Rafael arrived home not even an hour later, box of pizza in hand as he stepped into the unusually quiet apartment.

He approached the living room and found Sonny spread out on the couch, long legs dangling over an armrest. He'd already changed out of his suit, donning one of Rafael's faded Harvard t-shirts and a pair of plaid boxers.

He didn't even look up when Rafael entered the room, too engrossed in the novel he had perched on his chest; it was Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying", one of Rafael's favorite pieces of classic American literature, a book he'd been trying to get Sonny to read for over a month.

Rafael smiled and set the pizza box down lightly on the coffee table, effectively breaking the silence and Sonny's concentration: "Do you have even the slightest inkling of how much I love you?"

That certainly got his attention. Sonny quickly folded down the corner of the page he'd been reading and set the novel on the floor, sitting up to make room for Rafael on the couch beside him.

"I think I have somewhat of an idea," he replied slowly, a quizzical expression on his face as Rafael peeled off his jacket and loosened the maroon tie around his neck.

"Wait. You're home really early," Sonny blatantly observed. Rafael chuckled and set his jacket over the back of the sofa before taking a seat beside Sonny.

"Indeed, I am," Rafael began, raising a hand to cup Sonny's cheek. Sonny instantly nuzzled into the touch, and Rafael felt his chest tighten at the sweetness of the gesture.

Sonny curled into his side and wrapped an arm around his waist, fingers tracing idly along Rafael's stomach. Rafael wanted to kiss him, but he couldn't get distracted, not yet, not when there was so much he wanted to say to Sonny.

He picked up where he'd left off, saying, "I am home so early because I needed to see my boyfriend who thought he could get away with breaking into my office."

Sonny pulled back abruptly, eyes wide in terror that Rafael supposed was justified. Sonny opened his mouth, clearly about to apologize, but Rafael quickly shut him up by pulling him onto his lap and placing two firm hands on Sonny's narrow waist.

"I'm not mad at you, you idiot," Rafael breathed out playfully, running his hands gently up and down the length of Sonny's lanky torso. "What would make you think that I'd ever get mad at you over something like that?" he finished softly.

Sonny looked up then, finally meeting Rafael's gaze. "So you liked it?" he inquired, voice barely above a whisper as his fingers began to fidget anxiously with Rafael's tie.

"Of course I liked it," Rafael stated firmly. He reached up then, wrapping a hand around the back of Sonny's neck, pulling him forward until there was no longer any space separating them; chest to chest, forehead to forehead, heart to heart.

"Listen to me," he said fiercely, and Sonny just continued to stare at him, he barely seemed to be breathing, but Rafael knew better because he could feel Sonny's heart pounding against his own as he spoke.

"What you gave me…what you've given me, what you continue to give me every day that you choose to love me is beautiful. Just like you."

Rafael caught Sonny's lips in his own then, kissing him deeply, somehow pressing their bodies even closer together; wanting, needing Sonny to understand what he couldn't always convey with words.

Sonny reciprocated, and the tension finally seemed to seep out of his body as he wrapped himself around Rafael, fingertips playing with the short hairs at the nape of Rafael's neck.

Sonny let his tongue slip inside the older man's mouth, deepening the kiss even further. He hips began leisurely moving against Rafael's and God, did Rafael want this to continue, but he still had more he wanted to say to Sonny, wanted to ask him.

"Down boy," he gasped, laughing into Sonny's mouth as he began to pull away. Sonny just whined, making to follow Rafael's lips; Rafael dodged his advances, however, placing a gentle but firm kiss to Sonny's forehead instead.

"Does that prove to you how much I liked it?" he questioned playfully, running a hand through Sonny's hair. Sonny's face tinted a light pink as he bowed his head shyly, planting a chaste kiss on Rafael's cheek instead of providing an answer. He took that as a 'yes', anyways.

"What gave you the idea?" Rafael asked.

Sonny shrugged, restless fingers continuing to tug at the base of Rafael's hair. "I dunno. It's just, ya know, I have a picture of you on my desk at the precinct, so I figured – ".

"Wait, what?" Rafael cut Sonny off sharply, moving his head so that he was looking directly into Sonny's piercing blue eyes.

Sonny must have detected his bewilderment, because his eyes widened once again before saying, "You didn't know?"

Rafael shook his head dumbly. He hadn't known. He barely paid attention to Sonny's desk when he was at the precinct, always strictly focused on the job, on his purpose for being there.

"How long?"

Again, Sonny shrugged. "Two months, maybe?"

Suddenly, Rafael was able to put the pieces together. "So since our six months' anniversary. Since the first time I told you that I loved you." It wasn't a question, much closer to a statement; Rafael was already certain of the answer. Sonny blushed, but the expression on his face was soft now rather than shy as he continued to gaze at Rafael.

Sonny began to elaborate then. "Well, first you told me that you loved me, which shit, that was overwhelming just on its own. But you remember how you started to tell me about your abuelita? While you were cooking dinner?"

Rafael nodded in confirmation and Sonny continued.

"When you said that whole thing, about how your abuelita would've been proud of you for finding a man like me? That's when I took the picture." Sonny admitted.

He continued to forge ahead, seeming to want to finish his story before Rafael had a chance to fill the silence with his own interjections; not that Rafael could have even if he'd wanted to. He could barely piece a coherent thought together right now as it was.

"As cheesy as it sounds, I just had to capture that moment for myself. 'Cause I know…I know how much your abuelita meant – means to you. So for you to say that, about me…" Sonny paused, taking a deep breath before finishing his thought: "I don't think I've ever felt more loved."

Sonny sighed as he finished, letting his head rest against Rafael's chest. They sat in silence for a few minutes, the weight of Sonny's words still lying heavy on Rafael's heart.

"I can't believe I didn't notice that you were taking pictures."

Sonny chuckled, and Rafael felt his laughter vibrate against his chest and ribs, which made him feel warm. Sonny hummed and let his hands trail down Rafael's sides, squeezing the soft skin that laid beneath his white button-up.

"Me either. I'm glad you didn't though, otherwise you probably would've made me delete them," Sonny stated matter-of-factly. "Plus, I wouldn't have proof that Rafael Barba actually does smile sometimes."

Sonny smiled then, widely, and Rafael wanted to be an ass, he really did, he wanted to come back with a snarky remark, because that was his and Sonny's little game, but Sonny's dimples were on full display now, and Rafael Barba's ultimate weakness were Sonny Carisi's dimples.

Fuck it.

Rafael leaned forward and pressed a feather light kiss first to Sonny's left dimple, then to his right, letting his lips trace across Sonny's cheek until he reached his mouth.

It was all lips and tongue, a sweet, slow kiss that still managed to make Rafael's brain short-circuit. One of Rafael's hands was still resting on Sonny's waist, the other wrapped around his bicep, squeezing, pulling him closer with the other because he always needed Sonny closer to him.

"I love you so much, Rafi," Sonny whispered, breath hot against his mouth. Rafael released Sonny's lips then, pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses down Sonny's neck, an "I love you, Sonny" kissed into the younger man's collarbone.

As Rafael felt Sonny breathing against him, felt his fingers threading tightly into his hair, heard Sonny's uncharacteristically quiet declarations of, "Love you, Rafi. Love you so friggin' much" whispered into his ear, he knew; Sonny had always been his, just as he had always been Sonny's, even when he had been too stubborn to admit it to himself.

And he knew, too, that Sonny would always be his, and he would always be Sonny's. This young, goofy, beautiful, unreasonably kind man was everything to him, and he had no intention of ever letting him go.