NB: Here we are...the final chapter...I apologise a hundred times over for those who have waited a long time for this chapter. It was never my intention for it to take this long to publish..but in between my travels and quiet time I wasn't entirely happy with it so that is why it has taken so long...OK, SECONDLY...IF YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO THE SONG THAT I INCORPORATED INTO CHAPTER THREE I SUGGEST YOU LISTEN TO IT WHEN YOU GET TO THE PART WHERE DEACON AND RAYNA SING TOGETHER BECAUSE IT WILL GIVE YOU AN EVEN FULLER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT I SEE WHEN I READ THIS CHAPTER...If you've forgotten, the song is "THE LIGHT IN ME" - Ingrid Michaelson & Greg Laswell (Youtube it)...Enjoy.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Morning crept up on them casting shadows over the bed as they lay side-by-side, both entangled in sheets. Waking up, Deacon rubbed his face as his eyes adjusted and took in his surroundings. He smiled, quietly propping himself up as he changed his position to face Rayna's motionless figure. To him she was beautiful in her resting state. Her hair freely fell over her face as she lay on her front, arms tucked under her pillow. In the stillness he looked at her in wonder, slowly taking in each of her features. After all these years Rayna Jaymes still managed to make him every kind of nervous but also every bit certain that she was the only one he wanted. Caught in the moment, Deacon reached out his fingers and gently brushed a loose strand of hair off her cheek. Rayna stirred, groaning as she slowly stretched her legs and willed her eyes to open. Deacon watched her, smiling affectionately as she continued to wake.

"Quit staring at me." She whispered shyly, blushing when she realised she had an audience. Deacon grinned, lowering himself down so that they now lay face to face.

"Good morning." He whispered, smiling brightly as he looked into her eyes.

"Good morning." She giggled, tangling her hands further in the sheets to warm herself as she shifted her body to face his.

Suggestively, Deacon tugged at the sheets dutifully surrounding Rayna, pulling her closer to him so that they now lay chest to chest. His feet found hers as he wrapped his arms around her waist and Rayna instinctively intertwined her legs with his, smiling at the closer connection. Deacon leant in to capture her lips but she started let out a soft laugh, shaking the mood as he held her in his arms.

"What?" He asked, leaning away from her so he could see her face.

"You…your breath smells really bad." She teased, her fingers brushing against his chin as she grinned.

Deacon looked at her sceptically and exhaled into his hand, clearing his throat when he smelt what she had. Rayna laughed louder as she watched him.

"Not as bad as yours." He replied, looking at her brightly as his fingers brushed her lips. Rayna's eyes shot up in his direction, horror flooding her face as she fumbled to see if he was telling the truth. Deacon smirked when she groaned and covered her mouth quickly. Abruptly releasing herself from his hold, Rayna went to leave the bed to get to the bathroom but Deacon's hands caught her, pulling her back against himself.

"Don't go." He whispered into her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist as she leant back into him reluctantly.

"So this doesn't turn you off?" She chuckled, gesturing to her mouth. "Because it sure as hell isn't doing anything good for me."

"Ray you are the last thing that turns me off, bad breath or not…trust me."

Whinging, Rayna smiled as he rested his chin on her shoulder. His breath sat hot on her neck and reflexively she silenced her tongue and lay still, anticipating his next move. Deacon smirked and slowly began to let his hands wander, proving to her that there was truth in his words as she squirmed under his fingers that teased relentlessly. Rayna wanted him and she was barely coping when he let her see that he wanted her too.

For so long she thought she needed to protect her heart and mind from him in order to find out how to live again, but the longer she considered it the less she believed it to be true. As he held her close Rayna realised that she had never felt more alive then she did right now. Tangled together in the sheets, they lay in a place of their own where her heart had finally been flung open with nothing to hide from him, all the pieces finally coming together. Deacon had always known her better then she knew herself, taking, holding and loving every part of her regardless of distance and time. He had let love wait while giving it space until the time was right. Without warning he had pushed at her walls, striking the chords in her nobody else knew how to play until she realised at the end of it all, she wanted nothing more than him. Rayna blushed, reluctantly freeing herself from his travelling fingers as she turned around to face him.

