Montserrat recently discovered that walking by the city's waterfront at sunset was her favorite pastime. Lucky for her, Rafael caught on fast. A few times that week alone they'd come late in the afternoon to see the sunset. And since she had just gotten back from a weekend (that he thought was way too long) away, it had been a very nice day together indeed.
"This is my favorite time of the day," Montserrat admired the scenery of the water gently flowing below. She would occasionally peer over the rail and if she looked really hard, she could see some small fish swimming by.
"Really?" Rafael stood beside her. His gaze lingered on the sun's glint over the water. "I prefer mornings."
Montserrat turned her head at him, apparently not so surprised they'd disagree on that. "That's because you're not normal. No sane person chooses mornings as their favorite time of the day." Rafael rolled his eyes but let her continue. Each time they'd come to this spot, she would get animated...without fail. "I mean look at that beautiful sunset?" She stuck her feet between the bars of the rail and leaned over, much more than Rafael would've liked. "It's the perfect time of the day. Not so cold but not so warm. There's that gentle breeze that sways your hair and touches your face. The water just shines with the sun's rays. And not to mention this is the time when there's more boats to watch."
Rafael followed her gaze to the few boats floating by. "I didn't know," he mused with a tiny smile on his face. He reached for her closest arm and gently pulled her back from the rail. At her scrunched face, he said, "You shouldn't lean over like that. You could fall over."
"As a detective, I think I can affirm that I do have good balance," she all but huffed.
"I just want you to be careful, that's all," he wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned against his chest and continued to admire the waterfront.
No point in petty disagreements, she thought. She missed him the past days she'd been gone so she was soaking up every minute together today.
"You know...maybe we could try going on one of those boats this weekend," Rafael suggested after a few silent minutes had passed by. He was still holding her with no intention of letting her go.
Montserrat tilted her head up at him. "What? Seriously?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"I…" Montserrat thought for a moment. She didn't want to ruin anything but there was something nagging her in the back of her mind, willing her to speak up about it. Though she smiled, Rafael knew it was a tight smile that was about to start something. "You've been acting strange."
"I...have…?"
"Yes. You've been taking me to all these places, doing all these things - I mean, not that it's not nice but...I can't help but think it has to do with...what I told you a while back." Her smile saddened and that's when it became a problem for Rafael.
"That is not pity, Montserrat. Do not, for a second, dare to think all this is pity. Yes, I'll admit, part of my reasons are because of what you told me-"
A sigh escaped from Montserrat before he could even finish explaining. "I knew it," she whispered and untangled herself from him.
"Hold on!" Rafael caught her arm to turn her right back to him. "I did just want to do nice things because I missed you. I recently discovered that I don't really like it when you're gone." He was actually proud of himself that he was able to say that all in one go.
Montserrat had gone away for the weekend to visit the family she'd been a surrogate for and though it was literally only 3 days - one of which was the Friday she was meant to be at work - Rafael felt like there was something huge missing from him. Work was gloomy, frustrating, and his weekend had been silent and lonesome. Usually the last two wouldn't have been a problem since he was used to such weekends but ever since he started dating Montserrat, he had spent those weekends with her and there was such a difference. If they didn't go out, then they would spend at one of their places doing whatever they wanted. Whether it was simple television or take out, it just made him feel happier, lighter.
Montserrat met his gaze with a studious look. She wanted to find any clue that he might be lying. "Really?"
"Yes, absolutely," Rafael smiled. He reached a tender hand to her cheek. "Plus, I kind of like spoiling you." He simply loved watching her blush at his words. "I've always liked travelling. I like going to places...and now I can bring someone with me."
"I like that too," Montserrat exhaled a light sigh. "I just don't want it to be coddled. And I don't really need to be spoiled."
"Has it not been fun?"
"That's not what I s-"
"-but has it been fun?"
