TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS TAKEN TIME TO READ LITTLE VOICE...all I can say is thank you a hundred times over. I am so grateful for your comments and reviews...I am still in shock that people actually want to read things I have written. We are about 2/3's of the way through this story so there are still a number of chapters to go...keep on reading and reviewing if you find it in yourselves to do so. -Thank you again and enjoy.

CHAPTER TEN

"There you are!" Teddy called, jogging up to them kissing Rayna on the cheek as he pulled her into his arms. Rayna still in shock went rigid at his touch. Memories came flooding back and she cursed herself. Teddy hadn't been fishing for a fight this morning when he'd messaged her; he had been confirming flight arrival times. They had agreed before she left that he would bring the girls out for the LA show so they could all fly home together to Nashville for Election Night. Initially Rayna hadn't agreed with him, arguing that he hated taking the girls out of school anyway. Teddy's PR team had advised that it would bring good publicity for his campaign if Nashville saw him as the dedicated husband and family man they wanted to see. Rayna saw it as another scheme orchestrated by her Father to point out that she never met his standards as a Mother and wife. With things as strained as they were, Rayna gave in and finally agreed against her better judgement. How could she have forgotten it was today? She stood uncomfortably, scrambling for words and clarity of mind.

"Here I am!" She mimicked his merriment, cautiously looking out of the corner of her eye at a perplexed Deacon.

"I left you messages. You forgot we were coming didn't you?" Teddy questioned, searching her eyes as he smiled. Rayna ran a hand through her hair.

"No, of course I didn't!" She lied, shoving her hands in her pockets as she stole another look at Deacon who was trying very hard to make himself invisible. He slowly starts to walk away but Teddy stops him in his tracks.

"Deacon." Teddy states more than greets.

"Teddy." Deacon spins and nods in his direction, frustration clearly written all over his face.

"How's working with Juliette?" Teddy digs, intending to place emphasis on the point that he had no place spending time with Rayna when he wasn't in her band.

Deacon shrugged "It's alright. She's a lot better to work for then a lot of people think."

Rayna shot him a bitter look, which he ignored. Teddy nodded.

"Well we've gotta go. Bucky's got the girls. Who knows what trouble they've gotten into." Teddy broke the silence, motioning in the direction of a waiting car.

"Buck's got the girls?!" Rayna replied.

"Mmhmm."

"Kill me now." Rayna shook her head before looking at Deacon trying to get him to look at her. He clenched his jaw, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"You best be off then. Nice to see you Teddy." Deacon said grimly, saying the last word resentfully as he curtly nodded in Rayna's direction. They all silently said their goodbyes. Teddy put his arm around Rayna and steered her towards the car.

Walking away she turned back to look at Deacon. Ideally, she should be excited to have Teddy here, but everything about it felt wrong. Deacon had stolen her most important part today; he had pulled at her seams and run away with her heart. She shivered as his eyes caught hers. From the way Deacon looked at her, he had no intention of giving it back.

- NASHVILLE -

"Chocolate! I want chocolate." Daphne decided on an ice-cream flavour, sitting at the bench in Rayna's suite.

"You hate chocolate." Maddie shook her head.

"I do not."

"Yes you do. You told Dad so the other day."

"Momma, I didn't say that!" Daphne whinged as she looked at Rayna, trying to get her attention. Maddie laughed at how easily she had provoked her little sister.

"Well it's all you're getting because it's all we brought." Rayna replied, giving Maddie a look that told her to stop teasing her sister. Maddie ignored her Mother's appeal.

"Yeah, that's all you're getting." Maddie mimicked her Mother's voice as she got a coke out of the fridge.

"Shut u-!" Daphne started.

"Hey!" Rayna snapped, pointing a spoon at her. "You know the rules, no words like that."

Daphne smiled cheekily, eating her ice cream. They all laughed, catching up on what had happened over the last two weeks, each telling story after story that for the most part had them all in stitches.

"Ok bed time." Teddy walked in, kissing Maddie on the head.

"5 more minutes…please…" Daphne tried. Rayna hid her smile, burying her mouth in her hands.

"Not a chance. You tried that one 30 minutes ago." Teddy answered, telling them to say goodnight to their mother before taking them off to their bedroom. Rayna put the kettle on and made a coffee; letting her thoughts drift to what had happened before Teddy had arrived at the arena.

