Here's the next chapter. You all seem to be really enjoying this, which is always nice to hear :) They're finally on their way now, and the story can properly begin. Hopefully you'll like the friendship between Blaine and Rachel here (Something I'm hoping for in Season three) and of course there is plenty of Puckleberry interactions.

Enjoy x

Rachel walked at full force through the parking lot, her father's attempting to keep up her, both failing miserably. With her passport firmly in her hand and a defiant look in her eye, she was ready for the off. Once inside, Rachel scanned the airport, hoping to see a familiar face, she let out a disappointed sigh noting that no one had taken her initiative and arrived early. She had originally planned on travelling with Kurt and Blaine, but once they'd informed them that Carole and Burt were insisting on driving them to the airport, with Finn in tow, she quickly changed her mind and arranged to meet them at the airport with the rest of New Directions, a decision that she was quickly becoming to regret. She shook her head as her father's finally caught up with her.

"Rachel, did you really need to walk that quickly? You're not going to miss the plane," Rachel smiled at her dad and shrugged.

"As captain of New Directions, I felt it was my duty to arrive early, as you should well know, I'm a very efficient person," her dad nodded and Rachel scanned the airport once more.

"You know, I'll be fine now, especially if you two want to get going," Rachel hugged both of them individually and gave them each one of her megawatt smiles. Both simply shook their head and grinned at their daughter's eager behaviour.

"Rachel, honey," her dad started, "We're not going to just leave you here, we'll wait with you until some of your friends arrive," Rachel sighed but nodded nonetheless.

She was so excited to get going, although she knew that they had to wait to board the plane, this was a very exciting experience for her, something that she knew would prepare her for the future when she'd be jet setting across the world, playing for all sorts of audiences. She was also aware of the fun that they were going to have whilst they were away. Rachel had done her research, she knew exactly where she wanted to go in London, and all og the sights she wanted to see for herself. She had a made a list and sorted them in order of importance, she had colour coded them based on their enjoyment levels and educational values, she'd also made copies just in case the rest of New Directions had wanted to follow her example and structure their trip perfectly. Mr Schuster and Miss Pillsbury were fantastic chaperones, they had complete trust in their students whilst at Nationals, allowing them to see New York for themselves, without been herded like sheep, it had also been a great bonding experience for them as a group.

"Oh look, there's Noah!" Rachel grinned, picking up the handle of her case and pulling it across the airport, her father's rolled their eyes and followed their daughter once more.

"Noah!" Rachel grinned as she finally caught up with him, he turned to face her, then glanced in the direction of her fathers who were approaching behind her.

"'Sup Berry?" he grunted,

"It seems we're the first to arrive again," Rachel smiled, "Or have you noticed anyone upon your arrival?"

"Just got here Berry, mom had to get back for Eden," Rachel nodded and turned to face her fathers, her eyes pleading with them. They exchanged glances and nodded.

"Okay Rachel, I suppose we can trust Noah to keep an eye on you, and I'm sure Mr Schuster and Miss Pillsbury will be here momentarily," Rachel grinned and hugged them both one final time.

"Now you both have fun now and good luck in the competition," Puck nodded and Rachel beamed at them both. Once the two men were finally out of earshot, Rachel turned around to face Puck.

"I really can't believe that the others haven't shown up yet, I thought Kurt and Blaine would be here early at least. I thought that today of all days they would consider being more prepared, especially Mr Schuster and Miss Pillsbury. I for one am very disappointed in the team right now."

"Geez, Berry, please give it a rest, it's like, 7am and it's summer vacation," Rachel frowned and crossed her arms defiantly. Puck smirked and swung his bag over his shoulder,

"Come on Berry, let's go see if we can find the others," Rachel sighed and picked up her case and wheeled it behind her.

It didn't take too long to find the others, turns out they were all waiting on the other side of the airport, Rachel rolled her eyes at Mr Schuster's failure to alert the whole group, after all, if she'd have known that they were meeting up here, then she would have alerted her father's prior to them parking. Puck and Rachel separated almost immediately, each of them moving towards their own sub group of friends.

