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Will Horton
Will horton chandler massey
Chandler Massey as Will Horton
Days of Our Lives
Portrayed by Shawn & Taylor Carpenter
(1995 to 2002)

Darian Weiss
(2002 to 2003)

Christopher Gerse
(2003 to November 2007)

Jason Bushman
(1998; adult dream)

Dylan Michael Patton
(February 27, 2009 to January 20, 2010)

Chandler Massey
(February 1, 2010 to January 2, 2014)

Christian Massey
(February 8, 2013 ; flashback)

Guy Wilson
(January 8, 2014 to October 2015)
Duration 1995–2007, 2009–15
First appearance November 16, 1995
Cause/reason Death
Created by James E. Reilly
Introduced by Ken Corday
Tom Langan
Profile
Fullname William Robert Horton
Nickname(s) Will Horton
Gender Male
Born November 16, 1995
(revised to 1992)[1][2][3]
Died October 9, 2015
Age 22
Cause of death Strangled
Occupation Student
Pub worker
Former Intern at DiMera Enterprises
Residence 316 Copper Lantern Drive, Apt. 15
Salem, USA
Dylan Patton as Will Horton
Dylan Patton as Will Horton
Relationships
Family Horton
Brady
Roberts
Parents Lucas Horton
(father)

Sami Brady
(mother)
Siblings Allie Horton
(sister)
Johnny DiMera
(half brother )
Sydney DiMera
(half sister)
Spouses Sonny Kiriakis
(2014–15)
Romances Sonny Kiriakis
(lovers/engaged)

Neil Hultgren
(kissed; 2012)

Gabi Hernandez
(dated/lovers; 2011)

Mia McCormick
(dated)

Paul Narita
(affair; 2015)
Children Arianna Horton (with Gabi)
Grandparents Bill Horton
Roman Brady
Kate Roberts
Marlena Evans
Great-grandparents Tom Horton Sr.
(great-grandfather; deceased)

Alice Grayson
(greatgrandmother;deceased)

Shawn Brady
(great-grandfather; deceased)

Caroline Brady
(great-grandmother)

Frank Evans
(great-grandfather; deceased)

Sid Grayson
(great-great-grandfather; deceased)

Abigail Grayson
(great-great-grandmother; deceased)

Patrick Aloysius Brady
(great-great-great-grandfather; deceased)

Nora Molly Brady
(great-great-great-grandmother; deceased)

Aunts and uncles Eric Brady
(uncle)

Mike Horton
( half-uncle)

Jennifer Horton
(half-aunt)

Austin Reed
( half-uncle)

Billie Reed
(half-aunt)

Rex Brady
(half-uncle)

Cassie Brady
(half aunt)

Philip Kiriakis
(half-uncle)

Donald Jeremiah Craig Jr.
(half-uncle; deceased)

Carrie Brady
(half-aunt)

Belle Black
(half-aunt)

First cousins Sandy Horton
(first cousin once removed)

Steven Olson
(first cousin once removed)

Julie Olson
(first cousin once removed)

Hope Williams
(first cousin once removed)

Melissa Horton
(first cousin once removed)

Sarah Horton
(first cousin once removed)

Jessica Blake
(first cousin once removed)

Andrew Donovan IV
(first cousin once removed)

Jeannie "Theresa" Donovan
(first cousin once removed)

Stephanie Johnson
(first cousin once removed)

Joey Johnson
(first cousin once removed)

Shawn-Douglas Brady
(maternal half-first cousin once removed/paternal second cousin)

Zack Brady
(maternal half-first cousin once removed / paternal second cousin; deceased)

Ciara Brady
(maternal half-first cousin once removed / paternal second cousin)

Colin Murphy
(maternal first cousin twice removed)

Ryan
(maternal first cousin twice removed; deceased)

Trista Evans
(maternal first cousin twice removed)

Spencer Olson
(paternal second cousin)

David Banning
(paternal second cousin)

Robert Anderson Jr.
(paternal second cousin)

Nick Fallon
(paternal second cousin)

Nathan Horton
(paternal second cousin)

William "Will" Robert Horton (born Reed; formerly Roberts) is a fictional character from the American NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, played by Guy Wilson. Will debuted on-screen during the episode airing on November 16, 1995. He is the son of Sami Brady and Lucas Horton, but was originally passed off as the child of his uncle Austin Reed. As the character aged on-screen, he endured a "turbulent upbringing" due to his mother's love life. Will has always wanted his parents to be together, so he could be like other children he knew. This resulted in Will becoming "moody and suspicious".

The character has been written out of the series previously, which saw Will move to Switzerland with his uncle Austin. Upon his reintroduction, he was portrayed as being more "mature". When the series recast the role with Massey, this was done to accommodate a new storyline. In early 2011, it was announced that Will would be featured in a gay storyline. These plans were put on hold due to production changes. By October, it was confirmed that Will would come out as gay, receiving support from both NBC and Sony. The character is subsequently featured in the show's first gay kiss; with Neil. Massey said that he hoped his storyline would challenge people's views on homosexuality and promote tolerance. The character is currently involved in the show's first same-sex supercouple (commonly referred to by the portmanteau "WilSon") with Sonny Kiriakis.