"I thought you said that you hardly saw Deacon." Teddy said flatly leaning his back against the bench as he crossed his arms. Rayna tensed at his statement.

"Well we are on the same tour Teddy, we work together. So we're gonna see each other sometimes." She replied, lifting the cup to her mouth.

"What were you doing with him today?" He continued.

Rayna gulped, fixed her thoughts on the sizzling in her throat as the coffee plunged downward. It took everything within her not to give away her thoughts outwardly. She immediately resolved not to speak about Deacon because she herself wasn't even sure what it was. He wasn't here but her memory remembered him well. How she felt his lips on hers, his touch and the fire that had burned within when he had held her against himself. Rayna shook her head, realising that Teddy was staring at her strangely.

"Nothing much, just checked out the arena. He owed me lunch so we ate and walked around, that's all." She lied, walking her cup over to the sink.

Teddy decided to drop it because she had given him nothing to believe otherwise.

"Ok, well I'm gonna go to bed…watch some TV. You coming?" He asked, hoping she'd agree.

"Not just yet. I've got some stuff to go over for Liam before tomorrow morning. Lyric changes and stuff…" She smiled kissing him on the cheek as he scrunched up his nose.

"…Liam." Teddy dramatically shuddered making Rayna laugh as she headed over to a sofa chair with a bundle of papers. "Night." She called as he walked towards the bedroom.

It was 12:00am when Rayna crawled into bed. Teddy was fast asleep but she lay wide-awake, her mind occupied with reminding herself of each of Deacon's features. She nearly fell out of the bed when her cell phone vibrated. Scrabbling to make sure it didn't wake Teddy up, she swore when he began to stir.

"Go back to sleep." She whispered as he grunted and turned over. Hesitantly she clicked the phone back on and opened the waiting message.

Meet you on the roof in 5. -D

Before Rayna had any time to ask her body what it was doing she had snuck out of the bedroom, throwing on track pants and a t-shirt. Closing the front door, she struggled not to break out into a run as she headed for a side door that led her to where she knew he'd be waiting.

- NASHVILLE -

The air was cold on her face when she pushed the door open. Under the moonlight she saw Deacon's silhouette looking out at the city lights. She smiled, walking nervously towards him.

"I never cared for bright lights…except those that burn in the sky..." He offered, sensing her presence.

"Me either." She breathed, trying to sense where he was going with this.

"I didn't think you'd come."

"Well I did."

Rayna moved closer, standing next to him as they took in their surroundings. Deacon gently intertwined his arm with hers, offering her the little warmth he had. She smiled at his gesture.

"Ray-" He began.

"No." She whispered, turning to put a finger to his lips. "Can we just pretend for a moment…that we don't have anything to say?"

He nodded as they stood comfortably in a state of compromise. Deacon caught her shiver and instinctively pulled her in front of himself, surrounding her with his arms. She leant into him, welcoming the blend of warmth and his steady beating heart.

"Do you ever wonder what would have happened with us?" He asked.

"Always."

"I wasn't lying today. I don't want to forget this." He whispered. She rested her head under his chin, responding soundlessly.

This was a very fine wire they were walking. One slight movement could send her tumbling, ruining her completely. But wasn't she already ruined? She had broken him, but he had broken her too. She had had the mind to walk away twelve years ago and both she and Deacon had always acted liked they were healed and moved on, letting their secrets, gestures and looks speak the words they would not say. It was a custom that they had become well used to, till something changed, till they realised they wanted something more.

Deacon let go of her, spinning her around so he could look at her face, Rayna blushed. The fire in his eyes both excited and terrified her. He saw right through her every stare, word and move, tearing down her walls to let himself in.

"What do you want?" He murmured.

Rayna stood silent. Out of all the things he could ask, he asked that. She wasn't prepared. All logic and reason slowly crept back in as reality brought her crashing down. Her children, her husband, her family all lay asleep just one floor below them. They had flown out to support her and she now had unintentionally thrown that in their faces by running at Deacon's call. Rayna cursed herself, because despite all common sense, she wanting nothing more than to hold Deacon close and be held by him in return. Conflicting emotions ran riot within her as she grasped for something, anything to say. Deacon looked at her waiting for an answer. When she didn't speak, that was all he needed to take two steps backward.

"Deacon, no." She whispered, stretching her hand out in the air now standing before her.

