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The detectives from Manhattan SVU met for a drink to celebrate a successful case.
Barba was to be joining them soon, which made Sonny a bit nervous. He wasn't sure he could keep his hands to himself, especially where alcohol was involved.
The squad still knew nothing about their relationship, at least not yet.
~~~~
Barba arrived at the bar, he took a deep breath to compose himself before entering.
He looked around, trying to spot the detectives, it was busy - being a Friday night.
Barba eventually spotted Sonny and made his way over, his heart sank when he saw some young blonde stroking Sonny's arm, throwing her head back and giggling, Sonny smiling back at her.
It stopped Barba in his tracks, he almost turned to leave but Olivia had spotted him.
"Barba! You made it!" she beamed.
Barba cleared his throat and straightened his tie, trying to prepare his best game face.
"Detectives, good evening" his eyes scanning the squad, landing on Sonny who he stared at a little too long, his hint of smile faded fast.
Sonny snatched his arm out from under the young lady's hand.
"Counselor, hey, hi..." even in the dim lighting of the bar Sonny's face was visibly growing red.
Barba looked the attractive blonde lady up and down, "Who's your friend, Detective?"
"Oh uh, Misha. This is Misha, a friend from night school... She's here with a group of her friends"
Sonny pointed to a gaggle of young things over in the corner, they all giggled and waved, all eyes on Sonny.
"How nice..." Barba said, not even trying to hide his anger anymore.
The squad sat staring, and Misha became increasingly uncomfortable.
"Can I get you a drink Barba?" Olivia asked, trying to break the tension.
"No. I'm fine. I just came to say hello and well done guys... But I uh, I've got to get home"
Barba turned and left the bar at a swift pace.
"Uh, What was that about?" Misha giggled, raising her eyebrows.
"Nothing. You should get back to your friends" Sonny replied, his response was short and blunt.
He took off after Barba, bolting for the door.
~~~~~
"Rafi wait!" Sonny yelled down the street.
Barba stopped and turned to face Sonny.
"Go celebrate with your friends Sonny. I'm fine... I'll see you later" He said and turned away.
"No you're not, I can tell" Sonny said, grabbing Barba by the shoulder, stopping him from turning.
"I'm sorry, OK? Just come back in, I'll buy you a drink" Sonny pleaded, grabbing hold of Barba's hands.
"There's no way in hell I'm going back in there. And what are you sorry for Sonny? Do you even know?" Barba pulled his hands from Sonny's and walked away.
~~~~~
Sonny stood in the street a while, stunned and confused.
He went back inside, heading back to the squad.
"Everything okay Carisi?" Dodds asked, looking genuinely concerned.
"Yeah fine..." Sonny moped, "I need a drink" he said heading to the bar.
When he returned to their table Fin nodded in the direction of Misha and her friends, "Those girls haven't taken their eyes off you Carisi. You're totally in"
"I'm not interested" Sonny slumped down into his chair, hunching over the table.
"Are you kidding me? Table full of hot young things, why are you sitting with us?!" Fin continued.
"I said, I'm not interested... Just drop it okay?" Sonny grasped his beer glass so tight it was on the verge of shattering in his hand.
"...Barba's more your type huh?" Fin slurred - he wasn't normally like this but he'd had a few too many at this point.
"Hey enough, I think you need to call it a night Fin" Olivia said, giving Fin a pat on the back, "C'mon, I'll take you home... Night Carisi, Night Dodds" Fin threw an arm around Olivia as they made their way to the door.
Sonny's friend Misha came back over, she lightly stroked Sonny's arm, "So... We're heading to another bar. Do you want to join us?" she asked in the most seductive voice she could muster after half a dozen drinks.
"No Misha... And look, I think I've given you the wrong impression. I'm taken... I - I have a boyfriend..." Sonny stared down into his beer.
"Oh... Okaaay..." Misha responded in a condescending tone, flicking her hair as she turned to strut away.
Sonny and Dodds sat in silence.
"It's Barba isn't it?" Dodds asked after a few moments.
"...That obvious?" Sonny's eye contact remained with his beer, not Dodds.
"Let me get the next round" Dodds said, getting up and giving Sonny an awkward light punch in the shoulder region.
Sonny and Dodds weren't close, but they got along well, and Sonny appreciated that Dodds was showing him some sympathy.
Dodds returned moments later with two beers and a shot of whiskey for each of them.
"Thought you might need this" Dodds said putting the shot down in front of Sonny.
"Bottoms up" Sonny half assed a smile and swallowed the whiskey down.