"Hey." She said softly. Deacon smiled, looking down at her as she spoke. "I wasn't kidding last night…this is what I want…this…" She motioned between them. "You are the one I want."

"I know you want me Ray…I mean, come on….last night you made that pretty obvi-" He said cheekily, cocking an eyebrow as his hands made loose circles on her lower back.

"-I'm serious." She giggled, fighting the urge to lean closer to him.

"So am I-."

"-Deacon."

"Rayna." He mocked her tone; enjoying the fact that they seemed to be arguing about nothing in particular.

"I'm trying to be serious and you're not really helping my cause." She replied impatiently, making them both laugh.

"You want serious? Ok here it is." He teased before taking on a straight tone. "I haven't got like poetry prepared or anything so you're just gonna have to let my words do."

Rayna nodded, smile wide as she bit her nails and watched him.

"I've wanted you, wanted this for longer then I'd ever let you know...I tried to forget, to move on…to ignore it but the more I did the harder it got." He began, gently brushing his fingers over her bare shoulder as he recalled the words he'd kept locked within so tightly. He paused ever so slightly, her eyes encouraging him to continue. "When you love someone…really love them, no matter what has happened, what you've been through, good or not…loving that person will always be the place where you belong." He whispered slowly, emphasising each word before bringing his hands up to hold her face. "Rayna Jaymes…I belong to you."

Rayna couldn't hide the smile on her face when those last words left his lips. Her greatest imaginings couldn't have prepared her for what he'd said. She felt every kind of emotion rush through her, overflowing into her disposition as she lay next to him.

"And I…belong to you." She whispered, sliding her arms around his neck as she moved closer.

The air changed as he looked knowingly into her eyes, his lips meeting hers purposefully as he moved to hover above her. Rayna groaned when his mouth travelled downward to her neck, kissing her softly. She ran her hands through his hair and Deacon smiled as he felt her squirm beneath his steady hands, exploring her every feature from head to toe. Unexpectedly Rayna took him off guard, flipping herself on top of him as she leant in and kissed him passionately. He responded immediately, pulling her closer as they let their hands and mouths lead them. A shrieking sound pierced the air, bringing both Deacon and Rayna to an abrupt halt.

"That's mine." She muttered, rolling off him and onto the floor, taking the sheet with her as she searched for her cell phone under discarded clothes and blankets.

"Come on!" Deacon complained. "Leave it."

"I can't. What if it's the girls? Hell, what if it's Bucky."

"But we were in the middle of…seriously?"

"Deaco-" She laughed, throwing clothes around.

"-It's 6am Ray...6am. Who the hell calls at this time?"

Rayna looked up at him and smirked as she found and answered the phone. "Hello."

Deacon shook his head in frustration, falling back into the bed as he listened to her speak.

"You're calling me to ask me how I am? You know what time it is right?" She asked sceptically as she tried to get Deacon's eye contact. He looked at her quizzically and she covered the phone with her hand and mouthed who it was on the other end of the line. "Liam."

Deacon shook his head and told her to hang up. She held up a hand, ignoring his request as she wrapped the sheet around herself and turned her back to him.

Grinning, Deacon saw this as a signal to provide her with incentive to end the phone call. He made his way slowly off the bed and slid up behind her, pulling Rayna firmly against himself as he began to whisper in her ear. Rayna stifled a shriek, whacking Deacon as she desperately trying to focus on the phone call. Deacon smiled with great satisfaction.

"You know what I'm thinking about?" Deacon murmured against her neck. Rayna shuddered, her body reacting to his touch.

"Mmhmm…I'll be honest when I tell you I haven't really thought about it." Rayna said shortly, replying to Liam as she struggled to remain level headed and in control of her voice.

"It involves you and me." Deacon replied suggestively knowing full well that Rayna wasn't speaking to him.