For their portrayal of Will, Patton and Massey have both received Daytime Emmy Award nominations. Luke Kerr of Zap2it said that Will is one of the serial's most important characters. Various LGBT news sources have criticized the slow pace of Will's coming out storyline, while others noted that Days of Our Lives was one of the last shows to portray gay characters. In 2012, Massey won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series, the first in history to win while portraying a gay character. In 2013 & 2014, Massey won his second and third Emmy awards for the Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series.

Casting

The role of Will Horton was originally played by child actors Shawn and Taylor Carpenter from 1995 until 2002. Darian Weiss took over the role until 2003, when Christopher Gerse took over the role. Gerse told Janet Di Lauro of Soap Opera Digest that he had previously auditioned for the role of Will but was unsuccessful. He then auditioned for another role in the series, which he did not receive. Producers later called Gerse back to carry out a screen test for Will, this time he was hired. At the time the character was a recurring part, which suited Gerse because he had "always wanted" to have one. Gerse left the series in 2007. In 2009, the character was reintroduced with actor Dylan Patton. In late 2009, it was reported via Soap Opera Digest that Patton had finished filming and the role had been recast to facilitate a new storyline. Chandler Massey, a newcomer to daytime television, won the role. Before he took over the role, Massey watched as many episodes of the series as he could find to familiarize himself with Will. In February 2013, Soap Opera Digest confirmed that Massey's younger brother Christian Massey would portray Will in flashbacks.

Following his second Emmy win, Massey revealed that after his current contract expired, he would vacate the role to return to attend college. When Massey leaves the show, his role will not be recast, but the door will be open in case Massey decides to return. Massey expressed that he would support a recast. However, on August 23, 2013, it was reported Massey had left the show effectively immediately, and that the show would go ahead with a recast due to the character's current storyline. On September 12, 2013, it was announced that actor Guy Wilson was cast in the role of Will. Freddie Smith revealed that the switch between Massey and Wilson will happen on-screen as quick as the news of the recast, saying, "If you blink and open your eyes, you’ll be like, ‘Wait, there’s a new Will?!’ [...] It’s literally just ‘BOOM!’” Massey made his final appearance on January 2, 2014 and Wilson made his first appearance on January 8, 2014.

Due to the exit of his onscreen mother, Sami Brady, played by (Alison Sweeney) Wilson took a brief hiatus from series on October 30, 2014.

Development

Characterization and family The character was originally named William Reed, in the series this was homage to his aunt Billie Reed (Lisa Rinna). On the Sony Pictures Entertainment website, a columnist attributes Will's upbringing as being the catalyst for his behavior in later life. His mother Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) had lied about his paternity, attempting to pass him off Austin Reed's (Austin Peck) child. Austin's brother Lucas Horton (Bryan Dattilo) is revealed to be his biological father. Sami and Lucas have an on and off relationship over the years, which has negative effect on Will. His "turbulent upbringing made him moody and suspicious" and he holds hope that he could have a family just "like other kids". They added that when the character had matured upon returned from time away in Switzerland.

In 2011, Austin (Patrick Muldoon) was reintroduced into the series. Massey said that the two characters share a bond because of their time living together in Switzerland. Will sees Austin as a "father figure" and he often feels paternal, despite his brother Lucas being out as Will's biological father.

Sexuality

It was originally reported that Will would be coupled with Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith), who is a gay character. However, Smith later revealed that Sonny could become involved with a new character and not Will. Will later strikes up a friendship with Sonny. Massey told Damon L. Jacobs from We Love Soaps that Will has a close relationship with Sonny. Will looks up to and respects him because he has encountered hate in Salem but remains confident and comfortable with who he is. Massey said that Will cannot help but admire these qualities in Sonny as "they are rare to see". The two character share a "bromance" more than anything else.

In August 2011, Massey told Jacobs that he did not know if the series were going to proceed with a gay storyline for Will. He claimed that he was yet to receive any scripts to suggest that Will would. In November 2011, Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly announced that the serial were going ahead with Will's gay storyline. Will's story received approval from NBC and Sony Pictures Entertainment, who air the show.Days of Our Lives Co-Executive Producer Greg Meng told Rice that "we are excited to have the encouragement and support from both NBC and Sony to tell the inspiring story of a young man learning who he is as he defines and creates his relationships with others." Massey said that he was "thrilled" to play Will in an "empowering way that will show his struggle to accept who he is". He wanted the storyline to help other people to accept themselves for who they are. Amelia Proud from Daily Mail reported that the storyline's inclusion was part of the series focus on attracting a younger audience.

Massey was told that Will would become a gay character in February 2011. When Days of Our Lives employed two new producers and a head writer, it cast uncertainty over the storyline. Massey said that while he was not told whether or not they would proceed, he played Will "with his sexuality in mind". When Gabi Hernandez (Camila Banus) ends her relationship with Will, he becomes slightly unhinged. Massey told a reporter from Gay Star News that the scenes were fun to film, but a "challenge to do them convincingly". Massey said that Will's struggle with his sexuality that follows would not be romantic. The character had a lot to deal with and throughout his life "he has put his sexuality on the back burner and hasn't really dealt with it." Massey said that the storyline would reach a "big audience" and hoped that it would promote tolerance.

