A/N Thanks again for all your reviews and such, happy you are enjoying this! Was hard to write that fight, but let's see what the aftermath will be
Rayna sat in her living room again, already feeling exhausted, but knew it wouldn't stop. Her phone had been ringing off the hook and both Tandy and Bucky were talking to people to minimize the damage she had caused. She sighed as her phone rang again and she picked up.
"Ms Jaymes, this John Walters from The Tennessean, are it true you called off the wedding because you are still involved with Deacon Claybourne? Are you going to marry him now?"
"What? I… no, it, stop calling me!" She hung up, not understanding where this was coming from. As Tandy walked in, she shook her head.
"I don't understand this, I really don't. I mean, this is like the divorce all over again, why is it every time I break off a relationship, it has to be about Deacon? The last three calls were about only that. I just don't know where this is coming from, especially after that Rolling Stone article." She told her sister, hanging up right away as her phone rang again.
Tandy sighed. "Well honey, it's not that strange. After the history you guys had together. And they need a reason, they always do, you know that."
Just then her girls ran back in.
"Mom, mom! You need to see this…" Maddie told her as they looked frantic.
"What? What happened, did you read an article about why I cancelled the wedding, because honey those are just…" She started, but Maddie shook her head.
"It's Deacon and Luke, Talia sent me this. It's all over the internet." Maddie explained as she sat down and quickly showed her mom her ipad, Daphne sitting with them.
Rayna frowned as she watched her daughters press play on a YouTube video that showed Luke and Deacon fighting on the ground in front of Deacon's house.
"What in the world…" She watched and listened in shock as the two men fought over her apparently.
"Well, I guess that explains why the press is asking about Deacon so much…" Tandy carefully said.
Rayna shook her head. "I don't even… This is… I was never with Deacon behind his back and how, how dare he say all those things…"
"You mean Deacon?"
"I was not on top because of him, I got myself there, I earned it all myself!" She angrily said as she watched the video. "How dare he take credit for that!"
"And how dare he accuse you of going back to him, too. You cancelled the wedding because you didn't see eye to eye about your lives and careers. Right?" Tandy asked, her daughters both looking up as well.
"I… yeah, of course. I mean, that wasn't me. I just can't believe they did this. This just makes everything so much worse." She sighed, falling back against the couch.
"Tandy?" She looked up as Bucky peeked in from the kitchen. "I need you in here." Tandy nodded.
"Will you be okay in here? We'll take care of it, alright?" She tried to reassure her sister, Rayna just nodded slowly.
"Thank you, we'll be fine." As Tandy walked out, she ran her hands over her face.
"Mom… why did Luke say those things?" Maddie carefully asked.
"Didn't you love Luke, mom?" Daphne added.
"Listen, do you remember all those stories in the magazines when your daddy and I got divorced? That's just what this is, too. Luke is just angry and hurt and he's blaming me and I guess Deacon, because well, he just doesn't understand why this is happening." She tried to explain.
"But why would he make up stories like the reporters did? Luke's not a reporter." Daphne concluded.
"No, he's not. But like I said, he's just hurt and confused and he wants someone to blame."
"Do you still love Deacon?" Maddie asked and Rayna didn't know where to look.
"Honey, Deacon and I… We… You know, we have had a very long and complicated history. And it… I care about him, but we, I did love Luke. We just didn't fit together." She tried, but was even confusing herself.
"Are you going to talk to him?" She swallowed hard at just how quick her daughters were jumping onto this subject just like the media was. How did they all know so much?
"I don't… I don't know. I'm not so sure he would want to see me. We kinda had this argument last time we talked."
"You mean about that article in the Rolling Stones magazine?" Maddie told her and Rayna sighed and nodded. Of course they had read that.
"He just wasn't very happy with the things I shared, so… I'm not really sure what's going to happen. Maybe it should just be the three of us again for a while. What do you think about that?" Rayna tried with a smile.
Maddie shrugged, not really looking at her.
"We just want you to be happy mom." Daphne told her and Rayna smiled at her and kissed her head and then kissed Maddie's as well.