Montserrat briefly looked away when she huffed. "Yes, fine, it has. I have liked all those places you've brought me to, but I just don't want it to be part of something...that's supposed to coddle me. I don't want to be coddled. I don't need it. I'm good."
"Montserrat-"
"-I'm really good, okay? I've been good for a year now. Trust me."
It wasn't that Rafael didn't trust her. He just wished he could believe her. Because he'd been no stranger to all her odd behavior from before and despite her being in a good place, it didn't mean she was overall good. He got that from work. But the problem was, as it seemed to him, that Montserrat wasn't quite ready to accept that. She wasn't ready to accept that she wasn't going to be 'good' all the time. She only accepted that she'd had bad moments every once in a while, but it seemed like once she got past each one she believed it would be the last time it would happen. And maybe that's why he was also making all these trips. He wanted to help in whatever way he could, and if the only way was to show her a good time then he'd do it. But he also wasn't lying about enjoying their recent outings.
They had plenty of dinners and lunches in-between work. Both of them had shown each other their favorite places to eat. Then they began to go out to different places like simple shows and festivals that were going on at the time. Now Rafael wanted to show Montserrat the joy of boats. He personally loved them.
"I don't want to argue, especially when we've been so good these past days weeks," Montserrat brought him out of his thoughts. "I do enjoy these outings. I love that you've been so attentive, I do…" she rested her hands on his chest and brought herself closer, "But I don't need to be coddled. I am good."
"Okay," Rafael relented only because he didn't want to upset her. He was just sure that this wasn't over, in fact he knew it. "But...how about that boat ride?"
It was impossible for Montserrat not to end up smiling. "I don't know…"
"I do like spoiling you," Rafael reiterated with a big grin on his face. "Learned that very fast. So, what do you say?" He brought his hand from her cheek down to her hand and used his hold to turn her around. Once more she rested her back against his chest and faced the waterfront where they would see the boats far away.
"I've never been on one," admitted Montserrat after a while. "What if I get seasick?"
"We can bring bags…" Rafael earned an elbow jabbing into his stomach. "What?"
Montserrat rolled her eyes. "You pick the damn boat, then, and I guess I'll just bring my bags."
It was a struggle for Rafael not to laugh, because if he did then Montserrat would definitely leave him right there and then. Instead, he wound an arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head. "I'll pick a good one, I promise."
~0~
"Juliana is such a big fan of that girl's," Montserrat told Amanda as the two women watched Sonny and Fin prepare a dark-haired girl, her mother and their lawyer in the interview room.
"I don't think you should let her watch that girl so much," Amanda hummed. "Tensley Evans gave quite a show and Nick got caught in the middle of it."
"I heard," Montserrat nodded. Nick had arrested Tensley for a DUI and was now being accused of trying to take advantage of her. "He literally cannot catch a break."
"This ain't going anywhere," Amanda said as a promise.
The two waited for Sonny and Fin to come out of the room just switch places and interviewed Tensley. Of course, dealing with superstars always became more a headache.
"My daughter does not deserve to go to prison, she needs help," Tensley's mother was outraged with the whole precinct for bringing them in.
"Wasn't she already being helped?" Montserrat innocently asked since they all knew that Tensley was supposed to be in her rehab center. "And then she left? These charges against her very serious ma'am. Drunk driving, fleeing the scene, falsely accusing a police officer."
Tensley scoffed and propped an arm on her chair's armrest. She left her palm facing up to give her an air of nonchalant. "Why does everyone automatically assume I'm lying?"
"Because you are," Amanda flatly responded, making Tensley want to argue back but of course Amanda was too prepared for the girl. "You ever heard of Dash cam footage?"
Tensley's eyes widened. She knew when to give it up and now was the time. "Okay…"
"All right, all right, my client was in an agitated state," her lawyer took over. "Maybe she misinterpreted the officer's actions."
"If Tensley says someone assaulted her, someone assaulted her!" Tensley's mother exclaimed.
"Donna, Donna!" the lawyer motioned the woman to sit still. "Stop!"