Will shares a kiss with Neil (Jesse Kristofferson), which is witnessed by Sonny. Massey told Robert Waldron of Soap Opera Digest that Will had been keeping his "self-loathing and disgust" over his sexuality to himself, which results in him becoming "tightly wound". Will drinks alcohol to make himself feel "less awkward", in turn this makes him do something he wouldn't when he is of a sober mind. Massey added that being caught by Sonny is "one of those moments when Will wishes he could turn invisible". Dattilo told Michael Logan of TV Guide that his character, Lucas is "in shock when he sees Will flirting with another guy". He said that he was proud of the writing, which he opined "stayed true to Lucas" as he is a "very loving and accepting guy". Lucas is worried about Will, he is worried that he may be persecuted because of his sexuality and fall victim to hate crimes. He added that Lucas would "do anything" to protect Will. Will is left feeling "vulnerable and exposed" when he finds out that Lucas is resuming his relationship with Sami. Will lashes out at Lucas and reveals that he is gay. Dattilo praised Massey's performance in the scenes. The actor had only worked alongside Massey on few occasions before his departure in 2010. He added that it was like meeting a new actor because Massey just "rips up every scene".

Crimes and Misdeeds

  • Got into a lot of fights at school (2002)
  • Accidentally hurt Abby while playing (2002)
  • Ran away from home (2006)
  • Picked up for underage drinking (2007)
  • Shot E.J. DiMera (2007)
  • Obstruction of Justice; provided false information to police pertaining to E.J.'s shooting and Arianna's hit-and-run (October 2010)
  • Tried to blackmail E.J. twice; succeeded the second time (2012)
  • Broke into Abe's computer and stole Abe's jobs plan for E.J. (2012)
  • Obstruction of Justice; provided false information to police pertaining to Detective Bernardi's shooting (June 2013)
  • Secretly taped Kate, E.J. and Sami in preparation for his editorial about Sami and Kate taking over DiMera Enterprises (August 2014)
  • Adultery; slept with Paul while married to Sonny (January 8, 2015)
  • Blackmailed Tori Narita to get Paul out of Salem (March 2015)
  • Discovered that John was Paul's father and withheld said information; manipulated John to turn him against Paul (April 2015)
  • Called Tori Narita a whore (which earned him a punch from Paul) (May 19, 2015)

Health and Vitals

  • Hospitalized after being shot (June 2013)
  • Punched by Paul Narita (May 2015)
  • Strangled to death by Ben Rogers (October 2015)

Character History

Will was born on November 16, 1995 as William Reed, named after Austin's sister Billie. His infancy was fairly normal until 1997 when it was revealed that Austin was not his biological father. Sami had lied to everyone as well as doctored hospital records to state that Austin was his dad, but in reality Lucas was his father. Over the next several years this revelation kept Will stuck in the middle of several bitter custody battles between his parents as well as in the middle of the bad blood between Sami and his grandmother Kate.

Despite his turbulent upbringing, for many years Will was a quiet, eager to please little boy, but in the summer of 2002 that changed. He became a very obnoxious child. He would often talk back to his parents and call them by their first names. He also started to play rough with other children and he ended up hurting his cousin Abby on more than one occasion. Everyone worried that his unstable home life was the cause of his antics.

Eventually his childish outburst subsided, yet Will became a very unhappy young man. It didn't help that in late 2003 both his parents were suspects in the Salem Stalker's murder spree and, even though his mother denied it, Will believed Lucas, a former alcoholic, was drinking again. Both of his suspicions were soon proved untrue and, after catching his parents in a few compromising positions, Will became hopeful that his parents might get-together and he will be like "the other kids" with a father and mother who lived together. A short time later it appeared Will's dream was actually coming true when Lucas proposed to Sami. Yet, things would soon fall apart, leaving Will devastated.

On the day of his parent's wedding, Lucas found his bride-to-be in bed with her ex-husband, Brandon Walker, and broke off their engagement. Although Sami declared she had been drugged, so couldn't prove it therefore her claims did little to help Will who was shattered by their breakup. Eventually, Sami was able to prove that Kate drugged her and Brandon and placed them in bed together for Lucas to find. Because of that discovery, Sami and Lucas reunited which caused Will great joy.

But, like their first try at marriage, Lucas and Sami's second attempt fell apart and once again left Will in the wake of the destruction. Kate crashed the wedding moments before they were legally married and announced Sami's latest misdeeds. That caused Lucas to call of the nuptials. Again, Will was devastated and even lashed out at his mother. Will's only reprieve was that his beloved Uncle Austin had recently returned to Salem and was there to comfort him during his latest disappointment.

Soon after his uncle's homecoming, his Aunt Carrie also returned to Salem. Much to Will's delight, she and Lucas became close and eventually married. Also to his delight, Sami and Austin were growing close once again and soon became engaged. Although his parents weren't together, Will was happy with the way things worked out as he shared a strong bond with both Carrie, now his stepmother, and Austin, his soon-to-be stepfather.

Unfortunately, on the day of Austin and Sami's wedding disaster struck. Shortly before the ceremony Sami received a call from a mysterious blackmailer and was warned that if she didn't call off her marriage to Austin the blackmailer would expose her latest scheme thus ruining her life. Reluctantly, Sami agreed to end things with Austin and again Will was left angry and embarrassed by his mother's latest failure.

In fact, he was so distraught that he ran away from home and went to Chicago. His family feared that he'd been kidnapped so E.J. arranged for Sami and Lucas to go on the news to plead for their son's safe return. Unbeknownst to him, Will chose that exact moment to return home. He nonchalantly interrupted the news coverage and wondered what all the fuss was about. Everyone was delighted by his return and that Will was no worse for wear (just hungry and out of money).

