"Ugh, I can't believe I'm up when the sun isn't," Alyssa groaned.

"Oh, shut up. It's not the first time we've been up at this hour," I snapped.

"Yeah, remember all those all-nighters?" Eli said.

"I just want to sleep," Alyssa complained.

"We all do. Now be quiet and pick up some bags," Derek said, his mood sour.

It was currently four in the morning and our flight was to leave in two hours. We were still getting all of our bags put into Alyssa's mom's van, who offered to drive us to the airport since we couldn't drive ourselves.

"You know, waking up early is good for your body. I personally like to wake up bright and early, go for a run, do some yoga, and then eat a healthy breakfast," Alyssa's mom--Natalie--said. I handed a suitcase to Eli to put in the trunk, shooting Natalie a dark look.

"Not everyone's a health nut like you, Mom," Alyssa grumbled.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to live longer," Natalie responded.

Honestly, the woman's voice was giving me a headache. I knew if Brooke was here right now, she would have said some sort of bitchy comment to get her to shut up. But Brooke wasn't here and so we were left listening to Natalie's girly high-pitched voice. I mean, Natalie was nice and all. But she was really only tolerable when we had caffeine in our systems.

"Let's stop at a Dunkin' before we go to the airport," Chase suggested as Eli slammed the trunk door shut.

"Good idea," I mumbled as we piled into the van.

"Everyone in?" Natalie asked, starting the engine.

"Yes," we all chorused in zombie-like voices.

"Seatbelts on," she said. We all rolled our eyes at her, but stayed quiet and did as we were told. In just twelve hours, we would be free from all parental controls. We just had to be patient.

"Holy shit," Chase said as we wheeled our way to the boarding area after going through security checking.

"What?" Eli asked.

We were now wide awake, the delicious Dunkin' Donuts coffee instantly taking an effect on us.

"I just remembered that I hate airplanes," Chase said. I felt myself pale.

"Oh, shit," I said.

"What?" Derek asked.

"You just reminded me, too," I answered, punching Chase in the arm.

"Hey! Calm down!" Chase exclaimed.

"No, no, no, no, no! Now all I can think about is the plane getting shot in the sky or losing an engine or falling into a body of water. Oh my God. We're all going to die," I said, panic flooding me.

"Will you shut up?!" Chase exclaimed, covering his ears with his hands.

"I can't believe you two are afraid of planes," Derek said.

"It's going to be fine. It'll be over before we know it," Alyssa said.

"We're never going to make it to Portugal alive," I said.

"Stop it! If you say one more thing, I swear to God I'm going to dump you in one of those luggage trolleys and let them wheel you into plane storage," Chase said. I glared at him.

"Will you two calm down? It's just an airplane," Eli said, getting annoyed.

"Just an airplane?!" Chase and I exclaimed at the same time. Several people in our vicinity looked over at us.

"Will you keep it down? People are staring," Derek hissed.

"How do we always get into these kinds of situations?" Alyssa asked to no one in particular.

"I have an idea. Why don't we get you guys some sleeping pills? Knock yourselves out so you won't notice the flight," Eli suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," I said.

"Is there like a convenience store or anything? Do they sell sleeping pills at airports?" Chase asked.

"Why not? Loads of people have phobias of flying," Alyssa answered.

"Let's look around," I said to Chase.

"Hurry up. Boarding starts in twenty minutes," Derek said.

Chase and I nodded and then walked away.

"I didn't know you were afraid of flying," I said to Chase as we walked, looking around for a convenience store.

"I thought it was obvious," Chase said, his voice grim.

"What--?" I began and then it dawned on me.

Chase's father had been a pilot for the US Air Force. He had died in an airstrike at the start of the war in Afghanistan, which had been a while ago. He had told us that they never even found a body. No wonder Chase was afraid of planes.

"I wonder if it's bad for our bodies if we just drank coffee and now we're about to pop some sleeping pills," I said, mostly to change the subject.

"You would know better than anyone, Miss Doctor," Chase answered. I glanced at his face as we walked into a convenience store that was by a food court. His normally light blue eyes were a little dark. I felt a pang of guilt run through me. I was such an idiot.

We found a bottle of sleeping pills pretty easily and stood at the register to pay. Chase pulled out his wallet and we waited patiently for the elderly lady to check us out. I put my hand over Chase's as he drummed his fingers on the counter. He looked down at me and forced a smile.

"I'm all right, Soph," he said.

"I know," I replied. He forced out a chuckle and the woman handed his card back to him. We snatched up the pills and then made our way back to the others, who were now sitting and staring up at the television set that was mounted onto a pillar.

"Did you guys get the pills?" Alyssa asked.

"When you say it like that, it makes it sound like we just took part in a drug exchange," Chase said. The others laughed.

"Yeah. We got them," I said, sitting down.

