Ok so this is – What if Maddie had gone to Deacon's when she ran away from the gala in Season 2. I couldn't remember the first time Maddie called Deacon 'dad' so I may be toying with the timeline slightly but – hope you enjoy! Let me know if there are any 'what ifs' you'd like to read? I'm enjoying writing these so there might be more chapters than I'd previously said!
Deacon pulled away from Megan, startled at hearing a knock at the door.
"Rayna?" Deacon muttered as he recognised the silhouette through the covered glass. He'd recognise that hair anywhere, even just the outline.
"Is Maddie here?" She was panicked, obviously upset, and Deacon cursed himself for noticing how beautiful she looked. Now obviously wasn't the time, but yet he found his eyes raking over her body in that dress. Breathtaking. Get a hold of yourself, man!
"What? Ray what's going on? Why would Maddie be here?"
"We were at the symphony, she's angry, she's been listening to your album non-stop, and now Teddy and that woman, God! –"
"Ray! Ray! Listen to me," he took he arms in his grasp, forcing her to take a breath and meet his eyes, "you're not making sense, where's Maddie?"
"I don't know! She ran away – I, we, she's gone Deacon." Rayna felt the tears threatening to spill but instead blew out a shaky breath, knowing she needed to keep her head if they were going to find her. Dammit Maddie. She was so sure her daughter would've come here, God knows Rayna felt like running here whenever there was a problem. Now thought, she'd involved Deacon for no reason. Except there was a reason, Rayna thought to herself. Deacon is Maddie's father. She'd spent so many years pretending that he wasn't, now it was just taking time to get used to the idea that she could involve him in these things, that she should. She could come to him for help, she could ask him to help her take care of their daughter, she could cry on his shoulder when things went wrong. No. No, she definitely shouldn't be doing that. Aside from the guilt she would feel complaining to him after she kept him from his daughter all those years, that sounded a little too much like a relationship and their last attempt at one of those ended up with him in a bar and her in a coma.
"Did you call the police?" A female voice from behind them caused Rayna to spin round before Deacon could respond to Megan's question.
She looked flushed. That was the first thing Rayna noticed. Slowly the information she was being presented with fell into place and Rayna noted with regret the twinge of jealousy that knotted in her stomach. She knew that particular shade of flushed because she'd worn it so often herself. That was no expensive make-up shade, it was from the 'just been kissed by Deacon Claybourne' range.
"God I'm sorry, I've interrupted you – I should go. I just thought – oh God where is she?" Rayna cried quietly as she turned to make her way through the open door and down the steps to her truck. She felt his strong hand on her bare wrist before she got there.
"I'm coming with you."
"No Deacon, please – stay here. I really think she might come here. Please? I'll call you the second I know anything but I think she'll come to you." He hated letting her go like this, not even sure she should be driving with tears running down her face. But she was pulling herself out of his grasp before he's had a chance to object, so he watched as her truck pulled away, feeling more helpless than the day she'd driven away from the crash site all those months ago, even more helpless than the day she told him she'd married Teddy whilst he was locked away trying to stay sober for the both of them. This was different though. He felt helpless in his love for Rayna, not knowing how to move past it, over it or around it. But Maddie? She needed him, and he was going to be there for her when she knocked on his door. Deacon closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer that he wouldn't have to wait too long for that moment.
He felt Megan's hand on his shoulder. "You ok?" He turned to look her in the eyes. She was beautiful, smart, sensitive but feisty. In many ways, everything Rayna was. But she wasn't Rayna. Deacon suddenly felt guilty. He had been on a date, trying to move on from Rayna, trying to start again with someone new, whilst his little girl was struggling. From what Rayna had said, it sounded like the good old Mayor was about ready to marry that Peggy woman who'd made Ray feel so inferior back in high school, part of the old money crowd up at the country club. He remembered how Rayna had cried one night as he held her, before they were anything official, because those girls had laughed at her music, making fun of her mother and spreading all kinds of gossip about her parents' marriage. That had been the first time she'd cried to him, the first time he felt his heart break at the sound of her sobs. She'd been tired, she said the morning after, but he knew that Rayna Wyatt would always put on a brave face when she needed to, saving her crying for the couch in the candlelight, a pair of arms around her. He'd hoped it would be his arms for the rest of their lives, and he was harbouring that hope still.
"Deacon?" Megan's soft voice broke through his thoughts again. "Can I do anything to help?"
He sighed. "No Megan, I don't think you can."
