Heyooooo! Ummm, hi =] So this is my first time writing for Camp Rock so please tell me if anyone or anything is totally OOC or anything like that! But all in all, I do hope you like this chapter as it's rather long and well, I had a lot of fun writing it! Whoop! Also, I'm excited about this story so please, feedback?

START ALL OVER

Chapter 1

things will never be the same

He needed a break.

Seriously, he was getting really peeved off with his manger right now. The break-up hadn't even been his fault! If he had his way, he'd still happily be in a relationship right now instead of brooding over his imperfections and the 'what if's' and wondering what he'd done wrong to cause the infidelity.

"Shane," his manger was saying, "You really have to get back out there. It's been two months, people are beginning to think you've become a hermit!" It was true. He'd hardly stepped out his LA apartment in the past two months, other than when he had to. He didn't even have to go buy groceries, he simply got them delivered. Oh and Nate and Jason occasionally brought him take-outs.

He also hadn't turned on any sort of news channel on the TV or picked up a gossip magazine. Also, he'd found a way to block all gossip websites. He would have nothing that could possibly tell him about the new life of his ex-girlfriend and her 'stunner' of a boyfriend. Hello, didn't anyone care that she'd cheated on him?

Nope.

"I don't want to get back out there!" he complained as he sunk into his plush, leather couch. From his viewpoint, he could see out of the giant glass windows that led onto his balcony. It was a beautiful day outside. Almost made him want to go outside and feel the sunshine on his paling skin.

Almost, that is.

"Shane," his manger said in a frustrated tone, "You have to show them that you're bigger than this. You have to come out sometime."

Shane Gray shook his head. He didn't have to do anything he didn't want to.

"Well, it seems no-one cares," he snapped, "Everyone just forgets that she cheated on me! I did nothing wrong!" So he shouldn't be hissing at the person who could kill his career if they so wanted, but honestly, he needed to vent. He'd barely spoken to anyone in the past few weeks, not even his mother.

And that was saying a lot.

"That's why you should show her you're over it."

Shane frowned. That was true. He should be out partying every other night and showing the world he was over that lying bitch. But he couldn't, he just couldn't.

There were too many memories.

He'd taken his freaking purity ring off for her because he'd thought she was the one, oh how wrong he'd been.

He'd broken promises for her.

And it was all for nothing.

"Just think about it? We can't have Connect 3 with only two members."

And with that, his manger left.

Leaving him to brood all over again

START ALL OVER

"Welcome to Starbucks, may I take your order?" she greeted the customer with a bright smile, despite the late hour.

"Just a cappuccino," the client replied as Mitchie punched in the order and took the man's outstretched money, humming to herself as she did so. If you were going to work the late shift, might as well smile while you did.

She relayed the order and then took a deep breathe. That had only been the third customer that night, considering it was almost midnight. She sighed softly as she leaned her elbows against the counter. There was hardly anyone in the delicious coffee store at the moment, well aside from the others who worked the late shift.

As much as she hated the late hours, she'd rather work at a Starbucks than anywhere else. You could have free coffee whenever it wasn't busy. Oh, and they never seemed to notice when a doughnut or cookie went missing. The perks of working the late shift…

And a job was a job – especially when you had college to pay for.

While her parents had managed to save up a college fund for her, she still needed other money for living expenses. Also, it didn't help that she couldn't live at home when home was over an hour away. Therefore, the job helped pay the rent for her small apartment nearby UCLA.

Mitchie sighed once again as she gently took a strand of her dark locks between her fingers and began twirling the tendril. The thing about the late shift was that it tended to get quite boring; especially when there was no-one to serve and you didn't exactly get along with your co-workers.

If the pay wasn't as good as it was, she definitely wouldn't be doing this job.

She had afternoon classes luckily, so she could afford to work the late shift and still get enough sleep before classes.

She was pulled from her thoughts when a bell chimed.

Looking up, she turned to see an oddly-familiar figure enter the store – clad in dark clothes, a hat and… sunglasses?

Mitchie raised an eyebrow as she stood. Who wore sunglasses at night? She shook her head… some people could be so strange.

But as the customer neared, she couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that she'd seen the person before.

"Good evening, what can I get ya?" she cheerfully asked as he came to the counter. Sending him a smile she waited for him to finish scanning the menu on overhead chalkboards.

