That Time Rayna Made a Suggestion

They'd been sitting here on this blanket in Percy Warner all afternoon. It was the perfect kind of Nashville afternoon, not too hot and sticky, with a nice breeze that came along at just the right moments. They were supposed to be trying to write a song, but Rayna had done nothing but draw circles for the last half hour as she sat upright with her back against the trunk of a massive oak tree.

She snuck a peak at Deacon over the edge of her notepad. He was staring intently at the music written in front of him, swearing under his breath as he tried to put the chords together. She thought he was so cute, the way he wrinkled up his forehead when he was concentrating real hard. He had a way about him, kinda rough around the edges. And the prettiest eyes. And hair. He had great hair.

Indeed, Deacon Claybourne was equally about the prettiest and most frustrating guy she'd ever met in her life.

She'd heard her sister Tandy make jokes about sexual frustration before. Sure, Tandy was four years old theoretically, but experience wise, well Rayna figured she was about ten years older at least. Ever since their mom died, Tandy had run a little bit wild. Her sister did things with men that made her blush even thinking about, and then she just…mentioned them in casual company like it was no big deal. Rayna knew it was mostly to piss off Lamar. He'd get that angry look in his eyes, but then he'd just laugh Tandy off and say "Some day, Tandy. Some day you're going to settle down and come in work for me in this office where you belong. Both of my daughters will. " And that pissed Tandy off even more. I'd rather jump in the Cumberland naked in January, she'd say flatly before high-tailing it out the door.

Well Rayna didn't want to work in any stuffy old office either, no matter what Lamar said.

She just wanted to sing. And maybe do it with this guy sitting next to her.

And maybe, she thought, feeling her face flame at the thought, do other things too.

She wondered if this is kinda what it felt like…to want somebody.

Man. I really wanna touch his hair.

She was mortified a little by her silent thoughts. It wasn't like she'd never dated anyone. There'd been lots of little crushes, lots of one time dates with boys who were just okay, and kisses that made her wonder if they were doing something wrong or if was her, because she just didn't enjoy it like she thought she should. But Deacon wasn't a high school boy. He was a man.

The song was going nowhere in a hurry, and she didn't even care. They'd been sitting there all afternoon, and all she kinda wanted to do was stare at him.

I wonder what it'd be like to kiss him. I bet he knows how to do it right.

Truthfully she'd fallen in….something with Deacon from the moment she met him six months ago. She hadn't quite figured out what it was yet. All she knew was that he made her feel things she didn't know what to do with, and those high school boys were a distant memory.

"Maybe we should just give up for the day," Deacon dropped his guitar on the blanket next to him and laid on his back with his arm over his eyes.

Rayna bit her bottom lip. "I guess. It's just that…well, I'm tired of singing everyone else's songs, you know? The stuff Watty gives us is good, but it's not…me."

"You can't write love songs if you've never been in love, Rayna." He said, sounding tired. "That's the problem. You're 17. You're life is too damn good. You don't have anything to write about."

"That's not true." She pursed her lips together. "You don't know I haven't been…in love," she shot back. "And my life has been plenty hard."

Deacon lifted his arm off his eyes and looked at her with a smirk. "Yeah, right. Growing up in a mansion in Belle Meade?"

"Don't judge….What about you, anyway?"

"I don't do love," he fell back, arm across his eyes to block out the sun again. "And you don't want to hear about how I grew up. It sure as hell was no picnic."

"Maybe we just need some inspiration."

Deacon didn't move. She thought for a second he'd fallen asleep. He always looked so damn tired, between the gigs he played downtown and the nights he bartended for cash.

"Maybe we should make out," she blurted out before she could stop herself. Damn, her mouth! She was turning into Tandy before her own eyes.

But oh, she had his attention now.

It would have been hysterical, if she wasn't so damn embarrassed, the look he gave her.

"What?"

Rayna clapped her hand over her mouth and her face turned about the same color as her hair.

His mouth moved up and down and no sound came out, as he sat up and ran his hands over his face, but Rayna could have almost sworn she saw him trying not to smile.

"Is that what you're sitting over there thinkin' about?"

She took a deep breath. "Well haven't you ever thought about it…a little?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't."

Hell, he was lying now. He thought about kissing her just about every time he saw her. But that was dangerous territory. Rayna was the kind of girl you never got over. The kind you wrote songs about. Funny how they were having so much trouble writing now, when he had half a dozen songs waiting at home that were all about her.

"You know we're friends, Ray. Partners. And that's how it's gotta stay."

"I know," she murmured, her heart sinking just about to her boots. She felt like an idiot.

"You and me, that's just…a bridge we shouldn't cross."

"Why, because I'm seventeen?" she said testily.

"No," he said, truthfully. "Because I'm not good enough for you."

"You put yourself down too much," she said shook her head. "Honestly? Maybe I haven't been in love, Deacon. Or maybe I'm just bored with all those guys who don't know what to do or where to put their hands when they kiss me goodnight."

"Rayna!" he looked appalled.

"I'm just saying, Deacon," she said softly. "Sometimes I look at you and I just…want to know what it's like. Don't you?"

He got a funny look in his eyes. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't."

"So…okay?" She gazed at him, looking a little too pleased with herself.

"Yeah. Okay."

"Well, are you gonna….or do you want me to."

He shook his head. "Damn, you are impatient."

Rayna threw her head back and laughed. "Are you scared of me, Deacon Claybourne?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "Scared to death."

She stopped laughing abruptly. "Why?" she whispered.

Instead of answering her, Deacon leaned over and brushed his lips against hers, lightly at first, waiting to see if she had changed her mind. Rayna's eyes fluttered closed and then back open, and she looked stunned, and then her face broke into a little smile.

"That was kinda nice," She said softly, feeling the butterflies in her stomach take flight. Yes, this was how it was supposed to feel. Like you were coming alive for the first time. "Maybe you should do it again."

Deacon pulled her across his lap, and did just that, kissing her deeper this time, sliding his tongue into her mouth and making sure he did a goddamn good enough job of convincing her that she no longer had a use for those other guys. She was his now, and it was too late to go back even if he wanted to.

When their makeout session ended some while later and they were laying on the blanket with Rayna's head on his chest, soaking up the last of the afternoon sun, the words to the song he'd been struggling with all afternoon came to him out of nowhere.

Rayna lifted her head and looked at him, as if she could read his thoughts even though he hadn't said a word. She scrambled for the pad of paper, and he reached for his guitar.

I got a funny feeling
The moment that your lips touched mine
Something shot right through me
My heart skipped a beat in time
There's a different feel about you tonight
It's got me thinking lots of crazy things
I even think I saw a flash of light
It felt like electricity

You shouldn't kiss me like this
Unless you mean it like that
'Cause I'll just close my eyes
And I won't know where I'm at
We'll get lost on this dance floor spinning around
And around and around and around

They're all watching us now
They think we're falling in love
They'd never believe we're just friends
When you kiss me like this I think you mean it like that
If you do baby kiss me again

Suddenly they had a hell of a lot to write about. And some years later, whenever they got stuck on a song, she'd give him a bump on the shoulder and say "wanna make out?" Sometimes it didn't work like it had the first time.

But sometimes it did, even when they shouldn't have…