CHAPTER NINE

Two weeks later…

Rayna, Liam, Juliette and Deacon waved as they filed off the stage leaving the lights, applause and the screaming sea of people behind. They had finished with an encore of "Wrong Song" as per usual and they had brought the arena down, leaving everyone wanting more. Immediately swarmed by stagehands, crew, managers, assistants and special guests, they barely had anytime to regain their breath. All huddled in their personal circles, they began to engage in small talk and thankyous.

"That was one hell of a show!" Bucky greeted, kissing Rayna on the cheek. Rayna thanked him and smiled as he began to introduce her to person after person, shaking each of their hands. Rayna grinned and appeared to be listening to what Bucky was reminiscing about but her mind was firmly stuck on Deacon. She knew that she didn't have to look around to see where he was because she felt his eyes on her, watching and waiting for her to acknowledge him. Rayna didn't give him the satisfaction.

This past two weeks had been a whirlwind of rehearsals, radio interviews, meet and greets, TV appearances, travelling and concerts all rolled into one. Rayna had spent nearly every spare moment with Deacon, often making excuses not to attend more events than what was required just so they could have those few extra hours together. They had talked and taken long purposeless walks late at night, sat in tour buses and mocked their old songs, made fun of one another and reacquainted themselves with the concept of the chase and the run around. Rayna recalled Bucky confronting her about her relationship with Deacon last week and how she had remained tight-lipped, assuring him nothing was happening between them. That was the truth, nothing was happening. Rayna was beginning to think that she had misread the whole coffee incident on the Jet, settling with the idea that she had probably imagined the feelings, gestures and looks. However, when she saw the jealousy and unspoken possessiveness that overcame Deacon when she worked with Liam, she knew that her judgement had never been incorrect.

Rayna was torn from her thoughts when she heard Juliette let out an unnecessarily loud squeal, praising Deacon and the energy he brought to her band. Rayna's eyes darted in their direction, loathing and rage engulfing her. Bucky noticed Rayna's sudden change in demeanour and quickly said goodbye to the group surrounding them on her behalf, ushering Rayna out the exit door as she struggled to look back at Deacon and Juliette who were sharing quiet jests.

"What are you doing?" Rayna exclaimed.

"What are you doing?" Bucky questioned her, clearly expecting an answer to why her mood had changed so suddenly.

As Bucky led her out to a waiting car Rayna quickly caught on to where this conversation was headed so she became silent, recomposing herself.

"You'll see them when we get to LA you know. Besides, I thought you'd want to be spreading out the time you all spend together…after all, this tour is gonna be a good 5 months." Bucky said, opening the car door.

Rayna pretended to be confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about Buck."

Bucky shook his head as he watched her hop in the car, dialling her home number.

"Hi girls!" She shrieked, looking out the window as the car pulled away.

- NASHVILLE -

Rayna woke suddenly to the buzzing of her cell phone. Tangled in her sheets, she struggled to loosen their hold as she reached for it, throwing it off the bed as she buried her head under her pillow trying to recall last nights events. Everyone had gotten to the hotel in the early hours of the morning, all set on going out to celebrate the tour's opening weeks success. Tomorrow was their day off which meant that they could do whatever they pleased tonight and sleep it off through the day while their crew assembled the set for the show on Monday. Rayna had politely declined invites to share drinks and retreated to her suite. Initially she had welcomed the idea of solitude but it wasn't long till she found herself pacing the lounge room floor, thinking about the past two weeks. Rayna began to will Deacon to knock on her door, but no amount of soundless pleas and nail biting saw him walk in like she'd hoped. Eventually, she had fallen into bed, residing to meet him in the one place she always knew he'd be. Her dreams.

When her cell phone continued to buzz Rayna crawled out of bed and picked it up off the floor, squinting at the screen. There were a number of messages from Teddy, which she ignored, and one from Bucky. He wanted to meet for coffee. She really wasn't in the mood to be grilled so she set the cell phone down and opened her curtains, letting the sunlight pour in. Rayna swore as the brightness filled the room and the light hurt her eyes as she stumbled in the direction of the bathroom. She felt horrible; looking in the mirror only confirmed how she felt as she scrunched her nose at the chaotic disaster her hair and make up had become. Quickly stripping off she jumped in the shower, desperate to wash away any traces of yesterday. Rayna had just finished rinsing out her hair when she heard a loud and insistent knock at the front door. Her stomach fell through the floor as she struggled to turn off the taps and reach for a towel. She knew Bucky wanted to see her but she didn't think he'd resort to showing up unannounced.

"Hang on! Stop your knocking I get it!" She yelled impatiently as she wrapped the towel around herself and ran to the door, flinging it wide open.

"Deacon?!" She squeaked, her cheeks turning three shades of red.

"Hi." He said levelly, trying to hide his smile at how she had greeted him.

"I thought you were b.." She started before stopping mid sentence. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd see what you were doing today. Got any plans?" He asked as he walked past her into inside.