It was an hour later when Deacon finally heard a knock at the door. He had called Maddie's cell more times in the last sixty minutes than the whole time he'd known her. He'd called Rayna a couple of times too, just to check she hadn't forgotten to call him. There was still a part of him that felt like she might leave him out of the news – happy or sad. It was stupid, he knew, she had promised to call and Rayna never broke her promises. Old insecurities though, they seem to just cling on.
He opened the door to a cold and frightened girl with a tear stained face.
"Thank God," he breathed into her hair as he held her close. He pulled her inside with him, closing the door on the cold air that had settled with the early morning darkness. "Maddie, look at me," he held her face in his hands, tilting her chin to look him in the eye. "You ok? You're not hurt?"
"No. I'm fine. I'm sorry Deacon, I know it's late, I just -"
"Hey hey hey sweet girl, stop," Deacon brushed a few tears from her face, "that don't matter right now, just as long as you're safe ok?" Maddie nodded, his care washing over her and starting the tears afresh. This is what a Dad should be doing, not marrying that stupid Peggy woman. Maddie knew she maybe was overreacting, she'd realised that after about an hour in the cold and dark, but she was just so angry. Her Dad was choosing to flaunt his relationship with Peggy in front of everyone, when everything in their lives was already complicated and public enough. He hadn't been there when girls at school were whispering about why her mom was in a car with Deacon when he was drunk, or when she'd heard her mom crying herself to sleep in the music room, more than once in the last few months. Deacon hadn't been there either, but Maddie felt like that wasn't his fault. He didn't know because everyone had kept it from him. They'd both been kept out of the decision making all these years. So when the dark and the cold got too much, there was only one place she felt she could go.
"Are you gonna call my mom?" Maddie asked, secretly hoping that he'd say yes. It wasn't her mom's fault that her dad was marrying Peggy and she felt kind of awful for worrying her in this way. She was still angry about her mom's decision to keep Deacon out of her life all this time, but she was still her mom. She still loved her and she was kind of craving a mom hug to feel safe again.
"Yep. That's exactly what I'm doing right now. You, however, are freezing, so why don't you curl up under this blanket here and I'll make you a –" Deacon realised he wasn't sure what she'd drink. Do teenagers drink tea? Coffee? No – it's late…cocoa? "Hot chocolate?"
"Sounds good, thanks." Maddie padded over to the coach, took off her formal shoes which were beginning to form blisters on her feet, and laid down under the heavy blanket, feeling warmer immediately. She strained to hear Deacon talking to her mom over the noise of the kettle.
"Ray?" She thought it was cute that Deacon still had a pet name for her mom. She'd never heard anyone call her that apart from her Uncle Deac – her dad. Names were such a weirdly special thing, the way her mom allowed Deacon to call her that without having a diva dip must mean something. She knew so little about their relationship but she knew that they must have really been in love. She'd seen YouTube clips and pictures from when they were touring and performing together and it was exactly like the scenes in the romantic movies she and her sister chose when it was girls' night with mom. She wondered whether Deacon realised he'd called her 'sweet girl,' which was something only her mom called her usually. Maybe he picked it up from her, or was it something he'd called Scarlett and her mom picked it up from him? Either way, she decided she didn't really mind, it was kind of nice. Maybe I should be calling him dad?
"Maddie's here, she's fine, she's not hurt, she's just-" Deacon had obviously been cut off by her mom. Was she angry and shouting? Or crying? Or just asking lots of questions? Maddie thought the last option might be the most likely. Her mom was a great person to have around in an emergency because she always stayed calm and got to the bottom of the problem. Whether it was the time that Maddie had accidentally broken Daphne's first ukulele (which she still felt terrible about) or the time Daphne almost cut her finger off trying to make the salad for dinner, their mom was the one to figure out what had happened and what to do next. That was one of the reasons it hurt so much that she'd got that one decision so horribly wrong. What on earth could have made her mom think that lying to her and Deacon was the right decision all these years?
Deacon's voice interrupted the anger she could feel rising and he handed her a steaming mug of hot chocolate. "Sorry there's no tiny marshmallows or cream or anything for the top."
She giggled, sitting up to take the mug from him. "That's fine," he handed her the mug, "thanks."
"So," Deacon started after a pause, watching Maddie take a sip of hot chocolate before deciding it was too hot and settling for wrapping her hands around the mug. "You wanna tell me about it?"
