This year's love had better last
Heaven knows it's high time
And I've been waiting on my own too long
But when you hold me like you do
It feels so right
I start to forget
How my heart gets torn
When that hurt gets thrown
Feeling like you can't go on

This year's love had better last
This year's love had better last

Chapter 1 - Rise & Fall

"Isn't life great!" Nick thought as he cruised down the New York freeway, the wind blowing through his hair, the sunlight shining down through the windshield of his car and bathing the interior in a warm glow, glinting off the black sunglasses he was wearing. He had the windows open and the stereo blasting out his favourite tunes as he sped along through the countryside. The trees were already beginning to turn a beautiful orange-brown color, indicating that Fall was here, yet the weather still clung onto dreams of summer, and the temperature had not dropped below 80 degrees even now September was drawing to a close.

Nick was 20 years old, a native of England but currently a student at the State University of New York at Albany, where he was spending a year as an exchange student. At the moment he was on his way from Albany to Alden, where his girlfriend Terra lived. He was going to stay with her for the weekend, a fact which he was extremely excited about, but at the same time also extremely nervous. This would be the first time he had met Terra in real life, even though they had been together for almost 8 Months, keeping in touch through the internet and phone calls, waiting for the day that they could finally meet each other in person. Nick's eyes wandered to the picture of Terra which he had on the dashboard of the car, and he smiled. "Not long now," he thought to himself.

As he exited the freeway and headed towards Terra's house, following the directions she had given him, he glanced once again into the back of the car, checking for about the 20th time that he had remembered to bring Terra's gift with him. He had spent ages thinking about what to get her, eventually deciding on a gold necklace, which he had their names engraved on, "Terra & Nick," that had a nice ring to it he thought. He had also bought her the new Good Charlotte CD which she wanted so much. He hoped she hadn't already bought it herself, even though he had dropped a fair few hints in their conversations that he was going to buy it for her.

He and Terra had made big plans for their first weekend together - surely never before had so much thought and care been put into planning a first date, for that was what it was, despite the length of their relationship, their first real date together. They were going to see a movie before having dinner at an Italian restaurant, and then afterwards, when it got dark, they were going to lie out together under the stars, sharing a perfect golden moment.

Nick watched the road carefully, looking at the signs as he went along - it looked like he had taken a wrong turning. He pulled the car over and looked at Terra's directions again, comparing them to the map he had on the seat next to him. He laughed as he realized that Terra had sent him the wrong way - geography had never been one of her strong points. He worked out where he was on the map and traced out the correct route before turning the car around and heading back the way he had come, this time taking a different turning. The car was not his, it belonged to one of his friends from college, and Nick was extremely grateful to his friend for lending him the car, since it saved him from the bother of having to get to Alden via public transport.

Eventually he found himself in Alden, and he made his way through the town towards the rural neighbourhood where Terra lived. It seemed a very nice area to him, and it looked especially pretty with the colors of Fall on the trees, shining in the sunlight. At last he pulled up alongside Terra's house, tired from the journey and looking forward to a rest and hopefully a cold drink. His heart was beating faster now, and he felt more and more nervous by the second. He reassured himself that there was nothing to worry about, everything would be fine, still he was extremely apprehensive about meeting Terra for the first time, and even more so about meeting her parents. He was worried that they wouldn't like him.

As he turned off the ignition and prepared to open the door he heard a noise from inside the house - it sounded like shouting. Then it became clearer, the sound drifting out through the open window, a man shouting, and then a woman's voice too - they were arguing it seemed to him. He stayed in the car, not wanting to arrive in the middle of a fight. The shouting continued, and was followed by the sound of breaking glass and then screaming. Suddenly the front door of the house flew open, and a girl came running out towards Nick's car. As she came closer he saw that it was Terra, and she was in a terrible state. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, as if she had been crying, and her face was bruised and cut in places. She ran frantically over to the car and peered into the window, relief flooding over her when she saw that it was Nick inside. "Thank God it's you," she said gratefully as she opened the door and scrambled into the car.

"Terra what's the matter, what's going on, who did that to you?" Nick asked as she sat alongside him.

"Just drive, there's no time to explain," she said desperately, "please Nick, just do what I say."

Seeing the look of fear in her eyes Nick quickly started the engine and began to drive away, flooring the accelerator as they sped down the street. As he looked in his rear-view mirror he saw a man running out of the house, waving and yelling at them to stop.

"Please, keep driving," Terra said, also looking behind them, "you have to trust me."

"Ok," said Nick, feeling more and more confused and scared by the minute. This hadn't been part of their plans. "Shit!" He added as he saw the man climb into a black pickup truck and take off after them, pursuing them down the narrow street, "he's coming after us."

Terra frantically turned around to see, a look of terror in her eyes. "You can't let him get me Nick, you have to protect me" she said.

Nick began to drive faster, racing through the streets of the town at dangerous speeds. His car was more manoeuvrable than the pickup, and he was able to pull away from it, putting some distance between them and their pursuer. After a couple of turns he had lost it completely, and he slowed down, looking for a safe place to pull over. He spotted a dirt road on the left and pulled onto it, following it until they were out of sight of the main road, until they were safely away from the pursuit. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, taking further deep breaths to try and calm himself down. "Are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on...." he said angrily, turning to Terra in the seat beside him, but he stopped when he saw the look on her face. He could see the tears beginning to well up in her eyes, and she was starting to sob uncontrollably. She flung herself into his arms and broke down as he hugged her tight, crying into his shoulder. "Baby, it's ok, you're safe now," he said reassuringly, kissing her gently on the forehead as she continued to cry, all her pent-up emotion being released suddenly and violently upon the world. Not knowing what else to say he just held her tightly in his arms. It felt good to hold her close to him, to be together at last despite the bizarre and worrying circumstances. He never wanted to let go, but he knew that they were not safe yet, that whatever was going on was far from over, in fact, it was only just beginning.