Psh... so yes, I have a new story and all. . . but I've always wanted to write about this! I will still keep updating Start All Over, but I have time for both!

HEART WARS

chapter one

replacement

"Shane, manager wants to see you… again," Nate hissed through clenched teeth as he spoke to his pouting best friend. Actually, he wasn't even sure if they could be considered best friends anymore. The rock-star's behavior was getting too much and too out of hand for anyone to handle.

The spoilt and arrogant rock-star turned to face Nate, a scowl on his handsome features. Nate returned the scowl with the same intensity. Shane had walked out on another music video because of the lighting. The damn lighting. Everyone was thoroughly sick and tired of his self-centered attitude.

"The old coot can wait," Shane shrugged as he turned his attention away from Nate once again, staring into the gigantic glass window before him. The studio was on-top of one of the skyscrapers in central LA and it offered an amazing view. Shane would rather have his attention focused on anything other than his curly-haired band-mate behind him.

"Shane…" Nate's tone had taken on a whole new level of irritation, "You're going to get fired if you keep this up."

A sarcastic chuckle passed through Shane's lips at Nate's words. They'd never fire him from Connect 3. He was the face of the band, the reason why everyone kept on buying their albums. It was all him. If he left, so would their sales. He knew his manager knew this; the man wasn't as much of an idiot as he made himself out to be.

He heard Nate's footsteps before they eventually faded, leaving him alone once again. He frowned – why was everyone on his case lately? The morons their manager had hired to direct the video were useless. They couldn't even correct the lighting properly! How was he supposed to work with people who weren't on the same wave-length?

It wasn't always like this. A few months back, he would've grinned and bore through the entire shoot while inwardly wanting to scream at the workers. A few months earlier and he would've been naïve enough to think they knew what they we're doing. But when their record sales had dropped after one poorly rated video, he'd had enough. He wasn't about to let everything they'd worked so hard slide down the drain without a means of stopping itself.

Even if Nate and Jason were prepared to lose everything, he wasn't.

He sighed and leaned backwards into the plush couch in the reception area of the studio. No-one else was in the room as he'd 'politely' asked the receptionist to leave and so, she'd taken an early lunch break.

She also knew never to mess with Shane Gray.

He smirked as the thought came to mind. People respected him because he was Shane freaking Gray, one of the biggest super-stars of the century. Women fawned over him, girls fainted at the sight of him and even some men went crazy once he opened his mouth.

He was Shane Gray and no-one would ever belittle him.


"I'm so sick and tired of him!" Jason exclaimed as he nearly threw his guitar to the floor. He was frustrated and severely annoyed by the attitude of the person he'd considered his brother. Everyone was pissed off with his 'bite me; I'm famous' behavior. It was time to do something about it, even if it meant kicking him out of Connect 3.

As much as he hated to admit it, they could replace him. There were countless other attractive male singers waiting for their big break who could replace Shane. And they'd be so grateful for a chance at fame that they'd be cooperative.

Like Shane used to be, before they'd gone on their second world tour…

For some reason, it was then that the fame had gone to the twenty-one year old's head. Sure, he was the most liked in the group, but neither he nor Nate had gone crazy and arrogant with fame-itis.

"Shane's going to get himself replaced," Nate quietly admitted as he placed his drum-sticks down and hung his head. This was affecting the both of them rather negatively. They'd never wanted to even think of replacing Shane, he was their brother.

"You're damn right."

Both boys looked up as their manager entered the room, his eyes ablaze. This could only mean bad news. Never had they seen their manager so… disgruntled and angry. Even his colourful tie was askew on his white dress shirt. His hair was messed, as though he'd been pulling on it and his mouth was set in a thin line.

Nate and Jason feared the worst.

"Luckily, I have one other option besides firing him."

Two audible sighs of relief filled the studio.

"He's got one last chance to change his attitude and prove he can be responsible," he glanced down at his fancy, metallic and chunky wristwatch, "And she should be arriving any minute now."

"What?" Jason questioned as he frowned, tilting his head to the side. She? Was Shane getting some sort of life coach?

"Shane isn't allergic to dogs right?"

Nate shook his head, "Not as far as I know…" he trailed off in confusion. So now there was a dog in the picture? Was their manager going to get some old dog lady to teach Shane responsibility? Or maybe he was getting Shane a puppy?

"Good, hopefully he'll take his last chance then." And with that, their manager left the room with a rather bright smile on his lips.


Woof!

Shane jumped at the unexpected noise and nearly found him flying face-first onto the glass windows. Luckily, he'd managed to steady himself before he potentially broke the glass and went soaring to his death. That way, it wouldn't have even been necessary to fire him. And they'd need to do is organize his funeral.

Shaking off his stupor, he turned to see a gleaming Labrador panting in the reception area.

He moved to rub his eyes.

Oh he must be dreaming, he thought to himself as he blinked, trying to see if the large dog would disappear if he did. But it didn't, it simply barked again and he stumbled backwards.

"Ouch!" he muttered as the back of his knees connected the pointed edge of a coffee table. Today really wasn't turning out to be his day.

He glanced at the dog curiously as he whined to itself before releasing another bark. As far as he knew, dogs weren't allowed in the building, especially without a handler. But there wasn't anyone else in sight. So how had the dog even gotten to the 12th floor by itself? It was then that he noticed the bright pink collar around the dog's neck, partly covered by golden hair. There was also a matching pink lead rope extending off the collar. The dog, who he considered to be a she now, must've escaped her handler.

"Ani!"

Shane jumped for the second time that day, the back of his knee connecting with the table's sharp edge once again as he moaned in pain this time. It'd basically hit the exact same tender spot. There was definitely going to be a mark.