"If it makes you happy…we can add your song tonight? Shake things up and see how it goes…but just this once." She replied, shaking her head as Deacon fingers ran down her arms. "Just quit calling me so early…why couldn't you have call-"

Deacon kissed her neck and she giggled, holding the phone away from her ear to muffle the sound of their escapades. He wrapped his arms lightly around her waist and began to guide her backwards. Reflexively, Rayna put the cell phone back to her ear.

"Alright, so we'll go over it in rehearsal. I've gotta go. I'll call you later. Ok. Bye." She said quickly, dropping the cell phone as they fell backwards onto the bed. Rayna smiled. "Where were we?"

"You're playing his songs now?" Deacon asked curiously. Rayna looked over at him vacantly as she fumbled for the right words.

"We've been tossing round the idea of incorporating some of his stuff with mine to bring a different soun-" She started.

"-You never played my songs." He interrupted, feigning hurt in his voice.

"Deacon come on...I played our songs." She replied, playfully pushing him away from her.

"Seriously…what does he have that I don't?"

"It's just one song." She smiled, secretly excited by the underlying jealousy and possessiveness in his voice.

"One song too many." Deacon muttered.

"Are you jealous of Liam?" She asked sassily, tilting her head as she waited for an answer.

"No." He said shortly, his tone indicating that he was.

"Ok...clearly I've hit a nerve." She nodded. Deacon did a double take and tried to figure out if there was ulterior meaning behind her words, but the way she looked at him was enough to silence any more thoughts.

"Come here." He laughed, pulling her to lie beneath him. Rayna smiled up at him. "Why would I be jealous when I know he doesn't get to do this?"

Deacon leant down and kissed her deeply, tying his tongue with hers as a soft moan escaped from her mouth into his.

"No he doesn't." She replied breathlessly as she pulled away.

Rayna was barely able to smile before his lips met hers again. Before she knew it he had sent them tumbling across the sheets.

NASHVILLE –

"I'll be there in 5 Buck." Rayna answered, looking over at Deacon who was tentatively walking next to her, his hands shoved in his pockets as they wandered into the foyer of the arena. "Ok. Bye."

"Sound check already?" He asked. Rayna nodded, frowning at the distance between them. She wanted him to stand closer to her.

After leaving Deacon's hotel room earlier that morning they had agreed that they wanted to keep the careful confessions of last night separate from the world that waited outside. Both Deacon and Rayna were in no mood to share with the world what they had only just come to acknowledge. There was something in keeping that space for themselves that they thought was important, especially when they were only figuring it out for themselves. However, the decision to do this didn't make distance any easier. Rayna just wanted to be close to him but with eyes on them from all directions she resorted to the fact that that wouldn't happen. Still in thought, Rayna let out a sharp gasp when she ran into Deacon who had stopped dead in his tracks. Her Father stood waiting next to her dressing room door.

"Rayna." Lamar greeted, looking up from his cell phone.

"Daddy." She replied shakily, fumbling to change her surprised expression as she felt Deacon tense beside her. "Deacon." Lamar greeted, smiling gleefully in their direction. Deacon nodded, acknowledging his address.

"What are you doing here?" Rayna asked, breaking the silence.

"I came to see my daughter."

"Oh please, you didn't come here to see me, to see if I'm alright. You came to ask me to come home. You came to point out everything I'm doing wrong, criticize my choices and maybe even play the same old mind games you love playing…am I right?" She replied, shocked at the intensity in her response.

"Don't do anything stupid Rayna."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your life seems to be hanging by only a thread…you think that you have it all together but-"

"-Why are you here?" She pushed.

"I'm here because I'm worried about the things you're choos-" Lamar responded, anger rising in his voice.

"-Hey I think you need to hold it right there." Deacon interrupted, instinctively taking a small step in front of Rayna. "Rayna can make her own decisions and I don't see how you think you have a right to be telling her what to do."

"Not meaning to be rude, but this has nothing to do with you." Lamar replied, speaking through his teeth as he glared at Deacon.