She caught sight of his black locks and the feeling grew, causing her stomach to churn.

"A vanilla frappaccino," the stranger curtly answered and Mitchie felt herself taken aback by his deep voice. Yet, she could tell he'd thrown his voice to disguise what it truly was. Hey, she'd taken a few acting classes in high school…

"Sure, name?"

"Just put down Gray," he replied and Mitchie's eyes widened. This weirdo had the same surname as her favourite singer! But Shane Gray hadn't been seen since his break-up with Ashley Lawn two months back. Speculations were that he'd run to some island where he lived in peaceful seclusion. That news had saddened her. She really did enjoy his music.

She quickly wrote down the details on the plastic cup and motioned for him to sit down. She then watched as he pulled the chair at a nearby table.

He looked to be totally immersed in his thoughts.

The young nineteen year old shook her head. He was going to think she was a stalker or something with the way she kept staring. So, forcing herself to look away, that odd feeling flooded her again. She growled. If she knew this man, surely he would've said something? It wasn't as though she'd changed that much, aside from maybe dying her hair darker, but she was still very recognizable.

She frowned when his name was called for him to collect his order. Her co-worker repeated it again, but he still didn't respond.

"Mitchie, can you take the guy his coffee?"

She nodded and gracefully picked up the cup and began striding to the oblivious man. It was at that moment that her heart began to beat rather rapidly and she bit her lip for no reason. Why was she reacting like this? She just couldn't understand any of it.

"Sir?" she gently asked.

No reply.

"Sir?" she tried again.

Still nothing.

Sighing in exasperation, she tapped his shoulder.

"Your coffee Mr. Gray." He seemed genially surprised to see her and Mitchie saw that he'd taken his sunglasses off.

Those deep brown eyes of his seemed so-

She gasped.

"You're Shane Gray," she whispered, half-dropping his beverage onto the table. He groaned and she sat down on the seat closest to her, one that was right opposite his.

"I thought you'd moved to like some weird island in the middle of nowhere!" she spoke in a loud whisper as Shane sighed.

"Nah, I just haven't been feeling too well to really go out and socialize…" he replied as he took his coffee. Taking a sip, he met her curious eyes.

"Because of that cheating… ummm" Mitchie paused, "Bitch?" She hadn't really believed the news articles at first. Why would anyone want to cheat on Shane Gray? Seriously, the relationship had seemed so perfect! Mitchie hadn't been a fan of the woman in the first place, but if she made Shane happy…

She brought from her thoughts when she heard Shane chuckle, "Yeah, because of that cheating bitch." Then, he smiled.

Mitchie felt herself returning the gesture as they locked eyes for a moment. Her manager had said there'd be the possibility of famous stars coming in for coffee, but she never thought it'd actually happen during the night shift.

"What's your name?" he asked as he slowly took of his cap. Her smile brightened the room and Shane felt some of his depression slowly burning away. It'd been a good idea to come and get a late night coffee fix.

"Mitchie Torres," she answered with another bright smile. "Pleased to meet you," she then offered him her hand.

He grasped it and his smile widened as they shook hands.

"So tell me Mitchie, you lived in LA all your life?"

She shook her head, "Nope, actually live about an hour away, in Anaheim. I'm here for college. I study at UCLA. I'm hoping to become an accountant. You know, make lots of money and then support my parents." She rolled her eyes as she said this and somehow, the image of the bright-smiling girl behind a desk was completely amusing to him.

"I honestly can't see you as that," he joked.

"You know what," she paused, "Me neither."

They both laughed.

Shane ended up staying at the coffee shop for another two hours and he still hadn't finished his coffee. This girl managed to attract his full attention and he loved it. He was even able to forget everything that'd happened these past two months. This girl was like a breath of fresh air and he loved it.

"Well, it's time for me to knock off," Mitchie sighed as she checked the wall clock. Had it been two hours already? It only felt like minutes. Part of her felt that this was all a dream and she'd wake up in a few moments. It couldn't really be the Shane Gray sitting in front of her, laughing at her jokes right?

"And I don't want to be late for my bus either," she continued as she stood. All she needed to do was grab her coat. The other two would lock up as they still had another hour until their shift ended.

"I'll give you a lift."

