AN: OMG thank you all for your reviews/favorites/alerts. I feel like I'm doing something right with this story. :3

CHAPTER 2

Rachel opened her eyes and sat up before confusion took over. Where the heck was she? She should have been waking up in a hotel room in New York. Instead, she was lying on a beach with no idea of how she got here. The last thing she remembered was being assigned Noah Puckerman as her seat partner for the flight.

She looked next to her and let out a shriek. Noah was lying on the beach, sleeping next to her. She jumped up, moving as far away from him as possible.

Rachel's scream pierced Puck's peaceful slumber and he awoke with a start, looking around.

Fuck.

It hadn't been a dream.

The plane really did crash, and now they were stuck on this shithole island until someone got there to rescue them. Puck wasn't optimistic though. He'd seen Gilligan's Island. He'd seen Lost. If actually being stuck on an island was anything like that, they could be here for a long time. Maybe even forever.

Puck rubbed his temples before looking over at Rachel. She was looking at him with terrified eyes and was hyperventilating a little. "Berry, it's going to be okay," he said with fake enthusiasm.

"Noah, where the hell are we?" she asked. "I thought we were going to New York, not…some tiny island. And where's everyone else?"

"Damn, you must have hit your head harder than I though. What's the last thing you remember?" he asked patiently. Normally, he would have snapped at her, but they were in this together. And he didn't want to freak her out more than she already was.

Rachel bit her lower lip and thought. Puck stared at her mouth, thinking about what it would be like to kiss those soft, tender lips again.

"I remember Mr. Schue ruining my life again by assigning us as seat partners," she said. "Then I woke up here."

Puck sighed. Damn. She didn't remember anything about the crash. He, on the other hand, remembered everything that happened clearly. It kept replaying in his head like a song on repeat. And he couldn't get it to stop.

"Well, to make a long story short, the plane we were on crashed," he said. "So now we're stuck here until they realize the plane went missing and they start searching for us."

"But, where's everyone else? Like Fin, Mr. Schue?" she asked quietly.

"They weren't on the plane. The airline fucked up and sent you and me to New Zealand instead of New York. I have no idea where the fuck we are to be honest. The plane crashed out in the ocean miles away. I grabbed a life vest and a seat cushion and we floated all night until we ended up here a few hours ago."

"So basically, no one knows where we are?" she asked, the panic returning to her voice.

"Yeah. No one knows where we are," he sighed. "And because we're so far from where we crashed, even if they do find the plane, who knows if they'll ever find us."

"So, you mean we're going to be stuck here forever?" she asked, starting to shake.

Damn. What the hell was his problem? He should have been trying to comfort her, not freak her out more. Puck got up, walking over and taking a seat next to Rachel before putting an arm around her shoulders.

Again, Rachel didn't push him away. He felt even worse when he saw a few tears glistening on her cheeks. Fuck. "Hey, don't worry, Berry," he said, rubbing her shoulder. "We're going to be okay. They'll find us. I mean, the great Rachel Berry's gone. You know Mr. Schue's going to have a search team out looking for you. Who else is going to sing all those solos?" he teased.

Despite how hopeless she was feeling, Rachel actually cracked a smile.

"There we go," Puck said, wiping her tears away. "Beautiful." He pulled her into a tight hug, the two of them sitting there.

Rachel sighed after a moment. "Noah, if we really are going to be here for some time, don't you think we should make it a little more livable than just sitting on the beach like this. I mean, we should build some kind of shelter. And get food."

Puck nodded. "Right. You get stuff for the shelter, I'll go hunting."

Rachel shook her head quickly. "Noah, I'm a vegan. You go get stuff for our shelter, I'll go see what kind of fruit this island has."

It was Puck's turn to shake his head. "I'm not letting you go exploring the jungle on your own. You don't know what kind of things live in there. What if something attacks you and I'm not there to protect you?"

Rachel was visibly offended. "'Protect me'? What, you think I can't fend for myself?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Honestly? Yes. You're a girl, Berry."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Puckerman."

Shit. He'd fucked up again. She only called him Puckerman when she was pissed off. He sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it like that. I meant I don't want you getting hurt because I was an idiot and let you go into the jungle alone before we knew what was in there. Finn would skin me alive."

Rachel bit her lip. "Apology accepted. So what are we going to do then?"

Puck thought for a moment. "How about we both go look for food first. Then, we'll gather up some things and build a shelter for us to sleep in. Sound good?"

Rachel nodded her head. "Okay, that sounds fine." She got up, holding her hand out to Puck and pulling him to his feet. She dusted off her skirt and looked down at her shoes with a frown. They weren't exactly the best shoes to tromp through the jungle, but they were all she had. Her suitcase was probably at the bottom of the ocean with the rest of the plane.

Puck was already over at the edge of the jungle, looking at Rachel. "Berry, you coming?" he asked, giving her a confused look.

Rachel pulled herself out of her thoughts and nodded, jogging over to where Puck was waiting. "Yes, I am."

The two teenagers headed into the strange jungle, Puck constantly looking around for unknown wildlife that might attack them while Rachel kept her eyes peeled for any kind of food they could eat that wouldn't involve Puck having to kill something.

"Noah, stop," Rachel said, tugging on his arm. He came to a stop, looking at her.

"What is it, Berry?" he asked.

"Look," she said, pointing up at the tree above them. Hanging from it were bushels of bananas. "If I climbed up the tree, I could toss some down to you. We could eat that," she suggested.

Puck nodded his head. "Alright. But I'm climbing. I'm not letting you fall out of the tree and then having Finn murder me when we get rescued.

Rachel sighed. "Noah, cut the act. I know it's unlikely we're going to be rescued anytime soon. So would you just let me climb the tree? I'm smaller than you. It'll be easier for me than it would be for you."

