I wasn't expecting reviews so soon! Thank you to all who have left their feedback – Obviously new to Nashville fics – and after writing Harry Potter fanfics for years it's been a bit of a struggle to suddenly change to characters that I'm not familiar with – so feel free to review and let me know how I can improve :) I'm torn between how to split between Journal and Maddie's present life, so I'm sort of experimenting with keeping it mostly centred around the journal for now.
Chapter One
Rayna's Journal
I bought this book for songwriting ideas, but it seems more fitting at the moment to just jot down my thoughts and see what songs I can make up from them. Tonight could definitely make a song. Watty rung earlier this afternoon to ask me to sing at the Bluebird tonight, because he had someone he wanted me to meet with – someone who had the potential to be an important part of my career. Curiousity got the best of me, I had other plans with school friends but a chance to perform and possibly get one step closer to a record deal would always come before a silly social event.
I dressed up. Watty had made this seem like a make or break moment, so I couldn't just turn up in jeans and cowboy boots. I wore a dress with my boots instead, told Daddy I was going out with some Belle Meade girls so that he wouldn't object, and drove my new car to the Bluebird. As I walked in, I heard some of the most amazing guitar I'd ever heard. On the stage was quite possibly the most handsome man I'd ever seen, picking at guitar strings and singing next to a woman. There was something about him, that I couldn't take my eyes off him. He just gave off this compelling aura that was drawing me in without him realising. Watty waved to me from the bar, and I joined him.
"That's Deacon Claybourne" he gestured to the stage. A name I will probably always remember. "With his sister. But it's him I want you to meet. I think he'd make an excellent guitarist for you. And some of his original songs are the best I've heard in years."
"Oh, his sister?" I said quietly, eyeing him with a little more appreciation. They finished their small set and my name was announced.
"I want to have a chat with him while you sing, see what he thinks. Then I'll introduce the two of you and you can get acquainted." Watty said before I headed for the stage. I performed one of the songs I'd written myself, with a small amount of applause afterwards. I could write a decent song, Watty had told me, but there needed to be something more to make it spectacular. And what I want, more than anything, is to be spectacular. I felt Deacon's eyes on me the whole time, and stole small glances at him while I sung, butterflies going crazy in my stomach. I headed towards him and Watty and noticed his sister sitting at the bar, her eyes narrowed on me.
"Deacon, I'd like to introduce you to Rayna Wyatt. She's been looking for a co-writer to work with, and I think you'd make an excellent team." Watty said, and I couldn't help but smile shyly, sticking out my hand towards him for a shake.
"I usually work with my sister, but I'm sure I can spare some time for a beautiful woman like yourself." he said with a southern drawl that I could tell was from Mississippi.
"That would be much appreciated, Mr Claybourne" I said politely, and he laughed.
"I'll leave you two to get acquainted. Call me tomorrow afternoon Rayna." Watty left, leaving me shyly standing there.
"Take a seat. Can I order you a beer?" Deacon said, placing his empty beer bottle on the table.
"I'm underage. A root beer will be fine, thank you" I replied, feeling so embarassed. I'm 16 and here is this man who was very obviously not my age, who I'm supposed to write songs with! He came back with drinks after what looked like a heated conversation with his sister, who left.
"Exactly how old are you then?" he asked when he handed me my drink.
"16" I said quietly, looking down at the table, expecting him to run a mile.
"Wow. You're so talented for someone so young. I'm only 19 myself." he replied, and I smiled at him. Not as old as I thought, maybe this could work. We talked for nearly two hours, about ourselves, what we wanted to do with our music, and then finally, I mentioned that Daddy had given me an eleven o'clock curfew. He walked me to my car like a real gentleman.
"I'd like to write with you, and not just because Watty wants us to" I said as we stood by my car in the nearly empty parking lot. I could tell I was blushing.
"So do I, I think there's something between us that could make magic with music. Do you want to meet up tomorrow and have a jam?" he said, standing there looking so irresistable with his hands in his pockets.
"I'd like that. How about you come by my house, there's some lovely gardens that I love to write in. My father and sister will be gone all day, boring country club events" I said and he nodded. I wrote down my address and gave it to him.
