Three months.
It had been three months since Rafael had seen the love of his life, Dominick 'Sonny' Carisi.
He knew something was off when he hadn't received a phone call or text message from Sonny in three days, so he went to Sonny's boss and Rafael's bestfriend: Olivia. To some, three days might not seem like a long time but they obviously don't know the dynamic of this couple. After the first day of not hearing from Sonny, Rafael couldn't sleep that night. Normally he slept peacefully with Sonny's head resting on his chest and Sonny's around his waist. He kept tossing and turning trying to find peace in his lonely king size bed. After the second day Rafael went home and fell asleep after drinking a whole bottle of expensive scotch and leaving Sonny 10 voicemails and 7 text messages.
He regretted that the next morning, rushed into the precinct and into Liv's office determined to get some answers.
"Liv, is Sonny here?" Rafael asked worrisome.
Liv looked up with her eyebrows drawn together then with an "of course not " look on her face but then she recognized Rafael and started to look apologetic. "No Rafael, he's not here."
Then Rafael yelled " well where the hell is he?!"
Liv noticed people were starting to stare in her office so she closed the blinds and turned to Rafael and said "Okay, Rafael I need you to calm down."
That was obviously the wrong thing to say because Rafael's eyes began to fill with burning anger. There was something scary about this look in his eyes, she had never seen him so upset."
Don't you DARE tell me to fucking calm down right now!" "WHERE IS SONNY?!" At this point Rafael was livid, understandably, this is the love of his life he's talking about. There's a ten second pause where Liv and Rafael just stare at each other. Then suddenly Liv says just above a whisper ,"I can't tell you." Rafael just dead pan stares at her trying to remain calm "What do you mean u can't te-" He realizes why she absolutely can't tell him and makes the "O" shape with his mouth. His lips then created a frown, he came to the realization that there was only one place Sonny could be: undercover.
Him and Sonny had never discussed the idea of Sonny going undercover. Honestly, Rafael avoided it at all causes not wanting to think about going without Sonny. But in all actuality if they would've discussed it he wouldn't be losing his mind (as much).
"How long?" Rafael asked. "I don't know. Even if I did I couldn't tell you, you know that. Rafael just dropped his head in defeat because she was right. "Look Rafael, you know I can't go into detail but he's working to put some really bad people away. It could take 3 months maybe a year." At that Rafael turned a very pale white and slightly gasped. He couldn't imagine going a whole year without Sonny. It seemed like his whole world had been snatched away from him. He turned and walked out of Liv's office in a daze. He went straight home and people hadn't heard from him in a week.
Many nights he waited up for Sonny, sometimes he even set the table for two hoping his love would be joining him. Many nights he cried in his bed alone staring at Sonny's photo saying "Carino",Baby, Sonny, I miss you!".
After a week of misery Rafael decided that he might feel better if he went back to work. He began working like 'normal' again with his regular routine. Time was just passing by, it was as if he was in a daze. Before he knew it Rafael had gone 3 months without Sonny.
Three months.
It had been three months since Rafael had seen the love of his life, Dominick 'Sonny' Carisi.
But this one particular morning he got dressed in one of his casual Armani suits with a tie that Sonny had bought him for their one month anniversary and headed out to start his day. However,Rafael was not prepared for the amount of messages and phone calls he would receive that morning. As he walked in his local coffee shop, where him and Sonny had their first date, he nearly ran into three people because he was so distracted. When it was Rafael's turn to place his order he didn't look up, his eyes were glued to his phone. He just calmly recited his order "Double Americano with no whipped cream". "That'll be $3.76" As soon as he heard that his head instantly snapped up.
'$3.76'
He replayed it in his head as he stared into the cashiers eyes. The cashier stood there 5'8 jet black short hair with a complimentary beard. He was kind of lanky for his height but he had defined muscles under that uniform shirt. (Accessorized by a name tag with "Justin" on it) Rafael didn't know this person but he knew his voice , it was so familiar.
That voice had sung him to sleep on many nights. It calmed him down when he was upset over a case. It had moaned his name over and over some nights. This voice was more than familiar...it was "Sonny".
"I'm sorry, my name is Justin" he heard the cashier say . When he looked up he saw the cashier smiling, those dimples. He knew those dimples. They popped up anytime Sonny cracked a corny joke that he was the only one to laugh at. Rafael saw those dimples everytime he told Sonny he loved him. Rafael was accustom to seeing those dimples everyday.
Then he realized he was holding up the line so he gave the cashier a five dollar bill and told him to keep the change. He walked over to the 'Pick Up' line. Once he made it there he realized he hadn't given the cashier a name for his order.
"Got a Double Americano with no whipped cream for Rafí" he heard Justin say. The only person who called him that was Sonny and his mother. He gasped and looked up at 'Justin' with his eyes full of tears. He knew that this was his Sonny. The cashier gave him his coffee with a wink. Rafael walked put that coffee shop with the biggest smile because it might have been the best day of his life.