As I was applying my lip gloss the doorbell rang. Shivers ran up and down my spine and the little butterflies turning in my stomach evolved into one big butterfly. I could hear his voice. He was in our living room. I shook, I was so nervous and happy at the same time. I needed a moment to compose myself.

“Samantha darling--Zac’s here!” I heard my dad call.

“Just a minute!” I called back and quickly sat on my bed to think and tocalm down. ‘Breathe’ I told myself. I took three deep breaths and closed my eyes. Opened them, smiled and reached for the doorknob. I instantly saw Zac at the bottom of the staircase. At the creak of my door he turned to see me. I stopped at the top of the stairs for a moment just to look at him. I wanted to run down the stairs and jump into his arms, but trying that in my shoes was probably lethal. He smiled at me, and I instantly returned the gesture then hurried as fast as I could down the stairs stopping just in front of him to look into his eyes. I hugged him tightly for a moment, then we separated, holding hands just so we could look at each other. I noticed he’d continued to grow taller and his face sharper, but he was still my Zac, with his hair all pulled back neatly in a ponytail.

Even though we were in my house with my parents in earshot, I couldn’t help but kiss him. A short luring kiss brought back so many memories. What a feeling to have Zac in front of me again!

“Wow,” Zac broke the silence. I wondered if he meant the kiss or me or what.

“You look amazing!” Zac answered my question. I smiled and batted my eyelashes for a second before telling him how hot he looked.

My mom came in carrying my small suitcase and camera, “Don’t forget your things!” I was going to spend the night with the Hanson’s at their hotel and the next day with them in New York

“Oh!” I turned to her, “Thanks mom!” Zac took the suitcase from her and we posed for a quick picture before hugging goodbye.

“Have fun!” She called to us as we walked to the limo.

“I’ve never been in a limo!” I was excited.

“Really?” Zac asked as the limo driver opened the back door for us, “Check this out! We get a TV with cable and you can hook up Nintendo!”

I was expecting to see a car full of Hansons’ but it was just me and Zac, which of course, I didn’t totally mind.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Waiting at the hotel,” Zac replied, “We get the whole limo to ourselves,” he said slyly in a blatantly guilty tone.

We immediately pulled out the Nintendo and began in fierce competition. However, halfway through our third game, Zac died twice in a row. I took my attention away from the game to ask him what he was doing, but my words were suspended when I looked at him. He was just gaping at me, speechless. I didn’t know what to say, it made me feel nervous. Had I done something wrong? Was he mad? Was it how I looked? His eyes quickly traced my outline before landing at my own eyes. Had he noticed my weight change? I looked away and down, I couldn’t deal with his intense stare especially when I wasn’t sure what was coming next. Rejection? No. As I turned my head toward the floor he reached for my chin to pull my face back up and my eyes connected again with his. He sweeped his hand over my cheek and smiled.

“You’re so beautiful,” Zac whispered. I was a little shocked and a little doubtful. I didn’t know how to respond, “You know that right?”

“Thank you,” I searched deep into his soul and finally smiled. I knew he was speaking from his heart and nothing could make me love him more. I leaned into him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He reciprocated then softly kissed my lips. We kissed again, and again, deeper and longer, totally in synch as always. He kissed my neck and pushed the strap down on one side of my shirt to kiss my shoulder. We continued in our passion all the way to New York when Zac noticed we were nearing the hotel.

“Woah, hotel is only 3 blocks away!” Zac said surprised, “I didn’t realize how much time went by!”

“Me either!” I agreed and quickly whipped out my mirror to fix my hair and readjust myself. That was the first time Zac and I had become so intimate. I mean, we hadn’t done what my sister would consider a lot or anything, but more than Zac and I had ever done before. I really liked it. I glanced to Zac who was also fixing his hair and let out a small snicker.

“What are you laughing at?” He asked in a teasing matter.

“Nothing,” I replied smugly, still giggling.

Zac shook his head, “I’ll clobber you later for that one!”

“Oh will you?” I joked.

“Yeah! I will! I would now, but that’s the hotel,” he pointed out.

“Will you klobber me like you just did?” I dared to say.

He looked at me, smiled, looked away shaking his head and said, “If you’re lucky.” We pulled up to the hotel and the doorman opened the limo door before I could get in another comeback.

The hotel was extravagant. Everything everywhere was gold or glass or both. I thought I would break the floor by walking on it! The carpeting was even red velvet! The mirrored hallways made me so dizzy, but before I knew it, Zac announced we were at their room. Instead of swiping a card, Zac typed in what looked like a ten digit code and then there was a beep and an open door to a room full of Hansons. Diana feeding Zoe, Jessica and Avery playing with a wooden train, Taylor at the mirror fixing his collar, Walker on the couch loading his camera, Isaac scoping out the refrigerator, and Mackenzie running wild throughout the main room.

“Samantha!” Diana smiled widely in bedazzlement and joy. Everyone else stopped for a moment to take a look, except for Mack, he was still joyfully skipping into oblivion. Commotion began as Diana came to kiss me and everyone else to say hello also.

“Mwah,” Diana made a kissing noise as she kissed both my cheeks then held them, “You look wonderful!”

“Thank you,” I smiled brightly revealing my newly brace-free, white teeth.

“Walker it’s great to see you!” I gave him a hug, and he snapped a quick picture of me and Zac at the door.

“There we go! It’s working!” He strolled back to the dresser. Avery and Jessica hugged me in unison and Isaac smiled and waved from the refrigerator.

“Hey Sam! You look great!” He told me as he guzzled the milk.

Taylor walked over to me, no words exchanged yet and a facial expression that reminded me of Zac when he’s in deep thought. Taylor looked me up and down.

“Have you grown?” Taylor asked in a joking matter.

“I think so,” I replied.

“Lookin’ good Sam,” he told me before doing his signature handshake then hug. His hand lingered on my back for a moment before brushing off and I instantly remembered my childhood lust for him. Considering that that was only a few years ago that I call my “childhood” you could say I enjoyed Taylor’s hug in not the purest way. He was looking good, I couldn’t help but slightly blush. It wasn’t a big deal, I’d always thought of Taylor as a little more than a big brother. Who wouldn’t? He’s great looking. Of course I knew there was no chance with him, he had so many other girlfriends, besides which I didn’t love Taylor like how I love Zac. Zac. I smiled remembering he was next to me and I left my daydream to grab his hand. I smiled smugly at Zac, but shockingly his expression wasn’t reflected. He just shot me a blank kind of look. What was this? Taylor was already back in front of the mirror... had I let my daydreams show through? I bit my lip. Damnit.