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure that every conversation we've had lately seems to be all about Deacon." Rayna replied, her gaze scanning the corridor as people walked past them.

"Hardly." Lamar scoffed, letting out a low laugh. His face changed as a wicked grin spread across his face. "Unless of course it involves little Maddie."

Deacon's demeanour changed, rage engulfing him as he felt Rayna shrink beside him. Without thinking he spoke. "Don't speak to her like that. Hell, try saying Maddie's name again and I swea-"

"-Ok I think we're done." Rayna interfered, wary that this conversation was getting far too heated for simple corridor talk.

"No Ray I'm not done." Deacon replied, ignoring her as he stepped closer to Lamar. "For years now I've put up with this. Your insults, the scoffing, your comments and all that…but today I'm telling you to back off."

"Really?" Lamar taunted, thrusting his hands into his pockets as he matched Deacon's stance.

"I know what you did."

"What I did?"

"You're a real piece of work you know that? Using your granddaughter, using your daughter, your whole family as a part of some game of yours…I've always seen the way you use people and it stops today." Deacon replied, anger fuelling his voice. Lamar raised an eyebrow.

"He knows." Rayna spoke, answering her Father's unasked question. Lamar's eyes shot in her direction.

"As long as I'm here, not you, not anyone is gonna threaten me or Rayna about her decision to hide the truth about Maddie's paternity…It isn't your business or your duty to go round sharing it either." Deacon continued, catching Rayna biting her nails out of the corner of his eye as he spoke. She was nervously smiling at people who were walking by, hiding the weight of the dialogue being exchanged.

"You think I'm the only one you have to worry about? All it will take is an disgruntled person and the tabloids to get a hold of this and-" Lamar began.

"-Media or not, understand this Lamar, you may have gotten rid of me twelve years ago…but I'm here now and I'm not planning on going anywhere." Deacon replied, standing his ground as he and Lamar fought for the upper hand.

"Alright y'all need to stop this." Rayna interjected, pushing into the argument.

"We're done here." Lamar seethed, not breaking eye contact with Deacon as he spoke.

"We're done." Deacon mimicked.

"Ok, well I have a sound check to get to." She replied, hoping to shake the tension, as they remained silent.

"I have a plane to catch." Lamar answered, taking a step backwards as he spoke.

"Bye." She said awkwardly as she watched him walk away.

Suddenly Rayna felt the warmth of Deacon's fingers as he intertwined them with hers. She looked down and smiled weakly.

"What do we do now?" Rayna whispered, watching Lamar turn right at the end of the walkway.

"I'm not going anywhere Ray." He offered.

"Are you sure? I'd be running...especially after that."

"I'm not going anywhere. When are you gonna get that?" He smiled and shook his head; Rayna dropped his hand abruptly as a few people round the corner. "I'm not going anywhere."

- NASHVILLE -

"Hey Louisville! How y'all doing?" Rayna asked, adjusting the microphone as she squinted, looking out into the well-lit arena. She laughed at the sea of responses she heard, some genuine and others outrageous. Tonight had been a good show, the audience had been responsive and the band had been tighter than they'd ever been before. Up until this moment she had been able to bundle her nerves up, pushing them out of her mind as she made her way through each song. She knew for sure that Deacon was standing to her right, backstage watching her perform. She could feel his eyes on her and it had comforted her up until this point, now she just felt giddy. Moments before they had walked on stage Rayna had been stuck on what Deacon had said after her Father had left. He had outright told her he wasn't going anywhere and she had stood speechless when she wanted nothing more than to let him see that she wasn't going anywhere either. Before Rayna had time to ask herself what she was doing she'd called her band over and told them that they were making an impromptu change to the setlist.

"I was thinking of doing something a little different tonight, is that ok?" She smiled, rubbing her sweaty palms against her pants as she spoke. Screaming echoed through the stadium and she nodded. "Ok good. Just so y'all know if you'd said no I would have done what I'm about to do anyway."

A stagehand walked onto the stage carrying a Compass Rose Tenor Ukulele, Rayna acknowledged him, pulling the strap for the ukulele over her head after he'd handed it to her.

