Disclaimer: "Nashville" and all its awesomeness is owned by others. No profit to be made here, no negative infringement intended. I should get thanked, however, for taking the story count in the genre to 70 instead of the very inappropriate 69…ha!

A/N: Because I can't get this song out of my head either…

Post 1x16, "I Saw the Light"

"Ho, Hey…Hey"

Deacon had a song stuck in his head and it was keeping him wide awake. He could still hear the sweet harmony as Maddie and Daphne shared the Barclay Center stage to cover The Lumineers latest hit. Remembering their beautiful voices, it unnerved him to feel such tightness in his chest…

It was love.

Maybe he was just being overly sentimental given his earlier confession to Stacy that he wanted to settle down. Where the hell had that even come from? He imagined Coleman's deep chuckle and shaking head at such a prospect. A couple months removed from a string of one-night stands and he was trying to make an honest woman of this veterinarian. Something was very wrong with this picture. Sharing a queen bed in a standard New York hotel room instead of his usual suite, a new puppy crated in the corner, and a promise to give up touring for suburban Nashville living.

The quietness of it all suffocated Deacon.

He flashed back to all those years on the road, the loud hum of the tour bus engines lulling him to sleep as they traveled sixty-five miles an hour down interstates and country roads to everywhere and nowhere. He could still remember the smell of Rayna's hair as they slept; his lips on her forehead, her arms around his back…

Not able to force his eyes closed any longer, Deacon silently extricated his body from the hotel bed, trying desperately not to disturb Stacy's sleeping form. He prayed Sue wouldn't bark as he slipped on a t-shirt and headed out the door. The dog was already showing his loyalty, only letting out a little whimper as his owner slipped out of the room…

"Deacon Claybourne. Where are you getting yourself to at two am?" He had just stealthily clicked the door closed when the very familiar voice smashed through his consciousness, making him jump a little out of his skin. The last part of Rayna's question came out noticeably slurred.

"Out," he replied, recovering quickly from his shock of running into his dear… friend. "Down," he motioned toward the hotel cafe on the first level. "And you? Why are you out wandering the halls at all hours in such a condition?" He gave her his classic grin to let her know the ribbing was good-natured. He'd walked the fifteen feet from his room to her door, silently chastising tour management for always booking their sleeping arrangements near each other. It's like they relished tempting tabloid fate.

"Why don't you come on in and we can chat?" Rayna's sloppy smile was welcoming.

"Do you think that's the best idea?" He raised his eyebrows, conveying his uneasiness of going into the hotel room of a drunk former lover. "You can come down with me if you want."

"That would involve taking the elevator. Me—us—and elevators are dangerous, aren't we. They." She laughed, the back of her rational mind cursing the fact that she didn't eat dinner before drowning her sorrows. "Them. It." A giggle escaped.

"I'd rather take my chances with the elevator ride. Come on, I'm gonna buy you a cup of coffee." He took her hand, steadily leading her down the hallway and trying to keep her stumbling to a minimum. Riding down from the 23rd floor would be an interesting challenge. He hoped Rayna wasn't as drunk as she was acting or, if any indiscretion did happen, that she wouldn't remember it tomorrow. As they stepped in the empty elevator, the brunette beauty fell against the cool steel of the back panel subconsciously putting some much needed distance between herself and Deacon. And then she started to sing the song that wouldn't let him sleep…

"I've been trying to do it right. I've been leading a lonely life…" Hearing her voice brought him back to when they first started out together singing acoustically at the Bluebird Café. It still had the same effect. Absolutely breathtaking.

"I've been sleeping here instead. I've been sleeping in my bed." He'd wanted to seek her out after hearing about Teddy and the divorce, but their recent fireworks had held him back.

"Sleeping in my bed." Their voices still seamlessly and effortlessly melded together. No amount of sound checks or rehearsals could better anything so God-given.

Deacon glimpsed the numbers ticking down as he moved closer. Twelve, eleven, ten. He took her hand and she leaned her head back until her long locks were flush with the elevator. Her eyes slipped closed as he continued the serenade, "I belong with you. You belong with me. You're my sweetheart…" Nine. Eight. Too fast.

Rayna opened her eyes and looked over at Deacon, squeezing his warm fingers between hers. "Don't you wish belonging was the same thing as being?" Her whispered question echoed his own thoughts. "We have the worst timing lately. I'm married, you're single. I'm divorced, you have a lovely new girlfriend…belonging together ain't always being together, my friend."

"It can be, Rayna James. It can be." He moved in front of her, taking his free hand and slipping it behind her hair to rest on the back of her neck. It was a familiar movement; it was like coming home. His forehead came to rest against her own and they shared their next breath. Their lips inched closer together and he closed his eyes in anticipation of sweet contact…until he was pushed away.

"Not like this. I'm sober enough to know you won't be able to look that nice woman in the face if you kiss me right now. I'm drunk enough to know I wouldn't be able to stop you if you start." A long ding rang out as the doors slide open. "I'm riding back up, friend. I don't need any coffee with the shot of adrenaline you just gave me."

He nodded his assent and turned to leave before he wouldn't be able to. He heard her humming the tune as the elevator shut behind him. With such a song haunting him, Deacon Claybourne would not be sleeping anytime in the near future.

The End