More songs in this chapter! A Barson duet, and a Barba ballad, haha
The Duet is With You from Ghost the Musical. Olivia's part is in bold, Rafael's is in italics, and the duet is underlined. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xdYNpBt4Mw
Rafael's song is Evermore from the 2017 Beauty and The Beast. It's also where the title comes from. evermore beauty and the beast
As the Wheatley verdict is given, SVU makes a shocking realization that has devastating consequences
" We find the defendant, Richard Wheatley, guilty."
To the normal human being, this would be good news. But to Rafael Barba, it wasn't. His mind was racing with all the ways Wheatley could have Olivia killed and it would be his fault. He lost . He felt sick both physically and emotionally. He had eaten very little the past few days and didn't trust the food delivered by Wheatley's men. He hadn't slept much either as he had been trying to build his case and his crippling anxiety gave him insomnia.
The memory was stained on Olivia's mind of the scene in the courtroom. She looked over to Elliot and Carisi and then to Rafael. She could see the look on his face, a "well done'' masked in sheer dread as he shook Carisi's hand and quickly walked out of the courtroom. Olivia found herself quickly running after him but Rafael was nowhere in sight. She stood there alone on the courthouse steps until she felt someone grab her arm.
"What are you doing out here Liv?" Elliot said.
"Looking for my friend. He doesn't look like himself." Olivia said.
"What do you mean by that?" Elliot responded.
"I should know if something is wrong with my best friend and there is. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." Olivia said as she pulled her arm away from Elliot and went home.
Olivia had time to think alone before her son came home from school later that evening so it was just her and her thoughts and perhaps a bottle of wine.
How could she have not noticed something was off with Rafael since they had met a week prior to the trial. She was piecing together how much he has tried distancing himself for her. How he seemed emotionless when they did talk. She was fighting herself to not immediately pick up her phone to text Rafael to see if he was okay. Maybe he needed space and so did she. She was still trying to wrap her head around why Rafael would take the case. He could care less about money in spite of his lavish taste in clothing. Especially Wheatley's illegal money.
Lost in thought, Olivia takes a trip down memory lane as she thought of the man that had been there through it all. Through the best; adopting Noah, becoming Lieutenant, finding her true family. And the worst; the death of Mike Dodds, William Lewis, this trial, moments of her life. He was there for it all and she felt so blessed because of it. But even blessings come with issues.
As the evening progressed, Olivia ate dinner with Noah and tried to ignore the situation at hand.
"When is Uncle Rafa coming over?" Noah asked.
Olivia didn't want to even think about Uncle Rafa right now. As much as she wanted to hate him, she couldn't.