"Not so long before this tour started a dear friend of mine and I started writing a song." She continued, strumming the ukulele to check the sound in her foldback. "It was one of those late night, caffeine filled and emotional high occasions…Unfortunately, we never really got the time to finish it together, so I…"

The arena became a frenzy of squealing and applause, stopping Rayna mid sentence as she waited for them to let her speak.

"I thought I would finish it for them and share it with you tonight." She smiled, the cheering continuing. "Y'all need to be super kind because this is the first time anyone but my band is hearing this…I'm also new at playing the ukulele so that is enough in itself...this song doesn't have a name yet because my friend and I are yet to discuss the fact that I have hijacked the song…I guess we'll see what he thinks."

The audience laughed and she nervously took a step back from the microphone stand and began to play, creating a steady rhythm with each strum.

"I've tried my hand at silence but it seems I should come clean. When it comes to you and me boy I've avoided saying one thing. It's been there for a while now, this liar will now sing. Till you're mine, till you're mine I'll sing."

- NASHVILLE -

Deacon stood open mouthed as he watched Rayna sing. She wasn't singing just any song. She was singing the one song he had showed her all that time ago in the studio, the one he had written about her. The song that she had embraced, adding her own twist to it so that it became their own. He couldn't believe his eyes; she had stopped her set and pulled out a ukulele, trading in the electric guitars and drums for a vulnerable and intimate sound. Before Deacon knew what was happening he was being pushed out onto the stage by the sound tech guy that stood next to him, stagehands cheering him on as he swore in surprise.

"Everybody, please welcome Mr Deacon Claybourne." Rayna shouted, strumming the opening chord again as she watched him tentatively walk on stage, eyes shooting her a hundred and one questions. She smiled, stepping away from the microphone so that she could talk to him.

"Hi."

"Hi." He grinned, taking in his surroundings.

"Apparently I don't play someone's songs nearly as much as I should." She said cheekily over the shouting and squealing of the audience.

"You mean our songs." He corrected, gently squeezing her hand as he stepped forward. Rayna blushed, still keeping the steady rhythm of the song as she played one chord.

"You ok to sing with me?" She asked.

"I think I can manage that."

Rayna nodded, stepping back up to the microphone to quieten the arena down. "Alright y'all, Deacon has kindly agreed to sing this song with me so would you please give him a hand."

Deacon waved and the audience let out shouts and cheers, making everyone on stage smile as they took it all in. Liam walked over to one of the back up singer's microphones and interrupted the moment. "And they're gonna be super cute and sing on the same mic…very Johnny and June if you ask me…so why don't you give them both a hand!"

Rayna and Deacon's eyes shot in his direction and Liam raised his hands in surrender, the cheering and applause drowning out any opportunity for insults. Deacon smirked and Rayna turned to him, counting him in.

"I've tried my hand at silence but it seems I should come clean. When it comes to you and me girl I've avoided saying one thing. It's been there for a while now, this liar will now sing. Till you're mine, till you're mine I'll sing." He sang, looking into her eyes as he followed the steady rhythm of her strumming.

"Oh baby, my baby. You've helped me through many broken hearts. And maybe, just maybe you can fix all my broken parts." She sang, beaming at the audience.

Deacon smiled at her, captivated as she sang. There was no place he would rather be than here with her. He had waited for this day, wanting to walk it well and here it was. He had chosen her and she had chosen him back. Every notion and emotion rushed through his veins as he watched her. She was all he wanted. Deacon leant in close, his fingers gently resting on her waist as they sang together.

"And you took me by surprise when you took my hand. And you with your dark blue eyes, you see the light that I can't see. You see the light in me."

Rayna shivered as she felt his fingers brush against the material at the top of her pants. Only Deacon made her feel completely vulnerable and completely certain in the same breath. Her world had been pulled out from underneath her all those months ago at the Bluebird but as they stood here she realised she wouldn't change any of it. These past few months had made her surer than ever before that it had always been him; he was all she had ever wanted.

