Ahhh, I always love adding Ashley to the mix, the evil person she is =P No seriously. It's fun to make a baddie that then gets hated on in the end! Whoopa! Thanks for giving me six reviews last time! I know I asked for 5... but still! Everyone who reviewed name's will be at the end of the chappie =)

HEART WARS

chapter 4

to remember your face

DAY TEN

"Who is she Shane?"

Ashley's voice was like venom and Shane felt himself flinching from the intensity as he swallowed his mouthful of coffee. The overly-sweetened beverage suddenly tasted bitter, as though he hadn't added nearly four sugars into it. He avoided eye-contact with the fuming actress, knowing she'd only continue to glare. He wasn't even sure why he was here at the moment either, in this coffee shop with Ashley and millions of paparazzi outside. Luckily, he had to go and get Mitchie in an hour so he had an excuse to leave early.

"Answer me," she snapped, her teeth almost breaking from the sheer force of her action. Shane suddenly felt scared.

"Who is who?" He knew who she was referring to, but he didn't feel as if he owed the manipulative beauty anything. He winced as a camera flash to his right blinded his eye a little. Damn flies.

Ashley growled, frustration evident on her contorted expression, "Stop playing the idiot Shane. That dark haired girl and her dog that's always seen with you, who is she?"

"Oh, you mean Mitchie and Anakin? She's just a friend," he nonchalantly replied. He wasn't about to tell her the real reason that Mitchie was with him. She had a huge mouth and the whole of Hollywood would know by the end of the day.

"Nice friend, since when did you start hanging out with underage teens?" So Ashley had obviously seen that he dropped Mitchie off at high school every morning and then picked her up later. But this just caused him to frown. As far as he knew, there'd been no pictures released of him at her high school. So then, how did Ashley know? He didn't want to continue that thought.

"She's staying with me for awhile okay? She's blind and I volunteered to look after her." He was only partly lying.

Ashley raised a manicured eyebrow, "Oh really? Her family trusts a blind girl with a bad-boy rock-star." She smirked and he knew exactly what she was implying. Her eyes quickly darted to his purity ring. "Are you still wearing that for show?"

He felt his anger build as he clenched and unclenched his fist. "I'm not like that Ashley," he growled, "I wouldn't touch her like that."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe, because a few months back, you could barely keep your hands off me."

His anger continued to grow.

"It never went that far and it was always only because I'd had a bad day." The relationship they'd had… it'd been based on benefits rather than any sort of feeling. He'd used her for comfort and she'd used him to make a bigger name for herself.

"Well then you had a lot of bad days Shane Gray," she remarked as she delicately sipped her fat-free cappuccino. "What happens when you have a bad day and I'm not around and that little girl is the closest thing? You can be quite forceful when you want. Poor little blind girl won't know how to handle you."

His nails had caused his palm to bleed. It was taking all his self-control not to bolt upright and storm out the café. But that would be like admitting defeat to Ashley and he wasn't about to do that.

"I've changed. I'm not like that anymore," he grumbled and moved his eyes from hers.

"You keep telling yourself that Shane. I'll believe it when I see it. Or maybe I'll just wait until I hear that news report that Shane Gray was arrested for forcing himself on a helpless blind girl."

He couldn't take it anymore. He stood up in one lightning-fast motion and stormed out of the café, ignoring the pushing paparazzi as he stomped towards his car. The door slammed shut and the engine roared to life. He didn't care if he knocked one of the flies and their cameras in the process of exiting the parking lot. Right now, he needed to cool down.

Ashley's thoughts were utterly and completely ludicrous, absurd and…

Based on some truth.

Fear began to wiggle into his mind. What if she was right? What if he hadn't changed as much as he thought he had? What if he did do something harmful to Mitchie? It'd be so easy. She trusted him and he could easy use that to his advantage if he so wanted to. He could-

No, no, no, no, no.

He shook his head freeing himself from the self-destructive thoughts.

He had changed. He was as compulsive as he used to be, he wasn't so controlling and forceful. He knew how to contain himself. He'd changed more in the past ten days than he ever had in his entire life.

Mitchie was starting to have a positive effect on him, her pure innocence and optimistic nature would influence even the most sadistic person.

They might not even interact much or spend all that much time together, but just being the same room changed him.

Joshua had been no fool.

But in changing, wasn't he losing who he was?

Then again, who exactly was he?

Nate and Jason had said he'd changed after the second world tour, but he wasn't sure how. As far as he recalled, he'd simply begun indulging more in the life of the rich and famous.

What'd been so wrong about that?

It wasn't as though he was sleeping around and taking nude pictures of himself and posting them on the internet. So he'd gotten drunk a few times. But he hadn't done anything to embarrass anyone. He hadn't sniffed or taken drugs either.

So, his label had lost a few thousands when he'd walked off the music video sets and he'd caused them to fire a few people here and there… maybe he'd also been late or had just not arrived to meetings on some occasions… but that was normal wasn't it? Didn't all stars do that?

Besides, he was Shane Gray.

He could do whatever he wanted.