Upon his return, Will was shocked to find out that his Aunt Carrie and Uncle Austin had been having an affair, Lucas was divorcing Carrie and that she and Austin were getting back together and moving to Switzerland. Although it had been a heartbreaking string of events, Will was pleased when Lucas decided to move into Sami's apartment with him and his mother in an attempt to provide a more stable home life for him. Although Sami had begun a close friendship with E.J., whom Will despised, he was glad that his parents were living together and seemingly getting along.

Indeed, they were getting along well and they soon became engaged (again). This left Will somewhat hopeful, yet very nervous that things would go wrong (again). Much to his surprise, the wedding plans went full speed ahead and the pot was sweetened when he found out his mother was pregnant with twins! Despite Kate's newest attempt to break up his parents on their wedding day, Sami and Lucas went through with the ceremony - Will had finally gotten a family like "the other kids." His family, however, didn't have long to celebrate as the war between the Brady and DiMera families heated up and Will was caught in the crossfire.

Shortly after the wedding, Sami confessed to Lucas that she had been raped by E.J. and that the twins might not be his. Lucas promised to stand by her side no matter what, but Stefano was pressuring Sami to divorce Lucas and marry E.J. and, in exchange, he would call off the vendetta. Will pleaded with his mother to stay married to Lucas, but, when she eventually made the heartbreaking decision to marry E.J. in order to stop the violence, Will once again lashed out at his mother and didn't want anything to do with her. In order to protect him from the volatile situation with the DiMera Family as well as give him space from his mother, Will was sent to Switzerland with Carrie and Austin during the summer of 2007.

Later that fall Will returned to Salem one last time. Despite his time away from Sami, he was still angry with her for breaking up their family. He was also mad at Lucas for letting it happen. Although he had enjoyed his time in Europe, Will's stay in Salem did nothing but dredge up bitter feelings. He was moody, withdrawn, and constantly lashed out at his parents. After being picked up for underage drinking, Sami and Lucas agreed that it was best to honor Will's wishes and they sent him back to Switzerland to live with Carrie and Austin.

Will returned to Salem in 2009. He was aged to be a 16 year old, baseball playing, high school student. He moved back in with Sami and helped her care for his younger brother and sisters. He even started a friendship with Mia. Mia and Will grew closer and she was there to comfort him when Grace (his supposed adopted sister) died. The two started dating, despite the fact that Mia's ex-boyfriend, Chad, had moved back to town.

Eventually, Will discovered that Mia and Chad had a child together and that child turned out to be none other than Grace, while the child his mother gave birth to was Sydney DiMera. As it turned out, after Mia agreed to illegally sell her baby to Nicole, she switched the babies making Mia think Sydney was hers and Grace Sami’s. Despite all of her lies, Will supported Mia once she realized it was her daughter, Grace, who died. However, this also bonded Mia and Chad, and they began to grow close again.

Mia stood beside Will when Sydney was kidnapped, but she also began to flirt with Chad again. For the winter dance, Mia ended up accepting both Will and Chad’s invitation. Will was upset, but accepted her apology and even tried to make their relationship exclusive. She agreed to “be exclusive,” but was soon two-timing Will with Chad, who she was also lying to by saying she was single. With Sydney home, Will was on top of the world. That is, until discovering the truth about Mia’s lies at which point he broke up with her.

During some hard times between Will and Sami, Will turned to his grandma Kate. Will moved to the DiMera mansion to be with his grandma. Eventually, Will began to interact with Stefano and accepted an internship at DiMera Enterprises. Scared that her son would fall too far under Stefano's spell, Sami took E.J. up on his invitation to move into the mansion. While Sami and E.J. grew closer, Will was still skeptical of E.J.

Around the same time, Will grew closer to Gabi and the two began dating. They both wanted Sami and Rafe to find their way back to each other. But, Rafe had been out of Salem for a while and no one had heard from them. Suddenly, Rafe reappeared in Salem with proof that E.J. was behind Sydney's kidnapping. Sami broke up with E.J. and went home with Rafe.

Later that same night, Kate overheard a drunken E.J. tell Stefano that E.J. should have taken the kids and left Salem months ago. Kate called Sami and told her to have a plan. Sami snuck out of Rafe's apartment while he was sleeping, went to the DiMera mansion, and found E.J. passed out and holding a gun. Sami took the gun and shot E.J. in the head. Will saw her fleeing the mansion.

Will, Rafe and Sami plotted to cover up Sami's crime. But, Arianna heard Will and Sami talking about the cover-up. Arianna went to Rafe to confront him and Rafe told Arianna he would support Sami, no matter what. Will confronted Arianna. Arianna ran away from Will and was hit by a car. She died a few days later from complications from the accident.

In order to prohibit Rafe from ever being forced to testify against Sami, the two got married. Gabi and Will were thrilled. But, a few weeks later while looking at picture of the wedding, Will and Gabi noticed something funny in Johnny's eye. It turned out that Johnny had ocular cancer. The doctors caught it before it spread, but Johnny's right eye did have to be replaced with a glass eye.

With Johnny healthy again, Will and Gabi focused on their relationship. They graduated from Salem High in June of 2011 and spent the summer with their friends Chad, Abigail, T, and Kinsey. A few months later they decided to take their relationship to the next level and slept together.