"Hey, mom, I don't feel well," Tensley dramatically sighed and fanned get face. Her mother quickly abandoned whatever issue she had and helped Tensley fan her face.
"Breathe, baby, breathe. Breathe. Remember…I need some water for her Xanax!"
Amanda and Montserrat exchanged looks. They would be a tiring bunch. Montserrat sighed and pushed herself up from her chair. "Why don't you come with me, Mrs. Evans. I'm sure we can find a clean glass."
"Marvin!"
"We'll be fine, Donna," the lawyer, Marvin, assured but Donna didn't seemed so convinced.
"I am not just her mother, I am her court-appointed-"
"Mom, mom, mom!" Tensley shouted. "Mom, it's not my nerves, it's my blood sugar, okay? I need a power bar.'
"All right. Okay, sweetie. All right, I'll go." Donna looked to Montserrat who was standing by the door, her expression having no trace of patience for the loud mother. Amanda silently thanked Montserrat with a nod.
"Do you have anything that's low on calories?" Donna began asking as soon as they left the room. "Because Tensley is on a strict diet - one that I'm sure that rehab center is making her break."
"Mm, I think they're giving her the food she needs," Montserrat answered as calmly as possible, though seeing both Fin's and Sonny's teasing looks from their desks made her nearly lose it. Hanging her out to dry, clearly.
"Well, what would you know?" Donna hissed. She was trailing after Montserrat, into the lounge room. "I don't think you're on a diet."
"But I am," Montserrat turned around suddenly, making Donna bump into her. "It's called eat-what-I-want-to-eat. I'm fortunate to have that type of diet but call me crazy when I say I don't think Tensley has any health issues requiring a diet."
Donna rolled her eyes. "This is a waste of time. All of you-" she wildly waved her hands first at Montserrat then the room itself, "-are a waste of time!"
"Ma'am, we're trying to help your daughter out. I would think you'd be a little more happy about that. Especially when we're overlooking the fact she made a false accusation."
Donna stayed quiet for a few minutes. Her expression wasn't too happy right then, but Montserrat wasn't taking anything back.
"You know, it's mothers like Donna Evans that make me feel better that my mother abandoned me," Montserrat didn't hesitate to admit once the two irritable women were gone. She slumped into her desk, initially missing the startled reactions from her co-workers. "What?" she said when she finally noticed.
"We, uh, didn't quite know that," Fin said, though he seemed more amused than surprised now.
Montserrat shrugged. "It slipped. My bad."
Olivia emerged from her office just as she'd ended a call. She didn't look too pleased. "That was Barba. In light of Tensley's latest accusation, the judge just ordered her released into her mother's custody."
"Really?" Amanda almost laughed. "So, she runs away from the scene of an accident, she makes a false accusation against Nick, and...she just gets sent back to her multi-million dollar penthouse?"
"Until we follow up on the allegations made against the psych director, yes," Olivia gave a nod.
"Yeah but again'st Jim Durant? He's well-respected. There's no record there. No whispers. She lied about Nick. She's lying about this guy. She's just gonna accuse anybody of anything just to get out of here!"
"Amanda, it sounds like you're taking this a little personally," Olivia realized and understood where Amanda was coming from. "Why don't you take a moment to calm down. In the meantime, I'm going to need a statement from Durant."
"Will it involve making contact with Donna Evans?" Montserrat raised her hand as if she were in school.
Olivia cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Uh, no…"
"Then I'll do it," the detective jumped from her chair.
Olivia was far too lost to even question Montserrat's attitude, but she supposed if they got the information they needed...who cares.
~ 0 ~
"This is what a rich-people rehab looks like?" Montserrat stopped walking on the mushy grass and took a moment to breathe in the fresh air. Even the sun was hitting the right way.
Sonny stopped beside her and watched her for a few minutes. "You're acting strange, you know."
Montserrat opened her eyes to give him a sharp look. "I'm acting like me."
