Work Text:
You heard your boyfriend sigh from the next room as you put the finishing touches on your makeup.
“We needed to leave 5 minutes ago, cariño” he groaned.
“Let me remind you that you are the one that decided we needed to go to this event. I would have been perfectly happy to stay home and watch Netflix” you chastised him as you walked into the room.
“Well, for what it’s worth, you look amazing” he remarked.
“Thank you, but we really should get going” you said, rushing to put your jacket on.
Rafael seemed nervous on the car ride over, but you weren’t sure how to address it, since he didn’t seem to want to talk about it.
And that’s when it hit you. You were going to a campaign event being held in Alex Muñoz’s honor. As if SVU’s investigation into Rafi’s oldest friend wasn’t causing him enough stress, he’d also be forced to see Yelina, or as you affectionately called her, She Who Must Not Be Named.
It wasn’t long after you got there that you ran into the two of them. You saw Rafael’s body tense up and felt your own radiate with anger. The tension among all of you was so thick, it needed to be cut with a chef’s knife. Rafael’s insistence to talk to Alex alone wasn’t helping matters, either.
Alex finally convinced his manager and She Who Must Not Be Named that he was fine, but she wasn’t about to let Rafael off the hook. She made sure to tell him where she stood, planting the world’s most obvious publicity stunt of a kiss on her husband.
After a quick roll of your eyes, you noticed how hurt Rafael looked. She Who Must Not Be Named was definitely trying to twist the knife in his back, and it seemed to be working. But if he was truly over her, like he’d told you, it shouldn’t have mattered. So why did it?
Not only that, but he has now left you alone with her. How were you supposed to talk to anyone at this event if they were all here to support the man Rafael was investigating? Not to mention the fact that she refused to remove her laser glare away from you.
The men couldn’t come back fast enough. When they finally did, Alex looked ready to punch a hole in the wall, and Rafael looked completely exasperated and hurt. Although you wanted to talk to Rafi about his reaction to that kiss, the look on his face told you that conversation could wait. He needed to leave, now.
“Maybe we should get out of here and do something a little more exciting” you say softly, gently leading him away from the front entrance.
“Confronting a mayoral candidate at his party less than a week before the election? I’m not sure it gets much more exciting than that” he quipped.
“I happen to know for a fact that we have a very full Netflix queue at home. And if we’re feeling particularly wild, we could eat that Oreo ice cream straight out of the container” you suggested.
“Are you sure? It sure would be a shame to waste all of this makeup” he said.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. We’ve had enough excitement for one night” you assured him.
“And Yeli–She Who Must Not Be Named, I’m sorry about our encounter. I just want you to know that you are the one I love, not her. And I apologize if you may have thought otherwise tonight” he confided to you.
“I love you too, now let’s go home” you said, leaning your head on his shoulder as he hailed a cab.