So here's part two of the Wasted epilogue. Hope y'all enjoy it.

By the time Rayna's Grand Ole Opry induction anniversary show was scheduled, it had been more than ten and a half years since that had happened. She had refused to consider doing it until Deacon was feeling well enough to attend and participate. He was sorry he had missed it when she'd gotten inducted originally. Truthfully, he hadn't really even known it had happened. Nashville and everything about it was off his radar screen then. But he knew that had to have been a big night for her – she had confided in him early in their relationship that it was a dream of hers. He may not have been there the night Vince Gill invited her to membership, or the night Little Jimmy Dickens did the formal induction, but he was proud to be included in the anniversary celebration.

She grabbed his hand as they sat on the couch. "I want you to sing with me," she said, with a smile.

He leaned in and kissed her. "What do you want to sing?" he asked.

She screwed up her face. "I don't know. One of our old songs. We can go back through all those old albums and pick one out."

He looked down and then back up at her, his face sad. "I don't know, baby," he said quietly. "Don't get me wrong, those were good songs, but…" He took a deep breath and looked deep in her eyes. "I was a drunk back then, Ray. Life wasn't as good for us back then. Not like it is now."

Rayna looked puzzled. "Do you not want to sing our old songs anymore?"

Deacon shook his head. "It's not that I don't. You know that. Just not for your big night. How 'bout we write something new? Just for that night."

She looked surprised. "Really? What were you thinking?"

He shrugged. "Something about where we are now. How we can't really let each other go."

She smiled at him coyly. "Did you have something in mind?"

He smiled back at her and then pulled her into his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure we can come up with something. We always do."

She looked up at him. "Are you going to close your eyes and imagine something?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you making fun of the way I write?"

She grinned. "Of course not. It's different than before though."

He nodded. "Well, I wrote by myself for a very long time. And eventually you need some help to come up with ideas." He smiled. "That was mine. But I don't have to write that way."

Rayna sat up and turned towards him, crossing her legs in front of her. "Okay, then let's work on something." She reached towards the coffee table for one of the ever-present notepads and pens that littered the house, ready to be picked up when, and wherever, the songwriting muse struck. "So?"

He looked away thoughtfully. "I was thinking we could write about what our feelings were all those years we were apart, how we felt, how it feels to be together now." He looked back at her. "Unless you weren't thinking that then."

She rolled her eyes and grinned. "You know better than that, Deacon Claybourne. I was running, but I didn't want to be."

He laid a hand on her knee and leaned slightly towards her. "I could hear your footsteps coming down the hall. No matter where I was. I always hoped I'd look up and you'd be there. I dreamt about you, Ray, couldn't stop thinking about you, for a long time." He looked down. "I started dreaming about you again after Jackson died. It was like you were haunting me, but not in a bad way."

She breathed in. "Really?" He looked up at her and nodded. "I pretended for a long time that I didn't miss you," she said quietly. "I couldn't face it myself because it would have made me realize that I thought I'd made a mistake, letting you go." She screwed her face up. "All the other times, babe, I knew you'd be there at the end and the hurt would go away and everything would be the way it was supposed to be. But that last time…." She looked away. "I wish I hadn't pushed you away."

He reached out and laid his palm on her cheek, stroking her lightly with his thumb. He smiled slightly. "How about this? 'You haunt me when I fall asleep, you're in every breath I breathe.' And I didn't even have to close my eyes to come up with that."

Rayna smiled. "I'm impressed, babe." She put the words to a little melody, then wrinkled her nose. "Feels like it needs another line, though."

A smile came over Deacon's face and he moved his hand to her neck and pulled her a little closer to him. "I still hear your footsteps down the hall," he whispered in her ear.

~nashville~

The Opry anniversary celebration was everything Rayna wanted it to be and Deacon had been grateful to be a part of it. There had been many great remembrances by people Rayna both loved and admired. She had surprised Maddie and Daphne with an invitation to make their Opry debut by singing that night, and Deacon had been honored to support them on guitar. And then, finally, they had debuted the song they'd written, called 'Surrender'.