"Yeah, but...you're just acting different. Happier, I mean," Sonny looked straight ahead at the garden where patients rested.
Montserrat rolled her eyes. "Don't even go there, Sonny."
"What? I was going to say anything else!" But he purposely stayed silent for a few seconds then looked at her with a knowing smile. "But it is nice to see you happy. Makes all the threats you had on me worth it."
Montserrat released a sigh and shook her head. A part of her was mighty embarrassed she ever threatened him because of her problems with Rafael. "I can't believe you. Serves you right for siding with Rafael. Next time, be the smart guy and side with the woman. We're always right."
Now it was Sonny's turn to roll his eyes. If he remembered correctly - and he did since he was practically right there - she was the one who had been wrong. He supposed Rafael ad been incredibly smart and just let the whole thing pass by without placing blame. "Let's just go." He led them further down the garden until they found the man they were looking for.
Jim Durant, the head of the rehab center, was pulled away from a patient to talk to the detectives. "Listen, as soon as we realized Tensley was gone, we notified her mother. The strength, hope and recovery center is not a lockdown facility."
"So you operate on an honor system?" Montserrat asked him, studying his every move and shift as they spoke.
"Mmhmm."
"Any idea why she left so suddenly?"
"Well, without violating privacy, some patients can have a hard time adapting. We're a dry house, so there's no alcohol, no drugs, no sex."
"And, uh, that includes with the psych director?" Sonny went directly for the bit. They could dance around the question for hours and they didn't have that type of patience.
"Is she making accusations?"
"You don't look very surprised," Montserrat noted.
"Well... Of course she is. Young women who've been sexualized at an early age can conflate these experiences and then project them onto others," Durant explained calmly.
"What did she project onto you?"
"She began acting provocatively, attempting to seduce me, but I viewed it as a breakthrough."
Sonny looked at Montserrat just to make sure they'd both heard right. "A breakthrough?" he asked Durant. "To what?"
"To the transference. Where the gold is. See, the fact that she is behaving that way, showed me that this was a core issue of hers."
"And once you noticed the transference, did you discourage it?"
"Look, I behaved professionally with Tensley. Strength and Hope has security cameras everywhere for this very reason. With her permission, you screen the footage, and it will exonerate me."
"Alright, so how about the other doctors, maybe the staff?" Montserrat took note of the lingering employees around them and wondered how many the facility had. "Is there a possibility they didn't handle her acting out as professionally as you did?"
Durant shook his head. "No one on staff. But she did have an encounter with a boy, her roommate's son. And Tensley assured me it would never happen again."
"A boy? How old?" Sonny asked.
"Fifteen. We informed the boy's mother. She didn't want to pursue," Durant said before either detective could accuse him of burying the case.
~ 0 ~
It took a few hours to go through the security feed from the rehab, but they eventually found what they were looking for.
"So Tensley just went from being a victim to being the perp," Amanda wasn't surprised in the least. She closed her laptop and looked at the others. "Who wants to take that one?"
It seemed like this case was a bit more difficult considering Tensley's difficult attitude. None of the detectives were lining up to go through the case.
"I'm not visiting that girl," Montserrat reached for her phone left inside her drawer. "In fact, what I'm going to do now is text my brother and tell him not to let Juliana watch any of her movies."
"Good call," Fin said, making her point in agreement.
"Alright guys," Olivia stopped by their desks. "We got a name of the boy yet?"
"Yeah, Miller," said Sonny. "He is 15, like Durant said, and the security caught them...in the act."
"Okay, so we know the drill from here. Fin, why don't you go meet with Amaro and head onto the boy's home."
"What?" Fin asked. The others wore a similar confused expression.
Olivia smiled ever-so-innocently at her squad. "Oh, did I forget to mention? Nick's back in."
"What? Since when!?" Amanda got up from her chair.
"Since now," Olivia's smile widened. "So let's remind him what SVU is like, shall we?"