"We'll make it through all this, I promise. No matter what happens, nothing is going to come between us, alright? We're sticking together. No matter what." She held her girls, knowing things were going to be tough and knowing she had some big decisions to make about where to go from here. There would be some tough conversations she needed to have as well, some she dreaded more than any other. Well, maybe only one…
It was late at night as the girls were off to bed and Rayna flopped back on the couch, exhausted from all the phone calls they had had to make, all the press she had spoken to. She had turned the TV on and was flipping channels when she came across the fight again. It was displayed all over the news as the newscasters debated on why she had broken it off. Again of course Deacon was mentioned. They had fought over her and why else would that have happened if there wasn't something there? They did have a long history, who knows, maybe some of their connection was still there.
She watched in frustration as they went there, until suddenly the TV was shut off. She looked up and saw her sister sitting down.
"I know what you said, Rayna, about why you did it. I know that, but it's not exactly a coincidence anymore that every reporter out there mentioned Deacon. Just what's going on?"
"Nothing. They probably saw the video of them fighting. They're grown men, just, why did he have to do that and make things worse than they already were?"
"Well why did he yell at Deacon that he was going to drag you down again? Why would he even mention it if there wasn't some truth in it?" Tandy persisted.
"Luke's always been jealous, somehow thinking every time I was around him or even mentioned Deacon, he'd get angry."
"Well why did he?" Tandy narrowed her eyes as Rayna just blinked at her. "Rayna… Is that why you broke up with Luke? Because you're still in love with Deacon?" Rayna's eyes widened and she looked away.
"I… I just…"
Tandy sighed. "Rayna… you can't keep doing this…"
"I know that, Tandy, alright? But I have told you before, I told you, I have always loved that man and we have something together."
"But you chose Luke. They both proposed and you chose Luke over Deacon. You said you couldn't go down that road again. Think back of everything you've been through and what he put you through. Think about Maddie…"
"I know I chose Luke. And from the moment I did, it just… It felt different, I did it before, I did it with Teddy… He once told me I had always been in a relationship with Deacon and that I had cheated on him emotionally."
"Honey, this is not the same situation. Teddy was there for you. You were pregnant and Deacon had to go to rehab for the fifth time. You were happy with Teddy. You even had another daughter together."
"Don't… You know as well as I do why we got divorced. And I ended up back together with Deacon and it finally felt right again…"
"Yeah, until he found out about Maddie and almost got you killed…"
"he was not the only one at fault there, alright? And things are different now. I've seen him with Maddie and he is on the right path, he is a good father to that girl, to both of them…" She was almost in tears, trying to explain why exactly she should have chosen him and not Luke.
Tandy sighed. "Rayna, I just want you to really be sure about this. You have said no to that man so many times, because you were scared of what might happen. You were scared that he might go off the deep end again, just like he did last time. Can you honestly say you're not scared anymore?"
"Being scared doesn't mean I should go and find someone else to replace him and pretend I don't care. I can't do that anymore, Tandy. I can't just keep doing this. I can't keep telling him to move on, while I try everything to be away from him and end up thinking about him anyway and what life might be like if I did choose him. We can't keep dancing around each other. We know how we feel about each other. And maybe it's time that I let that take charge instead of my fears of trying again."
"But what if something does happen again?"
"I don't know, Tandy. But I can't let my life be ruled by fear. And I can't keep hurting him over and over when all I want is to be around him and to stay with him. He has worked so hard and he gets me, he actually gets me, like Luke never could. We have something together that I'm never going to get over and I don't want to look back anymore. We're both different now and everything is out in the open."
Tandy sighed. "All I want is for you to be happy." She grabbed her hands and squeezed them with a smile. "If that's really what you want, then you need to go talk to him."
"The press will probably be staking out his house, too, right?" Rayna asked, looking very nervous.
Tandy nodded. "Yeah, probably. So maybe just wait a little while longer, they'll go away and then take my car and go talk."
Rayna nodded slowly. "I think that maybe I should take the girls away from here for a bit, just to let things calm down a bit."
"I think that might be a good idea, but people might start talking though."
"I don't care anymore. It's time I take back control of my life again and my career. Enough with all the tv specials and reporters looking into my life. We're going back to the way it was, my private life will be private again and it's nobody's damn business what goes on around here."
Tandy smiled. That was the sister she knew. She hugged her.
"It'll be just fine and I will stay as long as you need."
"Thank you, Tandy. I dunno what I'd do without you…"