"Goodnight, Rayna. Lovely to meet you" he said, leaning forward to kiss my cheek before walking away to a run down truck across the carpark. I couldn't believe he had just done that, it made my heart stop – there was something about him, the way he talked, the way he looked interested whenever I spoke, the way he looked right into my eyes that made me feel like he was staring right into my soul, everything about him, gave me goosebumps. When I finally got into my car, and drove home, all I could think about was him. I can't wait to start writing with him tomorrow, I think we'll come up with something amazing.
Maddie smiled. Her mother, only a few years older than her, had been introduced to Deacon by Uncle Watty – someone who was so wise that Maddie thought he'd probably known exactly what he was doing by introducing them, and exactly what they'd become together. It didn't answer any longing questions though. Although she wasn't sure what she was expecting, not like the first page of this book was going to say "Deacon Claybourne is Maddie's biological father". Before she talked to anyone about that test, she was going to have to make sure she knew who to talk to first about all this. Until then she'd keep it all to herself, because she didn't even know who knew apart from her mother. Did her Daddy know? Did Deacon? It was getting late, almost midnight, but she kept reading.
Rayna's Journal
Deacon came over to the house today, luckily not long after Daddy and Tandy had left. I don't think Daddy would have approved, he's not a country club boy, he's not rich and he's musical. Anything musical and Daddy loses his temper, and I lose mine right back. It's not my fault I'm not business minded like Tandy, who's in her third year of college heading towards some fancy business degree. I answered the door to him, wearing a short sleeved shirt and slacks, with his guitar case. Looking just as handsome as he had last night, except he'd shaved. I'm not sure if he looks as good without the stubble. I'll have to keep looking.
"Good morning. Guess you weren't lyin' when you said your Daddy was rich" Deacon said, looking up at the house.
"I hate it" I replied, and he grinned at me. "Come this way, I'll show you my favourite writing spot" I said, grabbing my writing pad and pen from the table where I'd put them before answering the door. I led him out to the back of the gardens, where we could barely see the house, and there was a small well kept gazebo. "I like being down here, I can forget about everything that's going on in the house"
"You don't like living here?" he asked as he opened his guitar case and sat down.
"No. Hated it since my Mama died four years ago. Even though her and Daddy argued a lot, she would always play music with me. The music in the house died with her. Daddy forbids it" I admitted, sitting down next to him.
"And yet you still seem so focussed on making it big. That takes guts" he said. We sat there for ages, and not a single word made it onto the paper in the form of a song. He didn't like talking about his own childhood, apart from him and his sister singing in their room where their father wasn't home. He asked me lots of questions though, as if he was eager to hear me speak. That excites me a little – I think I've got a little bit of a crush. Eventually I mentioned that maybe we should at least attempt to write something, and for the first time, I think I'd cracked his confident exterior, and he blushed.
"I'm sorry. I just like listening to you talk. It gives me a reason to watch you. You're very beautiful" He admitted, somewhat shy and that made me smile.
"Um, thank you." I said, a bit lost for words. He looked back up at me, and leaned over, placing a soft kiss on my lips before pulling back.
"I'm sorry. I've been wanting to do that since you first sat down last night at the Bluebird" he said. "If I've crossed a line I can leave"
"No, no, don't" I said as he stood up. "I'm surprised, I wasn't expecting that from someone as handsome as you" I bit my lip nervously, and he sat back down, that confident grin back on his face.
"I think we might have ourselves a song there" he said with a wink, leaning over and brushing his hand against mine as he picked up the pen and writing pad. He scribbled for a minute, and then handed it over, picking up his guitar. "Sing it, and then see where it goes"
"Something's just a little bit different in your eyes tonight, they look twice as bright." She looked up at him with a smile. "I don't think Watty will be expecting a love song"
"Probably not, but I feel like it's right with you" he said simply, going back to strumming the melody he'd fitted to the song. I'd been right last night – we could make magic with music together. I sung a few more lines that had come into my head, and we couldn't help but grin at each other, this was where hits came from. Hits that got record deals.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you" he said and we sung it together. I'm excited just thinking about it. Like really excited. I can't believe I'm writing love songs with someone who kissed me! We wrote for what seemed like days, but only hours passed and soon the sun was setting. We hadn't even stopped for lunch, we'd just chatted and written some of the most amazing songs I'd ever sung that weren't covers.
"You're so talented, there's no way I could have done this by myself" I said honestly as we wrapped it up for the day, and he packed up his guitar.