Fin got up to go meet with Nick shortly afterwards. It left the remaining detectives to discuss their friend's return.
"It's so great that he finally caught the break," Montserrat chuckled. "Maybe we should do something tonight to celebrate."
"If it involves drinks, I'm in," Amanda chuckled.
"Great, Sonny?"
"Yeah I guess so," the detective in question shrugged. "Can I bring Kara?"
"What am I? Your mother? Whatever you want," Montserrat rolled her eyes and missed Sonny doing the same to her.
~ 0 ~
When the evening came by, all was set for a good night out. Montserrat was putting on her last golden hoop earring when she heard someone knocking on the apartment door. Even though it was months - a lot of months - she never failed to laugh when she heard Kara making a run for the door. It was just too funny, especially when Kara would nearly fall.
"I'm a horrible, horrible person," Montserrat concluded on her way out of her bedroom.
Sonny was waiting for Kara in the living room and was glad to see her ready. "Now you look wonderful," he said to Kara as soon as he saw her in her golden, sparkly dress.
"Right words," Kara said before kissing him.
"Ugh, if this is how you're going to act I'd rather walk," Montserrat broke them apart with her presence.
"Fine, it'll be a far better car ride for us then," Kara smirked at her.
Montserrat rolled her eyes at them and went directly for the door. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just go."
"So you really are going alone?" Kara asked as they followed her out.
"I've already told you how it works, Kara," Montserrat was the one to lock the apartment door. "Why do you keep asking?"
"I'm just afraid that you're not being honest. God knows it wouldn't be the first time," Kara looked at Sonny when she said that. They'd both been witnesses to that.
Montserrat turned around to the two with an honest smile. "This is how it works for now. Rafael and I both decided this."
"But are you sure?"
"Yes!" Montserrat almost laughed at how ridiculously overprotective Kara was. She headed for the elevator and prompted them to follow. "It's not that easy for us coming out and saying 'hey, we're going out now', okay? If we tell everyone the truth then we have to officially disclose to our bosses beforehand and it's…" Montserrat shook her head. She got a headache just thinking about the paperwork she would eventually have to do. "It's just something we don't want to deal with right now." She pressed the down button of the hallway. "We like the bubble."
"The bubble has to pop sometime, you know," Sonny said.
"We know," Montserrat assured him. "But not right now. So please, don't make such a big deal out of it."
"Sorry," Kara said just as they entered the elevator. "I just think it's awful that you can't be together when you're around others. Like tonight. I'm sure Rafael would've liked to have picked you up."
"Yeah, well, he'd have to tear himself away from his office for that," Montserrat chuckled. "He's obsessed with that place. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't show up today."
"How badly did you threaten him if he didn't show up?" Kara thought to ask.
Montserrat smirked. "He's learned by now."
Sonny shook his head at both of them. This is why he needed to side with Rafael. They couldn't outnumber them this way!
~0~
When the trio arrived to their favorite bar, they found Nick and Amanda were already there. They were waiting for them by the entrance.
"I'm so happy you're back," Montserrat hugged Nick tightly. "We've missed you."
"Believe me, I've missed everyone," Nick assured them all. He was glad to be back at SVU and away from all the irritating rookies he'd been surrounded by.
"Y'all wanna go in?" Amanda motioned to the door.
"Mhm, it's cold out here!" Kara exclaimed and hugged herself. Her thin white jacket wasn't doing the trick.
"You guys go ahead," Montserrat motioned them in. "I think I see Liv and Rafael." That was a lie; she saw only one person and it wasn't the former.
"Mhm," Kara hummed with a smirk so Sonny ushered her into the restaurant even quicker.
"I didn't think you were coming," Montserrat said to Rafael, managing to do it without laughing.
Rafael knew exactly why. "Well, I do seem to recall the threat was if I didn't come we were over."
"Right," Montserrat pretended to suddenly remember that crucial piece of information.
"You know, just a piece of advice, whenever you're going to make a threat, don't start off huge because then all the other threats won't seem that bad."
