Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU or any of its characters.

Just The Way You Are

"Dost mine ears deceiveth me?"
Rafael pulled off his tie,
"Could you not be so dramatic about it?"
Annie came to him, jumping on her toes,
"You're asking me to come with you to a work event"
"It's a fundraiser. Everyone from the NYPD will be there"
"And you want to take me along. Why?", she grinned.
"Who else would I take?"
"Just say 'I want to show you off' and I'll drop this"
He smiled,
"I want to show you off. To the world, Annie!"
"Don't overdo it"
"You're impossible"
Annie wanted to make immediate plans.
"What look should I go for - kept woman or independent sex buddy?"
Rafael sat down to dinner.
"Anything you want"
They started eating. She was fidgety and restless.
"Are you going to give me a list of things I shouldn't say while I'm there?"
"I gave up writing that list a long time ago"
"Come on. No guidelines?"
"You're a grown woman", he said, "It's not like I'm taking you to some enchanted place where the rules are different from our world"
"You're seriously not going to tell me what to do there?"
"Nope"
Annie thought she smelled a farce.
"So when people want to shake my hand, can I put my hand in theirs, fingers first, and wait for them to kiss it?"
"You can do whatever you want"
Puzzled, yet excited, she reserved further questions for after dinner.

Annie showed Rafael the dress she wanted to rent. He leaned over her shoulder to look at the computer screen.
"Too shiny?", she asked.
He kissed her before leaving.
"Wear whatever you like"
Annie called after him,
"Where's my boyfriend and what did you do to him?!"

Their ride would be at the doorstep any soon. Annie was standing with her hands on her hips.
"Raf, come out already. We're going to be late!"
When he did come out, cutting a dashing figure in his tuxedo, Annie congratulated herself for having him. His pocket square matched the dress she was wearing. She pointed,
"That makes ours a couples' costume, you know"
"I don't mind"
Her face was twisted in disbelief. Annie roughly took his arm.
"Remind me to take you to a doctor"
They locked the apartment. Rafael asked,
"You have everything? Where's that clutch I got you?"
Annie hid it behind her.
"I'm going to use my cleavage purse", she demonstrated.
Rafael didn't bring any curses down upon her. He was smiling.
"Suit yourself"
"You're scaring me"
They walked down to their cab and headed to the event.

Everyone would stop to look at ADA Barba's companion. They were surprised that he had one. And from the way she made him grin every other minute, she was more than just a companion.
"Hey beautiful!"
Sonny had been awaiting them. He and Annie met in arms. They were telling each other how great they looked.
"Mr. Barba"
"Carisi"
Annie made Sonny do a 360°, told him he looked like a gentleman.
"Tie and all this... your sleeve is creased", she began tidying him up, "And you use way too much product. Look like a mafioso!"
Sonny pulled her thumb down from his eyebrows, telling her she was embarrassing him. An inaudible sigh after, Rafael brought Annie to his side by her waist.
"I want you to meet some people. Excuse us, Detective"
Rafael introduced his girlfriend to his boss. Also to everyone who would ask, and there were a lot of them. Finally, he saw Liv standing with Fin and Rollins.
"Barba", she smiled.
"Wait. I know who you are", Annie said, "Olivia, right?"
"That's right", they shook hands, "And you must be Annie"
She turned to her boyfriend,
"So you do talk about me, Rafael"
"They are...", he began.
"I am on it"
She guessed right,
"Detectives Amanda Rollins and Fin Tutuola"
"Barba talks about us too?", Fin asked.
"In descriptive terms", she said.
Sonny came to the group then. Olivia would have introduced him as well, but he started parlez-ing Italian with Barba's girlfriend.
"Più vino?", she asked him.
"Bianco o rosso?"
"Rosso. Grazie"
Barba explained, to stop Rollins from choking on her drink,
"They grew up together"
Olivia was surprised too.
"You guys met through Carisi?"
"No", Annie said, "We met a long time before Sonny joined here"
"How long have you been together?", Rollins asked.
Barba told her,
"Four years"
Annie beamed in joy. Fin said,
"I think I saw you both at Home Depot once. It was a while back. But then I thought Barba would never shop at Home Depot"
"Yeah", Annie recalled, "We were buying a new bed. That's the only time we have gone to Home Depot together, right Raf?"
Barba rushed to explain for no apparent reason.
"Annie moves up in her sleep. We needed a different bed. Not that the old one broke or anything"
"Yeah. I'm not happy till my head's hitting the headboard", she laughed, "And he makes sure it does"
Fin shook his head as if he were mesmerized.
"Man, where have you been hiding her?"
Sonny came with Annie's wine then.
"They are charging for it!", he handed her the glass.
The rest of the team looked at Barba. He hung his head.

Barba, his girlfriend and Liv soon formed a tight trio. Liv was showing Noah's pictures on her phone to Annie.
"He is so adorable!", she squealed.
Rafael said to Liv,
"Don't mind her. She cries at baby soap commercials"
"Well, I'm sorry for having a heart", Annie said.
Someone called for Liv; she excused herself from the company.
"Noah's a lucky kid", Annie said.
He had never seen her so morose. She was happy a child had gotten out of the foster system but it must have had brought back some memories.
"You okay?", Rafael rubbed her back.
"Yeah. Your colleagues are nice"
He shrugged,
"Some days"
She gave him that typical admonishing yet endearing look before kissing him. His hands were on her waist now. Annie touched her forehead to his.
"I love you"
"I love you too"
"Some days?"
He gave a grin.
"Everyday"
She played with the lapels of his tux.
"You didn't try to make me stop talking at all today. I still don't know why"
"I wanted you to be yourself around them. No filters, no censorship"
"Why is that?"
"Because if everyone sees you, just the way you are, they will understand why I love you"
She pouted, stopped short of saying "Aw!"
"Oh Raf"
He kissed her again, caring not about the people staring. Annie said against his lips,
"Let's find a supply closet and fuck"
He grinned,
"Not here. We'll leave for home soon"
"But I want you right now!", she purred.
"And you will want me later too. Come on. People are looking at us. I have to write a check"
They mingled with the crowd, hands held and hearts content.