Maddie's head dropped a little. Deacon noted how much she was like her mom, avoiding his eyes so she didn't have to tell him what was hurting her. He knew he'd had his demons over the years, but Rayna had hers too. She didn't turn to the bottle but she kept it all caged inside. He could count on one hand the amount of times he'd seen her really let it all out – crying and screaming till she was hoarse, till he rocked her to sleep. Of course, he guessed there'd been lots of times she'd cried over him when he wasn't there to comfort her. He gulped as the wave of regret threatened to crash down on him in front of Maddie.
"I don't know, I just – my dad – I mean-" Maddie felt awkward using that word in front of Deacon. She faltered and looked up to see if he'd noticed. He had.
"It's ok Maddie, he is your dad and he loves you. He's been there for you all these years." Deacon resisted the urge to clench his jaw. Admitting Teddy had done a good job and taken his place all this time filled him with mixed emotions. He knew he had no right to be angry about the path Rayna has chosen and Teddy had been a much more stable influence on the girls than he might have been, but it sure did hurt to think about how things might have been. Right now though, he knew he needed to toe the line and help to keep Maddie's boat as close to floating as he could.
"Yeh, well he doesn't seem to care much about me and Daphne anymore! I can't believe he'd just ask Peggy to marry him and not even talk to us about it. She's so annoying Deacon, she thinks she can just force her way into the family and tell us what to do! I just feel like I can't deal with this right now!" She started crying again and Deacon moved from his perch on the coffee table, to sit alongside on the couch, gathering her into a hug. As she cried away on his shoulder, he tried to think of what a responsible parent might say. As she held on to the collar of his shirt whilst she cried though, he realised how natural this felt and he reasoned that maybe he already knew what to say, maybe Maddie still needed her Uncle Deacon just as much as she needed her…well….her dad. He wondered if she'd ever feel able to call him that.
"Now Maddie listen to me. You gotta talk to your mom about this, and your dad. They both love you very much and I don't know what the solution is, but I sure know it's not running away having everybody worry about you, okay?" He felt her nod against his chest, sniffling lightly as she listened. "Now, you know what I might do in your shoes? And I reckon maybe your momma would do the same? I think I'd write it all down. You started writing any songs yet?"
"Me and Daphne sometimes do," she replied, sitting up and wiping her eyes. Deacon smiled at the look of excitement dancing in her eyes. There was no denying that this girl had music in her veins. Just like both her parents, it was the thing that soothed them, that excited them, that let them escape.
"Well, I actually got you a little present the other day – supposed to be for your birthday but I think maybe you need it now," Deacon rose from the couch and headed over to the fireplace. There was a small package in a brown paper bag, which he handed to Maddie. He didn't want her to think she was being rewarded for running away, but he could see that she was sorry and embarrassed enough already, without him yelling at her. He hoped maybe if she could write in the brown leather notebook he'd spotted in one of those arty stores Scarlett liked, then maybe she wouldn't feel like running away was the only option. It had worked for him more than a few times.
"It's so beautiful," Maddie gasped, running her hands over the cover, "thank you dad!"
They both paused and as their eyes met, shared a smile. It was a special moment to come out of a trying day and Deacon thought his heart might explode. Never in all the years he'd been apart from Rayna had he thought he'd hear someone call him that. He knew that he'd missed his chance with Rayna and he just couldn't imagine having children with any of the women who'd made fleeting appearances in his life over that time.
"You're welcome sweet girl, now you gotta promise me that when you feel like you did tonight, when you feel angry or sad or all different things at once, you talk to your mom, or your dad or me, or you write something down ok? No more running away?"
"I promise."
He gathered her in for a hug just as another knock on the door alerted him to Rayna's arrival. He opened the door and Rayna ran to the couch, gathering Maddie into her arms, kissing her head and face and checking for injuries just like any concerned mom would do.
"She's fine Ray," Deacon offered from across the room, sensing her fear and wanting to stop feeling so helpless, wanting to banish that look of panic from her eyes.
"Maddie! What on earth were you thinking?! Don't EVER run away like that again! Do you know all the terrible things that could have happened to you?! I was going out of my m-"
"Ray! Stop Ray, hey, hey! Ray, she's fine ok?" Deacon had crossed the room in two strides, sensing the anger rising in Rayna and seeing the sadness in Maddie's eyes as the full force of her actions became clear. He knew that this wasn't what their daughter needed to see right now, so he suggested that Maddie make her mom a cup of coffee and heat up her own hot chocolate which sat cold on the table. To make sure teenage ears were really out of range, Deacon led Rayna out to the back porch, pulling a coat of his from the rack and placing it over Rayna's shoulders as he closed the door behind them.
