I loved the ZAG song in the finale so much that I wanted to integrate it into a Rayna/Deacon scene. Plus it surprises me that for a woman that's looking desperately to expand her label with new artists that Rayna didn't sign them right away after the performance at Deacon's benefit. This takes place a little after the finale.

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Gunnar was tuning his guitar as Avery stepped up to the mic and Zoey did some vocal exercises to get ready. If this was going to be their first single on Highway 65 they wanted to make sure it was perfect. They had the top producer in Nashville sitting on the other side of the glass, and the head of the label, who also happened to be a superstar in her own right, overseeing the whole thing. "Alright guys," the producer said. "Let's take it from the top. Gunnar and Avery started to play the twangy metal sound of the open as Zoey chimed in with some background vocals.

"Let it rain, let it pour, I'll always get this ship to shore baby. It's crazy. Things that I would do for you, the hell that I would walk right through to save you. Yeah to save you.

From now on you're never going to be alone. If you get lost I'll be there to bring you home.

In the middle of a dark night I'll be your one light shining, your one light shining girl. I'll keep you safe until the red sunrise. I'll be your one light shining, your one light shining come on."

Rayna leaned over to talk to the producer. "This sounds great Sam, do you think you could bump the vocal up a bit during the chorus?"

"Sure Rayna, no problem."

Rayna smiled and went back to listening to them lay down the track.

"Let your deepest secrets kept, off your chest, off your lips. I promise, I'll keep 'em. There ain't nothing that you could say that'd make me walk away. I'll hold on, believe me."

Rayna was tapping her foot to the music when all of a sudden she heard some familiar voices coming down the hallway. The door swung open and Maddie ran in followed by Deacon. Maddie gave her mom a quick kiss then pressed her face against the glass watching every move the band was making as they recorded their song. Deacon walked up to Rayna and slid his arms around her waist. Then he leaned into her and started kissing her neck softly. Rayna turned in his arms playfully swatting him. "What are you doing? Our daughter is right there, plus you and I aren't technically together, we shouldn't be giving her the wrong idea." Deacon pulled her tighter against him and kissed the area behind her ear. "Stop," she said with very little conviction. "That's not what you were saying last night when I was making love to you," Deacon whispered in Rayna's ear. "In fact, I think you were saying don't stop if I remember correctly."

"Last night was a lapse in judgment," Rayna replied coyly. "Now behave. We're in public." She looked up at him pretending to be stern, but she knew she was just coming across as silly. Deacon pulled back a little resting his hands on her hips as they continued to listen to the song.

"Heaven knows there's no ghosts in this house. Close your eyes, baby let the candles burn out.

In the middle of a dark night I'll be your one light shining, your one light shining girl. I'll keep you safe until the red sunrise. I'll be your one light shining, your one light shining come on."

"They sound great Ray. Didn't I tell you that they'd be perfect for your label?" "Uh huh, so perfect." "You should listen to me more often," Deacon joked. "I'm always right." "Is that so?" Rayna said smiling up at him. "Yep, always," Deacon replied once again skimming his fingers over the exposed flesh above Rayna's low-rise jeans. He leaned back into her and started singing along with the music.

"Come on we're in this thing together, I ain't afraid to say forever. You call and I'll come running after you.

In the middle of a dark night I'll be your one light shining, your one light shining girl. I'll keep you safe until the red sunrise. I'll be your one light shining, your one light shining, come on."

Rayna knew she should be paying attention to the singers behind the glass, but all she could concentrate on was Deacon's low rumbling voice in her ear singing about forever and being her one light shining. And the way he said "come on" was just about the sexiest thing she'd ever heard. It was doing things to her she did not want to think about while her daughter was in the room.

It had been two months since that night when Deacon had surprised her showing up at her house after the concert at LP field, after Luke's proposal. She'd thought that she was happy in that moment. That marrying Luke was the right thing for her future, but once Deacon walked in the door and told her he wasn't going to lie to her by saying congratulations, she knew that the only person lying in that room was her to herself.

She'd been so flustered that night. All the walls that she'd worked so hard to put up, to keep him away in order to protect her heart, were being systematically destroyed piece by piece by his words.

"I know how to love you now. That man you'd always wanted me to be. I am that man. And I can be a husband now, and I can be a father. And I can give you everything that we were always meant to have. And maybe I'm too late, and maybe I should move on, but I can't. I've tried like hell, but all that ever happens is I get better at lying to myself. I don't want to do that anymore."