"Duly noted."
Rafael rolled his eyes at her. Figures she'd pull something like that, but he'd be lying if he said he minded. He was loving her dark, blue fitted dress on her with the defined sweetheart neckline. She could make any threats at him that she wanted.
"You want to go in?" she asked him.
"No, not really. I'd rather stay here for a few more minutes," he moved closer to her. "And...look at you…" She blushed under his stare. He slipped an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. "Te ves divina." He'd been far too close to her face when he said that. She had felt his breath fanning her face and the only thought she had in the first few seconds was when, oh when, would he kiss her.
"Ďakujem," slipped out of her while she was in that trance. She only snapped out of it when Rafael asked her what she'd said. She blinked and focused on his eyes and not his lips to realize she'd left him puzzled. "Thank you," she said with an embarrassed laugh. "I said 'thank you'. And you..." Her eye squinted as she tried to piece his Spanish words together, "...said something about being...pretty?"
Rafael smiled at her. "You look divine."
"Now you're definitely over-exaggerating."
"I'm really not. Maybe after this-" he made a gesture at the restaurant, "-we can go out ourselves?"
"I like that idea," she beamed. "For now, let's go inside before people start questioning why it's taking so long for us to go in."
"Yeah, but do me a favor and don't sit next to Amaro, alright?"
"What? Why not?" Montserrat gave him a strange look.
Rafael headed for the doors first, but he suddenly had a sour look on his face. "Because every time you two are at a bar, you start flirting with each other."
Montserrat laughed at the absurdity of his words. "What!? No we don't!"
"Yeah you do and before you even say anything else, know that Kara thought the same thing."
Montserrat paused by the doors with him. "You talk to Kara now?"
"It's...a rocky relationship. Point is - stay away from Amaro," Rafael wagged a finger a her. Montserrat rolled her eyes at him then pushed his finger away. "I mean it, Montserrat! You two got very flirty last time we went out. I don't like it."
"Aw, your jealousy is novelty and kind of annoying," Montserrat's sarcasm wasn't appreciated in the least. "But I'll humor you and watch my behavior. But you will have to make it up to me afterwards."
"Say...brownies and that vanilla latte you like so much?"
Montserrat dramatically gasped. "I love. You do listen to me!" She gave him a quick kiss on the lips then pulled one of the doors open for them.
"Hey, no Liv?" Amanda asked as soon as they joined them.
Montserrat kept to her word and sat away from Nick (though she still found Rafael's accusations ridiculous). She took a seat beside Kara instead. "Uh, no, I guess I must have seen someone else."
Kara not-so-quietly scoffed in her chair. "Oh, she saw something alright." Montserrat shot her friend a glare that warned her to keep quiet.
"Well, thanks for all of this," Nick raised his glass to the group. "It really is good to be back."
"And we hope you stick around this time," Sonny said.
"Hoping to," Nick agreed with a nod. One never knew, though.
The night passed by smoothly with various drinks and laughs. It was only when Rafael received a call from Olivia - who never showed up - that things came to a close.
"What's wrong?" Montserrat asked him once he'd hung up the call. Everyone around them were just as worried as she was.
"Um, Olivia just arrested Tensley Evans," Rafael put his phone away. "She went to Tensley's house to clear up the case and she arrested her for rape."
"We should go see if she needs anything," Amanda said and had Nick agreeing with her.
"Don't bother," Rafael told them but it didn't stop either detective from getting up. "Everything's closed until tomorrow."
"Still, Liv shouldn't be alone in the precinct," Nick said. He was just so ready to go back to work, even if it pulled him from a good get together. "You guys stay, we'll go."
"Are you sure?" Sonny asked.
"Yeah, if you need to go I can get an Uber," Kara told Sonny. "It's fine."
"No, seriously, just stay. We got this," Amanda finished putting on her jacket and led Nick out.
