Work Text:
Sonny had to leave his apartment in Brooklyn fairly early in the morning to make it to his new post at SVU Queens. He hadn’t been happy with the forced transfer but he was going to try and make the best of it. The only good thing about it was that now he would leave at the same time as his neighbor. His attractive, always well-dressed, neighbor.
The man had soft brown hair and beautiful eyes that looked different in the morning and evening light. Sonny assumed the guy was a lawyer by his apparel and confident stride. But each time he was near the man, he was at a loss for words. A couple of times the lawyer’s eyes would meet Sonny’s and he would give a friendly head nod.
One day Sonny came home late wearing his police jacket and his neighbor arrived in the hallway.
“So you’re a cop?” the nameless hot guy asked.
“Mhmm, uh, yeah.” Sonny had stuttered.
“New York’s finest?” The man actually smirked at him and it looked a bit condescending to him. Sonny didn’t know if he should be annoyed or turned on. It was definitely a fine line. That smirk captured Sonny’s heart.
Without a response from Sonny the man entered his apartment and Sonny had hated himself for a whole week.
Sonny’s chance to introduce himself came a Saturday afternoon when he spotted the man struggling with groceries. Sonny knew for a fact that man usually had his groceries delivered since one time the delivery man accidentally knocked on Sonny’s door. So it was odd to think the fancy lawyer was doing his own shopping.
He ran over to the man, taking the bag the almost fell out of his arms while he was trying to turn his key.
“Oh, thank you.” The man smiled as he turned the key. Sonny was so happy he was wearing his best suit today. He didn’t look as refined as his neighbor but he was glad the man was seeing him look good.
“No problem, neighbor.”
His neighbor opened the door and motioned for Sonny to follow him. The apartment was as neat and put together as he had imagine when he first saw the man in the hallway.
After setting down the groceries on the counter, the man reached out his hand, “Rafael.”
Sonny resisted the urge to go completely stupid and shook Rafael’s hand.
“Dominick Carisi Jr, but my friends call me Sonny.”
“So, you must be a detective?” Rafael asked as he started unloading his groceries, not seeming concerned that Sonny was in his space.
“Yeah, with Queens SVU.”
Sonny noticed the slight wince Rafael made and tried not to be offended. Most people didn’t think highly of SVU detectives unless they needed one.
“Must be hard?”
Sonny just nodded, hypnotized by Rafael putting away his groceries in a three-piece suit. He was also wearing the tie Sonny liked the best, his pink one with the light blue stripes. He had only seen it a few mornings.
“I am an ADA with Manhattan. I take on a lot of SVU cases.” Rafael explained.
“I knew it!” Sonny blurted out. Rafael’s slightly startled face, made Sonny flush in embarrassment.
“I mean, I knew you had to be a lawyer or something with all the fancy suits and ties and…” Sonny shut himself up, he could be such an idiot sometimes.
“Well, thank you for your assistance, Detective Carisi.”
“Sonny and if you don’t mind me asking,“ Sonny said, not wanting the conversation to stop, “Don’t you usually have your groceries delivered.”
Rafael’s eyebrow raised, as if to say, how do you know so much about my business.
“Yes, I do. But I have a date tonight and I offered to cook for him.”
For him...
With that comment Sonny felt his stomach drop. First, he had come off as a stalker then he was slowly down Rafael from preparing for a date.
“Ah, I see. Sorry to hold you up, counselor.” Sonny made his way to the still open door. He heard Rafael call out, “Thank you for your help, Sonny.” as he left the apartment, shutting the door firmly behind him.
He was such an idiot.
***
Sonny never heard much sound from Rafael’s apartment although he knew they shared a bedroom wall. When he had moved in he had heard the sounds of hammering and every once in awhile something crash, like Rafael maybe tripped over something in the night.
He hated his life after that first date night. For weeks, when he would see Rafael, he would have the same man with him, Sonny’s height, dark hair, wearing expensive suits and cologne. Sonny assumed he was a lawyer, because of the suits and he acted like an overconfident jerk. Everytime Rafael would greet him in the hallway the guy would look annoyed, like being neighborly was a crime.
Sonny wanted to die everytime he could hear them making love.
Lord, help him. Rafael was so loud and Sonny’s body would frequently respond.
Sonny really just wanted a night of sleep without being awoken by moans and shouts. The shouts were often in Spanish, Sonny was learning new words each night.
One night they were on a 2nd round when Sonny couldn’t take it anymore. The Captain at Queens treated him like crap and after a prostitution ring bust, his co-workers had left him to interview the kidnapped girls, one after another. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He didn’t have the willpower to listen to the rich lawyer guy banging his neighbor.
“Keep it down!” Sonny screamed, hitting the wall with his fist.
The noise died down quickly. As soon as it was silent, Sonny felt embarrassed at his outburst.
He heard a soft, tentative knock at his door and he cursed his existence. He got up not bothering to dress, his basketball shorts would have to be good enough for his neighbor.