HEART WARS

"Your dog already knows my car?" he commented as Mitchie, lead by Anakin, walked without hesitation towards his car. He was leaning against the side of his E-Class white Mercedes and he took her sling bag as she neared him. She handed the bag over without a problem as she'd seen him move to do the action.

"Yeah, well he has to. This way you don't have to come find me in there and get tackled by a bunch of screaming girls. You could even by run-over by a wheelchair," she joked with him as Ani led her to the passenger side. Shane was there before she could open the door and he courteously opened it for her.

She sent a smile in his direction as she cautiously climbed inside, feeling her way into the seat.

"I was thinking we could go and grab some burgers for dinner tonight? I'm not the greatest chef. But you know that by now." It was only four, but ever since Mitchie had arrived, he'd adjusted his schedule. He now actually ate a somewhat proper dinner and slept at a decent hour. He had to if he wanted to sleep at night and then function properly in the morning.

"Sounds great," she answered as she began humming a soft tune. It was something Shane wasn't familiar with.

"What you humming?" he queried, liking the generally melody of the tune. "I haven't heard it before."

"Ummm," she stammered and a small blush rose to her cheeks, "I don't think you'll have heard it before. I kind of made it up myself…" Shane was surprised. He hadn't even thought she'd be interested in any to do within the music industry.

"Have any lyrics to it?"

"Ummm, ehhh, no, no it doesn't. I'm not much of a singer." She was so tense that he decided it would be in his best interest to move on to another topic. Maybe they'd pick it up some other time.

They continued to drive in comfortable silence as they finally reached their destination – Barry's Burger Bar.

"Here, put this baseball cap on," Shane said as he took the liberty of putting it on for her. She sent him a grateful smile as he grabbed his sunglasses and a cap of his own. As busy as this place wasn't, he didn't want to get mobbed. Especially with Mitchie with him. It would be hard to try and lead her and Anakin out of the way.

"Anything in particular you want?"

"Do they make chicken burgers?"

"I'm pretty sure they do, but what do you have against beef?" he asked her as Anakin bounded out the backseat. Mitchie clipped on his bright pink lead and the dog dragged her into the restaurant.

She simply chuckled at him and rolled her glazed eyes. Her attention was immediately caught by the numerous smells and sounds of the restaurant as they entered. Spices used upon the meat filled her nose and the smell of freshly chopped tomatoes and various other vegetables. She caught a faint whiff of dishwashing liquid too… then the sounds of frying pans, boiling oil and people shouting out commands was the main focus of her ears as Anakin stopped. She could see the static movement of people in front of her and she guessed that they were probably at the ordering counter.

Movement to her left caused her to whip her head in that direction as another flash of a figure bumped into her. She hadn't expected this and so, barely keeping her balance, she stumbled to the right and directly into Shane as he was in mid-order. Anakin howled as she tugged on his collar, causing it to briefly cut into his throat.

Shane only faltered for a few moments as he caught her tumbling figure. His grip was firm, yet oddly gentle as he slowly pushed her back onto her feet. With a glare at the person who'd bumped Mitchie, he released her and stomped over to the perpetrator, anger blazing in his eyes, beneath his sunglasses.

"Don't you know how to say sorry?" he demanded to the blonde haired girl as she froze, obviously not expecting his outburst. He lashed out and gripped the top of her arm, dragging her to Mitchie. She could've fallen and injured herself if he hadn't been there to catch her.

Mitchie's eyes were widened in alarm as she saw his harsh motions and that he was latched onto another figure. Not to mention, she'd heard the intensity in his voice and it frightened her. No-one had been injured so there was no need to cause a scene. Anakin sensed her unease and he whimpered as Shane was within a few feet of her.

"Shane, it's okay," she told him as she could feel the other figure's shock and surprise. Why was he acting like this? It'd been a simple mistake hadn't it? "Really, it was just an accident." She frowned, hoping he would talk or move so that she'd be-able to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"No, no, no, I should have seen you there. I'm so, so sorry," the figure announced as Mitchie surmised that the voice belonged to a 'she'. Mitchie could hear the uneasiness in her tone and the pain in her voice.

"Shane, you should let her go," she told him, remembering that he'd been holding the girl's arm.

His frustrated sigh filled her ears as she saw a limb move, obviously Shane releasing the girl. She breathed out in relief as the girl slowly stalked away, unsure of Shane's stability at the moment. Mitchie could only hope that he hadn't caused too much of a scene…

HEART WARS

It is reported that Shane Gray of Connect 3 attacked a fan today-

"Stupid gossip stations," the boy in question muttered as he swiftly turned off the TV. The girl had clearly almost caused an injury; his actions had been justified, hadn't they? Besides, she wasn't that badly hurt and 'attacked' was a rather strong word to use.

"Well, that's Hollywood for you," Mitchie murmured, keeping her face away from his direction. She didn't feel as though she could face him at the moment, her feelings were too mixed. "Nothing goes on without everyone knowing." She felt absolutely enamored that he showed such a display for a simple accident. And, she wouldn't lie that it had been almost heavenly to be held by him in such a manner. She was utterly love-struck. Yet, on the other hand, his violent behavior scared her. He had acted out so harshly for a simple and easily solved accident. Is this how he dealt with all situations? With anger?

