I know everyone is loving strong Deacon, but I intended this to be short and fluffy despite the angsty beginning. Thought we could use something maybe not so realistic to what the show is going to do, especially after the most recent spoilers. Looks like FF is the only place Deyna will ever be together again.
By the time she reached the penthouse suite Luke was back from his meeting. She wasn't up for speaking with him, not after what had just happened, but there really didn't seem to be a choice. She sat down on the couch in the living room and played with the ring on her finger as Luke talked. "So they want me to do two commercials a year and three guest appearances and they'll pay me $1.2 million. I think that's a pretty good deal, don't you? Just money in the bank." Luke continued to ramble about endorsement deals and public appearances until Rayna couldn't take it anymore. "Luke sit down."
Luke stopped moving around the room and sat down next to Rayna. "I'm sorry sugar was I not paying enough attention to you, come here." Luke leaned in to kiss Rayna but the memory of Deacon's lips pressed against hers was still too vivid and she pulled back. Luke got a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just that I've been a little confused lately. This is all happening so quickly. It's already late October and the wedding is supposed to be happening on Thanksgiving."
Luke laughed, "Oh, you're concerned about us getting everything done on time. I told you, my manager is taking care of all that, you don't have to worry your pretty little head about anything, it will be the most beautiful wedding you could ever imagine. Fit for a king and queen. Well, at least a king and queen of country."
"I'm sure it will Luke, but that's not what's worrying me. I just think I need more time. What's the rush? Why can't we have a summer wedding instead? Or maybe next fall?"
"Once we're married all those jitters will just go away I promise you."
"It's more than just jitters Luke." Rayna hesitated, not sure she should say the next sentence, but she knew she had to if she was going to go into this relationship with honesty. "I kissed Deacon."
The smile disappeared from Luke's face. "You mean when he proposed back in May, right?"
Rayna couldn't get herself to look at him, but shook her head. "No, I mean today."
That was enough to send Luke flying through the door and Rayna after him. "That piece of shit, I can't believe him."
"No, Luke, I kissed him, he didn't kiss me." Rayna tried to stop him, grabbing at his arm, but when he was on a rampage there was no stopping him. Luke ran down the stairs and into the lobby that was attached to the theater. If any paparazzi had been there they would have been lucky enough to see the king of country plowing through the room with Ms. Rayna Jaymes trying to run behind him in her high heels, and would have known something big was about to go down.
Luke hit the practice room and pushed his way through his band until he spotted him standing by a piano chatting with his lead guitar player. Before Deacon knew what hit him Luke's fist was making contact with his eye as Rayna screamed and everyone in the room once again adjusted their focus to a very different type of spectacle.
"I can't believe you," Luke screamed. "You just don't know when to give up. Kissing my lady. Who the fuck do you think you are?" Rayna finally reached Luke and managed to pull him off Deacon so that he could stand up. "I told you Luke, I kissed him." Luke wasn't hearing any of it, he was on a mission. He tried to take another swing at Deacon, but he was too fast and dodged away. When Deacon stood back up he was mad as hell. Rayna thought he might take a swing at Luke, but he didn't. "I can't believe you Rayna, that you told him Ikissed you!" Rayna shook her head trying to get through to Deacon that Luke had it all wrong, but it clearly wasn't working.
"I don't know what kind of sick game the two of you like to play, but I don't want to be part of it anymore. You can have her man, I'm done with her…for good." Deacon grabbed his guitar and charged out of the room with Pam running after him. Luke swung around looking to follow and maybe get one more good punch in, but Rayna grabbed him holding him in place. She looked around at the whole band staring at them and pulled him into a slightly more secluded corner. "What the hell do you think you're doing Luke?"
"I'm standing up for my woman, what do you think I'm doing?"
"You can't fly off the handle every time Deacon's name comes up. He didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't have punched him."
"I can damn well punch anyone I want to punch Rayna, especially a guy who's trying to steal my woman."
"He wasn't trying to steal me, and even if he was, that's not an excuse. Is this how you're going to react to everything in our lives? With brute force?"