"No. no, you don't have to."

"I insist, it's the least I could do for keeping me company."

"It was no trouble at all, but fine, I accept your offer." She didn't think her smile could widen any further. It seemed like her night wasn't about to end yet! "Just let me grab my coat okay?" He nodded and she rushed into the back room to grab her jacket, ignoring the looks everyone gave her.

She was back within seconds and they began to leave the store, Shane even opened the door for her.

"Thanks," she smiled as she stepped into the chilly air. She shivered as she put her jacket on. She heard the door slam shut and the bell chime before Shane was at her side. He then began leading the way to his fancy Mercedes parked not too far away.

She was glad for the street lamps as she got to see more of Shane, reminding her that this was in fact happening. She wasn't dreaming.

He even opened the car door for her.

The car's warmth was a nice change from the outside temperature.

"So, where do you live?"

"Umm, the apartment block on the corner of Albert Street." He knew where that was as he drove past quite regularly. Well, he used to. Before he declared himself a semi-hermit.

The car started without hassle and almost 'purred' to life as he reversed out of a parking space. The radio came on immediately and surprisingly, one of Connect 3's songs was blasting through the speakers.

Mitchie instantly grinned, "Can we keep this one on?" she asked. He found he couldn't deny her when she sent him that face. So, he simply nodded and focused on the road ahead. He'd always be careful at night, with drunk drivers and all.

They were both silent, listening to the radio's melody as they began the fifteen minute drive. It would usually be half an hour, but that was by bus.

"You know, I half expected you to drive a Ferrari or some crazy sports car," Mitchie nonchalantly remarked, scanning the elegant inside of the Mercedes. He'd chosen the wood option for the interior decorating with the beige leather seats. It was nice and somehow, it suited him.

Shane chuckled. Why did everyone expect that? "It was in for repairs," he joked as they stopped at a light. Somehow, Mitchie knew he was joking simply from his tone of voice. He liked that. Ashley would've laughed before realizing he didn't own one. Then she'd ask why he'd joke about it. Instantly, he frowned. For the past two hours he'd been able to keep his mind off the liar and it'd been so blissful.

"Hey, you okay?" Mitchie's sweet voice broke through and he turned to her, missing the green light. Luckily, there was no-one behind him.

"I'm…" he debated lying. "… Okay." He finished, unsure of what he should've said. Truth be told, he was far from even 'okay' – he was more in the realm of depressed and angry but those emotions seemed to fade when in her presence. It must've been her smile, or her happy attitude. She turned the depression into the 'okay'.

"You shouldn't feel bad for the break-up. It wasn't your fault. She was the one who cheated, it wasn't anything to do with you or the way you treated her. She wasn't satisfied with the best I guess. It's horrible how some people think you'll find something better when you actually won't."

Wow. Was she really only nineteen?

They were still stopped at the light and it was now red for the second time.

Suddenly, Shane felt that Mitchie was the perfect solution to his problems.

He enjoyed spending time with her and she helped him forget Ashley. Not to mention she actually made sense.

He had the perfect idea.

"Hey Mitchie," he spoke as he eventually drove at the third green light, "I have a proposition to make you…"

"Hmm?" she answered as she stopped her humming to the newest song on the radio.

"How about…" Since when was Shane Gray ever afraid to speak?

"I'll pay for your college so you can stop working at Starbucks- she didn't allow him to finish.

"No, no, no I don't want you to do that! I mean we just met- he stopped her as they rounded a corner by placing a finger on her lips.

"Just let me finish speaking?" She nodded, almost shell-shocked at his action.

Just then, another of Connect 3's songs came onto the radio and Nate's voice was immediately heard, followed by his own.

We get closer and closer again

But we're falling apart

I'm losing, you're losing a friend

It's always over before we start

"In exchange for me paying for your college bills… you'll be, you'll be…" he spoke, finding himself beginning to get tongue-tied. He watched her reaction carefully and she looked at him with curious eyes.

You're asking for love

That I wish that it could be the way that it was

It's over and there's no-one to blame

It'll never be the same

"Be my pseudo girlfriend for the next month?"

…No it'll never be the same.

Ooooohhhh, the plot thickens =] Tell me what you think? Esp since this is my first time writing for this fandom!

Lorey

Xoxo