Luke was furious. How dare that drunk piece of shit try to steal his woman. Rayna had told him that her relationship with Deacon was long over and ancient history, so why the hell did that son of a bitch propose to her, and especially on the big night he had planned for her where he proposed himself and she said yes. Earlier that day when Rayna had told him Deacon proposed, he thought she was trying to play some sick joke at first, but he knew better. The thing that made him really worried was that when he asked her what she said, Rayna had told him that she didn't tell Deacon anything. That alone was enough to push Luke over the edge, but he tried to maintain his composure. He needed to be strong for Rayna and show her that he was a man and he could handle his feelings, but the truth was he was afraid of losing her, his Queen of Country Music. So Luke told her he would give her time to sort things out hoping that she would come back to him and end things with Deacon once and for all. In the meantime, Luke had some plans of his own. He quickly jumped in his truck and left his ranch as he headed for East Nashville.

Deacon was sitting on his front porch working on a song that he wanted to perform at the Bluebird tonight for Rayna, hoping that she would show. He was pouring his heart and soul into the lyrics as he strummed his guitar to find the chords to match. He didn't want this to be just any old love song. Deacon wanted this song to be a promise to Rayna that he was a changed man who could give her everything she ever wanted and love her right. Music had always connected them and they shared that strong bond since the day they met. It seemed that whenever things seemed unsure or even if things were great, it was the music that brought them together. As Deacon finished writing the chorus, he set his pen down and looked up as he heard the cut of an engine followed by the loud slam of a truck door.

"Hey, Deacon!" Luke spattered out as he walked up the steps of Deacon's porch until he was standing above him looking down.

Deacon rose up so that both men were eye level with each other.

"Luke. What the hell are you doin' here? What do you want?" Deacon asked with curiosity and a little bit of frustration in his voice.

"I should ask you the same thing! What the fuck were you thinking proposing to Rayna last night? I proposed to her! She said yes to me! She doesn't want you. Nobody wants your pathetic ass!" Luke began shouting as the anger came back full force. He wasn't going to lose Rayna to this piece of shit!

"Rayna deserves to know the truth about how I feel about her, how I've always and will always feel about her. That ain't gonna change. I needed to let her know that I love her." Deacon tried to keep calm and not let Luke work him up. He didn't know what it was that Rayna saw in this man, he was an ass.

"When are you gonna get it Deacon! You lost! She's mine! Rayna is mine and you ain't ever gonna be the one for her. You're not worth shit and you don't deserve her. Get this through your head! I'm the one who Rayna loves! I'm the one who while you sit here like a pathetic puppy dog, she's curling up to me at night as we make love over and over again! And I'm the one who she's gonna marry and spend the rest of her life with!" screamed Luke.

"She's not in love with you Luke and you know it. She never will be. You might think you know her but you don't. I believe Rayna will come back to me because that's what happens when you are truly in love. She'll come back to me, and I'll be here." Deacon tried to stand his ground and as much as he wanted to slug Luke right across the face right then and there he knew that wouldn't help nobody.

"Fuck off Deacon!" And with that Luke swung his fist and hit Deacon right on the lip. "Why can't you just let her be happy?!"

"Why can't you?" Deacon held his fists clenched tightly by his side. He could taste a little bit of blood on his lip but he wasn't going to retaliate, he wasn't going to stoop to Luke's level. Luke shook off his hand from the punch he gave and began his descent back to his truck as he hopped in and peeled down the road. Deacon watched as Luke sped away before gathering up his writing materials and guitar and heading back into his house.

(I would love and very much appreciate it if you could kindly post your review after reading the chapter. I love feedback and your comments will help me direct how the story will go so I can get a better feel for what interests you as the reader. Thank you so much and I hope y'all enjoy!)