"Hey!" Blaine grinned as he hugged Rachel, "I thought you would have been here earlier," Rachel rolled her eyes and grinned at him, before noticing Kurt watching her suspiciously.

"Kurt, are you okay?" Rachel asked, he smoothed his hair and sighed.

"I was just admiring your choice of clothing for the journey, I notice that even a trip to London hasn't improved matters," Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled at her friends, she had become accustomed to his 'insults' now, and found that she wasn't affected by them, and deep down she knew that he didn't really mean them, it was just his way of being a friend towards her.

"I am so stoked for this, I hardly slept last night thinking about it," Mercedes grinned, changing the subject. Rachel smiled at her friend's excitement.

The friends spent the rest of the time before check in talking animatedly about everything and anything, Kurt and Mercedes discussing every item of clothing that they had brought along, Kurt obviously crushed that he had to leave some behind, especially as Mr Schuster had limited each of them to bringing one piece of luggage. Nationals had been the last straw for him, Kurt had brought 2 extremely large cases, plus a piece of carry on luggage that had only just managed to be allowed onto the plane. Kurt still hadn't properly forgiven Mr Schuster for his luggage limitation. Whilst Kurt and Mercedes discussed their fashion choices, Blaine started to talking to Rachel.

"So, how are things with Puck?" he asked, Rachel rolled her eyes and smirked at him.

"Same as always," she laughed, "I think I'd be more concerned if they actually changed,"

"Well, you've both been spending a lot of time together recently," Blaine grinned at her and Rachel nudged him in his side.

"I assure you, we've only been rehearsing," Blaine shrugged and glanced over in Puck's direction, who was now talking to Sam and Mike.

"Well, I wouldn't blame you if anything did happen," Blaine smirked, "He's pretty hot." Rachel started laughing as Kurt turned around quickly, demanding to know whom Blaine was talking about.

Mr Schuster and Miss Pillsbury continued to scan through the group, checking everyone was where they were supposed to be, and making sure that no one had strayed from the group. Rachel watched on as the airport began to fill up, she glanced at Mr Schuster and could clearly see that he was slightly in over his head, in her own opinion she was pretty glad that Miss Pillsbury had agreed to travel with them as she was just like Rachel when it came to organisation skills. Both chaperones had gathered the teens around and guided them towards the check in desk; Mr Schuster split them into two groups, making it easier and much quicker for them all to check in.

The teens did as they were told, presenting their passports at the right time, handing over their cases to be loaded onto the plane, before walking over and gathering away from the desk.

"Okay everyone, gather round," Mr Schuster shouted as he walked over to the group with Artie and Miss Pillsbury.

"Now, I've been given your tickets and..."

"Don't tell me, we've been upgraded to first class," Kurt asked eagerly, Mr Schuster shook his head and laughed.

"No, sorry Kurt, that's not it," he smiled, as Kurt let out a deflated sigh, Mercedes rolled her eyes and patted her friends back comfortingly. Blaine glanced at Rachel and the pair started laughing again. "Now, we're all sitting together, but you must stick to your allocated seats," Everyone nodded and Mr Schuster passed on half of the tickets to Miss Pillsbury to pass around. Gradually everyone received their tickets and were pleased to see who they would be sitting next to for the next 11 hours; the final two tickets were left for Rachel and Puck.

"You've got to be kidding me," Puck grumbled as he received his ticket, Rachel smiled and shrugged,

"I think it's a perfect opportunity for us to discuss our duet, maybe listen to the song a few times, I think it will be really good for us," Puck rolled his eyes and walked over to join Sam and Mike. Rachel frowned as Blaine approached her again, with Kurt and Mercedes following him.

"You okay Rachel?" he asked, her frown soon lifted and she turned around to face him.

"I'm fine, sadly the same cannot be said for Noah, it seems he isn't exactly happy to be sitting next to me for the next 11 hours," she said in a sad tone, Blaine smiled and shook his head.

