Days Of Our Lives Relationship Timeline: Hope And Rafe
For most longtime "Days of Our Lives" fans, Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) just couldn't take the place of Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) as the love of Hope Brady's (Kristian Alfonso) life. That may have been the reason this tortured but brief romance and marriage to Hope didn't last long, with Hope's longing for Bo being the main problem. "Days of Our Lives" episodes used to be short, but we have questions like this one that need answered!
Bo and Hope's relationship timeline was more than 30 years long, and they remain one of the most popular pairings in the soap's long 56-year history. They married, divorced, and married again, having three children together along the way, while going on adventure after adventure to places like New Orleans and England when soaps could still afford elaborate location shoots in the '80s. In 2015, Bo died in Hope's arms from a brain tumor, but that didn't mean Hope didn't find love again. She may have just found it too soon, and it didn't compare to what she felt for Bo.
Rafe and Hope were partners and friends
Before Rafe Hernandez and Hope Brady ever thought of being together on a romantic level, they were police detectives partnered up together to fight crime all over the fictional midwestern town of Salem. By that time, Hope had no idea where Bo was, and believed he abandoned her while he was on a secret international mission (via Soaps In Depth).
Hope still didn't give Rafe a second glance, and after divorcing Bo via mail, she married Aiden Jennings (Daniel Cosgrove), who turned out to be a con artist who tried to kill her. She then learned that Bo was being held hostage, when she thought he voluntarily left her, but before they could resume their lives together, Bo learned he had a brain tumor and died within 24 hours. However, he had time to stop by and talk to his old pal, Rafe, asking him to look after Hope after he passed — and that's exactly what Rafe did.
Hope commits murder and Rafe falls for her
Several months after Bo's death, a still-grieving Hope learned that the man who kept him hostage for nearly two years was none other than the evil Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo), who had been torturing Hope and her family for decades. She blamed Stefano for Bo developing his brain tumor, decided he killed her husband, and brandished a gun in front of him while he mocked her. This caused Hope to lose it, and she shot him point blank in the chest (via Michael Fairman TV). A freaked out Hope then called Rafe for help, and they spent the next few months covering up for the fact that Hope committed murder (via Soaps in Depth).
During this time, Rafe started developing romantic feelings for Hope, which is not what she planned. After Hope finally spent a few months behind bars for shooting Stefano, Rafe was ready to admit his feelings for Hope, but she wasn't quite ready to hear it.
Hope decides Rafe is her man, but Rafe cheats
After Hope resisted Rafe for a few weeks because she wasn't sure if she was ready to move on from Bo, she finally agreed to a date, and the pair entered into a full-fledged romance. Hope was later shocked when Rafe proposed, and he was perhaps even more shocked when she said yes. But Rafe and Hope clashed a lot on a variety of topics, and after one major blowout, Rafe went to visit his ex, Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney). One thing led to another, and Rafe and Sami had a one-night stand (via Soaps in Depth).
Although Rafe and Sami agreed nobody would ever know about their night together, Hope's granddaughter, Claire (Olivia Rose Keegan), heard Rafe talking about it and didn't know what to do with the information. Finally, the day of Hope and Rafe's wedding arrived, and nobody knew the pair had already eloped a few days prior. That's when Claire couldn't keep her secret any longer and blurted out what Rafe did with Sami. A devastated Hope later kicked Rafe out of her house.
Hope forgives Rafe but the damage is done
Eventually, Hope came around and forgave Rafe for his night with Sami, and they resumed their relationship, but it wasn't the same. They fought about everything, and Hope soon realized that it just wasn't going to work. However, she later agreed to give it one more try when Rafe was called away on a family emergency and had to leave town for a while. When he returned, Hope was gone (via Soaps in Depth).
Hope had left town when it appeared her daughter, Ciara (Victoria Konefal), was killed. She didn't believe it was true, and was determined to find her daughter. Ciara eventually turned up alive, but Hope opted not to return to Salem. As for Rafe, he first dated Ava Vitali (Tamara Braun), but is now with her former best friend, Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker), according to Soap Hub. Will Hope ever make her comeback to Salem? Only time will tell if Kristian Alonso's abrupt exit from "Days of Our Lives" will ever be rectified.