Author's Note: First off, thank you so much for the kind reviews so far. I had originally planned this to only be a couple of chapters long, but it's becoming a little more than that. I don't think it's going to go on forever and ever, but it will definitely be longer than I first envisioned.

Hope you're enjoying the story – thoughts and reviews always hugely appreciated.

Rayna

She had not been expecting anyone, least of all Deacon, to be standing there when she opened the door. She was so surprised, she almost considered going back inside and closing the door, but she didn't think that was really an option. He stood quite still and stared at her for a moment. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then closed it again as words seemed to fail him.

She stepped out of the room and closed the door silently behind her and turned back to him. She looked at him and took in his appearance. He looked as he often did, in jeans and a t-shirt, and his beaten-up boots, a faint look of something…perhaps longing, in his eyes. His hair was a little unruly and it made her wonder if hers was too. She'd run her fingers through it when she'd gotten out of bed but she hadn't bothered to actually brush it.

"Hi." She whispered. She felt suddenly nervous, standing in a corridor, alone with Deacon, in the middle of the night. She could feel her heartbeat thrumming against her chest and her cheeks felt hot.

"Uh, hey." His voice sounded a little hoarse. He didn't give much away as to what he was doing hanging around outside of her hotel room. Silence began to stretch out between them. She broke it first.

"I was just…couldn't sleep." She looked down at her feet, feeling a little foolish.

"Me either." He whispered.

"You wanna get a drink?" Rayna asked him.

She could tell he was considering the idea. Weighing up the pros and cons.

"Okay." He nodded and they began to walk beside each other down the hall to the elevator.

The hotel bar was open all night, but it was quiet and sparsely populated. At this time, most people were either falling out of clubs or had already retired to their room. They found a booth that shrouded them from plain sight. They both knew only too well how it would look if Rayna Jaymes was seen talking with Deacon Claybourne in the middle of the night. Rayna ordered them each a root beer and slid into the booth beside him. She picked at a thread on the sleeve of her sweater. She knew she was avoiding his eyes by fidgeting and he knew it too, she could feel his eyes on her. They were sat closer than seemed appropriate, she supposed if anyone were to spot them it would raise questions, but she chose to let it slide.

"So, what were you doing outside my room?" Rayna asked finally.

"I uh, I couldn't sleep. I went for a walk." He met her eyes as if to see if she would accept his explanation.

"To the penthouse?" She held eye contact, and she noticed he had a rueful, almost smile.

"I didn't really have a plan." He sighed.

"Does Stacey know you're gone?" She looked seriously at him. She wasn't sure what she was bringing Stacey up for. She supposed there was little point in pretending she didn't exist. Part of her liked the idea of Deacon leaving Stacey and coming to find her in the middle of the night, but another part of her felt guilty for even thinking it.

"She's sleepin'." His voice was still quiet and hoarse, as if they were sharing a secret. She supposed, in a way, they were.

"What if she wakes up?" Rayna continued with this line of questioning whilst mentally screaming at herself. What are you doing? Stop talking about Stacey!

"Then I'll tell her I went for a walk."

"Right." She didn't know what to say. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say. Seeing Deacon now, alone, just the two of them made her reminisce for the old times. When there hadn't been any ex-husbands or new girlfriends complicating matters. It had just been them, the two of them, together. She'd been a rising star and he'd been there beside her every step of way. Now he wasn't even in her band. He was only there for Juliette.

"So, you've never brought a girl on tour before, she must be pretty special." Rayna couldn't explain it, it was like she couldn't say anything that didn't involve Stacey.

"You know Ray, you seem awfully interested in Stacey." Deacon didn't seem annoyed, but his tone was a little accusatory.

"No, I just, it's just, I haven't ever seen you this serious about a girl before…" She began, but he cut her off.

"Except you, you mean." He looked at her, like he was daring her to disagree.

"That's not what I meant." It was exactly what she had meant. The situation with Stacey rattled her, because if Deacon was serious enough to bring her on tour, then maybe that meant Deacon really was over her, that Rayna had wasted time trying to work out where to go from her break up with Teddy and now she had missed her chance.

"Look I like Stacey, I only just met her when I had to go back out on tour and I didn't wanna miss the chance to see where this could go, so I invited her, she accepted." Deacon explained.