"He'll be okay, he just gets cranky in the morning, you remember what he was like the first morning in New York" Rachel smiled as she recalled the memory, it was Blaine's first official trip with New Directions that involved being away from home for longer than a day. For the rest of New Directions, they all knew how to approach him and allow him to wake up in his own time; Blaine however had to learn the hard way. Apparently Puck didn't take too well to Blaine's usual dapper attitude so early in the morning. Since then, Blaine didn't bother talking to him until at least 10am, just to be sure.

"You were terrified of him," Rachel laughed, and Blaine pretended to be offended.

"Have you seen the size of him Rachel? The guy would've trampled me," Rachel laughed loudly,

"I'm sure you're right about him not being a morning person. So who are you sitting with?" she asked.

"Sam, I think," Blaine shrugged, it didn't really bother him who was sitting with, since transferring, he'd been pretty much accepted with open arms and got along with everyone in the group. They were his friends now, not just Kurt's and he liked that. He had issues with Finn, but that was only because of the way that he'd treated Rachel, it was still pretty awkward when he was at Kurt's house and had to make small talk with the guy who had pretty much broke his best friend's heart. Rachel patted his arm gently before they heard their flight number being announced. Everyone soon turned into panic, Mr Schuster and Miss Pillsbury watched as the kids scrambled around, pulling each other up, and picking up various pieces of hand luggage.

"Guys!" Mr Schuster shouted, everyone froze and turned to face him.

"Now, I want everyone to split into pairs, preferably with the person you're sitting next to on the plane, I don't want any of you to be split from the group," everyone nodded and moved in the direction of their "travel buddy". Artie wheeled over to Finn, Kurt and Mercedes linked arms and sent and apologetic look over to Blaine and Rachel, knowing that they'd be all split for the next eleven hours. Tina walked over to join Quinn who was glancing at Sam as he walked in Blaine and Rachel's direction, Santana and Brittany had somehow managed to stay together and Mike sighed as he walked over and joined Lauren. Rachel sighed as approached her.

"'Berry," he mumbled as the group headed off in the direction of the departure gate.

As Puck stormed ahead, Rachel found it a struggle to keep up with him, she rolled her eyes and frowned at him, he noticed this and smirked at her, angering her even more.

"Noah, could you please slow down, Mr Schuster said that we have to stick together," she stated defiantly.

"What's the matter Berry, can't take the pace?" he smirked,

"You're taller than I am, your strides are clearly wider than mine," she explained, Puck rolled his eyes and clasped his hand tightly around her wrist. Rachel flinched at the contact, they hadn't been this close since they had dated briefly, even for the number they were working on, he refused to even act intimate towards her.

"Come on Berry!" he grunted, pulling her along with him. Rachel didn't say anything, still stunned by his actions. She allowed herself to be dragged through the airport, aware that for anyone who witnessed them probably thought that they were a young couple jetting off together for a summer vacation, she just felt grateful that she knew the truth. When they had finally caught up with the rest of the group, they were immediately face with twelve pairs of eyes, Puck broke the contact almost immediately as the pair joined the back of the line, Puck turned away from Rachel, who simply smiled at her friends.

"Well, well, well," Kurt grinned turning around to face her, Mercedes and Blaine following his lead.

"Why, may I ask, were you and Puck holding hands back there?" Kurt whispered, making sure not to be overheard by Puck, who had now started talking to Sam again.

"We were not holding hands," Rachel stated clearly.

"Oh, but you were, we've got several witnesses who can prove it," he smirked; Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled at them all, noticing the eager expressions on Mercedes and Blaine's faces.

"We were definitely not holding hands, Noah thought it was appropriate to pull me through the airport by my wrist, apparently I was slowing him down," she stated in her usual manner, "Although I explained to him, he is much taller than I am..."

"Sure, whatever," Kurt smirked, holding his hand up to silence her, before linking arms with Mercedes again as the line started moving forward.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked, Rachel shook her head and grinned at him,

"Like I told your boyfriend, there is nothing going on!" Blaine laughed as he shuffled forward with Sam. Puck turned around again and Rachel caught his eye, she smiled nervously at him as they slowly moved forward, neither of them really speaking to each other.