"... So. How long have you and Barba been... Seeing each other?" Dodds questioned, feeling as if he was walking on eggshells.
Sonny sighed, "Four fantastic months" He raised his glass to Dodds and then skulled the whole thing.
"Steady there Sonny, I don't want to have to carry your unconscious body home" Dodds said, shifting in his seat.
"I'm fine. I'm not that much of a light weight. Look, let's not talk about this. I appreciate your concern but it's awkward for the both of us..."
"Well, you know where I am if you need to vent. And your secret is safe with me" Dodds said.
"I don't know how much of a secret it is. I mean, I work with detectives... Pretty sure you've all figured it out. Especially after I ran after Rafi like that..."
"Rafi?!" Dodds almost burst out laughing "Oh shit that's adorable! Ohhh man..."
"Thanks Sarge..." Sonny rolled his eyes, “I should get going”
"Sorry Carisi. Sorry. That just, took me by surprise" Dodds got up, grabbing his coat, “I better get home too”
The detectives made their way out to the street and hailed a cab each.
"Take it easy Carisi. See you Monday" Dodds said, waving goodbye.
"Night Sarge" Sonny replied as he got into the cab.
~~~~~
Barba was wrapped up on his couch watching movies in a snuggie – yes, one of those blankets with sleeves.
He heard a knock at the door. He sat still, contemplating ignoring it, there was only one person it could be.
He rolled his eyes, lifting the bowl of popcorn from his lap and placing it on the coffee table.
He opened the door, and as he suspected, there stood Sonny.
“Hi Rafi” Sonny said softly.
“Sonny...” Barba replied, his tone cold.
Sonny looked Barba up and down before looking over his shoulder and into the living room, a smirk growing across his face “Is that a snuggie? Are you watching Dirty Dancing?”
“So what if it is, so what if I am?” Barba remained straight faced, the smirk drifted from Sonny's face.
“Can I come in?” Sonny asked.
Barba stared into Sonny's glassy blue eyes, not replying for a few moments.
“If you must...” Barba gesturing for Sonny to enter.
Barba walked back over to the couch, picking up the bowl of popcorn before sitting back down. He took up the whole two person sofa, forcing Sonny to sit on the other.
“Are you going to talk to me?” Sonny asked.
“I've got nothing to say Sonny. You can sit here and watch this DVD with me, or you can leave. Either way, I don't care...” Barba replied obnoxiously chewing a mouthful of popcorn.
“Oh my God you're such a drama queen...” Sonny rolled his eyes, and threw himself against the back of the couch in a huff.
“...Okay, You want to talk Sonny? You want to talk about how that floozy of a girl was all over you Touching you, and laughing, laughing at all your jokes and your sweet fuckin' face, and you – just laughing and smiling back, flashing those stupidly blue eyes and of yours, and those God damned dimples...”
The frustration and anger just spilling from Barba's lips as he clutched a handful of popcorn.
“...It's fine for you, you don't have to worry about that with me. Look at me, what person is going to flirt with me? Least of all some stunning blonde...”
Sonny got up off the couch and knelt in front of Barba.
“What do you mean 'Look at you', you're a total babe!...And besides aren't I your stunning blonde?” Sonny joked, trying to lighten the mood.
“Nice try Sonny... I felt really stupid walking in there seeing you like that. You have no idea.” Barba replied, looking down into his lap.
He continued, “And it's not like I could do anything. I couldn't walk up and kiss you or hug you, because the other detectives... So I left”
“Well, I think our secret is out. Me running after you tipped them off. Fin made a snide comment, and Dodds just knew. Everyone had left when he flat out asked me, so I didn't deny it...” Sonny replied, looking sorry.
Barba didn't say anything for a while, he just stared at the television screen.
“I guess they were going to have to find out at some stage...” Barba said, breaking the silence.
“Can we just straight up tell everyone now? If we're still...You know, if we're still together?” Sonny asked sheepishly.
“Don't be stupid, I love you Sonny. Of course we're still together. I was just angry. I'm still angry. I see they way women look at you, and you're too nice. I know you don't flirt back but your kindness and goofy demeanor comes across as flirtatious sometimes... It's just, I just. I hate it...”
“I'm sorry” Sonny replied, hanging his head in shame.
“No...Don't be. You can't help being sweet... I'm the one who should be sorry, I over reacted. I just want people to know you're mine” Barba finally breaking away from the TV screen to look at Sonny, Sonny smiled back.
“It's just a shame you can't wear a ring or something...” Barba muttered.
“What?” Sonny asked.
“...Nothing”