You haunt me when I fall asleep / You're in every breath I breathe / I still hear your footsteps down the hall

And I keep trying to pretend /This ache for you is gonna end / But I know better than that now

So baby please / Tell me why don't we / Take this time we wasted / Don't hold back, let's face it / I need you / And baby you need me

We're all we've been missing / If we could just stop resisting / And give in to what's supposed to be / And I'll surrender to you / If you surrender

I hear you whisper in the air at night / You're in every single song I write / And every melody I play

It doesn't matter where I run / I come back to where I'm running from / Your face is everywhere I turn

So baby please / Tell me why don't we / Take this time we've wasted / And don't hold back, let's face it / I need you / And baby you need me

We're all we've been missing / If we could just stop resisting / And give in to what's supposed to be / And I'll surrender to you / If you surrender to me

I'll surrender to you / If you surrender to me

He remembered when they had finally finished writing it, many hours after they'd started, having moved to the bedroom early on. They were half sitting, half leaning against the pillows, just looking into each other's eyes, when Rayna had run her lips gently over his. She gave him a little smile and said, "It was only ever you, Deacon, really."

He ran his thumb over her cheek, threading his other fingers into her hair. He sighed contentedly. "I know, baby. Me too."


"Mom," Maddie whined, as she made her dramatic teenage traipse into her parents' bedroom. "What am I supposed to wear?" She was holding a cream colored drapey tunic and a denim fitted shirt.

Rayna turned to look at her daughter and smiled brightly. "Whatever you want, sweet girl," she said. "I don't remember all this angst over what you were wearing to the Opry a few weeks ago."

Maddie dropped her hands to her side, the tops she was holding touching the floor, and rolled her eyes. "But this is the Bluebird, Mom," she said. "It's different."

Deacon walked in behind her and put his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "How is it so different?" he asked.

Maddie turned around to look at him and made a face. "When you're a guy, you can wear that same flannel shirt every single day, without even washing it, and no one cares."

Deacon raised his eyebrows. "I do wash this shirt. And I don't wear it every day," he said, with a smirk.

Maddie scowled. "You know what I mean. Guys can get away with stuff. Girls can't." She whirled around and looked at Rayna. "Right, Mom?"

Rayna looked surprised and then she smiled. "Well, I do understand wanting to wear something special. You're right, it is the Bluebird, after all." She stood up and walked over to her daughter. "Let's go look at your closet, okay?"

Maddie nodded. "Thanks." She stalked off.

Rayna looked at Deacon and winked. "Don't you love teenage girls, babe?"

He reached for her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. "Only when you're their mama, baby," he said, with a smile.

~nashville~

Rayna smiled to herself as they drove to the Bluebird that night. She reached for Deacon's hand and squeezed it. He looked over at her and smiled back. She guessed she was still in that post-surgery honeymoon phase, where everything was extra sharp and clear and dear to her heart. Every single thing they did, whether it was the first time or one of several, as long as Deacon was part of it, her heart was singing. It was their first time back at the Bluebird since his surgery, but, more importantly, they were doing it as a family.

It was just a couple weeks after her Opry induction anniversary show. She had wondered if it was too much too soon. Deacon had been out of the hospital a little over four months and had only started getting back to normal the last month or so. She thought about that day at the hospital when they wheeled him away from her to the operating room. Surgery had already started for the donor when they came for him. He'd looked so pale and thin. And tired. She'd hated looking in his eyes back then, because she saw such fear and sorrow there. But on that day, she saw hope. And when she finally got to see him in the recovery room afterwards, she had cried to see how much better he looked already.

As he regained his strength, she and the girls had pampered him and waited on him. He would pretend to be gruff, telling them to stop, but she would see the hint of tears in his eyes. When they were alone at night, he would tell her how blessed he felt to still be able to look at her and touch her and hold her in his arms. As soon as he felt able, they would go to the park and walk. She would link her arm in his and they would walk slowly, as far as he felt he could go. Then they would sit and just hold hands and talk, enjoying the moments together.

