I was feeling up to some Rita/Rafael friendship and Rita being supportive of Barson, so this is what came out in the end!

A big thank you to VanillaAshes, who betaed this for me!

I hope you all enjoy it, I'm looking forward to your feedback!

A Little Push Into The Right Direction

It was late evening and darkness had long since fallen over Manhattan, though broken slightly by the illuminated windows from the skyscrapers. The twinkling lights offered a beautiful sight for everyone who happened to pay attention, but Rita Calhoun had no eye for the urban beauty stretching out underneath her. Anyone else probably would have stared out of the huge windows of her big and expensively furnished corner office in fascination; Rita however only concentrated on the files lying in front of her, planning to get some paperwork done before the weekend.

Suddenly, a light knock on the door startled her – she thought that she was alone, everyone else had left – and lifted her head, a surprised expression coming onto her face when the door opened a moment later and Rafael Barba entered. Taking off her glasses, she leaned back in her chair and watched calmly how her best friend since Harvard slipped off his coat and took a seat in one of her visitor chairs.

"What a pleasant surprise. I thought you would be at home and reading bedtime stories at this time of evening," she said with a small smirk when he'd settled completely, studying the slightly nervous expression that came over his face. Normally, he didn't react like that when she teased him about how his life had become more domestic since he'd gathered his courage to confess his love to Olivia; in fact, he usually was a little smug most of the time, telling her that at least he had someone to go home to now.

"Noah is at my mother's place for a sleepover, and Liv is working late," he replied, shifting in his seat, and Rita cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Something wrong, Rafael?"

Rafael almost immediately shifted again, body a little stiff and it appeared as if he was trying to stop himself from wringing his hands. The last time she'd seen him like this he'd been about to confess to her that he'd been dared by the other freshmen's to get one of her bras and display it on the newsboard of his dorm. After that she'd taught him how to turn their own dares against people. There really weren't many things that caused Rafael to lose his cool, so she knew that this was something serious. "I don't know how to..."

"Just spill it, Rafael, please."

He cleared his throat and nodded, yet hesitated once again before saying slowly: "Uhm... you... you're a woman, right?"

Her eyebrow raised even higher at his words and she crossed her arms in front of her chest, shooting him a warning glance. "Don't say anything wrong now."

"I mean... you know... didn't want to imply..."

Rita released an annoyed sigh at his worsening stutter; his cheeks started to take a dark shade of red and she found herself fed up by his uncharacteristic loss of confidence. Sure, she was a little concerned by it, too, but mostly pissed that he was unable to simply tell her what was going on.

"Stop stuttering, Rafael!" she spit out, harsher than intended, and it effectively silenced him. For a moment, he just stared at her, then took a steadying breath, a grateful expression flashing over his face. When he opened his mouth again, his voice sounded almost normal again, though a trace of tentativeness was impossible to ignore.

"I need advice from a woman. About what women like. I mean, sure, not every woman's the same but I thought that maybe you could relate... Uhm... there's something I'd like to do with Olivia and I'm not sure if she wants it."

"Oh no," Rita groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose while sending her best friend a glare. "If this is about sex, Barba, then I'm out."

A glare of equal intensity was thrown back at her, which evolved into a short staring contest before Rafael straightened his back, some of his cocky attitude returning. "I don't need your help in that field, that's going more than well, thank you very much. Just last week Olivia and I trie-"

"Shut the fuck up, that's already more than I ever wanted to know about it," Rita interrupted him quickly, shaking herself lightly to keep certain pictures from entering her head. They could talk about almost everything, but there were some things about her best friend's life that she preferred to remain oblivious about. Though, of course, she was happy for him that that part of his life had woken from hibernation.

Smirking at her cheekily, Rafael leaned back, his body obviously relaxing from the teasing, a playful expression gleaming in his green eyes. "You're just jealous because you haven't had a date in what, two years?"

Rita was not willing to enter this discussion, feeling like they'd had it for way too many times already. Nothing ever came out of it, so it was just wasted energy in her eyes, especially since it always went the same way. Rafael would tell her that she needed to date again too, as being with Olivia and Noah had made him realise that being married to the job wasn't healthy. Too stubborn to admit that she sometimes did feel lonely – he hadn't either before finally telling Olivia about his feelings! – she would threaten to kick his privates if he tried to set her up with someone, which would end the topic effectively.

"Rafael, why the hell are you here?"

Of course he rolled his eyes, but seeing that it would be in vain to try and talk to her about her problems, he gave in. "I want to ask Olivia to marry me."

"Oh, really? You seriously want to tie the knot? That's great, really, but why do you come to me with the news while obviously wanting advice?" Rita asked, her eyes widening in surprise. From all things that he could have wanted to talk to her about, proposing to Olivia definitely hadn't been high on her list of likely scenarios. After all, Rafael had been very tentative in moving the relationship forwards, always afraid that he would fuck something up and Rita felt like that only recently he'd started to really relax in his life.