"You see the light that I can't see." She sung, looking up into his eyes.

"You see the light in me." He finished, watching her as she played the resolve chord. They both smiled as the arena erupted into a wall of squealing, wolf whistles and applause.

"Deacon Claybourne!" She yelled, holding his hand up in the air as she turned to face the arena. He grinned and leant over, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before making his way off stage. Rayna stole a look in his direction, blushing when he turned around to offer a secret smile only for her.

- NASHVILLE -

"Admit it. I got you good tonight." Rayna pushed, her fingers intertwined with his as they wandered aimlessly down a busy street unnoticed by those passing by. Deacon shook his head. "Come on? Really?"

"Nope." He grinned, looking up at the sky as she bumped into him.

"Come on..I changed my whole setlist for you."

"Ok you got me good, happy?"

Rayna laughed, resting her head on his shoulder as they continued to walk lazily.

"Why now?" Deacon asked.

"Hmm?"

"Choose me, choose this, choose us…why now? After everything." He continued, his tone earnest and sincere. Rayna let out a low breath before tightening her grip on his hand.

"You're gonna laugh…"

"Seriously? You're gonna pull that card?" He mocked, looking down at her.

"No stop it! You will." She shrieked, hitting him playfully. He shot her sceptical look. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Ray seriously you're killing me here." He replied, ignoring her request.

"Fine…it was the little voice." She said hesitantly, watching him to see his reaction.

"The little voice?"

"Mmhmm." She nodded, pulling him to a stop so that she could look at him fully. "It's the voice that told me that you were gonna be more than a friend all those years ago when I first met you. It's the voice that told me I gave my heart away a long time ago even when I tried to ignore it."

Deacon's hands found hers as she continued. "It's the voice that told me that I belonged to you regardless of whether we were together or apart…and Deacon it's the voice that reminded me that I was done wasting days and nights waiting...because all this time…if I'm really honest…I have always loved you."

"No laughing here Ray." He murmured, watching her cheeks redden as she let out a sigh of relief.

Smiling, Deacon wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her in, his lips meeting hers firmly as they shut the world out around them. They stayed like this for a spell until he pulled away to rest his forehead against hers. His eyes were full of the future and Rayna blushed as she felt the heat of his body against hers. This moment was sweet and she longed to stay a while longer. Looking up into his eyes again she smiled.

"There's more…" She whispered. Deacon's gaze stayed firmly on hers as he wrapped his arms further around her waist. "It's also the little voice that helped me see I'm nothing when I'm living apart from you…the little voice that reminded me that without Deacon Claybourne…there would be no Rayna Jaymes."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Dedicated to:

MoonlightGardenias, GossipLilyRufusxoxo, Supsi85, 03Truth21, Merderluvr, Soaper410, BeckyPo & PaulaAbdulChica2007

- For being MY little voice from the beginning to the end of this whole process -

This is the end. When I published my first two chapters I never imagined so many people would read, let alone find it in themselves to review LITTLE VOICE. I cannot thank you enough. I appreciate every single review, comment, insight and kind word. None of this would have happened without LITTLE VOICE'S greatest characters, Deacon and Rayna…and it certainly wouldn't have happened without its readers. I feel as though we have written this together...all hoping, wishing and waiting for Deacon and Rayna to get their act together as you voiced your thoughts, what you loved and what frustrated you…LITTLE VOICE was half as hard and twice as good to write because of each reader and reviewer…so thankyou…

I am yet to decide whether I will continue writing in the days to come…I am playing around with an idea for a story that accompanies LITTLE VOICE that would focus on Deacon and Rayna post LITTLE VOICE and the unfolding of the Maddie storyline (which I intentionally left unfinished at the end of this chapter). However, I'm not quite sure if people would want to read that…so please let me know if you'd be interested…

KEEP COMMENTS, REVIEWS, PMS AND ANYTHING ELSE COMING…If you have any other ideas or things you would like to see explored let me know…

I appreciate you all, thankyou again.

- J