Now that he was feeling more like himself, they'd spent time writing, and had even gone to the cabin for several family weekend visits. The weekend after the Opry show, they had flown to Austin and spent time at his lake house and visited Jackson.

She looked back at the girls, sitting in the backseat. She smiled at Maddie, who smiled back. Tonight was going to be an exciting night for all of them. Deacon insisted he felt well enough for a whole set, but she was going to keep a close eye on him. She knew he was starting to feel restless. He hadn't been in a studio or on a stage in close to seven months, until the Opry event. She knew writing and performing were in his blood, but she hoped he wasn't trying to take on too much too soon.

~nashville~

The night had turned out well. Towards the end of the show, Rayna and the girls had taken on a few extra songs when they saw Deacon start to tire. But they'd had a nice mix – Deacon and Rayna, Deacon and the girls, the girls alone, and a surprise song Deacon and Maddie had written together. All in all it had been a success.

Rayna walked over to the bed from the bathroom, rubbing her arms with lotion. Deacon was sitting up with a notebook, scribbling out some lyrics. She smiled and then crawled into the bed and over to where he sat. He looked up at her, over his glasses that were perched on his nose. "Hey, babe," she said. "Aren't you tired?"

He smiled. "A little. But I was waiting for you."

She leaned over to look at his notebook. "What are you writing?"

He shook his head and moved the notebook to the bedside table, taking off his glasses and laying them on top. "It can wait," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. He kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'd rather spend time with you."

She wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Tonight was nice, I thought," she said.

He ran his hand over her arm and then picked up her other hand in his. "It was," he said thoughtfully. "And I was wondering what you might think about doing something smaller like that again. Just the two of us."


A couple weeks went by before they talked about Deacon's suggestion about playing at smaller venues again. He knew that it had been a little bit of a sore subject for her, with her album not selling and the label seemingly content to let things ride as she'd focused on taking care of him. The reality was that an artist's career wasn't going to last forever, but he knew she wasn't ready to acknowledge that yet. This had been all she'd ever wanted, and all she knew how to do, and he felt pretty sure she was mourning the loss of it.

The part that felt unfair was that his band's popularity had stayed high. They had released an EP instead of a full album, with the material the band had recorded before Deacon's illness had forced them to stop. The band had gone out and done some shows under their alternate identity, The Wild Feathers, but DCB was still front of mind for most fans. The music industry was rarely 'fair', however. It was all about what sold.

He sighed. He was all alone at the house. Rayna had taken the girls to school and then was meeting with Bucky in advance of a meeting at her label. He knew she was nervous about it and she had dressed carefully that morning. When he'd kissed her goodbye, though, she still had that hazy afterglow about her from their early morning lovemaking and so she was trying to be hopeful.

He stretched carefully. Even though his incision was long since healed, he still took things easy. One day, he knew, he'd feel completely normal again, but it still felt tenuous. He sat on one of the lounge chairs looking out over the pool and smiled wryly. He had moved into this house with much trepidation. This was the house that Rayna had literally built with Teddy and, although he'd never seen the two of them live in it together, it felt strange at first. It had reminded him of Blair's house in Dallas – not his style, too big, not his comfort zone. But eventually he'd come to realize that home was where Rayna was and the walls they surrounded themselves with weren't nearly as important as the relationship they had within them. So he'd settled in and eventually they'd made this house their home.

When he had woken up that morning, she was laying curled up into him, her hand on his chest, her leg tangled in his, the way she always slept. The bed they shared was huge, much larger than the bed they'd shared back when she'd moved into his studio apartment after Lamar kicked her out of the house and even the bed they'd shared at the East Nashville bungalow. And yet they always fell asleep curled up around each other, in as small an amount of space as possible.

He had one arm around her, the other on his abdomen. He looked down at her sleeping face, smooth and worry-free, with just the hint of a smile, which made him smile. He shifted slightly and moved his hand down to wake her up with a touch he knew she liked. She had moaned softly and then slowly opened her eyes to look up at him. He moved his hand more firmly and she had gasped, then bit her lip as she moved her hips. That had ultimately led to raw, passionate lovemaking that had left them both breathless. Afterwards there had been that feeling of exquisite connectedness and he couldn't stop rubbing her arm or giving her little kisses as they got dressed and as she got the girls ready for school.

