I know I said this would be publish a couple of days after the previous chapter, but my work took me to an area without internet access (shocking, I know!). But here it is: Who will be the person who grabbed Rayna?

Pushed back against the closed door, her eyes wide with shock, Rayan felt the weight of her captor against her as he pressed himself onto her. The low worn baseball cap and his beard continued to hide his identity from her. Rayna's eyes stared in disbelief as she looked into a familiar pair of blue eyes dancing with merriment. As suddenly as the hand across her mouth appeared, it disappeared only to be replaced by lips that demanded ownership of hers. Rayna felt her body being drawn closer to her captor, as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her body flush against his. Her arms wound around his back, gripping the back of his shirt with her fists.

Forced to take a step backwards, Rayna found herself once again trapped between the door at her back and the immovable body of her captor. The feeling of helplessness swept through her as she felt her feet leave the ground. Her abductor's large hands cupped her butt cheeks as he raised her upwards, while maintaining possession of her mouth. Rayna's hands pulled at his hair as she clung to him, defenceless against his assault. Her legs of their own volition encircled his waist as her hands once again moved to grasp at his shirt. Slowly the pressure on her swollen lips lessened, as her captor pulled away from her. His blue eyes shone with a combination of desire and devilment, as he gave her a lopsided grin. Rayna slapped his chest as she exclaimed

"What the hell, Deacon?"

Deacon threw his head back and gave her a throaty laugh as he slowly lowered her.

"What are you doing here?"

Giving her a gentle kiss as an answer, he tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

"I missed you so much Ray"

Cupping his cheek, the rough feel of his beard felt foreign to her finger tips.

"I missed you too Deacon, but that doesn't explain why you almost gave me a heart attack"

Slapping his chest once more, Rayna had to bite down on her lip to stop herself from laughing as Deacon pouted at her words of admonishment.

"No, seriously. What are you doing here?"

Shrugging at her, he leaned against the wall as his eyes caressed her body. Her body shivered in response. Crossing her arms, she mimicked his pose against the wall and waited for an answer.

Sighing at her raised eyebrow, he proclaimed,

"I did miss you Ray, so much. And I know you only have another two weeks of this tour to go, but, well you know I had my yearly appointment with the oncologist today and it just didn't feel right you not being there. With the Beverly going well, and the girls off on their various school trips this week, I thought I could sneak away and surprise you."

Blinking back tears, Rayna turned into him and kissed him with all the emotions she felt bubbling up inside her. With everything she had been juggling on this tour, she had completely forgotten about his doctor's appointment. A dark seed of dread sat deep in her stomach, afraid to ask what the doctor had told him, even though she knew it was just a routine follow up appointment. He had been having them on a regular basis ever since the transplant to ensure that his body continued to accept Beverly's liver as well to make sure the cancer had gone.

Silent tears trickled down her face, as her fear became too great for her body to hold in. Wrapping her arms tightly around him, she buried her face in his neck, taking comfort in his familiar smell.

"Babe, hey," his hand smoothed over her head as she burrowed herself deeper into his neck, "it's okay, it was all good with the Doctor."

Sniffing, she pulled back to look into his eyes, trying to judge if he was hiding anything from her. Wiping her eyes, she smiled weakly at him.

Nodding at her, he gave her a reassuring smile as he wiped away her smudged mascara.

Cupping her head, he gently kissed her forehead before softly nudging her nose with his own.

"Come on, lets go find Marcy so she can fix your make up. Wouldn't want the Queen of Country looking less than spectacular for that crowd out there"

Slipping her hand into his warm one, she rolled her eyes at him.

Gesturing her head towards the room next door,

"I have to go and say hi to some VIPs next door first"

"Um..."

Deacon suddenly looked very sheepish as his eyes refused to look at her

"What?"

"Um, there is no VIPs. Me and Bucky made that up"

"Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to make sure I got you alone so l could surprise you. I thought for sure this afternoon you had spotted me. I thought you had finished soundcheck, as I couldn't hear any music. I nearly ran out of the venue when I saw you on that stage."

"Why you..."

Rayna playfully punched his arm, while muttering that she was going to kill Bucky.

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Deacon pulled her to him, fitting her snuggly against him. He kissed the side of her head,

"Don't be too hard on Bucky, after all he managed to clear your schedule tomorrow"

Raising her eyebrow at him, she wordlessly asked him to explain what he meant.

A sheepish look once again graced his face, as his eyes pleaded with her to forgive him.

"Um, well once I told Bucky I was planning on surprising you, he suggested that he could juggle a few things around so that we could spend some time together. God knows, you need a break away from all this"

"Deacon! I don't need you managing me."

Untangling herself from him, Rayna reached out and grabbed his arm, turning him around, facing her. Crossing her arms across her chest as she exclaimed to Deacon,

"I appreciate the sentiment but this is too important for me to blow it off. I have worked so hard to sell this album without Markus here to promote it. I can't afford to drop the ball, especially this late in the tour"

Deacon's eyes widen slightly in response to the tone of annoyance in her voice.

"Ray. I know. I know how hard you have worked to make this tour work. I know how much this means to you. But I also know you. I know how much this has cost you"

Holding his hand up to her, to prevent her interrupting him.

"I'm not talking financially, but emotionally. I know just how exhausted you are, I can tell that you are hanging on by a thread."

Tugging on a stray piece of hair to get her attention, Deacon gives her a soft smile. Frowning at his words, before she can argue back, Deacon attempts to soothe her worries.

"Bucky has reassured me that everything that was scheduled for tomorrow was easily moved"

Rayna's blue eyes questioned what he had told her. She knew she was overreacting but she couldn't stop it. She had been juggling so many things while she was doing this tour, that she couldn't remember anything different. She knew that Deacon was right, he knew her so well. She had been denying it to herself that she was exhausted because she knew how much Highway 65's future depended on the success of this tour.

"Babe, this is Bucky. He wouldn't do anything to jeopardise Highway 65 or your career...especially for me!"

Frowning at his statement, Rayna once again opened her mouth to responded but before she could, Deacon exclaimed,

"Come on. You know Bucky is loyal to you. Only you can talk him into something, the rest of us are secondary to you"

"Hmmm, I don't know how true that is, I know for a fact that Bucky can be surprisingly stubborn and refuses to listen to me"

Raising his left eyebrow, he cheekily utters

"I think l know someone else like that"

Narrowing her eyes at him she gives a huff of annoyance at him as she goes to grab the door handle.

Grabbing her waist, Deacon spins her around so she is facing him. Standing face to face, their blue eyes silently argue with each other. Witnessing how quickly she reacted, Deacon can tell just how tired she is. They have known each other for over half their lives so know each other's mood just by the tone of their voice or set of their shoulders. Right now, Deacon can tell that Rayna's reaction is due to utter exhaustion. He knows that she is one of the most level headed people he knows and can generally roll with the various changes that can happen on a tour.

Reaching out, he cups the side of her cheek. Rayna closes her eyes and welcomes the feel of his warmth radiating through out her.

"I'm sorry Ray" Deacon whispers

Opening her eyes, she gives him a tired smile as she shakes her head.

"No, I'm sorry Deacon. You're right. You know how much is riding on this tour, what I could lose if this album fails to sell."

Taking a step forward, Rayna rests her head on his shoulder as her whole body relaxes against his. Wrapping his arms around her, Deacon cups the back of her head as he feels her sigh against him.

"I'm just so damn tired Deacon"

"I know Ray, I know."

Don't worry, the next chapter is in the works so hopefully will be posted in the next two weeks (work and Uni commitments dependent), I also promise some 'adult' moments are on the horizon *wiggle of eyebrows*