During the summer of 2011, Abigail's cousin, Sonny Kiriakis also came to Salem. Sonny was openly gay and that didn't sit well with Will's friend T. Will repeatedly defended Sonny when T made bigoted comments about Sonny. As Will distanced himself from T, he became closer to Sonny and Chad. The three decided to launch a website surrounding Salem U's sports teams.

The website was a huge success and quickly gained visitors. However, one day Chad noticed some suspicious activity on the message boards. It appeared that someone was using their website to give odds in an illegal gambling operation. After following a trace on the IP address, the boys learned that their entire website had been hacked and was a front for a gambling ring. The boys attempted to shut it down, and did so without Melanie, Gabi, or Abigail knowing and thought everything was fine.

With the website mess seemingly behind them, Will was happy to spend time with John and Marlena, who recently came back to Salem. When John was accused of embezzlement, Will stood by John's side and went with his family to meet with John the morning before John's trial. While meeting at the Brady Pub, a man who had lost his life savings because of John's alleged crime, opened fire on the Brady Pub. During the commotion, Johnny ran off and hid. No one could find him. Sami was very upset.

Sami went to confront E.J. to see if E.J. was actually behind Johnny's disappearance. While she was at E.J.'s house, a news report came on TV announcing that the body of a boy had been identified as Johnny. The report turned out to be false, but Sami and E.J. did not know that at the time. Overwrought with the grief of their "dead" son, Sami and E.J. slept together.

Meanwhile, Will and Rafe returned to the pub to find Johnny hiding under one of the tables. Will went to the DiMera mansion to tell E.J. the news and walked in on Sami and E.J. sleeping together. Disgusted that his mom could break her wedding vows to Rafe, Will ran outside, threw up, and vowed never to forgive his mother.

Will began to question whether any relationship could work if his mom couldn't stay faithful to Rafe. Desperate to hold onto the idea of a happy relationship, and to get out of his mom's house, Will asked Gabi to move in with him. Gabi was shocked as Will had been distant since their first time sleeping together. When she brought up his lack of romantic attention, Will didn't have a real answer for her. Realizing that things would never be the same between them again, Gabi broke up with Will. Heartbroken and full of rage, Will trashed Maggie's kitchen. Sonny and Chad rushed to grab Will and calm him down.

But, the trouble wasn't near over for Will. When the men behind the gambling ring found out that the boys had shut down their website, they kidnapped Melanie and Chad and held them hostage until Will and Sonny got the site back up. While Gabi and Abigail went to track down Melanie and Chad, Will and Sonny worked on getting the site back up. Luckily, Melanie, Chad, Abigail, and Gabi were not harmed. But, Will finally did talk to Rafe, Bo, and Hope. The men behind the gambling ring were arrested.

Rocked by all of the trouble in his life over the last few months, Will decided to leave Salem. He went to E.J. and tried to blackmail E.J. into providing the money for a trip out of Salem. Will told E.J. (who was running for mayor at the time) that everyone in town, including Nicole, would know that Sami and E.J. slept together. Not one to be blackmailed, E.J. turned the tables on Will.

Back in 2007, E.J. was shot on his wedding day. Almost immediately , Lucas pled guilty and went to jail for the crime. However, it turns out that Will was actually the shooter and Lucas was covering for Will. E.J. knew the truth and held onto it all those years, in case he ever needed to use that information. When E.J. confronted Will with this information, Will tried to withdraw the blackmail attempt.

But, E.J. wanted to teach Will a lesson. So, E.J. blackmailed Will into working for E.J. mayoral campaign. Will's first task was to break into Abe's computer and steal Abe's jobs plan. Then, E.J. bought Will a fancy sports car and new apartment since Will would be "representing" E.J. now that Will works for E.J.'s campaign. Will hated everything about working for E.J. at first, accept for how much it upset his mother. But, slowly, Will grew to like the power that being associated with the DiMeras brought.

Will spent more time away from Sami and with Marlena. The two developed a very close relationship and Will was comfortable opening up to Marlena about the things going on in his life. Will was starting to question his sexuality. In addition to breaking up with Gabi because he didn't want to be intimate with her, Will was also drawn to Sonny and Sonny's friends. He told Marlena that during a drunken night with Sonny, Will kissed another guy, Neil, at a party. Marlena tried to encourage Will to decide what he wanted in life and be comfortable being that person. But, Will insisted that he wasn't gay and ignored the topic.

But, it was clear to Marlena that Will was hurting with what he was going through. She made sure to make time for him whenever he wanted to talk, and even tried to encourage him to open up to his parents as well.

But Will wasn't ready to talk to his parents yet. So, he took comfort in his newly developed friendship with E.J. Will was pleasantly surprised to hear that E.J. saw Will's sexuality as a "non-issue" in their friendship. Will tutored under E.J. and gained confidence to come out to his parents. Sami and Lucas had opposite responses. At first, Sami blamed herself and stormed out of the room. Lucas, conversely, was supportive of Will and told Will that he loved him.

Will continued to work for E.J. and eventually confessed to E.J. that Stefano had forced Will to let it slip that Sami and E.J. had slept together the night that Johnny went missing. E.J. blamed Will for Nicole moving out and fired Will on the spot. Will was crushed and blamed Stefano for the loss of his relationship with E.J.

