It took some time because I wasn't inspired, but here is the second chapter!

Thank you for all the nice reviews, and I hope you enjoy this! :)

Also a big thank you to Emily, who betaed this for me!

A Serenade Of Interruptions

Part 2

When she'd woken up the next morning and brought Noah to his daycare – he was babbling in excitement about the previous evening – Olivia had been hoping that she and Rafael would find time to talk about their relationship today, but once again it didn't seem like the universe wanted them to.

They spent the morning in court again, as the judge had decided to start the trial earlier, and in the short breaks, there just wasn't enough time to talk; also, Rafael's thoughts definitely were somewhere else, so she guessed that practicing patience was her only option. While watching the trial, she asked herself in a rather pessimistic moment if there would always be something interfering with their plans, because it seemed like that was a repetitive pattern for them by now.

After court was finally over, they grabbed coffee together and walked to his office, still talking about the trial. It was already past lunchtime, but Carmen had still picked up something small to eat for them, the bag waiting for them on the coffee table by his couch.

The very moment Rafael closed the door behind him, Olivia could feel the atmosphere between them changing. They'd been rather secretive about meeting privately a lot, and they intended to keep it that way until they knew what they really were, and so they confined displays of their closer connection to places where they were on their own or under no risk to be seen.

It felt good when he sat down on the couch and their legs touched lightly, his warmth seeping through her slacks into her body, and they shared a soft smile before Rafael grabbed the paper bag from the table and peeked inside.

"Ah, sandwiches. What do you want, chicken or tomato and mozzarella?"

"Chicken, I think," Olivia answered and immediately, a slight pout crossed Rafael's face. "Okay, I can take tomato if you want chicken so badly."

"No, no, it's okay, you can have what you want," he shot back, waving it off and moving to take the sandwich with mozzarella, but Olivia grabbed his hand.

She looked at him with a playful annoyed expression that made him smirk as she hissed: "Take the chicken."

"Thank you."

Their fingers touched as he handed her her sandwich and they both stilled, looking each other in the eyes for a moment that seemed to turn into an eternity. There were so many things going through Olivia's mind and she wanted him to hear about all of them, but she couldn't choose a thought to start with. Also, her stomach was growling and she decided that they would survive another few minutes without talking.

They ate in silence, exchanging glances from time to time, like they did when they were having their private nights, and it was a comfortable atmosphere for both of them. She found that while she could talk with him about everything and they often knew exactly what the other was thinking, they could also just remain silent together without it becoming awkward. Sometimes, it was nice to just be with him for the sake of his company, the feeling of his body next to hers, looking into his eyes and knowing that he enjoyed being with her just as much as she did.

After finishing their sandwiches, Rafael moved to throw the paper bag and the used napkins into the bin next to his desk, gesturing towards the mini fridge. "Do you want something to drink?"

A soft smile played around her lips as she looked at him, allowing herself to admire how casual he looked with his rolled-up sleeves and slightly loosened tie, a relaxed, unguarded expression in his face. It was a part of him she knew not many people got to see, and she valued the fact that he lowered her defenses for her a lot.

"No, I'm good," she replied, and he nodded, grabbing a bottle of water for himself before joining her on the couch again. It wasn't hard for her to detect his nerves as he unscrewed the bottle and took a few sips to buy time, but then there really wasn't anything that could delay the conversation they'd been anticipating any further. And even though there really wasn't anything she was afraid of, Olivia felt her heartbeat speeding up as Rafael cleared his throat.

"Liv... I had a wonderful time over the last months," Rafael began, their gazes meeting, and he gently took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "And I think it's time to give this a name... unless you..."

"I completely agree." They both chuckled nervously, then they got serious again; Rafael glanced down at their joined hands before looking at her again, and she was sure that he could hear her heart beating hard against her ribcage.

"From the day I met you I knew that you would be someone special in my life, and over the last weeks I realised that I..."

Suddenly, the door to Rafael's office was being pushed open and Lucia Barba strode into the room, bringing in a lot of noise as she was telling Carmen something over her shoulder and then raised her voice even more a she focussed on Olivia and Rafael. The two of them had hurried to shift away from each other, and Olivia felt a tiny bit of annoyance simmering inside her – Lucia's timing was absolutely miserable this week, and she could tell that Rafael was trying hard not to show his disappointment openly.

"Mamí, what are you doing here?" His voice was sounding pressed, and the tension of his muscles was obvious – though not obvious enough for Lucia it seemed, as she was speaking up, a slightly triumphant smile on her face.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you that Fia is at the precinct talking with Sergeant Dodds – he's such a nice man, and you should have seen the way they smile at each other, Rafael. He's already working on a warrant, so engaged. He also asked her out for coffee when I was leaving."

She was visibly swooning over Dodds, and Rafael's eyes narrowed as he asked slowly: "Is that all?"

"Well, yes," Lucia replied, still not noticing that her son was showing annoyance.

"Damn it, why didn't you just send a text, Mamí?!"