"The talents all you Ray" I like how he shortens my name. No-one's ever done that before. It sounds right coming from him too. "I hope this isn't awfully out of line, but I was wondering if I could take you to dinner one night this week" he asked as he stood up, and outstretched his hand to help me up. He didn't let go either and that made my heart beat faster.
"Like a date?" I asked, confused and he let go of my hand and stood back.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that you would -"
"I'd love to" I cut him off, and he smiled that smile that I was beginning to love. Something about the way it lights up his eyes is magical.
"Great. Maybe wednesday?" he asked, taking my hand back and leading me through the gardens.
"Definitely. I have school until 4, so pick me up at 5.30?" he laughed at the word school and I felt so embarassed. "Is there something funny about school?" I asked, insulted.
"No, no, of course not. I like that you value your education" he said, and he pulled me closer, putting his guitar case on the ground and leaning towards me, and finally kissing me. He placed his hands on my hips and I felt mine wrap around his neck. I've never kissed anyone like that. And I've never really wanted to, but I could definitely do that with Deacon again. And again. I've only known him two days and I'm already letting him kiss me like this. It's no wonder Daddy went crazy when he spotted us.
"Get the hell off my property, boy!" he yelled, coming down the patio steps. Deacon lept back.
"Daddy, don't!" I screamed back, and he took Deacon by the collar and dragged him through the house. "Deacon, I'm sorry!" I shouted before Daddy slammed the front door in his face and turned to lecture me.
"What on earth were you doing? Entertaining a boy here without telling me, without supervision?" he yelled, and I stomped my foot in frustration.
"I'm not a child, Daddy! I know what I'm doing! All we were doing was writing some songs in the gazebo" I tried to explain. "He's a nice man, I think you'd see that" I pleaded.
"No. No song writing on this property, no music. And certainly not that poor boy and his pick up truck. You know the rules Rayna, you abide by them or you leave!" He shouted. And I realised right at that moment that I was done. Done living here in this house.
"Fine. I'll be gone in half an hour." I told him, turning and running up the stairs. And now I'm sitting here. My bag is packed and I'm wondering where I'm supposed to go. I've got a little money, maybe enough for a motel room downtown, but only for a few days, then where? How did such a magical day turn into something so horrid? Tandy is back now and she's begged me to stay – to abide by his rules and leave music until after I've finished high school, and now she's down stairs trying to talk sense into Daddy. That might keep the peace for awhile, but I can't just cast music and Deacon aside for a year and a half just so that I can stay here. It's times like these when I wish Mama was still here, she would help, she would have known what to do.
Maddie sighed sadly, closing the book. She'd known that her Mom and her Grandpa hadn't really gotten along before she was born. She put the book in her bedside table, under a stack of magazines. Hopefully she could read the book and get it back in the box before her mother noticed it was gone. She really needed to get some sleep – but her mind was full of questions. How had her Grandpa been so cruel to his youngest daughter, just because she was seeing a boy. Would her Daddy do that when she got a boyfriend? Where did her Mama go? She tossed and turned most of the night, questions filling her mind. Was Deacon her father? Should she ask him? Should she ask her mother? Eventually she heard her mother in the hallway, heading downstairs for coffee. She got up and dressed, noticing it was barely after seven. If her mother was alone, maybe she'd mention something.
Deacon was in the kitchen with her mother, making eggs at the stove top. She poured herself a glass of juice and sat down at the breakfast bar, barely speaking when they each said good morning. Her mother was looking at her, knowing something was wrong and wondering what teenage tragedy was bothering her this morning. She felt like shouting at her, but instead ignored her.
"Extra extra crispy bacon, just the way you like it Maddie" Deacon said with a smile, handing her the plate. "I like it the same" he said, and she nodded and thanked him. Was that something she had inherited from him? Like how she could play guitar like him, but her mother couldn't? She watched him out of the corner of her eye while they ate. Her mother was plating up breakfast for herself and Daphne, who had just come down the stairs, the smell of bacon throughout the house had probably woken her. Deacon had the same colour hair as her, and their eyes were the same shade of blue. Things she would have never really taken notice of if she'd still thought Teddy was her father. Other than that she knew she looked like her Mama.
"What's up, Maddie?" Deacon asked her suddenly, and she blushed. He'd caught her staring.
"Nothing. Thanks for breakfast" she said, taking her plate to the sink, rinsing it and putting it in the dishwasher, walking out of the room without another word.