"Y'ok?" Deacon asked after Rayna's breathing seemed to calm a little. She looked quite the picture in her formal gown, heels and his too big jacket, sleeves hiding her delicate hands which he knew would be clenched into fists right about now.
She took a deep breath and let it out in a gasp. "Not really." Keeping one on the porch rail, she turned to face Deacon and tried to wipe away the now falling tears with the other. It was futile though, as the drops came thick and fast, her whimpers growing into sobs as Deacon placed one arm around her waist and used the other to cradle her head against his shoulder, pulling her away from the rail. As her hands came around to grasp at his shirt around the waist, he felt her go almost entirely limp, and so found himself holding her up as she sobbed harder.
"It's ok Ray, she's ok baby, she's safe, she's here," Deacon repeated words of encouragement in her ear until he felt the cries subside and led them both to the porch step to take a seat, hiding them both from the pair of eyes peering through the kitchen window. "She knows what she did wasn't a sensible choice – I tried to make sure she knows that she needs to talk to you, or Teddy even, or…me – I mean if that's ok with you?" Rayna sniffled and nodded, finally meeting his eyes. Deacon was relieved to see less of the panic there, although the hurt was still shining through.
"I've done such a terrible job Deacon – what kind of mom am I if she feels like she needs to run away rather than talking to me? I know she's still mad at me about keeping the two of you in the dark about everything, I just don't know how to fix it and it hurts so much that she won't even look at me sometimes – I feel like I'm losing her."
"Ray. You are an amazing mom, don't ever think that you're anything less than that. All the things you've had to deal with over the years and now everything with Teddy and me and Maddie - it can't be easy being the one that everyone needs to turn to, the one responsible for holding everyone together. Maddie might not understand right now just how hard you've been fighting to give her the life you want for her, but maybe she just needs to hear that? I mean, how much does she know about…..us? I know you might not want to tell her everything right away, but she should know that you made the decision you did because of how I was, because you couldn't depend on me back then."
Rayna's eyes were full of fresh tears, "Deacon, I'm not gonna make you out to be the bad guy here-"
"That's not what you'd be doing Rayna, you'd be telling the truth. You know, Maddie called me 'dad' tonight. I never thought I'd hear that from anyone, let alone someone as beautiful and talented and special as that little girl in there. And it made me realise, that she deserves to be less confused and less hurt about everything, she deserves to know the truth and if that means she sees me differently then so be it. I would rather that than see your relationship with her suffering because you're trying to protect me. As for Teddy's behaviour, well I can't help there but –"
Rayna let out a groan of frustration, "that woman! How could he let her wear the ring so publically like that? I mean, you know how I feel about Peggy Kentor –"
Deacon chuckled, glad to see the fire in her eyes now, like a lioness prepared to do battle to protect her cubs. He had no doubt that left alone, she'd tear Peggy into strips in the time it'd take Teddy to realise what was happening. "I do remember a time when her character was discussed on my couch yes, few choice words you'd rather Maddie didn't hear if I'm right?"
Rayna's laugh joined his and she summoned the strength to stand, taking his hand in hers and helping him up. "Thank you," she said simply. "Thank you for being strong and for being here. Tonight hasn't been the worst night of my life, but pretty close. I knew Maddie would come here because that's what I would do, it's what I have done so many times. I know you think that you let me down, but you're the strongest man I know Deacon, and I'm so grateful for you." She left him speechless as she leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek, before turning and heading back to the kitchen.
Two days later, Rayna and Maddie climbed out of the truck whilst Deacon unloaded their bags. The cabin looked stunning in the sunshine, with the lake glistening through the windows. Maddie ran excitedly from room to room and Rayna felt her heart swell as she shared this special place with her. Turning to Deacon, she thanked him again for having such a great idea and he smiled as he handed over the keys.
"No problem Ray. Now, you know you can call me if you need anything ok?"
After reassurances that she remembered how to light the fire and start the boiler and fasten the windows, she shooed Deacon out of the cabin, reminding him he'd need to come collect them in a couple of days. Maddie and Rayna stood on the porch and waved him away, smiling and feeling lighter than they'd felt in months. That was the magic of the cabin, Deacon thought to himself as he headed back to Nashville.
"So," Rayna started, sitting in the porch swing, with her arm around Maddie's shoulders, "did I ever tell you how I met your father?"
