Title- Long Road to Heartbreak
Author- Victoria
Rating- PG-13, barring any dirty thoughts
Characters/Pairings- Meredith/Nathan, stalker!Eric Doyle, general Petrelli-ness, a few OCs
Summary- A 23-year-old Nathan meets an intriguing blonde woman named Meredith. They start a romance and all is going fine until a malicious, powerful man from Meredith's past intervenes. My take on the Meredith/Nathan backstory.

A/N- I've seen this done before, but it never felt quite... right... to me. So I may as well write my version. I don't know how frequent updates are going to be, because I have a schedule like you wouldn't believe. College applications are evil. EVIL. Like, Arthur-Petrelli-has-NOTHING-on-them evil. But I'll try to keep it as regular as possible. (And yes, the name Adrian was chosen deliberately)

Prologue: A Road Trip

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.
-Seneca

"I dunno, guys," Nathan Petrelli said, laughing. "A cross-country road trip? Seriously? That's a little sophomoric, don't you think?"

Adrian Guilford, a lanky young man with coffee-colored skin and perpetually laughing eyes, reached across the intervening space and whacked Nathan across the back of the head. "Aw, c'mon man! Stop trying to dazzle us all with your vocabulary, Nate. We're all in this hell they call Pre-Law together; unlike your kid brother, we actually have a clue what you're talking about. So come on, what's the big deal? We're just driving to Vegas. What's wrong with that?"

Nathan shrugged. "It just seems like a waste of time, you know?"

Adrian made a noise of protest. However, it was Mitchell Burns, another of their friends, who replied to Nathan's comment. Mitchell was a short man- really, he barely looked more than a teenager- with bright red hair and a personality to match. "Come on!" he exclaimed. "This is our last summer before law school, Nathan. We're going to be wasting the rest of our lives, suing people or whatever. We totally deserve one last blowout before we get dragged into the world of corporate underhandedness."

"Not that you haven't been there your whole life anyway," Adrian said in a mock-whisper, nudging Nathan in the side.

The elder Petrelli son shot a glare at his best friend. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said stiffly.

"Oh please," Adrian said with an exaggerated eye-roll. Then he continued in a high falsetto quite unlike his usual gravelly tones, "Oh, I'm Arthur Petrelli and I became a billionaire by bailing guys out for Daniel Linderman!"

"Stop it," Nathan said. "That's not something to joke about."

Mitchell smacked Adrian. "Behave, dude. Nate says he doesn't want to talk about it, so he doesn't want to talk about it." Nathan nodded his thanks. "Alright, so, you in or not?" Mitchell asked.

Nathan hesitated, looking torn. Finally, he sighed. "What choice do I have? Somebody's gotta be there to stop you two from getting arrested."

Adrian grinned. "Alright!" he exclaimed. "We're leaving in three weeks!"

Yeah, the prologue is a tad short, but future chapters will be longer. Promise. Reviews = love.