"You're my best friend Rita, of course you're the first one I want to tell about that! And you and Liv get along well, I thought you could have a girl talk with her, touching the topic of marriage and you know, subtly find out if she would say yes if I proposed."

A glimmer of hope lighted his eyes as he looked at her almost pleadingly – though both of them knew that he would never beg – and Rita stared back at him, her surprise slowly merging into something like scepticism. "Girl talk?"

"Yes, girl talk. You know, just casual girl talk. Gossip, men, dream wedding..."

"No," she said sternly, leaning back and crossing her arms in front of her chest, shooting him a nasty glare.

"Come on, Rita, please!"

The way he put emphasis on his plea and the almost desperate expression on his face showed her how serious he was about this, but she wouldn't have this shit. In her opinion, he was trying to stall in an attempt to buy himself time and security before asking this important question. It was something he rarely did, he wasn't the overly cautious type, and she felt like his foot-dragging was completely unnecessary. Olivia and him had talked about their feelings a lot and he was supposed to be sure about how he felt and how she felt. They'd moved into a new apartment with Noah, for fuck's sake, and the boy called him Papí and Lucia Abuela. Why was he so insecure?

Also, his clichéd view on girl's talk was annoying her, but because she knew he knew better, she choose to ignore that.

"Rafael, no. You're normally so bold and confident, this shouldn't be a big problem to you. The amount of nervosity you're displaying is unreasonable! You two love each other, Noah loves you... You know what, I have a very innovative idea for you, Rafael. Cook a nice dinner for you two, get down on one knee, present the diamond ring and say some sappy words that make her cry in joy while she chokes out a 'Yes' and that's it."

"It's not that easy..."

"But it is!" Rita growled, slowly losing her patience with him. Sometimes she was convinced that he would drive her mad. "You got her to date you with your bold charm, now you can use it to get her to marry you. Do I need to call Lucia to give you a kick in the ass?"

Rafael had already opened his mouth to protest but at the mention of his mother he froze, eyes widening in shock and she smirked to herself at the flabbergasted expression he wore for a moment. However, it didn't take long until he managed to pull himself together and put on his poker face, the one usually reserved for the courtroom. "You wouldn't. You're bluffing, Rita, I know it."

"Try me," she replied enigmatically, her smirk widening further. Special times called for drastic measures, and calling Lucia Barba was a threat that intimidated both of them enough to get their shit together. And as guaranteed as the season's change, Rafael cleared his throat and sat straighter.

"Mamí can't hear about this until after I've asked Olivia. If she gets wind of it everything will be ruined by her and her..."

He started to gesticulate wildly in an attempt to imitate Lucia's extreme excitement about events she appreciated and Rita chuckled about his accuracy. "Well, then don't give me a reason to call her, Rafael."

He released a breath and looked at her for a long moment before a smirk came onto his face, making his green eyes sparkle. "Thanks, Rita. I guess I needed that. I owe you."

"Yeah, you did. Desperately. But that's what best friends are there for, right? You can make it up by buying me a dinner at Eleven Madison Park." Rita smiled in satisfaction and checked the time on her phone. "Now go and pick up Olivia for a nightcap."

"Good idea. Don't work too long," Rafael answered while rising from his chair and slipping on his coat; Rita snorted and shook her head about him.

"You're just the right one to say that. Don't forget to tell me what her answer was once you've asked."

"Sure. Goodnight, Rita. Thanks again."

She shrugged his words off and watched how he left her office quickly, already dialing his girlfriend's number, and she smiled to herself, shaking her head. Sometimes, Rafael needed a little push to be able to grasp his luck himself.

OoO

Only a rough week later, on a Friday night, Rita was just getting settled on her couch with a bottle of her favourite wine, a big pizza – frutti di mare with extra cheese, her favourite – and her kitten Giorgio when her phone vibrated on the coffee table before she could take a bite of the first slice. Begging that it wasn't something work-related, she leaned over and picked up her phone, taking a look at the message she'd received.

'She said Yes!'

A smile lifted the corners of her mouth as she read the message once again, proud that she'd had a tiny part in the good news. So he'd managed to propose without any more stalling... she could almost hear Lucia squealing somewhere across the city. She should have made a bet with Rafael on how many hours it would take until his mother would contact any of them with plans for the wedding. But then he couldn't really complain – he'd chosen this himself.

After typing out quick congratulations, she put her phone down and started the movie she'd put on – Legally Blonde would never get old – and took a sip of her wine before leaning back, pizza carton on her lap. Giorgio was purring while curling up at her feet and she chuckled softly at her kitten as she picked up the first slice of her pizza. "Looks like there'll be a wedding soon, Georgie, and it obviously wasn't that hard in the end. Lucia's going to love it."

And sure enough, not twenty minutes later, Lucia Barba blew up Rita's phone with messages expressing her happiness about the turn of events, followed by pictures of dresses, cakes, locations, and flower arrangements.

Luckily, Rita had seen it coming and had turned off her phone so she could have a last evening in peace with Giorgio, her favourite wine and badass Elle Woods.

That wedding would be a very exhausting affair.