She wasn't too sure she wanted to find out.

"Are you okay Mitchie? Did you get hurt?"

Mitchie shook her head, keeping her face from him still. "No, no, I'm still just a little shaken up." The circumstance had happened over an hour ago, but it was still fresh in her mind. She had felt Shane's anger, the intensity of his voice and the girl's fear. It had scared her and she was glad she hadn't been able to witness his face twisted with the obvious rage.

She wanted to remember the image of his ever-present goofy smile and warm, doe eyes – the one she'd engrained in her mind before she'd lost her sight. She couldn't dare imagine him any other way. Somehow, she couldn't turn his curved lips upside-down or slant his eyebrows to make his eyes seem colder, burning with any other emotion than happiness.

Maybe he really had changed, like all the gossip sites had said.

She had refused to believe them for so long due to her 'love' for his music and partly for him. Also, many of those rumors were hardly ever based on any sort of fact.

"Mitchie?" Shane's hot breath on her cheeks caused them to redden and she felt his close proximity. It was unnerving. He could probably begin to hear her pounding heart as it thumped against her ribs. It felt as though it'd burst through at any given moment. Her breathing had become ragged too, no longer even and calm as they'd been mere seconds before.

But Shane wasn't retreating.

"Can you move your head?" she pleaded, her voice timid.

Shane raised an eyebrow and frowned, but tilted his head to the side nevertheless. Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her delicate hand. Within seconds, she had settled it lightly upon his cheek. He was too stunned to even ask or move a muscle.

"I want to know what you look like," she breathed out, the gentle air causing his own face to flush, "If that's okay." His nod was answer enough. A smile grew on Mitchie's lips as her finger's applied more pressure to his cheek before she ghosted them upwards. The pink nail polish on her manicured hands weren't even a distraction as he gazed into her glassy orbs, knowing that somehow, they were locked together.

She traced the area beside his eye with deliberate movements, her middle digit brushing strands of his unruly hair. Her index finger was against his eyebrow and moving to brush over his now-closed eye. Her thumb edged closer to his nose and he smiled at how ministrations. It felt soothing, her fingers upon his face, it was almost natural.

Her free hand moved up to caress the other side of his face and both finely-boned hands traced his features, etching his every detail into her mind, in unison. His breath hitched a little as she twirled a curl between her fingers. After exploring the upper portion of his face, her right hand flittered downward and a finger touched his nose. A low chuckle escaped his lips and he heard her melodic giggle.

But, the atmosphere switched to serious as a curious digit fell upon his lips. He was suspended in motion as his heart rate began to race. She was hesitating and in this moment both were frozen.

All became quiet. The lights faded and only the two of them existed in this newly-created world they inhabited. Moonlight bathed them as their breathing became the music.

Mitchie's soft strokes against his lips were enough to deepen his blush and create an unfamiliar, unsettling sensation race through his every vein, his every fiber of his being. He knew she felt it too; it was all too evident upon her angelic face. Her perfect lips were parted and her eyes wide, yet still somehow connected to his as she stopped in the center of his bottom lip before her finger slipped off and dragged onto his chin. It then continued to fall until she no longer touched his face.

"You're beautiful," she whispered, her voice only audible to him. "Better than the way I remembered."

Well, you're perfect to me. Your every feature is more gorgeous than even the angels. More beautiful than I could've ever imagined.

Oh how he wished he'd found the courage to speak it instead of simply thinking it.

"Goodnight Shane."

His name rolled flawlessly from her tongue and he momentarily shut his eyes.

Yet, when he opened them, he was back in his LA apartment and she was gone.

She'd just entered an entire new level of crazy.

She was utterly mad.

What had she just done?

What had she just said?

She was getting herself into one huge mess that she wouldn't be-able to clean.

She really needed to learn to guard her emotions better, to keep her thoughts to herself and to control what she spoke. She had left Shane seconds after speaking so he didn't have time to reply to her nonsensical words. For that, she was grateful.

It'd only been ten days.

Only ten days and she was already making a fool of herself, allowing her 'fan love' to overrule all else. She had to stop.

Anakin's soft whimpered caused her to sigh as he leapt onto her bed, instantly pushing his nose into her shoulder. He was worried. She loved how he could sense her emotions and then react accordingly. She couldn't have asked for a better guide dog.

"I'm setting myself up for heartbreak… aren't I?" she queried the Labrador as she snuggled her head into his neck. She knew he couldn't reply, but his steady breaths were comfort enough.

From now on, she wouldn't allow her emotions to roam free. She'd steel herself against them. She was here to help Shane, not to break her own heart in the process.

With a deep, shaky sigh, she locked all emotions for the singer within the deep recess of her heart.

I promised fluff and fluff there was =) Hope you liked the little moment there hey! I tried to make Shane's bad-boyness a little more severe cause well, yeah, it just suits my story better =) But can we hit 5 again? Pretty please with Smitchie fluff on top? =)

THANKS TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED:

ktooty

MusicPunk

Enchantixtracy

kbradley962

L is for Left

xCxBubblezx

Lorey

Peace. Love. Jonas