Puck looked a little apprehensive. "If you fall…"

"I'm not going to fall," Rachel said confidently. "You've seen me dance. I'm extremely coordinated. Just give me a boost up so I can reach the first branch," she said, walking over to him and touching his shoulder.

Puck suddenly felt a little warmer under her touch. It felt nice, actually. Very nice.

"Can you give me a boost?" she asked after a moment when he hadn't done anything."

"Oh, yeah," he said, feeling slightly embarrassed. He lowered his hands, locking his fingers together to form a sort of step for her. Rachel stepped into Puck's hands and he boosted her up. Puck averted his glance down, doing his best to avoid looking up Rachel's skirt at her cotton panties.

Rachel grabbed onto the branch above her, pulling herself up into a seated position. She continued climbing until she reached the top where the bananas were.

"Berry! You okay up there?" he called, worry evident in his voice. He bit his lower lip, watching her reach out and grab a bushel, detaching it from the branch and tossing it down to him.

Puck caught the bananas, looking back up at her. "I think that's enough for now. Why don't you climb down," he called.

But Rachel ignored him. She was more concerned about the fifteen-foot snake that was sharing the same branch as her. "Noah," she called down with apprehension. "Noah, there's a snake," she practically screamed.

"Fuck," Puck cursed. This is exactly what he was worried about. She'd go up there and something like this would happen. He could handle a snake. He could jump out and land on his feet and be fine. But Rachel…she was so delicate. If she fell, she'd break her neck and die. And that would be on his conscience.

He wasn't sure what to do. He could climb up after her, but what if she fell while he was climbing. Then, a thought came to him.

"Berry, I want you to jump out of the tree!" he called up.

"Have you lost your mind? I'll kill myself."

"No. I'll catch you. I promise."

"I don't trust you," she said hesitantly.

"If you want that fucking snake to bite you, stay up there. I promise I'll catch you," he said, looking up at her and trying to meet her eyes.

Rachel bit her lower lip. She couldn't say she really trusted Noah Puckerman all that much, but she really didn't have a choice right now. Closing her eyes, she leaped out of the tree, expecting to crash on the ground. Instead, a pair of strong arms caught her, cradling her.

She opened her eyes and saw Noah had indeed caught her. "You didn't let me fall," she said with shock.

Puck chuckled under his breath. "People are always shocked when I turn out to be trustworthy," he said, bending over to pick up the bananas, carrying both her and the food back to beach.

"Noah, I'm perfectly capable of walking," Rachel said, sounding annoyed, though his arms around her felt both comforting and protective.

"I know. I'm just doing this as a safety precaution. You did just jump out of the tree. I don't want to have to save you twice in an hour," he teased her. Rachel rolled her eyes.

The two Lima kids arrived back on the beach a few minutes later, Puck gently letting Rachel climb out of his arms and onto the sand. He put the bananas down before looking around.

The beach was bare—there was nothing on it with the exception of him and Rachel. Plenty of space to build a fire and shelter when they collected stuff to build it with.

Puck glanced over at Rachel who was seated on the sand, staring out at the empty ocean. He walked over to her, taking a seat next to her and putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about anything. We'll build a signal fire and they'll find us soon. We'll be here two days. Three, tops," he said, even though he knew in his gut it wasn't true. They'd be lucky if they ever got off here.

Rachel looked at him and smiled. "Thanks, Noah," she said, even though she didn't believe his words. She knew they weren't getting off this island in the near future, but it was sweet he was trying to cheer her up and get the feelings of hopelessness out of her head.

Puck stood up, looking down at her. "Alright, let's get this shelter built so we have somewhere to sleep tonight. Unless you'd rather two shelters," he said, realizing she might want her own space.

Rachel shook her head. "No, one shelter for now. I don't want to be alone. Now when I don't know what's out there. When I'm sleeping, I'd rather have you there to protect me. Just in case, you know," she said, biting own on her lower lip.

Puck had to stop himself from breaking into a huge grin. Rachel Berry had just agreed to spend the night with him. Granted, they'd be sleeping in a shitty shelter made from whatever they could find in the jungle, but they'd still be sharing a…whatever they'd be sleeping on.

Puck took Rachel's hand and the two of them headed into the jungle, picking up sturdy looking branches, leaves—anything they could use to make a shelter.

Rachel stripped the bark off some of the trees, using the strips and weaving them together to make a mat for them to sleep on. They had no pillows and no blankets, but it was something. Besides, it wasn't like they needed a blanket on an island.

Puck spent the day building their shelter while Rachel made the beach more livable. She set up a dressing area, weaving more mats and attaching them to branches so there was some sense of privacy. She also set up a fire pit, though they still had yet to make fire.

They also had yet to find fresh water, which was going to become a problem soon. Rachel suggested exploring the jungle more tomorrow and Puck nodded in agreement. What else could they do except wait to be rescued or wait to die?

That night, Rachel kicked off her shoes before walking into their little beach shack, lying down on the mat. Puck took the spot next to her, his face looking at hers.

"What are we going to do, Noah?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes again. "We're two teenage kids. How are we supposed to survive alone on a deserted island?"

Puck frowned before wiping her tears away. "Hey, it'll be okay, Berry," he soothed, pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back. "We'll build a signal fire tomorrow. And we'll find fresh water. Then maybe we can shower since you're starting to smell," he teased.

She cracked a smile at that, laughing a little. "You don't exactly smell like a rose, either," she teased.

Puck kept his arms wrapped around Rachel, kissing her on the top of her head. "Good night, Berry," he said before drifting off to sleep.

Rachel stayed awake for a bit, lying with Puck's arms around her. It felt nice, comforting. Sure she was dating Finn, but who knew if she'd ever see him again. With that thought in her head, she snuggled into Puck's chest before also succumbing to sleep.