"Well, I guess if I'm not needed...we could go for those brownies you promised?" Montserrat sent a sweet smile in Rafael's way.
"You poor fool, she'll leave you broke in 10 minutes," Kara blurted, earning herself quite a glare from Montserrat afterwards. "What, I was just saying…"
"Let's go," Rafael said before he witnessed a murder. He helped Montserrat off her stool and handed her the jacket she'd brought along.
"I won't really leave you broke," she said with a pout that was, admittedly, adorable.
"I know," he smiled at her.
"But I do like brownies."
"I know."
"...what's my limit?"
"However much your stomach can hold."
The two left the bar holding hands until they reached Montserrat's favorite dessert shop. Despite going for the brownies, Montserrat was tempted by the other pastries still available.
"I know I said you can have whatever you want, but...are you sure the combination of this and the drinks you had is going to be a good one?" Rafael asked as he watched her try to decide between snickerdoodles and coffee bread.
"Nechajte ma tak," Montserrat said in what sounded like a fast-paced tongue. She''d only said 'leave me alone'.
At the foreign response, though, Rafael blinked and assumed she'd just insulted him. "Okay…"
"Just give me the coffee bread," she finally decided a minute later and turned away from the display glass before her eye caught something else she'd crave. "What?" she saw Rafael's face and she had no idea what was so funny.
"You get really into this whole dessert thing, huh?"
"It's not like you don't," she folded her arms over her chest. "You think I haven't noticed that each time I walk into your office you're eating something? Yeah, we both like to eat. A lot." He rolled his eyes at her, but she continued to smile and moved beside him. She curled her arm around his and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I chose the coffee bread for you."
He smiled lightly and sighed. "Alright then. Do you want to eat here?"
"I'd like to but my legs are cold. Who the hell has the AC turned on right now?"
He wouldn't even start that battle. "Well, we could always go to my place...if you want…?" He was nervous as he studied her reaction. They hadn't really spent time at each other's places in the night yet.
"I'd like that," Montserrat said without a moment's thought. "Definitely warmer, I'd imagine."
So, when they received their order, they headed for Rafael's place.
"Are you a neat-freak 24/7?" She laughed when they walked in. She pulled off her jacket and came to the couch to sit down.
"I'm not a neat-freak, I just like things in a special way," he followed her and set their desserts on the coffee table in front of them.
"And quietness," she added, not that it was such a surprising matter. "You're so used to that."
"I am," he nodded, though he sounded more like it was something he was resigned to rather than truly be accustomed to it.
Montserrat leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Well, you're welcomed to stop by my place anytime you want. Kara always has the television on or there's always Sonny coming by and getting us all riled up."
"I guess I might..."
She laughed. "Oh, that fast of an agreement?"
"You made a compelling argument…"
"I-I didn't..I didn't make an argument," she tilted her head at him.
"It's not so much of what you said but what you look like," he leaned closer to her with a smirk on his face. "Did I mention that you look incredibly good tonight? This is your best dress."
"One can only wonder why," she smiled sarcastically and looked at her dress. Kara had bought it for her one Christmas, promising that it would be a hit with dating. She had promised that the very defined sweetheart neckline would be the best feature.
Point one to Kara.
"Do you want to start on the dessert that you bought?" She asked despite presuming that their plans for actual dessert had been put on hold for the moment.
"I bought dessert?" He cluelessly asked but didn't even spare a glance at the bag right in front of them.
Montserrat laughed and pulled him to her for a kiss. Rafael was grateful for her pull because otherwise he might have just stared at her all night. It was much better to hold her instead. He was quick to pull her onto his lap - though he wouldn't even remember at what point he'd done it if somebody asked him - and kept her pressed against him as much as possible. Montserrat enjoyed his ardent enthusiasm to move his hands everywhere. The dress was a serious hit. She would be wearing it a lot more often now. Each time his fingers brushed over the fabric she felt a new heat surge through her skin.
But then something happened.