Will wasn't the only one furious with Stefano. One night, E.J., Will, John, Marlena, Kate, Bo, Hope, and Abe all confronted Stefano with a gun. E.J. even shot at Stefano, but did not hit him. However, Stefano was shot and assumed dead.

Will's fingerprints showed up on the murder weapon. Roman had no choice but to arrest Will. But, E.J. bailed Will out of jail. Then, Will's friend, Niel, came forward and told the police that he and Will were together at a gay bar during the time of the shooting. Will was cleared, but the paper printed the story on the front page -- publicly outing Will to all of Salem.

E.J. became the new, main suspect in Stefano's "murder". Will was sure that E.J was innocent, but questioned E.J. when Will discovered a letter from Alice Horton claiming that E.J. was not Stefano's biological son. Will knew that the letter would give the police the motive they were missing when it came to E.J.'s investigation.

However, one day, Lucas looked in Will's backpack and discovered the letter. He turned it into the police and E.J. was arrested. Will believed in E.J. and wanted to prove E.J.'s innocence. As soon as Sami uncovered footage of someone stealing E.J.'s gloves, Sami agreed with Will as well. As the "evidence" began piling up, Sami and Will convinced E.J. to flee town once he was out on bail. So, Will hacked into the Salem PD computer system and deactivated E.J.'s ankle monitor. And, Sami helped E.J. leave Salem.

It turned out that Ian McAllister was the one who shot Stefano. But, he framed E.J. by planting E.J.'s gloves and bullets in E.J.'s apartment and paid off a polygraph administrator to lie about the results of E.J.'s polygraph. Ian was also behind the bogus letter claiming that E.J. wasn't Stefano's son.

When E.J. discovered Ian's scheme, all charges were dropped and neither Sami nor Will faced any charges for helping E.J. The whole experience brought Sami and Will closer, and made Will more comfortable. Will began spending more time with Sonny Kiriakis and other friends Will's age.

Soon, Sonny developed feelings for Will. When Sonny surprised Will with a kiss, Will rejected Sonny and Sonny lashed out at Will. Sonny accused Will of not being completely out of the closet yet. Crushed and confused, Will found comfort in the arms of his ex-girlfriend, Gabi. The two slept together, but immediately regretted their mistake. Will realized that he was avoiding his feelings for Sonny, so he went to Sonny and told him that he was ready for a relationship.

Sami was thrilled when Will started dating Sonny Kiriakis. Lucas, however comfortable with the theory of his son being gay, did not react as favorably when he saw Will and Sonny kissing in public. Lucas and Sonny butted heads several times, but Sonny made it clear to Lucas that he loved Will. Lucas backed off and supported Sonny and Will.

Just when Will and Sonny's relationship was going well, Gabi arrived at Sonny's apartment with bad news for Will. She was pregnant from their one-night stand. Will and Gabi discussed their various options including marriage, adoption, and abortion. Will told Gabi that he would support any decision that she made. Gabi decided that she wanted to get an abortion.

The two of them did not have enough money on them for the abortion. So, Will went to Sonny and asked for a no-questioned-asked loan. Sonny agreed. Will drove Gabi to the clinic, but she did not go through with the abortion. Rafe and Sami discovered that Gabi was pregnant, but assumed that Gabi's boyfriend, Nick, was the father.

Nick presented Gabi with a proposal -- marry him and let everyone think that he is the father of the baby. Gabi agreed and the two of them convinced Will that this was the best move for everyone. As soon as Will agreed, Gabi and Nick went forward with their wedding plans, with Sami stepping in as their wedding planner.

But on the day of their wedding, Chad exposed Gabi's secret -- that Nick was not the father of Gabi's baby. Will, reluctantly, admitted that he was the father. Sami was furious with Gabi. Rafe was angry with Will. And Nick was worried that his plan to keep gay Will out of the baby's life was now in jeopardy. So, Nick hatched a plan.

He had overheard Lucas scream at Will, "I went to jail for you!" Nick began investigating why Lucas had been in prison. Nick also planted a transmitting and recording device on Will, then sent a text to Lucas prompting the two to have a conversation where Nick found out that Will was the one who shot E.J. in 2007 and the police still had evidence of it in their evidence room.

Nick had papers drawn up for Will to sign that would release all parental rights to Gabi's baby and just waited for the right time. That time came when Gabi started having labor pains while talking to Sami. Gabi and the baby were fine, and despite Kayla saying that dehydration contributed to her labor pains, Nick used Sami's temper as an excuse to set his plan into motion.

Nick confronted Will with the deal -- if Will signs away his paternal rights, Nick will stay quiet about Will shooting E.J. Nick also pointed out that turning in Will would mean incriminating Lucas, Roman, Hope, and more in the cover-up. Sonny, E.J., Sami, and Lucas all tried to convince Will not to sign the papers. Sami even offered to sign a document that would forbid her from coming near the baby. But Nick would not agree. Despite protests from Sami, Lucas, E.J., and Sonny, Will reluctantly signed the papers. Nick went to Gabi and asked her to marry him. The two were married two days later in the Horton living room.

Nick admitted that his real problem was that he didn't think Will should be a father because Will was gay. Nick also stated that the baby would be better off if Will and his whole family would stay away. Will was crushed.

