Suffered a serious case of writer's block, hence the delay in a new chapter. Hopefully that is behind me and its full steam ahead for the angst that is Rayna and Deacon's love story.

Deacon slowed his truck as the traffic light turned orange. It still gave him a thrill being able to drop the girls off at school, though he could tell that the novelty had long ago warn off for them. He enjoyed the fact that Maddie was surprisingly talkative this morning. She asked his opinion about some of the songs she was working through the school's music program. The school run had concluded with both her and Daphne treating him to a spontaneous version of the latest duet they had reconstructed. Deacon smiled as he listened to their beautiful voices harmonise, adding a depth of meaning to the lyrics. He had never heard a Boulevard song sounding so good. He had heard the version of the song that convinced Rayna to take a chance with Markus King, but the girls had played around with it adding even more of their own unique spin on it.

Grimacing as they slammed the car door, Deacon watched as they screamed out their goodbyes before squealing as they greeted their friends. Pulling out into the slow stream of cars leaving the school grounds, Deacon turned the radio up as he turned his mind towards what needed to be done to get the bar ready. He was excited to show Rayna the bar. He felt like this was his moment. He was feeling strong and healthy and eager to honour the memory of Beverley. It was time he gave back to the town that nurtured and supported his dream. He could think of no better way to do that, than to give struggling artists a venue where they would be supported and feel safe to try out new work.

Turning into the driveway, he paused as he heard a familiar song start on the radio. Turning it up, he smiled as he heard Rayna's voice filling the interior of the truck. He blinked in momentary confusion as he heard an unfamiliar voice. He found himself tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he continued to listen. It was a good cover of their song, 'I want to do everything for you'. Markus and Rayna's voices worked well together. It still stung a little whenever he heard Rayna singing one of their old songs with anyone else. He knew it wasn't logical, but he knew how much of themselves they poured into their songs and he felt that no one else deserved to sing those words other than themselves.

He was still humming the song as he walked into the kitchen. Rayna looked up and smiled at him before returning her attention to the paperwork in front of her. Deacon smirked at her, before grabbing a mug of coffee. Leaning against the bench, he sipped his coffee while watching her. Rayna could feel his eyes on her but she refused to give into the desire to glance over at him. She heard rather than saw him, move closer to her. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, his hip was nudged against the bench and he was spinning a pen around on the kitchen table top. She bit down on her lip in an effort to stop the giggle from escaping from her. She knew exactly what he was trying to do, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of distracting her. A slight muffled snort of laughter escaped her when he began playing drums with her pens. She burst out laughing as he proceeded to play air guitar. He gave her an innocent look, while asking

"What?"

Rayna's lips twitched in amusement at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious babe? I'm serenading the woman I love"

Rayna rolled her eyes at him

"With mime? Geez babe, you really shouldn't have!"

Deacon's eyes narrowed at her smart come back, his mouth twisted to the side as he watched her struggle to control her laughter. Suddenly he leapt at her. Rayna shrieked and jumped out of his reach. She laughed at him as she ran around the island bench, trying to put some distance between him and her. Deacon chased after her, making her squeal in mock panic as he tried to grab her. She raced around the living area with him in close pursuit. Running back to the kitchen Rayna stood at one end of the kitchen bench eyeing an equally amused Deacon at the opposite end. Placing her hand on her chest, she laughed at him as she bent over the bench trying to catch her breath. Their eyes twinkled in amusement and they both had big grins on their faces. Deacon suddenly pounced towards her, Rayna screamed before trying to get away from him again but she was too slow. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against her. Rayna wiggled against him trying to get him to release her. She laughingly demanded that he let her go. Deacon placed wet kisses on her neck and rubbed his stubbled check against her, causing her to giggle.

"Tell me you're sorry for dissing my awesome serenading abilities."

Rayna shook her head. Deacon's lips narrowed as he contemplated her answer. Walking her backwards, he pinned her against the bench. His lower body kept her pinned against the bench while his fingers found their way to her ribs, where he proceeded to tickle her. Rayna frantically tried to get away from him, screaming and laughing at him to stop. This just encouraged him even more.

"Say it Ray"

"No"

"Say it"

Shaking her head, Rayna laughingly pleaded with him,

"Deacon…no"

"Ray"

Rayna gasped rapidly for breath,

"Alright, stop, stop…. Deacon, you are the best guitar player ever!"

Deacon stopped tickling her and smiled at her. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, he lent down and whispered in her ear,

"See that wasn't that hard was it?"