So now he was waiting for her. He wanted to talk to her some more about his idea. The closer it got to when he needed to be back in the studio with DCB, the more he didn't want to do that. Life seemed infinitely more precious these days and he didn't want to waste it away from her. He heard her heels tapping against the concrete of the pool deck as she walked out to where he was. He looked back and watched her approach, thinking she didn't look happy.

She stopped in front of the chair next to him and shrugged out of her suit jacket, tossing it on the end of the chair. Then she kicked off her shoes and sat on the side of the chair, facing him. Her face looked weary, her mouth turned down. He just raised his eyebrows and looked at her. He wanted to let her tell him in her own time. Finally she sighed and looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. "I think I'm done, babe," she said, her voice filled with sadness. "They want to put out that greatest hits album and call it a day. No tour, no support. I'm done."

He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "Look at me, Ray," he said softly, and she did. He felt his heart clench as he saw the hint of tears in her eyes and the look of resignation on her face. "You're not done, baby."

She made a face. "Did you hear what I just said? A greatest hits album. You know as well as I do, that's the kiss of death."

He frowned. "Not if you package it right. You and me, we can work on that together. Pick out the right songs, set up your second act."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when I said we should think about doing something, just the two of us?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, babe, we can play at the Bluebird whenever you want now."

He sat up, turning to sit on the edge of his chair, opposite her, taking both her hands in his. "I meant you and me, a duo again, like in the beginning."

"You don't have time for that, Deacon. You're going back in the studio…."

"I'm not gonna do that, Ray. I decided I'm done with that. I can't do it anymore. I can't be gone from you that much. I hate that part of it and I'm just not gonna do it anymore."

She raised her eyebrows. "What are you saying?"

He grinned. "You not listening to me?" He leaned closer to her. "I want to go on the road with you, just you. We can go back to being Deacon and Rayna."

She smiled playfully. "Rayna and Deacon," she said.

He laughed. "Rayna and Deacon it is. Back to the beginning. Only better. We have that new stuff we did and we can write more. I'd rather do that than go back out on the road with DCB." He leaned forward and brushed her lips with a kiss. "Want to?"

She looked at him and smiled again. "Are you really sure you want to do that? Give up stadium tours and platinum albums and all those adoring fans? To play in little places with a fading country singer?"

He slid his hand behind her neck and ran his thumb over her cheek, pulling her closer and kissing her again. "I'm not giving up a thing," he whispered. "I'm getting the Queen of Country Music, all to myself. Doing what we love. Together."

She kissed him back, tears in her eyes. He reached for her hand and stood up, pulling her up with him. "Let's go get creative, baby," he said, with a wink, and he led her up to the house.


They'd been doing this a long time now. Seven years. It had worked out just the way Deacon said it would. The two of them together had had a good run. True, they didn't play stadiums. They didn't even play the big arenas. But they played the smaller places. Fifteen to twenty thousand a night, some nights. And as they both got older, they appreciated the gradual winding down of things. Together.

Rayna hadn't been ready to hang up her rhinestones. This had been the perfect second act, as Deacon had called it. Fans had mourned the end of The Deacon Claybourne Band, although the rest of the band continued to have success as The Wild Feathers. She and Deacon had spent several months writing and recording, fine tuning what they wanted to do next. True to his word, he'd helped her package 'With Love, Rayna', the greatest hits album she exited Edgehill Republic with.

They founded Highway 65 Records as a boutique label primarily to publish their own music, but they took on a handful of other artists as the years went by, becoming an incubator for new talent in country music. One of those acts was The Belle Meade Sister Society, otherwise known as Maddie Claybourne and Daphne Conrad, and they were periodic co-headliners with Deacon and Rayna on the road.

They were playing the Fox in Atlanta on the night of their tenth anniversary. It was one of their favorite venues, with its Spanish and Arabian touches and the twinkling star lights on the vast ceiling. It was a cozy place, reminiscent of the Ryman, and they always sold it out, as they had this night. Deacon took her hand and led her up the steps to the balcony. They chose two seats in the middle of one of the top rows and looked down on the stage.

