He looks like himself up there, like the star that he really is, standing in the spotlight. Watching him perform on that stage and watching him take charge, makes Rayna's heart flutter like it did when she used to watch him perform in the early days, before he had chosen to become her guitarist exclusively. When his eyes catch hers, she sees the fire burning as bright as ever and she is overwhelmingly glad that he didn't give up on music. She is glad that their daughter wanted to come watch him play. She is glad because, in this moment, there is nowhere else she would rather be. She loves watching him when he is like this, watching him in his element. Hearing the lyrics that he is singing, makes her heart beat faster. She knows that he is singing about her and it makes her want to run to him, wrap him in her arms, and beg him for forgiveness. Screw everyone else who is watching. After a moment, she clears the crazy thoughts from her mind and tries to focus on his performance.
This is how it should have been all along.
He looks like he did before he ever suffered with addiction. He looks like the man she fell in love with: strong, assertive, sexy, talented, and whole. She realizes that he is finally saving himself. He is finally standing up on his own two feet without using her as his crutch or hiding behind her in the background. He is taking charge of his life again. She can't help but feel immensely proud of him for the strides that he has taken in the short time since their accident.
When he finishes his set, Rayna waits a moment before deciding to walk over to him. She feels drawn to him in a way that she hasn't felt in a long time. He looks happy. He even looks a little younger. It's almost as if she has gone back in time to the very beginning.
Oh, what I would do to go back to the beginning. Before the addiction, before the mistakes we both made.
As she is talking to him, she knows that she is barely containing her emotions. She feels as if they are written all over her face, like she is exposed. The truth is, she is always exposed when she is with him since he has always been able to read her like a book. In this moment, her longing for him and for his comfortable embrace is stronger than it has been since their last attempt at a relationship. Seeing him like this makes her hope that there might still be a future for them after all. A future in which they do not suffocate each other but stand strong together: whole, happy, healed, and renewed.
Her throat constricts when he mentions Megan and her heart breaks a little as she watches him walk away. It is definitely written all over her face now. She doesn't want to lose him now that he has finally begun to build himself back up on his own but she knows that he needs more time. If it is ever going to work between the two of them then it will have to be different. They will both have to be healed and they will both have to be ready.
One day.
She hopes that it's true. One day she hopes they will finally be together again and they will finally get it right.