"That's who I am Rayna, I'm a man, and like a man I don't stand for someone taking what's mine."
"I'm not a piece of meat Luke. I'm not your property."
"I know, but as long as you're wearing that ring you belong to me, and anyone who tries to take you can expect more of the same."
Rayna took a deep breath and looked down at the ring on her hand. "Well maybe I should be giving this back to you then." She wiggled the ring off her finger and handed it to Luke.
"You better think real hard about this Rayna, because once you give this back to me you're not getting it back again."
"Well, I guess that's how it's going to be then." Rayna handed it to him, then turned around and walked out of the practice room. She high tailed it back to the hotel before heading up to the 7th floor where Deacon's room was. She walked up to 715 knocking on the door, and wasn't too surprised when Pam answered. "What do you want?" she asked.
"I want to speak to Deacon," Rayna replied.
Pam had the door open a crack and Rayna could barely see in. "He doesn't want to see you okay."
Rayna knew she was only trying to protect him, but she wasn't going to let this woman try to dictate what the relationship was going to be between herself and the man she'd loved for over 25 years who also happened to be the father of her eldest. "Listen, I'm sure you're only doing what he asked, but this doesn't concern you. You come back to me when you've spent 27 years and conceived a daughter with him alright? I'm going in and there's nothing you can do about it." Rayna pushed past Pam into the room. When she did, she found Deacon sitting on the bed, ice pack in hand. He looked at Rayna and sighed. "Pam can you give us a minute. I'll call you later." Pam looked like she didn't want to go, but she knew enough never to get involved in domestic squabbles so she left.
Rayna closed the door behind her, then sat down on the bed next to Deacon taking the ice pack in her hand and holding it over Deacon's eye. "Does it hurt?"
"What do you think Ray? I got punched in the goddam eye. Of course it fucking hurts."
"I'm sorry. I really didn't tell him that you kissed me. I said I kissed you."
"Why the hell d'you go and do that for anyway? You know he's taken a swing at me for less."
"I just wanted to be honest." She shifted so she was sitting in front of him on the bed, still holding the ice pack in place. "I was trying to explain to him why I thought we needed more time before we got married."
"You realize this is how it's going to be Rayna. The rest of our lives. He's never going to like me, and every time I pick Maddie up, drop her off, share a row with you for one of her concerts it's going to be like this. This is Teddy all over again, but worse. It's Teddy with a temper."
"It's never going to be like this Deacon. I gave the ring back." Rayna held up her empty left hand showing Deacon she'd returned the gigantic rock that had been sitting on her left ring finger for the last few months.
"Oh, well, it's a good thing cause I wouldn't have wanted him around our daughter."
"Well he won't be."
"Well good."
Rayna and Deacon stared at each other for a moment, tension building up in the familiar way it always did. Rayna took the ice away so she could look at Deacon's eye. "How bad is it?"
"I don't know. It hurts like hell, and I can barely see out of it, so I'd say bad."
She put the ice pack down on the bed and gently ran her fingers over his left eye, which was quickly turning an ugly shade of purple. Then she leaned in and softly kissed the skin surrounding it. Deacon just stared at her as she did it. "Is that better?" she asked.
"I guess a little," he whispered.
She was practically on his lap by this point and all he could smell was that damn fruity shampoo she always used. It was distracting him in the way it always did when suddenly Rayna straddled him and was kissing his lips with all the passion she could muster. He wanted to resist, but with her on top of him like this and his wounded eye, he felt a little helpless and just began to relent. When they came up for air he pulled back. "We shouldn't do this Ray…for a number of reasons."
"Come on now Deacon, you got punched in the face for something you didn't do, you should at least make it for something you did do."
Deacon thought about it for a second then said "Fuck it. You're right." He grabbed Rayna throwing her onto the bed and rolling over so he was on top of her. He knew that if she was truly his addiction he was giving in to every negative urge that was bad for him, but damn did it feel so good. They dispensed of their clothes in no time, and before either had time to think he was inside of her and all thought of Luke, addiction, and black eyes were in the past. Rayna moaned as he mastered every touch and kiss, bringing her to the orgasm she could only ever experience with him. "My god have I missed you," she cooed into his ear as she held him close.