Once on the plane, Mr Schuster found himself desperately trying to make sure that the kids were not about to disturb the rest of the passengers on the plane. He rolled his eyes as they continued to laugh loudly, obstructing the aisles as people were trying to get past them. Rachel and Puck were the last to board the plane from their group, and discovered that their seats were behind the rest of New Directions, something Mr Schuster had failed to tell them both beforehand. Puck placed his carryon luggage in the overhead compartment with ease and slumped down into his seat. Rachel huffed loudly as she attempted to place her bag into the compartment, noticing that her height was holding her back once more. She sighed loudly and tried once more, aware that a queue was forming behind her; she huffed as she tried to force the bag above her head. Puck watched her struggle for a while, a little smug to see her struggle with something for once in her life, but he couldn't put it off for much longer. He stood up and pulled her bag out of her hand, she watched him as he easily placed it above her head.

"Thank you Noah," she smiled gratefully, he shrugged and Rachel quickly made her way into her seat. The pair sat in silence for a while, listening to the rest of New Directions talk happily with each other. Rachel was clearly uncomfortable in this position, never one to remain quiet for too long, she glanced at Puck who was clearly ignoring her. She pouted and sat back in her seat, and fastened her seatbelt eyes permanently facing forward. The plane fell silent as everyone turned to watch the safety demonstration, Puck slouched in his seat,, a bored expression on his face, but Rachel watched on intently, absorbing everything that they were being told. Puck glanced at her and smirked, the girl just never changed. The flight attendants finally sat down and the plane began to move very slowly, and through the corner of his eye Puck noticed Rachel's body tense.

"You okay Berry?" he whispered, leaning into her. She turned her head, their faces only inches apart.

"I'm perfectly fine Noah!" she snapped, a little more abrupt than she had planned, Puck pulled back and shrugged.

"Whatever,"

Rachel took a deep breath as the plane continued to move, she glanced at Puck one more time, who was now refusing to look at her, she shook her head and faced forward again. The plane picked up speed and as it began to ascend Rachel let out a shriek and buried her head into Puck's side. Puck smirked and turned to face her amused by her sudden change of behaviour.

"Berry, are you afraid of flying?" He asked as he quietly leant over her head, slowly she lifted her head and her eyes met his.

"It's not the flying that I'm afraid of," she sighed quietly, "I just have a phobia of taking off and landing. It's a very common phobia Noah."

Puck rolled his eyes and nodded as she stayed glued to his side for the next couple of minutes, he sighed and looked behind him making sure that no one was watching him and that they wouldn't be overheard. He awkwardly lifted his arm and placed it around Rachel's shoulders; in his own way he knew that he was being some sort of comfort to her. Rachel slowly lifted her head feeling Puck's arm around her, she caught his eye and the pair exchanged awkward smiles with each other. Rachel felt at ease for first time since stepping onto the plane, even when she had been sitting next to Finn on the plane he hadn't been as comforting or as understanding as Puck had been in the last few minutes. Yes, flying with Puck definitely had its advantages. The plane gradually began to settle and as the seatbelt light was turned off, Rachel slowly sat up to her natural position as Puck slowly removed his arm.

"Thank you Noah," she smiled, Puck shrugged and glanced around again, noticing that the rest of New Directions were already engaged in their conversations, so much for team unity! He sighed and rested his head on the back of his seat.

"I know that I wasn't your ideal travel buddy on this trip," Rachel said quietly, "I'll try not to annoy you too much," Now he felt guilty. He sat up and turned his head to face her, he gave her a smile, something that shook her, especially as she was more used to seeing his confident smirk.

"Look, we're going to be stuck together for the next eleven hours Berry," he stated, "Now as long as you keep your crazy to a minimal then I think we'll be okay," Rachel nodded and smiled.

"I can do that," she grinned, and there and then the pair had reached their own mutual agreement, both of them realising that it was much easier than either would've thought.