"Well I..I.." She stammered self-consciously, looking down at the very little she was wearing. "I wasn't planning on doing anything."

"Good."

"Good?"

Deacon nodded stepping towards her. Rayna instinctively wrapped her arms across her chest, holding the towel closer to her body in an attempt to cover herself from him. It didn't seem to matter anyway, his eyes told her he had an imagination of his own as he took her in, causing her to blush. Her hair stuck to her face, dripping and disorderly. Deacon reached out and gently pushed the loose strands out of her eyes. She didn't move while his fingers lingered at her cheek. He averted his eyes; clearing his throat he broke the mood.

"Get dressed…unless you want to wear the towel. We've got something to do…" He grinned, as she stood confused. "I'll wait outside." Deacon excused himself and walked out.

Rayna let out an exasperated sigh. Frustrated, she threw on a pair of jeans and a white sweater. She was losing it; Deacon was either hot as fire or cold as ice when it came to whatever this was. She was too proud to verbalise what she sensed was going on and he was unkind to let this brew. Rayna grabbed her phone and key, storming out the door after him.

- NASHVILLE -

"This is certainly an improvement!" Rayna teased, eating a fry out of the paper bag between them. "Not once did we ever think to bring food up to the nosebleeds...not once!...It's a genius idea."

"Well if I recall correctly, we usually had something else on our minds and there was never a lot of time for food...if you know what I mean." He mused, taking a sip of his coke. Rayna choked on her mouthful of food as she looked down at the empty arena, people running back and forth in an attempt to assemble the epic structures that needed to be ready before tomorrow night's show.

"This was one of our good rituals." She smiled at him, taking a sip of her drink.

"This is one of our good rituals." He corrected her. Rayna giggled as she broke eye contact.

"What do you see in her?" she asked without thinking.

"Who?"

"Juliette."

"What do you see in him?" Deacon replied, his voice steady.

"Who?"

"Liam." He looked at her as she shifted uneasily in her chair.

"Touché." She giggled, taking another fry.

"Juliette's just a friend Rayna. I wanted on this tour because it's a good opportunity…. the Revel Kings gig was never gonna stick." He spoke softly.

"You came just for the opportunity?" She asked, disbelief in her voice.

"What about Liam?" He deflected.

"Liam's just a friend Deacon. He's come to record in between shows. I told you that the day before we left, remember?" She replied, a little irritated he hadn't answered her previous question.

"I don't remember. I'm sorry but the only thing I seem to recall from that car ride is the thing that you so willing want to forget." He answered brashly, not intended to come across as harsh as he had sounded.

Rayna froze, too nervous to look at his face. His words had stung. It dawned on her that he wasn't being unfair in letting this brew; she hadn't exactly given him anything to work with after slamming his fingers in the door time and again. In this moment, she felt weak and her heart was tired of fighting. All she wanted to do was willingly hand it over from the inside out, giving him every last piece. Rayna looked at him, her vision now hazy.

"I recall that you were also willing to forget."

"I thought that's what you wanted." He spoke, hurt in his voice.

"That's not fair Deacon. You can't base what you feel off of me!" She cried.

"So you do or you don't wanna forget it? Because you're making this pretty damn hard Ray." He shot, just as fired up as she was.

"I'm making it hard? How about you Deacon? Do you or do you not want to forget this?!" She questioned, stuffing empty papers and cups into the paper bag. When he didn't answer she thanked him for lunch and headed out the doors behind them towards the elevator. Slamming the button, she pulled at her sleeves willing herself not to cry. She was more than relieved when the doors creaked open. Rayna stepped in anticipating that she would be alone but a hand caught the doors before they closed. She shrunk when she realised it was Deacon. He stood quietly next to her, making the air tense. Rayna stole a look out of the corner of her eye and saw him internalising something she couldn't quite figure out.

Deacon turned to face Rayna causing her to instinctively return him the favour.

"I don't want to forget it." He said surely, moving towards her pulling her into a passionate kiss. Stunned, she let out an uncontrollable sigh when his lips touched hers before giving in to him completely. The intensity and certainty in his kiss reawakened things in her she thought had been long forgotten. Rayna pulled him closer, remembering what it was like to be touched by him. She was grateful that he drove her backwards against the elevator wall because her knees were giving way. They were caught in a sea of frenzied kisses, hands and attempts to take the worth of these few moments. When Rayna had reached for him in a desperate sense of need he had pulled away to breathe, causing her to look at him frantically. Before they could speak the elevator doors opened.

Both breathless, realisation dawned on them as they struggled to recompose themselves. Rayna's eyes threw him her questions, reawakened fire burning inside her and Deacon stood motionless longing to hold her again. He killed the mood, looking away. They tentatively stepped out into the foyer, making sure they stood well apart. Rayna wiped her mouth, trying to preserve every piece of what had happened, storing it in the most inner part of her being. She was so deep in thought as she and Deacon walked awkwardly towards the entrance that she nearly tripped when she looked up.

"Teddy?!" Rayna shrieked.