The situation got even worse when Nick got into a physical fight with Sonny because of homophobic slurs that Nick was using. After Will found out about the fight, Will went to Sami for help. She said that she had already been working on a plan -- she'd move back into the DiMera mansion with E.J. and the kids and start to build a relationship with Stefano in hopes that he would see her family as his own and use his contacts at the Salem PD to destroy the evidence against Will. Will agreed to go along with the plan.

Stefano agreed to help Will and had the evidence removed from the police department. However, Stefano kept the evidence rather than destroying it. Meanwhile, Sami and Sonny were able to find Nick's recording of Will's confession, but they weren't able to delete every copy. Will was still determined to get his daughter back.

One day while walking though the Horton Square, Will and Sonny witnessed Nick and Gabi being escorted away by a man named Jensen. They thought it suspicious and followed the three of them. Jensen took Nick and Gabi to an abandoned warehouse on Smith Island. He held them at gun point. Will and Sonny were able to rescue Gabi. Sonny left with Gabi while Will stayed behind to untie Nick.

On the way back to the ferry, Gabi went into labor. Sonny found an abandoned shack and delivered Gabi's baby. Arianna Grace was born on May 21, 2013 -- 7 lbs. and 20 inches.

Meanwhile, Nick told Will to leave him, but Will kept trying to rescue Nick. When Jensen returned to the cabin, Will hid and heard Jensen confess to abusing Nick in prison. When Jensen pulled a gun on Nick, Will jumped out and hit Jensen with a wrench. Jensen and Will struggled. The gun went off. Will was hurt. At that time, Hope and the police arrived. Hope fatally shot Jensen. They all took Will to the hospital. Will made it through surgery successfully. Gabi had Will's name put on Arianna Grace's birth certificate.

Sonny suggested that he, Will, Gabi, and Arianna Grace all move into an apartment together. Will was thrilled to start his new family.

Living together was working fairly well until Sonny and Will learned that Gabi had rekindled her relationship with Nick. Sonny and Will were both furious, but Gabi told them that she's take Arianna and move out if they didn't let her live her own life. However, Gabi soon felt that Nick wasn't right for her and broke things off romantically with him.

But Nick wouldn't give up. He arranged for Gabi to be offered a modeling job in New York City. Then, he took a job in New York as well. But, when Gabi found out about his scheme, they got in a loud fight in the middle of the town square and people began to stare, including Kate Roberts, who overheard the whole fight. Gabi told Nick that she wanted nothing to do with him and stormed off. Nick chased after her. Kate chased after both of them.

Nick followed Gabi into the woods around town and continued to beg her for another chance. While trying to get away, Gabi tripped and fell on the ground. Nick jumped on top of her and starting kissing her. Thinking that he was going to rape her, Gabi grabbed a rock and hit Nick in the side of the head. Nick collapsed next to her and Gabi made her way out from under him. Kate arrived and saw an unconscious Nick and Gabi in tears. Sami, whom Kate had texted to meet her, arrived shortly after. Sami checked Nick for a pulse and couldn't find one. Kate noticed that the river wasn't far from the spot and suggested that they just throw Nick's body into the river. Sami agreed to help because Gabi was the mother of Will's baby.

Gabi was hysterical over the events that just happened, but agreed that this was the right thing to do. The three women dragged Nick to the river and pushed him in. Just as he hit the water, Nick woke up and grasped at them for help. But, they'd already let him go into the cold water. The three women assumed that he would drown and die. They agreed to keep all of the events of the night a secret.

In the days following, Will sense that Gabi, Sami, and Kate were hiding something. Worried that they were planning a surprise party for him, Will convinced Sonny to spy on the three of them and feed him information. So, Sonny hid in the coat closet one day while the three women were talking. He overheard them confess to killing Nick.

Sonny's first instinct was to go to his dad, Justin, and get his advice as a lawyer. But, when the women convinced him to keep quiet. They explained that the crime was committed in self-defense and the cover-up was to protect Gabi. Reluctantly, Sonny agreed.

Will found out a few days later. Sonny helped Will see why they all decided to keep it quiet and Will agreed eventually. But, Will had trouble making peace with his decision.

On the day of Arianna's christening, an alive Nick Fallon showed up at the church, much to the shock of everyone at the church. Nick had a scar on the side of his head from where Gabi had hit him with the rock, but otherwise didn't seem to remember the events of that night. Nick claimed that he was there to see Hope, but everyone was suspicious.

Everyone, but Gabi. She believed Nick when he said that he was sorry for what he did to her and wanted a fresh start. Sonny and Gabi had a huge argument about her inability to see Nick as a dangerous man. But Gabi wouldn't hear it. She was adamant that Nick had changed.

Meanwhile, Sonny decided to propose to Will. Much to his surprise, Will didn't accept. Will said that he wanted to make sure that the drama (Nick, Gabi, etc.) was behind them. But, Marlena made Will see that there wouldn't ever be a time when their life would be completely drama-free. So, on Valentine's Day, Will finally accepted Sonny's proposal.

Will and Sonny were married on April 3, 2014. Victor and Maggie hosted the ceremony at the Kiriakis mansion. Marlena officiated the service. Caroline, Lucas, and Justin all spoke as part of the ceremony. Gabi and T served as Will's attendants. J.J. and Abigail stood up for Sonny. Sami and Adrienne walked their respective sons down the aisle.

The only dark cloud still hanging over their happiness was Nick. Worried that Gabi would take Arianna to live with Nick, Will finally asked Gabi for a formal custody agreement. She balked at first, but them met with a lawyer to draw up an agreement. At Nick's urging, the agreement heavily favored Gabi. Will was furious. But Gabi still insisted that Nick was trying to help all of them.