He'd raised his voice, causing Lucia to frown at him, and Olivia bit her lip as Lucia shot back: "Rafael, you really work too much, look at you, all stressed out about minor things. Lieutenant Benson, you really should make my son go out more, I feel like you're the only one he really listens to."

"I'm not stressed!" Rafael hissed and Lucia rolled her eyes with a dramatic gesture.

"If you say so. I'm going to go now, still have some business to attend to."

And as fast as she'd come, Lucia Barba left, leaving them behind, the atmosphere for their talk effectively shattered. Rafael exhaled loudly and leaned back, running a hand over his face while Olivia didn't know if it was the right moment for a joke.

After a long moment of silence, she ultimately cleared her throat and said: "Well, uh... I better get going now, Lucy can't stay late tonight and I have to go through my paperwork to see what I can do at home when Noah's in bed."

She bit her lip before leaning over to him, not able to conceal the regret she felt about having to leave him even though there was still so much they wanted to talk about. He cupped her cheek as she kissed him gently, letting her lips linger against his, savouring the feeling. Moving away from him was harder than she'd thought, and he looked like he didn't want to let her go.

"We'll find time to talk, okay?"

"Promised," he mumbled, pecking her lips a last time before letting go of her, a hint of sadness in his eyes as he watched her grab her coat and bag.

OoO

The afternoon trickled by tantalisingly slow for Rafael; he tried to distract himself from his disappointment by prepping for his next trial, but his mind always kept wandering off to Olivia and how much he wanted to tell her that he loved her. Carmen nearly fell off her chair in shock as he left his office around 5.30, announcing that he was calling it a day – normally, he was always working late and she was the first to leave, and he didn't blame her when she asked him if he was okay.

His answer consisted of a half-hearted smile and a confirmation that he was feeling good but simply felt like he needed a break for once.

Releasing a slightly resigned sigh, Rafael unlocked the door to his apartment a good half hour later, the music coming from the living area telling him that Fia already seemed to be home. After a short stint to his bedroom to change into jeans and a t-shirt, he joined her in the living room. Somehow he was glad that he wouldn't be alone with his sorrow tonight. Fia was using a chair to help her stretch in a split position, and while falling onto the couch, Rafael commented: "That looks painful."

"Funny."

Fia rolled her eyes, bending until her torso was pressed against her leg before slowly standing up and plopping down next to him, bumping her shoulder against his playfully.

"You're home early. Did they lock you out of your office?"

"Funny," he replied dryly, crossing his arms in front of her chest. For a moment, they sat in silence, then Fia suddenly started to speak.

"So, Benson. She seems to be nice."

She had a smile on her lips and Rafael found himself blushing ever so slightly as he replied: "She is."

"She's the right one for you, Rafi. You two have chemistry and the way you look at each other... Everyone can see how good you two are together."

Her tone was soft and genuine and a small voice in the back of Rafael's head mused that maybe he'd talked to Fia about Olivia a lot more than he'd noticed. Apart from his mother, Fia was the one member of his family that he talked most to; even though she was nearly half his age, they were like siblings, and with her he could discuss things that Lucia would have annoyed him about. Olivia and him dating was one of these things; Fia simply listened and offered some advice when he had something he needed to say, while Lucia would have told him that he wasn't getting any younger and should finally make a move.

"She makes me happy," he whispered, and they leaned their heads against each other, staring into space for a moment before Rafael broke the silence again. "I tried to tell her that I love her today, but Mamí interrupted us – again."

"And there I was, being happy that she didn't sit on my lap at the precinct."

Rafael could literally hear the things she was holding back, and feeling glad that he'd found something to distract himself with, he poked his finger into Fia's side as he asked: "So, Dodds and you?"

Fia rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her breath because she knew exactly what he meant, and it greatly annoyed her. Rafael chuckled as he deflected an elbow aimed for his ribs and Fia hissed: "You're just like your mother!"

"Objection. I'm simply relying on the information of Dodds and you having coffee together that I was so kindly provided with. So, coffee?" Rafael said, grinning at her, and Fia sighed in defeat; he could feel how his mood was slowly improving.

"Yes, we had coffee. Just coffee, okay? He's a nice man, and we had an interesting conversation."

"I can hear the 'and'."

"Rafi...," Fia moaned, rolling her eyes for the second time of the evening.

Rafael slung an arm around her shoulder and replied softly: "Oh, come on, you can tell me. I won't let Mamí hear anything you say, pinky swear."

She eyed him critically, as if she was unsure she could believe him, then she hooked her pinky around his. "And we'll have dinner on Friday. Please stop grinning like that, I don't have any plans to throw myself into a relationship anytime soon, dancing is the most important thing in my life right now. I don't have to marry him because he's sympathetic and we're having dinner."

"Well, it's a second date," Rafael stated with a shrug, and Fia sighed in defeat, knowing that he wouldn't stop teasing her.

