Rafael strode hurriedly down the hall, a quick "Good evening, Carmen" thrown over his shoulder as he passed her desk and approached the door to his office.
"Any messages while I was gone?" he inquired, pulling a silver key from the pocket of his slacks as he made to unlock the door.
"Thomas Johnson's lawyer wants to meet with you tomorrow about a possible plea," Carmen replied, reading directly from the memo pad clutched in her hands.
Rafael smirked, finally managing to get the door open. "Of course he does. Bastard knows that if this goes to trial he'll be gone until his seventy-fifth birthday." Carmen just chuckled and turned to answer the phone, voice all cheery smiles and sweetness as she picked up the receiver: "Good evening, Mr. Barba's office. How may I help you?"
Rafael groaned a sigh of relief before practically running to his desk, all thoughts of witnesses and verdicts and sleazy defense attorneys a thousand miles away once his back hit the chair.
He knew that he should work. He knew that he should pull the case files out of his briefcase, prepare his closing argument for the following morning.
But he was so goddamn exhausted, and he just wanted to make it home before the sun had set entirely for once. And fine, maybe he had a little bit of initiative to get home early in the form of one blue-eyed Sonny Carisi.
Work paled in comparison when Rafael considered Sonny's dimpled smile and ridiculously long, lean arms that would surely snake their way around his waist the moment he stepped into their apartment.
Screw it.
Maybe he'd grab a pizza on his way home and rent that movie Sonny had been talking incessantly about for the last three weeks.
Just as Rafael was about to take his leave, briefcase in hand, he noticed a new addition to the various mementos scattered randomly across the front of his desk. He leaned over slightly, peering at the unexpected intrusion.
It was a picture frame.
It was small, the frame itself circular and a deep, mahogany brown.
Truly, it was completely inconspicuous when placed amongst the organized clutter of knick-knacks that framed the edge of Rafael's desk; it looked like it had always belonged next to the container Rafael kept his fountain pens in, occupying a previously vacant space that he had never realized was there.
Rafael lowered himself back into his seat before slowly, gently taking the frame into his hands in order to study it further.
Inside, was a picture of him and Sonny.
He recognized it immediately, as it was only from the previous weekend.
Sonny had successfully convinced him after weeks of groveling to have an afternoon picnic in Central Park.
"Please Rafi!" he had begged Sunday morning over coffee and pancakes. Sonny had still been in the kitchen, choosing to eat his breakfast at the counter while Rafael sat across from him at the bar top, shoveling bits of pancake into his mouth.
"It'll be so relaxing," Sonny had continued, Rafael not looking up from the newspaper he was lazily flicking through.
"And romantic." Suddenly, Sonny had leaned over the bar top, snatching the newspaper right out from underneath Rafael's grasp. "C'mon, Rafi, please! I'm just asking for this one day." Rafael had glared at him, reaching for the newspaper; Sonny was able to keep it out of arm's reach, however, because he possessed stupidly long arms that Rafael really wanted to tie behind his back right now.
Rafael had giving up, sneering, "Yes, because sweat and humidity and bugs and screaming children is the textbook definition of romance."
Sonny had thrown the newspaper onto the counter and rounded the bar top, stopping right in front of Rafael. "What if," he had begun, arms curling around Rafael's neck, an unrelenting twinkle in his bright, blue eyes. "I bring a blanket. That way, you don't have to sit in the grass and ruin your fancy schmancy designer jeans." He pressed a soft kiss to Rafael's neck.
"Okay," Rafael breathed. "What about the sweat?" Sonny seemed to consider this before saying, "I promise that I'll find you the biggest patch of shade in the whole entire park." Another kiss, this time on the patch of skin directly behind Rafael's ear.
"And the screaming children?" Rafael had asked, the resolve quickly leaving his body as Sonny hummed against his neck.
"Well, you'll be with me, so hopefully you'll be too preoccupied to notice the evil, screaming children." Sonny had smirked at him then, a wicked glint in his eyes.
"We are absolutely not making out in Central Park if that's what you're suggesting," Rafael had stated, pinching Sonny's side in what had been a half-hearted attempt at wiping the smug grin off of his stupid, adorable face.
"I suggested no such thing, counselor," Sonny had quipped, leaning forward and finally capturing Rafael's lips in his own.
It was a short, sweet kiss, and when Sonny had attempted to pull away Rafael had quickly grabbed him by his hips, keeping him firmly locked in between Rafael's thighs.
Sonny had let his forehead rest against Rafael's, smiling softly down at him while Rafael had traced gentle patterns across Sonny's hip bones with his thumbs.
"Is that a yes?" he'd asked. Rafael had sighed, pulling Sonny close for another chaste kiss before conceding, "Only if you bring a blanket."
And that's how Rafael Barba had ended up in Central Park underneath the shade of a large elm tree, Sonny Carisi laying contentedly at his side on a wool blanket that hadn't seen the light of day since Sonny's early beginnings as a rookie cop.
Sonny had somehow even managed to convince him to take selfies like they were fucking teenagers; Sonny had completely ignored his cries of protest and curled himself against Rafael's side, pressed his left cheek to Rafael's right, and proclaimed, "Smile!"
One pictured turned into at least fifty; Rafael had lost count after number thirty-eight.
Rafael's expression had remained generally the same in each snapshot, a warm smile on his lips as he snuck glances at his boyfriend who stuck out his tongue, pressed his lips to Rafael's cheek, all while he continued to click away with his phone.
Rafael had known for certain, in that moment, that he'd never loved anyone more.
And as Rafael continued to stare at the picture in front of him, he felt warm all over.
It was one of the simpler ones that they'd taken, both smiling happily.
Sonny wasn't looking at the camera though, Sonny was looking at Rafael, and he had such love in his beautiful, blue eyes, and Rafael's chest felt tight because the amazing, beautiful man in the framed photo on his desk was his, his hopefully forever, and now every single person that walked into his office would know it, and that thought made Rafael feel whole.
He hadn't been aware that something was missing from his desk before the frame had been placed there, just like he hadn't been aware that something was missing from his heart until Sonny had stumbled his way into it.
"Carmen?" Rafael called, just loud enough for his secretary to hear from her post outside of his office.
Rafael looked up at the door clicked open, still clutching the frame tightly in his hands. "Yes, Mr. Barba?" Carmen had only stepped halfway into the office, a puzzled expression painting her features; her confusion probably had something to do with the genuinely sentimental look Rafael was still wearing on his face.
Rafael set the frame lightly back down on his desk before turning his attention back to Carmen. "Did Sonny stop by sometime this afternoon?" he inquired.
Carmen shook her head slightly before saying, "No, I haven't seen him all day. Why?"
How the hell had Sonny gotten into his office than?
"It's…nothing," Rafael replied, still staring at Carmen. "It's just…I think he left me a gift."
Just then, he noticed a slight twinkle in Carmen's eyes; maybe she knew more about Sonny's little gift than she was letting on.
"I'm guessing you'll be taking an early night, then?" she inquired. She knew.
Rafael let out a shaky laugh and just nodded in confirmation.
Carmen smiled, and she looked so happy for him, and Rafael wanted to jump up and hug her, but he knew Carmen wouldn't take too kindly to that because he'd never displayed such genuine emotion in her presence before.
"He's good for you," she finally said after Rafael continued to stare in silence.
Rafael thought a truer statement had never been made.