Sonny opened the door, trying to decide if he was angry or just annoyed. Any anger he felt dissipated when he saw Rafael. The man, he had only ever seen in suit, was dressed in loose pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt, probably the boyfriends'.
“Detective Carisi.”
Sonny noticed fresh bruising around Rafael’s neck but despite his disheveled appearance, he appeared calm and collected.
“I’m sorry if I-we woke you up, Detective.”
The apology seemed sincere.
“It really wasn’t that loud.” Sonny slightly backtracked, “I just was in a bad mood after work. And-”
“Sex was the last thing you wanted to think about.” Rafael looked contrite. “I apologize for my insensitivity.”
Sonny was about to say it was ok when he the voice of the boyfriend calling Rafael from down the hallway, “Come on, Raf! Leave the guy alone. Come back to bed!”
Rafael tensed up before apologizing again and leaving the shocked detective. Everything in Sonny wanted to stop Rafael from leaving but he had no right. He was just a neighbor.
***
A few weeks after the boyfriend had basically moved in, Sonny went to grab his mail before work. Rafael, who seemed to be doing the same, was already at the mailboxes. He wasn’t in a suit but jeans and a black turtleneck. He looked amazing in casual clothes.
“Good Morning, Detective.” He mumbled, working up a smile. “Sleep well?”
Before Sonny could stop himself he blurted out, “Not as well as you I suspect.”
Rafael blushed, looking somewhere between embarrassed and intrigued.
“I promise I have been trying to keep it down.”
Sonny wanted to tell him it wasn’t the sex that bothered him. He had gotten over it even if it did disturb his sleep. He wanted to say he heard Rafael tell his guy slow down or wait but it was ignored. The night before he had definitely heard Rafael say no but it didn’t seem like the guy had listened. Sonny took no pleasure in hearing what was happening in Rafael’s bedroom.
“Thanks, appreciate it.” Sonny quickly said and started to leave. He stopped to look back at the ADA who appeared less confident than usual.
“Just take care of yourself, counselor.”
He didn’t want to press his neighbor. The guy was an ADA for sex crimes for crying out loud, if something was wrong he would tell someone. Sonny wasn’t going to judge the man for what went on in his bedroom but he was going to keep an eye out for anything strange.
“I will.”
***
He returned home late that night and didn’t run into Rafael in the hallway. He could however hear shouting from inside his apartment. Sonny listened and heard strings of words like not having time, wanting more, and so on. He decided it was just a normal argument and entered his apartment.
Unfortunately, he woke up to yelling at 1:00 am. He groaned in his bed hoping it would stop soon. This time the yelling was in the bedroom. He heard a thud and Sonny knew something was wrong. He knew that was the sound of a body hitting the wall. He jumped out of bed.
He felt no embarrassment about walking down his apartment hallway in his boxers and police academy t-shirt.
“Rafael!” he yelled, knocking on the door.
When the door didn’t open he knocked again and called out, “It’s Detective Carisi,from next door.”
The door swung open and the boyfriend glared at Sonny for a moment before pushing past him. He noticed the guy was holding his jaw and he was glad Rafael got one in. He was about to stop him from leaving when he felt a hand on his arm.
“Don’t. It’s not worth it.”
Sonny turned towards Rafael and couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped him. Rafael had a black eye that was fresh and bruising along with bite marks on his neck. The bruises that look consensual the first time Sonny saw them, looked worse this time. He had never seen Rafael look so vulnerable.
“I’m sorry for keeping you from sleeping…” Rafael started.
“Rafael...”
Sonny wanted to hug him, hold him and never let go.
“Thank you for checking on me, Sonny.” He said softly. Rafael moved back into his apartment and started to close the door.
“Would you like to talk?” Sonny blurted.
Rafael looked at him with a calculating gaze.
“I can call in sick tomorrow. They hate me anyway.”
The comment made his neighbor smile, it was almost a smirk but not quite.
“Sure,” Rafael re-opened the door and Sonny walked in, “I’ll make us some coffee.”
They settled on the couch after Rafael got them both coffee. Rafael slipped into sharing his life story, being raised Catholic, being afraid to love another man, both of which Sonny related to. Rafael explained that he rarely had relationships and when he did he seemed to gravitate to men who treated him poorly. When his friend, Sergeant Benson had pointed this out, he decided to break things off with the defense attorney from Jersey.
“And he didn’t take it well.” Sonny finished.
Rafael nodded.
There was silence before Rafael began to speak again, “Forgive me for unloading on you.”
“Hey, it’s not a problem. I’m just glad that guy is out of the picture!” Sonny confessed, “It drove me crazy to think he may be hurting you.”
“How would you know if he was hurting me?” Rafael’s voice was suddenly harsh.
“Uh, well, I heard things.”
Rafael took Sonny’s mostly finished coffee mug from his hand and his own to the kitchen. Sonny hesitantly followed Rafael to the kitchen, watching the man do dishes like if he didn’t the world would end.
“You heard things.” Rafael repeated, not making eye contact with Sonny as he washed out their mugs.
