can stay with Arrianna for while longer." Will agreed.
"Great!" Paul said, pressing one more quick kiss to Will's lips before he turned to go out.
Will watched him go and wondered if going to dinner with him tonight was a good idea, if Paul kissed him like that again, no telling what would happen between them. But Will decided it was worth the risk.
He picked up his phone and found Abigail's name in the contact list. "Hey, do you have plans for tonight?" he texted to her.
"Nothing that I can't do here." She answered him back.
"Studying?" Will asked to clarify.
"Yes and watching the Nicholas Sparks movie marathon on TV tonight." She sent back.
"Great, Paul is taking me to dinner after this and I will be home right after." Will said.
"Sounds good. Have fun." Abigail sent back.
Will texted Paul that the dinner plans were good to go and then went back in the cafeteria to pack up his laptop. He was dropping it into the bag when Marlena came in and sat down across from him.
"Hey there." She said.
"Hi Grandma." Will replied. "How are you?"
"I'm good." Will said.
"Uh-huh." She said, "You know what I think though?" She asked Will.
"What?" Will asked cautiously.
"I think you are doing better than good." She answered. "In fact, I think that you are doing great…. And I think that is all courtesy of Paul Narita."
"John told you?" Will asked.
"He mentioned to me that Paul was in the cafeteria, sneaking in a private moment or two with someone that I just may know." She clarified.
"That's as bad as telling you." Will said smiling.
"I just wonder why you didn't tell me yourself. That is pretty exciting news."
Will could practically hear the hurt in her voice. "I was going to tell you grandma." He explained, "I just wanted to be sure it is going to last before, I told anyone, and Paul is not out publicly, so there's that."
"That's makes me nervous." Marlena said warily.
"He is going to come out." Will said quickly. "In fact I am going to write the article."
"Do you really think that is a good idea?" she asked skeptically.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Will asked.
"I'm not sure." She admitted. "It may turn out just fine… but he could end up resenting you in the long run, especially if he isn't ready to do this."
"This was his idea grandma." Will said. "This isn't something that I asked or encouraged him to do. He asked me to do it."
Marlena could see that Will's mind was made up about this, so she let it drop. Switching gears, she asked another question. "So how is it, dating a famous ball player?" she asked.
Will's eyes lit up… "Paul is amazing, I don't know how it is to date someone famous… he has only been recognized once while we were together and he was really graceful about it… signing an autograph for the girls boyfriend and everything. But he has been great, we are having a lot of fun together." He gushed.
"I can see that you really like him." She said smiling.
Will nodded, "I do." He agreed.
"Well as long as he treats you right." Marlena said.
"He does." Will said. "He has been nothing but a gentleman."
"Now that's not exactly what I heard." She teased.
Will blushed and ducked his head. "That's not what I mean grandma…. He opens doors for me and walks me to my door. He pays attention when I talk and looks at me like I am the only other person in the room. He even puts his hand on my back and escorts me into a room, like he is protecting me… which sounds silly…" he said stopping mid sentence. "We are both guys….. so I don't need protecting…. But it makes me feel…." Will stopped… searching for a word that was appropriate.
"Loved…. Desired….. Wanted….. Treasured…." Marlena suggested.
Unable to pick just one of those, Will nodded. "Yeah." He agreed.
"That's wonderful, Will." She said, meaning it. "Those are all things that you deserve to feel, and maybe you don't need to be protected, but it never hurts to know that there is someone that would put themselves in front of you, if there were ever a need."
"Thanks Grandma." He said.
"Anytime." She said… "Now I have to get out of here and drop by the hospital to see a patient. See you later dear."
"Bye grandma." Will said, still mulling over what she had said. He sat there for a while, waiting for Paul to get finished with the last event of the day.
Eventually he got up and made his way out to where everyone was gathered. Paul was standing in front of the kids who were all settled on blankets on the grass, brandishing a microphone. He was giving one final speech about following their dreams.
Will found a place to sit and sank to the ground listening to Paul tell all of those kids that they could be anything they wanted to be, encouraging them to dream big and work hard to achieve their goals. Will snapped a picture with his cell phone and sent it to his editor, to go along with the article that he had already emailed to him.
An hour later, all of the kids were gone and Paul and Will were saying their goodbyes to John. "Thank you Mr. Black for the opportunity to do this, I really enjoyed it." Paul said.
"Hey." John said, "Its John remember, and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy life to do this for the kids. They were thrilled to meet you, and it is something they will remember for the rest of their lives."
"No problem." Paul said. "I am sure I will see you around, I am going to be sticking around Salem."
"Oh." John said, "That is great news. I am sure we will meet again. You boys have a good night." He said smiling knowingly.
"Thanks." Will said.
Paul led him out to the car and opened the door for him. "Any requests for dinner tonight?" He asked.