"So, you brought her on tour to see where this goes?" Rayna frowned. Rayna had been married to Teddy and he had never come out on tour with her, unless it was to bring the girls out, and even then, that was only when Tandy couldn't do it.

"Rayna, I don't know what you expect me to do. I waited for you for fourteen years and you're still not ready. I can't keep waiting for you." Deacon seemed to be impatient now. Rayna began to feel a little panicky. This was not how this was supposed to go. She didn't want him to leave, before they'd really gotten chance to talk.

"What are you saying? You're with Stacey because you're done with me?" Rayna felt hurt, she knew that realistically she had no right to. She'd been the one to leave Deacon fourteen years ago, she'd been the one to get married to Teddy without even telling him about it.

"Rayna, we haven't been together for fourteen years. You knew how I felt about you then and you knew how I felt about you this whole time. Now, you and Teddy are over, and you still don't want me. So yeah Rayna, I'm done." Deacon took a long swig of his root beer and slammed it down. He then glared at Rayna, it was clear he wanted her to move so he could leave, but she didn't budge,

"I do want you."

Deacon

"I do want you" Her eyes were sad and pleading when she said it. It hadn't been what he had expected her to respond with. He hadn't been exactly sure where he had expected things to go when he agreed to join her for a drink, but he hadn't expected it to come to this quite so quickly. Hearing her say it made him stop and think for a minute. If Rayna really did want him then what did that mean for him and Stacey? He did like Stacey and he didn't want to hurt her, but realistically it wasn't really an option. If he had to choose between her and Rayna, there was no competition. Rayna would win every time.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Deacon asked her. If she wanted to be with him, why hadn't she told him about the divorce when it first happened? Why had she put so much distance between them?

"I…I have the girls Deacon. Teddy and I, we are over, but the girls, their family is falling apart. It's still really new for them. They've never known us to be with anyone else." Rayna tried to explain, but it still frustrated him. He would never want to cause her girls any kind of pain or confusion, he'd been around the girls their whole lives. They called him 'Uncle Deacon'. He wasn't asking Rayna to announce her undying love for him to People magazine or to even to tell the girls about them immediately. He just wanted there to be a them to begin with.

"Rayna, I love your girls. And you wouldn't have to tell them straight away." He reached for her hand and took it in his, as if this would somehow convince her.

"Deacon, I want to, I really do, but the girls need to me right now. They are my number one priority, you have to understand that. There has been enough scandal in their lives thanks to Teddy. I don't want to lie to them and risk them finding out about us in some gossip magazine because we slip up." Rayna was insistent, but so was Deacon.

"Then we don't slip up. We keep it behind closed doors, when the girls are with Teddy. They won't have to know until you think they're ready. I don't care if we keep it a secret for the rest of our damn lives Rayna, but we love each other and we are meant to be together." He looked into her eyes and wondered of perhaps he'd gone too far as he saw tears pool there. She pulled her hand from his grip.

"Deacon we can't do this now. The girls are here. Stacey is here. You're not a cheater, I don't wanna be responsible for that." Her tone was pleading, he twisted in her seat as if to leave, but he grasped her hand before she could stand.

"I don't wanna be with Stacey, look she's a nice girl, but Ray, she's not you. You know it's different with you. It's real with you. I'll go break up with Stacey right now if that's what it takes." He meant it. If he had to wake Stacey up and tell her it was over, he would do it, if that was what Rayna wanted.

"Deacon, you can't do that. You can't wake her up in the middle of the night and break up with her, she doesn't deserve that. You need to do this right." Rayna insisted. Deacon wasn't exactly surprised, Rayna had always stuck to strict moral standards. Throughout her marriage to Teddy, not once had she ever crossed that line, she'd always stayed just on the right side of faithful. She would hold Deacon to that same standard.

He gave a sigh and nodded, looking down.

"I know, I'll tell her tomorrow. First thing." Deacon promised her.

"Okay, but Deacon, I am not ready to tell the girls, so can you please just wait until they've gone home. It's just a couple of days." She squeezed his hand as to reassure him, he just needed to wait.

"Okay, just a couple of days." He agreed.

They'd left their drinks unfinished on the table and headed back up to their respective rooms. Deacon giving her one last meaningful look of promise as he exited the elevator on his floor. Rayan gave him a nod of understanding before the elevator doors closed.