It was the day Rachel Berry had been waiting for; she was setting off to travel Europe. Ever since Rachel could remember she had wanted to explore, her and Noah had played games in the park by her house searching for treasure and new places they hadn't yet found. Noah Puckerman was Rachel's best friend practically since birth; their families had known each other for years before the pair came along so naturally they were in each other's company a lot.
Rachel Berry was 21 and in college studying Drama when she finally worked up the courage to decide to take a year out so she could travel Europe. Her fathers at first had been against the idea of her going off for a year on her own, they quickly changed their minds when Noah had agreed to go along with her. Rachel had been moaning to Noah about the whole thing when out of nowhere he had suggested he take a year out from his home made business of pool cleaning to go with her. They had set both families down and told them about the new plan. Both Rachel and Noah's family had been more than happy about this as they longed for the two of them to get together. For years the families had not so subtly suggested that the pair got together much to both Rachel and Noahs annoyance. They were best friends nothing more and nothing less, Noah was like a big brother to Rachel and the idea made both of them a little queasy.
Noah had been more than happy to be going with Rachel. He was worried about her being all alone in these strange countries that she wanted to visit. All their lives he had went out his way to protect Rachel in any way he could be it boyfriends, bullies, random strangers, if there was a problem Rachel was having he'd be the person to solve it, to help her in any way he could. Five years ago when him and Rachel were 16 years old Rachel was asked out by a boy called Mike who was on the football team with Noah. As soon as Noah had found out he went straight up to the boy and gave him the most intense talk about not hurting Rachel and treating her like a princess and if he ever hurt her in any way possible Noah would make sure it was the last thing he ever did. To say Mike was scared stiff would be a bit of an understatement. Mike had taken Rachel out to the best restaurant in town for the teens and had been too scared to speak. Mike never asked Rachel out on a second date. After everyone seeing and hearing the talk Noah had given to Mike about Rachel everyone was too scared to ever ask Rachel out again in high school. Rachel had a few boyfriends in college all with the approval of Noah but no one had been worthy of more than a few months of Rachel's time, they just weren't what Rachel had thought love would be.
After planning and packing the day had finally came around to set off for Rachel and Noah's greatest adventure. Rachel's dads had the car packed and were all set to go an hour before needed, Rachel had been awake for hours making sure she had every single thing you could ever imagine needing. After an hour of waiting around making small talk they finally decided to go ahead to pick up Noah and say goodbye to his Mum, Dad and two younger brothers. Noah's mum was in tears before they even got there and by the time the two were saying there final goodbyes she couldn't even speak. Noah was teary eyes as he hugged her goodbye; he was such a mummy's boy.
The car journey with Rachel's dads was full of excited chat, Noah talking about trying to get a girl in each different place they visited, Rachel talking about the sites that were a must see and Rachel's dad going over safety issues once again for the hundredth time and the type of jobs they should look for to earn money they needed. The time in the car past by in what felt like minutes although it was just under an hour and it finally hit Rachel that she wouldn't be seeing her fathers in person for around a year. Tear were released as she hugged them as tight as she could promising to phone as much as she could. Rachel's dads gave puck and equally tight hug as he was like a son to them. The pair walked up to the security part of the airport and turned for a final wave before walking through the metal detectors. Noah turned to Rachel 'well this is it then, you ready?'
'I'm more than ready' Rachel replied with a smile stretched across her face.