After it was over he held her tight, limbs entwined with each other. Rayna stroked his hair as she looked into his eyes. "Do you really think I'm one of your addictions?"
Deacon took a deep breath. "I don't know Ray. All I know is that it's so hard to live without you. I crave you in a way similar to the way I sometimes crave the booze."
"I don't want to be your addiction Deacon. I want to love you, I want to be good for you."
Deacon looked deep into her eyes and touched her face. "Then why'd you choose Luke? If you love me so much, how could you have chosen him?"
Rayna rolled over on her back looking up at the ceiling and Deacon let her move away. She felt ashamed, like she didn't deserve for him to be holding her right now. "I guess I was scared. You and me, we're like lightening. When it's good it's so good, but when it's bad…I just couldn't handle the chance that it would be that way again."
Deacon rolled over so he was looking down at Rayna. "I know you're scared. I'm scared too, but that doesn't mean we should give up on us. I don't know if you're good for me, or bad for me, or what. All I know is that when we're together, and when we're with our children everything feels right. It always has. But Ray, it's not always going to be easy. No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we love each other, there's always going to be rough patches. That's just life. Trouble comes. The question is, are you going to be there when it does? Are we going to work through it together instead of running away like we used to? Cause if we do that, there ain't nothing to be scared of."
Rayna smiled up at him. "I think I have an idea for some lyrics. Want to work on them with me?"
"Yeah." Deacon smiled and jumped out of bed grabbing his guitar.
An hour later Rayna was wearing one of Deacon's flannels, and the bed was scattered with papers. "I think this is pretty good," Rayna said as she was scribbling the last verse."
"Another song, not written on the floor," Deacon laughed.
Rayna playfully slapped his arm. "Let's go through it. I'll take the first part."
When trouble comes, and it always will, will you turn and run, or will you be here still?
Will you hold my hand, do you think you can? When the hard times have begun, when trouble comes.
"Now you're turn." Rayna said. Deacon's deep baritone rang out into the hotel room.
When the clouds roll in, and they always do. And the lightning strikes, and it frightens you.
Will you still be here, or will you disappear? When it isn't all so fun, when trouble comes.
"OK, now both of us for the chorus."
It's easy when it's easy, when everything is fine, but will some hard tomorrow sorrow change your heart, and change your mind?
"Bridge I think, then a repeat of the chorus."
It's easy when it's easy, when everything is fine, but will some hard tomorrow sorrow change your heart, and change your mind?
When trouble comes. And it always will.
"Now let's split it. You start."
Will you turn and run?
Will you be here still?
Will we find a way on our darkest day?
To hold out for the sun.
To hold on till it's done.
Will I still be the one, when trouble comes?
Deacon added a big finish to the end then he put his guitar down. "Wow, that was real nice. Maybe we should add it to my concert tonight?"
"How much time do we have until you have to be there?"
"About two hours, why?"
"Maybe we should get married."
A look of shock came across Deacon's face. "What? Now? Are you serious?"
"We're in Vegas, why not now?"
Deacon stood up throwing clothing on. "I feel like this is a conversation we should be having while I'm dressed. Ray a few hours ago you were engaged to someone else, now you want to marry me?"
"I always wanted to marry you, since I was 16. I just got a little lost. That's not going to change if we wait a week or a month or a year. It's always what I'm going to want, I just needed to stop denying it."
Deacon leaned over and kissed Rayna. "What about the girls? Don't you want them there?"
"We can have a big party when we get back to Nashville, but right now I want it to be just us."
"You do realize that Luke is going to flip his top when he hears we've gotten married, right?"
"It's not about him babe. It's about us, and this is what I want. Is it what you want?"
"You know it is. I've never not wanted it. Just for a while I thought I couldn't have it. I'd marry you completely naked in the middle of the rain if that's what you wanted."
"Then let's do it." Rayna took Deacon's hand as she led him out of the room and down to the casino floor.
The song that Rayna and Deacon sing is called "When Trouble Comes" and it was written by Chip and Sarah Siskind.