The dog responded to the call by barking repeatedly before scampering down the hallway, towards the elevator, again. Shane watched in disbelief as the dog disappeared from his range of sight.

What had just happened?

He must be going crazy.

But then, he heard the sound of footsteps and paws coming from the tiled hallway. He turned to watch as he heard a voice, quite similar to the one that'd called 'Ani' a few moments prior. Slowly, a figure came into view and he spotted the golden coat of the Labrador who'd just been in the room.

"Ah, good boy Ani," the figure spoke and he identified the sugary sweet voice to belong to a girl. Not to mention he could now see that the figure had long, dark-dyed hair with blond highlights. As they came closer, he definitely saw that it was a girl.

The dog, who was apparently named 'Ani' was eagerly walking beside the girl, licking her hand every now and then as she patted his head. Seriously, who named a boy dog 'Ani' and gave them a hot pink collar? Maybe this girl had her genders confused here.

Soon, she'd entered the room and Shane was taken aback.

The girl was beautiful.

From her skinny jeans and converse sneakers to her loose-fitting black shirt, she was gorgeous. And from what he could see, she had a gorgeous figure to match, even with the baggy shirt. Her smile was bright enough to fill the entire room and her face was perfectly in proportion.

And her chocolaty, coffee coloured eyes were-

He frowned as he got a closer look at them, momentarily forgetting his paining knee. Her eyes were almost glassy as she leaned down and lavished her dog with attention. They seemed somewhat lifeless and dull which didn't suit the rest of her personality.

Ani barked again and the girl stopped petting him, slowly standing to her full height as she gazed right at him. Thing is, it was like she couldn't even see him.

"Didn't your mother teach you it was rude to stare?"

Shane was thrown totally off-guard. No-one ever spoke to him in such a tone. Couldn't she see who he was? Didn't she know who she was speaking to?

"No, but she did teach me not to talk to strangers," he snorted as he folded his arms across his chest. He wasn't about to let some girl catch him off-guard again, no matter how pretty she was.

He was expecting some snarky reply followed by an eye roll and a huff. But instead, he was greeted by laughter. He blinked as the girl giggled away and her dog whimpered playfully, licking her hands.

For once, Shane Gray was speechless.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" she challenged him, her glassy eyes still so lifeless despite her wide, contagious grin. He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He had no comeback and for once, he didn't want to speak.

"Who are you?" was all he could croak out as he slowly unfolded his arms.

"Mitchie Torres," she grinned, "And this is my dog, Anakin."

Ah, now he understood the 'Ani' part.

"You named your dog off of a Star Wars character?" he asked skeptically.

"Yeah, only the greatest Jedi in the world," she seemed to be oblivious to his 'what-the-hell' expression. Anakin barked again before whining as he hung his tongue out of his mouth, panting as he sat.

"You know dogs aren't allowed in here right?"

"I know, but I got special permission from Mr. Todd."

Shane raised an eyebrow. His manager had approved the dog? Was this world really coming to an end?

"You never told me your name you know," Mitchie spoke, "And usually when you ask someone for their name, you give yours."

Shane's eyes nearly popped their sockets. Was she blind? Had she grown up under a rock? Or was just playing dumb? How could she not see who he was?

"Shane Gray," he said in a matter-of-factly tone, watching her reaction very carefully.

"Oh! I thought I recognized your voice," was all she gave him. No squeal, no attempts to tear off his clothing or fainting. Was she for real? "Your songs are pretty catchy; my best friend plays them on repeat all the time." Did that mean that she didn't really listen to them? That she only knew of them thanks to her friend?

"Michelle! You're here!"

Both Shane and Mitchie turned in the direction of Joshua Todd's voice, Shane's manager, and he eagerly went to Mitchie's side. They shared a brief hug as he placed his hands on her tiny shoulders.

"Good to see you again, hope security didn't give you too much hassle with Anakin," he spoke and patted the dog's head. The Labrador woofed happily in response.

"None whatsoever, they told me to actually bring him to say hi every time I come by. Everyone loves my little Ani," she cheerfully responded as the dog rubbed against her leg, asking for attention.

For the first time in a long, long time, Shane felt like a third wheel as his mind spun with questions. What exactly was happening?

"I see you've already met Shane," Joshua said, motioning toward the shell-shocked singer, "Hope he hasn't been too rude to you."

Mitchie shook her head, "Nope, I think we're bonding already."

Shane's jaw dropped, what was that comment supposed to mean? Apparently, he'd said that thought outloud as Joshua finally took note of his presence.

"Well Shane," he began as he led Mitchie over to the couches, "We've all had enough of your behavior and this is your last chance before I'm kicking you out." He motioned for everyone to sit.

"So this is where Mitchie comes in. For the next two months, you'll be looking after her."

Shane's jaw dropped further as he blinked rapidly in disbelief. He had to be dreaming this entire conversation. But he couldn't be as Mitchie's grin hadn't faded and Joshua's eyes were dead-locked on him. Not to mention Anakin's panting was far too realistic to be a dream.

"How is she going to help me anything? What's so special about this girl?"

Joshua looked surprised as his features softened. Had Shane really not noticed? Had Anakin given nothing away? He stole a glance at Mitchie's dulled eyes that seemed to be staring right at Shane. He turned his attention back to Shane. The singer was worse than he thought. He needed to be brought back down to earth.

"Shane, haven't you noticed?" The rock-star shook his shaggy mess of hair.

He sighed. Might as well be blunt.

"Shane, Michelle is blind."


BAM! Did you see that one coming? Well do tell =)

Lorey

Xoxo