"With our luck, Lucia will be chiming in before we had the appetiser, making everything so much more embarrassing." They both could only smile weakly about it; the statement was holding too much truth to be funny.

"Considering that she seems to want nothing more than to see me finding a woman to spend my life with, she interrupts important moments pretty often," he said with a frown, and Fia gave his forearm a sympathetic pat. "I was so close today, and then she has to come over. And Liv's nanny can't stay late tonight, so there was no time to talk."

"What?" Fia cocked an eyebrow and gazed at him for a long moment, then she exclaimed: "Are you being dense on purpose, you big old fool?!"

"Excuse me?"

He watched how she stared at him for a moment while massaging her temple, asking himself what was wrong; moments later, she rolled her eyes and hissed: "Why the hell are you here sulking when you could be at her place telling her that you love her? Move your damn ass, Rafael!"

She shoved him to the side and Rafael stumbled onto his feet, quite puzzled why he hadn't thought about this. Nearly smashing the small vase standing on his shoe cabinet, he clumsily shrugged on a jacket and slipped into his sneakers – which were a little secret, nobody knew he could do casual – his fingers shaking in anticipation.

OoO

Olivia quietly closed the door to Noah's room behind her, glad that the little boy had finally fallen asleep. He'd been somewhat cranky, but the promise of chocolate for tomorrow and his top three bedtime stories had convinced him that there was nothing wrong with surrendering to his bedtime. Running a hand through her hair, Olivia glanced at the small stack of files resting on her coffee table. She knew that she would have to work through these tonight, but she found that she lacked the motivation.

Just as she was about to drop onto the couch and think about how she could compensate some procrastination, she heard a soft knock at the door, just loud enough for her to catch it but not loud enough to possibly startle Noah.

Upon opening the door, she was pleasantly surprised to see Rafael standing there, shuffling from one foot to the other as he obviously tried to find the right words to explain his presence. She'd never seen him like this before – jeans, a t-shirt under his jacket and his hair slightly ruffled, as if he'd ran his hands through it, but she had to say that she liked it. This man could probably even make a bunny costume look sexy if he wanted...

Brushing that odd thought away, she stepped to the side to let him in, a soft smile on her lips; Rafael looked rather nervous as he took his jacket off and slipped out of his shoes, explaining: "Well, uh, I thought we could speak now... unless you don't want..."

"Oh... I haven't thought... of course..."

Olivia blinked a few times, confused about why they both hadn't thought about this possibility earlier today, and she felt a light blush warming her cheeks as they walked over into the living area, sitting down on the couch. For a long moment, silence hung in the air, neither of them knowing how to start; Rafael had a whole speech prepared, but now his mind was wiped blank as he looked into Olivia's eyes, and she could tell.

Suddenly, the ringtone of Rafael's phone broke the silence, and he pulled it out, releasing an annoyed sigh as he looked at the caller's identity. Rejecting the call with an energetic gesture, he hissed: "Not this time."

Throwing his phone to his side, it immediately vanished between the cushions while he turned to face Olivia again, and her heart skipped a beat in joy as he said in a hushed voice: "I had a whole speech prepared, but I guess there's only one thing I really need to say before my mother calls again: I love you, Liv. I love you."

A short giggle escaped her as she thought about how they could have done this a lot earlier, if they hadn't stuttered around so much. Then, she sobered up and smiled softly, whispering back: "I love you too."

"This was easier than I thought. And a lot quicker." Rafael chuckled and she slung her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

"And no one interrupted us," she pointed out before their lips met in a tender kiss; she could feel him smirk into their kiss while he wrapped his arms around her waist. It felt wonderful to know that they'd finally crossed this line, and even though they'd been steadily working towards this point over the last months, it was still a special moment. Never before had she felt like this; somehow she knew that he was the right one for her and for Noah, and that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

"My mother is going to freak out when we tell her that we've been dating for months," Rafael said as they parted and pressed their foreheads against each other, their gazes meeting. Olivia chuckled softly, running her fingertips over his cheek, needing to assure herself that he was truly here with her.

"That she definitely will. But in the end, she'll be happy."

"And she'll stop annoying me about my love life," he added, pecking her lips while she pulled her legs up and placed them over his lap, allowing her to sit a lot closer to him.

"And start annoying us about more grandchildren."

"Oh, she won't," Rafael replied, but from his tone that she could tell that he wasn't completely convinced. "For now she'll probably start targeting Fia. I might need your help on a background check of Dodds, he asked her out for dinner."

She could tell he wasn't entirely happy about that; of course Carisi and Rollins had already happily provided her with more details, pointing out that they hadn't seen Dodds smile so much in weeks. Rafael's protectiveness was adorable in her eyes, but she knew better than to make fun of it.

"He's been through a lot lately, too. And you know him, he's one of the good guys. Give him a chance. But I can still slip his personnel file into your briefcase if it makes you feel better."

A small, satisfied smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he leaned towards her and kissed her again, successfully ignoring his phone as it buzzed somewhere behind the cushions.

THE END