"Don't you want this too? I thought..I thought toda-."

"I don't know what I want." She lied, angry that she'd even let those words come out of her mouth. Deacon ran a hand over his face.

"You're actually lying…right now… you're lying Ray." He answered. "You're just to stubborn to admit it."

"I'm not ly-"

"-If you weren't lying you wouldn't have let me kiss you like that." He pointed out, not breaking eye contact. "Hell you wouldn't have kissed me like you did if you didn't want it either."

Rayna blushed, wrapping her arms around herself as she recalled what he spoke of.

"We can'-…" she barely breathed, shaking her head.

"Tell me I'm wrong and I'll back off." He pressed.

"No." She said weakly.

"No?"

"I can't…I can't tell you you're wrong." She whispered walking away, opening the door to excuse herself, leaving Deacon confused and alone on the roof.

- NASHVILLE -

The LA show had been one of the best to date. They had had the whole arena screaming for more after a second encore. Bucky, Teddy and the girls had met Rayna when she walked off the stage. She kissed them, thanking them for their compliments. Rayna had been on edge all day, wondering when Deacon would pop up and ask her what she had meant before she had left him stranded on the rooftop. To her surprise, he had only made appearances where expected, not bothering to speak to her at all.

"We're headed to the car. We'll meet you there ok." Teddy smiled, walking away with the girls as she waved at them.

"See you in Nashville!" Liam yelled as he walked backwards past her.

"What? Why?" Rayna asked confused, letting her gaze follow him.

"If I don't come, whose gonna vote for you're husband?…After all, I am his greatest fan!" He replied mockingly, looking at her like she was stupid.

"Yeah yeah yeah." She shooed him off.

"Vote for Teddy Conrad people!" Liam shouted to those rushing back and forth, throwing his arms in the air. She shook her head.

Rayna had been so focused on her personal life that she had forgotten the tiny stop in their itinerary that had the whole tour team booked to return to Nashville for Election Night. Their label had thought it would be good for them to show support at such an important event, much to their dismay; both Rayna and Juliette were forced to agree. Everybody seemed to be taking it differently. Rayna looked up to see Juliette mouthing off about having to fly back to Nashville and Liam was still telling everyone to vote for Teddy as he stood at the exit door, taunting Juliette. Then there was Deacon; she didn't want to know what he thought about this whole arrangement. Where was he anyway?

She looked down at her phone to check the time. Suddenly a hand gripped her wrist, causing her alarm as she got dragged away. Before she had time to figure out what was happening, Deacon had led her to a dark hideaway behind the stage. Without thinking, he pressed himself against her, kissing her single-mindedly. Rayna hastily leant into him, sighing at his touch as she kissed him back. Hungrily, he kissed her again, only this time she pulled away resting her forehead on his, squeezing her eyes tightly.

"I'm not going to ask you anything…I already know what you're going to say." He breathed heavily, unwrapping himself from her. "I just needed you to know that I think you're making the wrong decision, choosing him again."

Deacon searched Rayna's eyes. Doing this drove his heart harder into the ground, harder then the day he had found out she was marrying Teddy. But he couldn't live like this, pretending not to love her had wrapped him up in ribbons, holding him captive to loving her in the shadow of their secrets, gestures and looks. His heart was scared to chase her when he wasn't entirely sure she'd choose him back, so in the moment he had said the only thing that he thought would ease the heavy burdens their hearts had long carried. The air changed and she began to shake inwardly. Rayna didn't get a chance to speak because Deacon's phone started buzzing.

"Yeah." He answered, agitated. "Thanks, I'll be there in 5. Ok. Bye." He stepped backwards, creating distance between them.

"You're choosing this for me." She said weakly, her head spinning as she fought the urge not to fall to her knees.

"I'm choosing it for you because you won't choose it for yourself." He flatly replied.

"You can't jus-" Rayna shook her head, her voice wavering.

"-I remember that you chose for me twelve yea-" He whispered.

"-Deacon! Hurry up!" Juliette yelled from a far off distance, causing Deacon and Rayna to jump.

They both stole one last glance before he turned around, returning into the sea of the busy back and forth traffic of crew and stagehands dismantling equipment. Rayna braced herself, wrapping her arms around her body as she charged through the crowd and out the exit door. Daphne and Maddie waved wildly when they made out who she was and it took everything within her not to fall into a mess of tears right there and then.