There were flashes of memories she hadn't really thought about for a while now…
She tried pushing them away - she was fine. She was happy where she was. She was really happy with what was going on right now. But more images came to mind. The touch. The aggressive touches, the painful touches…
"Stop! Stop!" She shouted suddenly and got up.
By the time Rafael processed what happened, he saw her standing with her back to him. She was hugging herself and shaking as if she were sick. "What's going on? Montserrat?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she kept repeating but he was pretty sure that she hadn't even heard his question. She hugged herself tightly and screwed her eyes shut until the images would leave her alone. They had to go - she was good, she had to be good.
"Montse?" Rafael was gentle when he touched her again. He knew exactly what happened. She still flinched but at least she didn't shout. "You're safe. You're safe here, remember?"
Montserrat unfolded her arms and brought one of her hands to her forehead. Was she getting a headache now? She turned around to face him, feeling terrible. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to shout at you. I just…" Her hands tried gesturing what she was trying to say but there was nothing she could say to make things better.
Luckily Rafael knew what she was trying to say; one of his many talents that she was really appreciating lately. "I know. Come here." He lowered her hands and brought her back to the couch.
She stared at the ground for a while trying to come up with words. She needed words to explain but just the thought of explaining made her want to cry. Her eyes teared up and her nose crinkled. She was frustrated. "I...I'm not…" she closed her eyes for a second and quickly wiped some loose tears at the corners. "I'm...not good. I-I thought I was - I felt good - but I guess...I'm not. Not fully." She finally brought herself to look at Rafael. "I didn't mean to lie, I swear."
"I know," he said again. None of this was news to him, which made Montserrat wonder if she was that transparent. "You didn't lie. You...are just figuring things out." He gently tucked one of her ginger curls behind her ear. "And that's okay. Figuring things out is how you get to 'being good'. But you don't have to rush to get there."
"But it's been a year!" Montserrat exclaimed, letting her frustration show through her scrunched face and balled fists. "I want to be good! I want to be okay!" She swayed her head his way. "I want to be with you. I want to do all the kissing and I want to feel your hands on my body but then this happens! When is it going to be okay? When am I going to be good!?"
"I don't know," Rafael had to be honest in that matter. There was no telling how long it could take, but he honestly was in no rush to figure it out. He only wanted her to be happy. "But we can get there, eventually."
"You don't have to wait with me," she shook her head. "It's not fair to you. All this time you were worried that you were going to be the problem in this relationship but it turns out I'm the one with the problem. It's okay if you want to drop all the baggage."
"I'm not going anywhere. In fact," he brought her body closer to his and wrapped his arms around her, "I want to be closer to you more than ever. Whenever you're 'not good', I want to be there to help you, to calm you, to comfort you."
"Are you sure?" she sniffed.
"Never been more about anything in my life."
She found the courage to smile. How could she not when she had him with her? She raised her head slightly enough to look up at him. "Thank you. You really have no idea how much that means to me."
"Why don't we get started on that dessert?" he suggested. "I really have no idea how much I bought and I am not finishing it by myself."
"I may be able to help in that area," she smiled. "But the brownies are not for sharing, that's non-negotiable."
"Fine, same goes for the coffee bread then."
"Deal," she kissed his cheek to seal said deal and leaned on him for another hug. She felt like she might be needing a few more of those tonight.
Author's Note:
Alright so there was a few ways I wanted to take this chapter because of what happened in the last one and I ultimately decided to go with this way. I never like packing in too much in one chapter so I usually end up sprinkling it across chapters. I know someone at one point asked if Rafael would ever dig into Montse's case and that'll happen but not right now. His intentions right now are solely to comfort Montserrat when she needs him - like in this chapter - but he'll end up doing his due diligence on the case in a bit.
P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.
For the reviews:
ZabuzasGirl: That's pretty much how he would see it **insert angry face here**
Professor Severus Tobias Snape: Oh he'll eventually get what's coming to him but that's set off in the way future.