Rayna opened her mouth to respond, but Deacon pressed his lips firmly against her, silencing her. Rayna smiled against him, basking in the feel of his warm lips flush with hers. His lips tickled hers as he whispered,

"You ready for your surprise?"

Kissing him gently, she allowed her lips to answer. Deacon cupped the back of her head as he pulled them closer, deepening the kiss. Rayna moaned into his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his strong back. Pulling back, Deacon placed his arms either side of her and leaned onto the bench. His warm breath tickled her senses as he lent his forehead against hers,

"We better stop now, otherwise you are going to be late and Bucky will kill me"

Laughing, Rayna caressed his face and softly kissed him. Nodding she reluctantly moved out of his embrace.

Deacon refused to tell her where they were going. She had long since given up trying to figure it out. While this area of Nashville wasn't entirely unfamiliar it wasn't an area that she had reason to visit often. Her attention was drawn back into the interior of the truck as Deacon bought it to a stop. They were pulled up in front of a rundown bar, Third and Church. The flickering neon light announced a feeble attempt at sophistication, though it had seen better days. The 'T' wasn't working so it broadcast to the world that it served 'cock' 'ails'. Frowning over at Deacon, she watched as he got out of the truck and walked around to her side. Holding her hand, he bought her around the vehicle until she was standing in front of the rundown bar. Her stomach had started to knot up as her mind rapidly tried to come up with reasons why they were standing in the middle of the road outside a derelict cocktail bar. Her stomach rolled violently at the look of happiness on Deacon's face as he turned to face her, announcing

"Surprise"

Rayna struggled to swallow as the feeling of panic rose in her. Deacon had turned back to look at the building, failed to see the look of fear on Rayna's face. Breathing rapidly, Rayna opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her mind was back tracking trying to put pieces together to come up with any explanation other than the initial one it formed.

"A bar! Your surprise is a bar?" She struggled to keep her voice neutral as she exclaimed her surprise.

"It's not a bar, it's my bar." Deacon excitedly told her as he grabbed her hand and lead her towards the entrance. Rayna's eyes frantically flicked over the exterior of the building they were about to enter, her breath was shallow as she struggled to control the feeling of horror that was threatening to overwhelm her. Her mind was screaming, 'No,no,no' over and over. Rayna's senses were assaulted by the smell of stale beer and a thousand painful memories as she felt Deacon release her hand and greet the man who had turned around at their entrance into the bar. Pasting on her showbiz smile, Rayna was introduced to the man in front of her. Her eyes flicked between Deacon and Frankie, finally making the connection between the two.

"You're going into business with your sponsor?"

Deacon smiled at her before explaining that to keep things clean, Frankie would no longer be his sponsor that they would be business partners. Rayna struggled to keep the panic from showing on her face, all she could focus on was that Deacon had willingly bought into a bar. Her mind was filled with a low level buzz, blocking out all other noises. She had to get out of there, she was one surprise away from having a panic attack. Just knowing that Deacon, an alcoholic who had almost died as the result of that disease, was now a bar owner filled her with an overwhelming sense of dread.

Walking over to where Deacon and Frankie were discussing interior designs, Rayna placed her hand on Deacon's lower back to get his attention. She gave him a weak smile,

"Um, I'm going to get going. I don't want to keep Bucky waiting."

"Give me a minute babe and I will take you…"

"No, Deacon you stay here. I'll grab a cab." Kissing him, she smiled a good bye to Frankie and walked quickly out of the bar. The fresh air stung her lungs as she sucked in deep breaths as she hailed a cab. She blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Frankie watched the retreating image of Rayna James walk out of the bar. He raised a questioning eyebrow in Deacon's direction, but Deacon had already turned his attention back to the blueprint in front of them. Taking a deep breath, Frankie knew that he would have to tread gently. He could see that Rayna wasn't as happy as Deacon about this deal. He could understand why. His own family was worried when he announced that he was an owner of a bar. But he had shown them that he was a changed man, that he was strong enough to overcome his demons. Deacon would need Rayna's support if he was going to make this work, and he didn't mean the bar. If Deacon was to remain sober, he needed to have a solid support base. Frankie knew a bit about Deacon and Rayna's history, you couldn't work in the Nashville music industry and not know about them. He knew that Rayna had put Deacon into rehab, and that she continued to be his friend when it seemed like everyone else had abandoned him. Frankie was worried that this bar might be the thing that would finally break Rayna.