Rayna had felt herself shaking inside, and when he walked over to hold her she'd jumped at his touch, half-heartedly putting her hands up to stop him. But the moment he circled his right arm around her and touched her cheek with his left, she knew she was putty in his hands, just like it'd always been.

"You and me Ray. That's how it's supposed to be. You know that."

She thought about Luke proposing to her, and how everything had seemed so simple just ten minutes ago and she shook her head as if to say that she didn't know that; once again making an attempt to lie to herself. Her favorite coping mechanism.

But of course she knew that, it had been ingrained in her since she was 16 years old. She and Deacon Claybourne were meant to be, like Johnny and June or Tim and Faith. No matter how hard they tried, there was just no separating the two of them. She was so confused about everything, but he was so calm and sure enough for the two of them; a side of him that she'd never really seen before, but that she was finding irresistibly sexy. When he said 'it's Maddie, Daphne, you and…me' and leaned in to kiss her she knew the walls had crumbled to the ground. The smell of his body and the feel of his lips against hers, however brief, had sent her head spinning. When he pulled away she felt herself lean in for another kiss, but had enough presence of mind to know she shouldn't do that while still wearing Luke's ridiculously large ring on her left hand.

But all that was in the past. She'd spent that night in turmoil, laboring over what she should do, but the moment the day came and her kids walked in the door she looked over at the photo that Maddie had given her and knew that Deacon had been right, the four of them, they were a family, and there was no place in there for Luke. She'd given him the ring back much to his dismay, and had given an exclusive statement to People in exchange for their discretion on why the king and queen of country's engagement was over before it even began.

Things with Deacon had been more complicated. She knew she loved him, that he was her family, but the year had just taken too much out of her. She'd hung the ring on a chain and clasped it around her neck. "That's not supposed to be where you wear it Ray, it's a ring," Deacon said when he'd seen it.

"I know babe, but I'm just not so sure I'm ready yet to wear it on my finger quite yet."

"Well, at least there's nothing else there," Deacon sighed staring at the ringless finger on her left hand. It hadn't been ringless the last time he'd seen her, so this was a big improvement over that. "I just think that we should take some time to adjust to being a family before we jump into marriage. I love you, and that's what I want, but you're right, you've changed, and so have I, and I think we have to take some time to get to know the new us. We have the children to think about, and I just want both of us to be 100% sure before we say forever, okay?"

"Ray, I'm 100% sure now, but if you need time to get there, I'm okay with that too, just as long as I can come along for the ride."

Rayna leaned into him placing her hand on his chest and smiling. "Yeah you can," she said as she softly kissed him on the lips.

From there they'd mostly stuck to that plan, but there had been a few slip-ups like last night. The girls were at Teddy's and Deacon had come over to watch a movie. She should have known they were asking for trouble when he'd brought The Shining. He knew her well enough to know that she always needed someone to hold her during scary movies. They were making out before they even got to the scene with the twins. His hands easily slipped beneath her soft sweater and she barely took a breath from kissing him as he lifted it over her head. Before she knew it they were in the bedroom, the rest of their clothing having been left in a trail through the house. Each time she could feel him throbbing inside of her, and his hot kisses scorching every inch of her skin she wondered why she thought it was necessary to wait even a minute longer for them to commit to each other for the rest of their lives, but when she looked at the girls she knew this had to be a slow burn. She just couldn't help it if there were some flash fires every once in a while. Plus, nothing seemed like such a rush anymore. They knew they had forever to be together, and they were both okay with however long it took to get it right.

Rayna ran her hands over Deacon's and leaned back into him. Gunnar, Avery, and Zoey came out of the booth. "What'd you guys think?"

"It's great," echoed around the room. Sam turned around to address Rayna. "It is great, but I think it needs a little something extra, maybe a slightly higher voice." Maddie turned around excited. "I could do that!"

"Well, a younger voice might be kind of nice in there," Sam mused.

"Can I?" Maddie asked.

"It's fine with me," Avery replied.

Maddie turned towards Rayna and Deacon with hopeful eyes. "Mom, dad?"

Rayna and Deacon looked at each other, then turned back towards the group. "Alright," Rayna said. "But just back-up, and just on this one track."

Maddie was so excited she looked like she was going to bounce off the walls. Sam got the four of them situated back in the booth, and they began to play the track again.

As the four of them sang Deacon wrapped his arms around Rayna again. "That's our girl," Deacon said. "She's growing up."

Rayna leaned back into his arms letting herself enjoy the moment. "Yes, she certainly is."