Slowly, Nick started to show his true colors to other people. He blackmailed E.J. and Abigail with photos of their affair. He manipulated Will and Sonny by threatening to send Sami, Kate, and Gabi to jail. He found a lawyer for Gabi and urged her to sign custody papers that would only allow Will to see Arianna every other weekend. He got into a physical altercation with Abigail's new friend, Ben, who had stepped in to protect Abigail when Nick grabbed her arm. Everyone seemed to be growing tired of Nick.

Sonny went so far as to steal a gun from Victor's house and bring it back to their apartment. Sonny was ready to shoot Nick if he did anything else to hurt Will. But when Sonny showed Will the gun, Will urged him to take it back.

The next day, Nick was shot three times. He stumbled to the square and collapsed in Julie's arms. He died a short time later. Hope led the investigation to find his shooter. Horrified that Sonny had done this to protect him, Will turned himself into the police. But, neither Sonny nor Will was the shooter. It turned out that Gabi had finally overheard Nick's threats to Sonny, retrieved a gun from the closet, and shot Nick to death. She turned herself into the police and plead guilty. Sonny and Will promised to keep in constant contact with Gabi about Arianna while Gabi was in prison.

Sonny and Will settled into their new life -- married, without Gabi, and raising Arianna. Sonny knew that Will really wanted to land a job as a writer, so he asked Victor to get Will a job with one of Titan's magazines. Sonny didn't tell Will this, and Will was happily surprised when an editor called him to offer him a position with True Vista Magazine.

Around the same time, Will agreed to be the best man in Sami and E.J.'s wedding. Will was very happy for Sami and E.J. and wished them well. But, a few days after the wedding Sami came to Will and told him that E.J. had been cheating on her with Abigail. Will felt bad for Sami, but was instantly worried that Sami would seek out extreme revenge on Abigail. So, when Will's first assignment came down from True Vista -- a tell-all piece about Sami taking over the DiMera Empire -- Will decided to use the article as a way to teach Sami a lesson.

Without disclosing to them that he was working on an article, Will secretly taped conversations with Kate, Sami, and E.J. about the DiMera takeover. Then, he wrote a article about Sami being the woman scorned and described her as a vindictive woman who was out for heartless revenge. He made sure to keep Abigail's name out of the article, but still described her and her affair with E.J. Will's editor showed the article to Sami before printing. Sami tried to bribe the editor into not releasing the story. Then, she had it out with Will for writing it in the first place. Will retained his position that Sami needed to be taught a lesson and he was the one who was going to do it.

However, just before the article came out, Will's editor found out that Abigail was the mistress and made a change to the copy to include Abigail's name. When the article came out, everyone was angry with Will. Will was upset that no one congratulated him on landing the cover story. And, he deduced that Sami must have been the one who leaked Abigail's name. When E.J. came to yell at Will about the article, Will told him that Sami gave up Abigail's name.

Will and Sami reconciled, and he left Salem with Sami when she got a directing gig. While he was gone, Will barely communicated with Sonny and Gabi. Will's family called to scold him, and then Will called Sonny just to yell at him. Will returned to Salem a few months later, hoping to make it up to Sonny. He also arranged for Gabi to have a visit with Ari. Sonny as furious when he found out that Will had lied to him about why he really came back.

Will was tasked by Zoe to do an article on baseball star Paul Narita. Will learned Laul was gay and they ended up sleeping together. Will was torn with guilt for breaking his vows to Sonny, and schemed to keep the truth of his affair from Sonny a secret.

Will wanted Paul to leave Salem, and found a pitcher of his mother, Tori, at the DiMera mansion. Will assumed Stefano was Paul's biological father and threatened to tell Paul the truth if Tori didn't convince him to leave Salem. Will's plan blew up when it was discovered that John was Paul's biological father, and Sonny was once again furious when he discovered Will cheated on him, and then schemed to get Paul out of Salem.

Will agreed to go to marriage counselling, but bribed the therapist by offering to do a story on him if he helped him and Sonny get back together. Will was quickly busted by Sonny and then it was revealed that Will had an affair while he was in L.A.

Will and Sonny agree to start over, and things were looking up for awhile, but Will was still insecure about Paul being in town. Will set up Paul and another guy, Derek, hoping to take the attention away from Sonny. Sonny eventually found out that Will was still manipulating things, and left Salem after accepting a job offer from Victor.

With Sonny gone, Will's heart was broken, and he did his best to be a good father to Arianna as well as get his life back on track. Gabi was released from prison, and Will was happy that Ari would have her mother back in his life. Ben Rogers made Will his best man in his wedding to Abby, but Will discovered a necktie of Ben's. Ben became panicked and Will realized Ben was the necktie killer, who had killed Serena Mason and Paige Larson. Will tried to run, but Ben grabbed Will and threw him against the fridge. He then strangled Will to death with the necktie.


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References

  1. Sonny said Will wasn't of drinking age in February 2012. Plus, Will's age was listed as 20 on Ariana's birth certificate in June 2013.
  2. New Years Eve 2013 is mentioned on December 27/30, 2013. Will kept on mentioning his surprise birthday party through mid-late December 2013.
  3. Will's birth year was shown on his grave. October 19, 2015.
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