Just to Be Close to You-Backstreet Boys Visuals

My Heart Stays With You

Chapter 2

She was smaller than what he had anticipated she would be. Howie had said Samantha was petite, with curly strawberry blonde hair that hung just below her shoulders and jade green eyes. John guessed she was about 5'3" but he doubted she weighed very much over 100 pounds. She was wearing a cream colored , sleeveless dress with thin straps and a tiny floral print on it. She looked about 18 years old. 'She fits the description but if this girl is Samantha she looked older and taller in the pictures!' he thought to himself. "Samantha?" he asked looking straight at her. Samantha was startled but nodded yes. The stranger continued "I am Howie's brother John." he explained "Howie had to make a quick escape so he asked me to take you to his house. He was afraid the crowd he had attracted might scare you!"

"The disguise didn't work huh?" John shook his head. Samantha laughed softly "I didn't think it would! Howie's features are too distinct to be covered up by glasses and a baseball cap." she said shaking her head and tossing her backpack over shoulder.

John laughed "I told him the same thing! I suggested he dress like our grandfather but he thought that would be a bit too much! Do you have any luggage to claim?" he asked leading her toward the airport doors.

Samantha shook her head "I packed very light for this excursion. Howie told me what the weather had been like so I packed accordingly. I hope brought what I needed!"

"I am sure you did fine. You can always shop for more right?" John said shrugging his shoulders and pointing the way to his car.

"I like the way you think John!" Samantha replied as John reached to unlock her door. "Does Howie live far from here?" she asked as John opened her door for her.

"About half an hour." John answered. "Just long enough to prolong the torture of not seeing him for a week!" he laughed.

Samantha smiled and suppressed a giggle. "You read my mind there John!"

"No Samantha" he replied "I have spent today with Howie talking non-stop about you. I don't know for sure how eager you are to see him but I can tell you that-for lack of a better phrase-he is positively giddy with anticipation for seeing you! The way he was acting today, you would think he had not seen you in YEARS!"

"Really?" Samantha asked through a huge grin. "He is that excited about my being here?"

John nodded his head and rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah! You have had some effect on my little brother Samantha. I have never seen him act like he has this past week. You are all he has talked about! 'Do you think Samantha will like this?' 'When Samantha gets here I think I should do this.' 'Wait until you meet Samantha. You are going to love her!' On and on! No offense but he was beginning to get on my nerves!"

"Howie?" Samantha could not seem to erase the smile from her face "He really did that? I must sound like I have no intelligence or manners whatsoever! I have not even properly introduced myself to you!" she said turning in her seat to face him. "I am Samantha Danner. It is very nice to meet you John!" then she decided to add "I want you to know, I love Howie with all of my heart. I am sure your family was surprised and I won't blame you if you have doubts about me. I am sincere though, when I say I love your brother. Howie is a wonderful man!"

"I will admit we were a little surprised when he got home on Tuesday and announced he had fallen in love over the weekend!" John shook his head and continued "That was just not a Howie thing to do. He is usually very friendly but he reserves his deep feelings for a long time before he lets them show. I talked to Kevin and A.J. on Wednesday. They gave you high praise!" John glanced over at Samantha "I figured you have to be something pretty special to have captured Howie's heart so quickly."

Samantha blushed and lowered her head. "The entire weekend was very uncharacteristic of me as well. To be honest with you, I don't know what came over me. I invited 5 complete strangers to take over my house for 3 days! I am a very private person. I have NEVER done anything even remotely close to that before! I am really glad I did though. Please believe me John, when I say I love Howie. I honestly had no idea who he was when I met him. I fell in love with Howard, not Howie."

"I believe you Samantha." John replied as he turned down a tree lined street and headed for a gate at the end of the cul de sac. He reached up to the roof of his car and punched a series of numbers into a keypad. The gate swung open and he drove into the driveway, entering another number to close the gate. "Here we are." He said as he climbed out of the car.

Howie came bolting out the front door and jumped past the steps to the house before Samantha could even get out of the car! "Sam! I was beginning to think you were never going to get here!" He said lifting her out of the car and kissing her as he spun her around.

Chapter 3