"No, you choose." Will said.
"Let's go somewhere quiet, I need to talk to you about something." Paul said.
"How about we get take out and go down by the river?" Will asked feeling nervous.
"Okay." Paul agreed.
They dropped into the pub and order a couple of burgers to go. Then left the car there and walked down to the river bank. Will pulled a blanket out of his messenger bag… so what if it was pink and white with little dainty giraffes and balloons on it.
"Sorry about all the pink and the animals." Will said, indicating the blanket… "It's Ari's, you never know when she is going to spit up all over herself." He said, explaining.
Paul grinned. "It's fine." He said, handing Will his take out box and they sat down on the blanket.
Now that they were there and alone, Paul was nervous. But this was something that he knew he needed to do.
"So…." Will said. "What did you want to talk about?"
Paul took a large bite out of his burger and chewed slowly. It tasted about like he imagined saw dust would taste.
"Ummm Will…" Paul said when he has swallowed his food. "Do you remember that first time we had lunch?"
"The first time we had this exact meal?" Will asked. "Yeah, what about it?"
"There was something that I should have added to my story that day, especially after hearing yours…. But I didn't really know how." Paul said.
"What should you have told me?" Will asked, a sick feeling building in his stomach. He pushed his food away from him, steeling himself to whatever Paul was going to say. He knew this was too good to be true.
"I didn't come just happen to come here for my surgery and recovery, I chose to come here." Paul said. "I came back here because I wanted to try and reconnect with the person I told you about… the one from my past."
"But you said he didn't want anything to do with you." Will forced out. "Did he change his mind all of the sudden?" he was surprised at the pain, that thought caused him.
"No….. " Paul denied immediately, "And to be honest it wouldn't matter to me now if he had. Ever since that first day I met you, you are all I have been able to think about." He said, reaching out to take Will's hands in his own.
Will relaxed a little… "Then what is it?" he asked, looking down at their joined hands.
"That person from my past….. is Sonny." Paul whispered. He kept his gaze fixed carefully on Will, trying to gage his reaction.
"Sonny?" Will repeated dumbfounded.
"Yeah…. I'm so sorry Will, I should have told you way before now… I just didn't know how to say it." Paul said.
"Sonny asked you to marry him?" Will asked wanting to clarify.
"A long time ago." Paul said.
"Not that long." Will argued back. "Then you turned him down and he came here….and hooked up with me."
"Not straight here, I think he went to Dubai for a while first." Paul said. "Then he came here and fell for you, he didn't hook up with you, that has never been Sonny's style. Besides I can't imagine how anyone could help falling in love with you."
"And then I ruined it, just like I always ruin everything good that happens to me." Will went on, like he hadn't heard Paul.
"You made a mistake…. You are human." Paul said.
"You really should have told me this. You should have told me that you are still in love with Sonny before you asked me out." Will said, his voice cracking, his heart breaking.
"I don't love Sonny…." Paul said, moving closer to Will.
"You came back here for him." Will whispered. "You must still want him… even if you don't want to admit it."
"Weren't you listening to me, I can't think of anything but you… You are the last thing on my mind as I fall asleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up. You fill my dreams, and when I am not with you I spend my time thinking about how soon I can see you again." Paul said desperately.
Paul watched Will carefully as he digested those words…. It was a lot, especially for him and it was a declaration of something that closely resembled love.
"Did you tell Sonny that you wanted him back?" Will questioned.
"Yes, right after my surgery, I tried to convince him to give me another chance." Paul confirmed.
"And he said no… so you latched on to me?" Will asked his voice escalating, the pain curling tightly in his stomach.
Paul sighed. "No Will….I had that conversation with Sonny a few weeks ago… I have only seen him once since I met you." He said.
"When was that?" Will asked.
"Before our first date." Paul said, determined to tell him the full truth. "I thought he was coming to see me because he was jealous that you showed interest in me…. But he came to ask me to leave you alone."
Will looked at him strangely. "That doesn't make any sense." He said. "He doesn't want me."
"It makes perfect sense…" Paul said. "Sonny still has feelings for you."
"No… "Will denied. "That was over a long time ago."
"I think he does." Paul said slowly. "So if that is something that you are interested in, If you want him back. I think you may need to talk to him before we go any further."
Will was quiet while he thought about that. He was sure that Paul was wrong and Sonny was surely not interested in him, he couldn't even remember to meet Will at the club, 10 hours after making the plans. There had been plenty of opportunities for him to change things between them, and he had never given Will so much as a hint that he wanted things to be different.
"I don't want Sonny." He finally said, meeting Paul's eyes. "I want you."
"You sure?" Paul asked.
Will nodded and crooked his finger at Paul beckoning him closer, kissing him wholeheartedly.