“I’m sorry. I should have said something sooner. But I don’t know you like your friend, Benson does. I...you seem so damn put together. I thought maybe you just liked it rough in the bedroom.”
Sonny felt like such an idiot as he spoke. He was a SVU Detective and he couldn’t even help his neighbor.
Rafael turned off the water. He turned towards Sonny about to speak but he stopped himself.
“We had our first conversation right here.” Rafael said, surprising Sonny. Rafael moved to the freezer, pulling out an ice pack and applying it to his face.
“Sonny, this isn’t your fault. I let him hurt me because I thought he cared about me.” Rafael admitted.
They returned to the couch and began to talk about less serious topics. Sonny told him about his time at the police academy, his promotion to detective and how he had recently started taking law classes at Fordham. Rafael had been impressed that Sonny was balancing school with his job. He did make sure Sonny knew that he had gone to Harvard on a full scholarship.
Sonny loved hearing Rafael tell stories about the courtroom and about the Manhattan squad. The detectives there sounded very interesting, almost like a family instead of co-workers.
When Rafael was tired of talking, Sonny happily took over, telling him stories about Staten Island and confessing Queens SVU wasn’t going well for him.
As Rafael began to fall asleep, Sonny offered to leave.
“No!” Rafael had objected, “I mean, please stay. I would feel safer if you stayed. Just for tonight.”
Sonny agreed to stay. Rafael brought him a blanket to from the bedroom.
It was easier to fall asleep than Sonny thought it would be. The sun was up in just a few short hours. Sonny let Rafael sleep but checked on him to make sure his breathing was normal. Rafael hadn’t disclosed the details of what happened last night but the bruises told their own story.
Sonny sighed and closed Rafael bedroom door. He pulled out his cell phone to call in sick. He decided to take a few days, his Captain would be more than willingly to let him go.
****
After that night Rafael and Sonny spent more time together. So many days and nights Sonny was forgetting what it was like to sleep in a bed and had developed a horrible knot in his back from Rafael’s couch.
Sonny was in his apartment for the first time in months when he heard a knock on the door.
He opened it to see Rafael with a calm expression on his face.
“Would you like to come over for dinner?”
Sonny thought it was a bit odd, considering they had eaten together every night for weeks.
“Sure, uh, let me change into…” Sonny was going to say into something more comfortable because he figured he would be on Rafael’s couch again tonight. At first it was to have another person around, to make Rafael feel safe from any retaliation from the lawyer ex-boyfriend, eventually it just became habit.
“Wait, is this a date?” Sonny blurted, unable and maybe unwillingly to not know.
Rafael nodded shyly.
“Wow, uh, can you give me a few minutes?”
Rafael’s face looked confused and maybe a bit hurt. “Yes, of course, dinner will be ready in about 40 minutes.”
Sonny quickly showered and put on the only suit Rafael had ever commented on. He remembered how happy he had been when Rafael had gave him a tie to match ‘the only good looking suit’ he owned.
He was not going to miss this change with Rafael. When they first met the attraction was clear, then with the abusive boyfriend and the time needed to recover, Sonny wanted to make sure and give Rafael the space he needed.
After he got dressed he ran to the bodega at the corner and bought a bouquet of flowers, and ok maybe a pack of condoms. He wasn’t going to pressure anything from Rafael. He knew Rafael had been working through many of his intimacy issues with a shrink. But Sonny figures he should be prepared, just in case.
The many nights they talked on the couch, Sonny could sense something more might happen. Sonny was patient, he wouldn’t forced anything with his neighbor unless he wanted it.
Sonny knocked on the door and could’ve sworn he saw Rafael look relieved. He handed Rafael the flowers and the man smirked, the same smirk that had first captured Sonny’s heart.
“Thank you, Sonny.”
The date was simple. Rafael had made Sonny some Cuban cuisine. During the times they had dinner Sonny was mainly the cook and Hispanic foods were not his forte.
“Why have I been cooking?!” Sonny joked, “This is amazing!”
Rafael had blushed over the complement.
“Did I mention there’s an opening at Manhattan SVU?” Rafael grinned. “I mean, I know how much you love Queens but we could commute to work together?”
“Seriously? I mean, I heard there was an opening but they want an experienced Detective. Cap said I was the last person he would recommend!”
“Please, Liv would be lucky to have you on her squad. Promise me you’ll at least apply.”
“I promise!”
After that conversation, they ate mostly in a companionable silence. Silence with Rafael was different than with other people. Sonny could just be near Rafael and feel comfortable.
“So what took you so long to ask me out?” Sonny asked, after dinner was finished and they were cleaning up the kitchen.
“I needed a friend for a while.” Rafael admitted, “But now I am ready for more.”
It was Sonny’s turn to blush. “You are?”
Sonny gently cornered Rafael against the counter. He leaned in, his mouth hovering over Rafael’s.
“I am.” Rafael whispered, closing the gap between them. The kisses were sweet and short.
Sonny smiled at the content expression on Rafael’s face. He couldn’t wait to date the ADA and treat him with the respect he deserved.