She looked at him and smiled. "I wonder how many times we've done this in our careers," she said.

He grinned and squeezed her hand. "Thousands, I bet." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love doing this with you."

"Me too." She took a deep breath. "I don't think I ever told you about the time I came to see you here."

He frowned. "Here?"

"I mean, at the arena here. When you still had your band." He looked confused. "Before you came back to Nashville."

He raised his eyebrows. "You came to a show?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "It was when Maddie was about ten. She and Daphne and Teddy had gone on a trip and I bought a ticket to your show and came here." She smiled. "I sat up in the nosebleed section and wore glasses and no makeup."

"Have I ever seen you in glasses?" he asked teasingly.

She made a face and swatted his arm. "Shut up." Then she smiled. "You were amazing. I was so proud of you, even though I had no right to be. I just wanted to see you standing in front of a crowd. And I knew right then you were meant for that." She looked at him wistfully. "You really always were. And I'm so glad you got that chance."

He breathed out. "I wish I'd known you were there."

She shook her head. "No, it was better that you didn't. Things were really different then. For both of us."

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." He smiled. "But now we're here together, doing this together."

She leaned over and kissed him. "Thank you for this, babe. All of this. For not letting me give up."

He kissed her, letting his lips linger a bit. Then he said, "Come on, baby, it's time for sound check."


They ended the show the way they always did, with 'Surrender' and, finally, 'No One Will Ever Love You'. Those two songs never failed to not only please the crowd, but they always felt wrapped up in their own personal cocoon of connectedness. On this night, maybe because it was a special day for them, Deacon could see that Rayna was a little breathless at the end. She held his look a beat longer than normal. He felt his heart tighten a little in his chest as he looked at her, still as lovely as when he'd first met her. The words of the song seemed even more true every time they sang them.

No one will ever love you / like I do

He smiled at her and she grabbed his hand. He leaned over his guitar and kissed her as the crowd roared its approval. Then, as always, they stood up together, to acknowledge the applause. Usually that was when they left the stage, but as Rayna started to move, Deacon squeezed her hand and held her in place. She looked at him, a little puzzled.

He dropped her hand and went to raise up the microphone in front of him, moving it two steps forward. He looked back at her and could see the surprise in her eyes. He grinned broadly and then leaned into the mic. "Today is a very special day for us," he said. "Usually we don't make a big deal out of it, but I think ten years married is pretty special, don't y'all?" The crowd yelled and whistled their agreement. He looked towards Rayna. "Baby, I love you more today than I did then and I sure did love you a lot then." He could see the glistening of tears in her eyes. "So we gotta surprise for you. Ladies and gentlemen, Maddie and Daphne!"

Just then, from behind her, Maddie and Daphne walked out onto the stage. Rayna's eyes widened with joy and she held her arms out to her girls, pulling them in for a hug. Maddie had her guitar and so she settled in next to Deacon, after giving him a hug, and raised up the mic Rayna had used. Daphne had two microphones in her hands and gave one to her mother.

Maddie then leaned into the mic and said, "Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad. Hope y'all always have a life that's good." Then for the first time on stage in several years, the four of them sang the song that Deacon had written for Rayna back when he'd first met her, the song that symbolized all that was good about their life together.

Sittin' here tonight / By the fire light / It reminds me I already have more than I should / I don't need fame / No one to know my name / At the end of the day / Lord I pray, I have a life that's good

Two arms around me / Heaven to ground me / And a family that always calls me home / Four wheels to get there, enough love to share / And a sweet, sweet, sweet song / At the end of the day / Lord I pray, I have a life that's good

Sometimes I'm hard on me / When dreams don't come easy / I wanna look back and say / I did all that I could / Yeah at the end of the day / Lord I pray / I have a life that's good

Two arms around me / Heaven to ground me / And a family that always calls me home / Four wheels to get there, enough love to share / And a sweet, sweet, sweet song / At the end of the day / Lord I pray, I have a life that's good

THE END