"You know, I think it's really stupid that they would put CNN on in an airport," Derek said, pointing at the TV.

"It's just mindless television," Alyssa said.

"I think it's dumb," Derek replied.

"Well, when you decided to work for the airport management team, take that up with them," Alyssa said. Derek rolled his eyes.

We heard giggling and looked up to see two blonde girls that looked to be about twenty years old each, standing a few feet away from us. They had clearly caught sight of the boys, hence the girly laughter and the sudden batting of eyelashes. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Alyssa, who rolled her eyes. The boys, being the boys, smirked and nodded at the girls, making them shriek even more.

"They're totally checking us out," Chase said out of the corner of his mouth.

"You're a pig," Alyssa hissed.

"Oh, man. If they're going to be on the same plane as us, I think I just found my source of entertainment," Derek said.

"Shall we put an end to their oggling?" I asked Alyssa. She smirked as she read my mind. Alyssa and I both stood up. I sat in Chase's lap, making him sit back, and Alyssa sat in Derek's. We exaggeratedly put our arms around the boys, playing with their hair, running our fingers along their jaw lines.

"You guys are the worst," Chase mumbled as the girls' giggling ceased and they turned away from us.

"Well, apparently I'm still available," Eli said, standing up. He smirked at the boys and went up to the girls. We watched, completely struck, as the girls turned to face him. The two girls began talking animatedly with Eli, twirling their streaked blonde hair between their tanned fingers.

"What a douche," Chase said.

"Says the douche," Alyssa muttered.

"You guys going to get off or what?" Derek asked, annoyed at us for ruining their plan. We both stood and took our seats again.

"You know, he wouldn't be there if Brooke was here," I said grumpily, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees, putting my chin in my hand.

"Brooke would have probably made fun of the way they were dressed by now," Alyssa said. We all chuckled as we checked out the girls' outfits. One was wearing a pair of skin tight skinny jeans and a loose, see-through tanktop. The other was wearing a pair of black tights and an off-the-shoulder dolman top.

"Who the hell dresses like that for a twelve hour flight?" I asked.

"Someone hot," Chase said.

"Someone desperate for attention," Alyssa corrected.

"I'm pretty sure you've worn similar outfits to that on countless occasions," Derek said. Chase laughed, fist pounding him.

"The sorority outfits don't count. We had to wear those," Alyssa said.

"You're still not in any position to judge," Chase said.

"Look, I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt right now. I am appropriately dressed for a long and tiring flight," Alyssa argued.

"Just drop it, Al. There's no point. They're just bitter because they aren't the ones up there," I said.

"Yeah, whatever," Derek said.

"All passengers on Flight 362 to Lisbon, Portugal please report to terminal 5B. Repeat, all passengers on Flight 362 to Lisbon, Portugal please report to terminal 5B," the announcer said.

"Finally," Derek said, standing up.

"Eli! Quit mac'n and get over here!" Chase yelled. Eli sent him a glare and said one last thing to the girls before catching up with us as we headed towards the terminal gate.

"They're complete idiots," he said.

"We came to that same conclusion by just looking at them," I said.

"But they're hot," Chase said.

"Not up close," Eli said.

"Seriously?" Derek asked. Eli nodded.

"Ah, well. Glad we didn't waste our time," Chase said. I shook my head at him. The attendent checked our boarding passes and then smiled at us, telling us to have a good flight. I felt my stomach doing nervous flips as we walked through the tunnel to get onto the plane. Alyssa grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I looked at her and she looked back, her blue eyes wide.

"Oh my God, this is actually happening!" she squealed.

"I know! After four years of planning," I said.

We got onto the plane and I immediately felt my stomach lurch.

"You all right, Soph?" Eli asked, holding onto my elbow.

"I just need to sit down I think. I'll be fine," I replied in a small voice.

"How are we splitting the seats?" Chase asked as we moved to where our seats were. We had five seats: two next to the window and then three in the middle.

"You and Soph should sit together in the middle. I'm guessing you won't want the window seats," Derek said.

"I'll sit with them, too," Eli offered.

"Ok. I guess Alyssa and I will sit here," Derek said.

The boys put our carry-ons up in the overhead compartments and we took our seats. I sat in the middle of Chase and Eli in the middle row of seats. Alyssa sat in the aisle seat and Derek sat by the window. He promptly pulled up the shade over the window, allowing a stream of sunlight to pour into the otherwise dim airplane.

"Hey, let's call Brooke before they tell us to put our phones away," Chase said.

"Let's do it," Eli agreed. Chase pulled out his iPhone and called Brooke via Facetime.

"I hope she's up," I said.

She was.

"Hey!" Chase and I said at the same time, trying to shove our face in front of the screen.

"Hey! Are you guys on the plane?" Brooke replied.

"Hey! Don't forget us!" Alyssa exclaimed, unbuckling her seatbelt and rushing into the row of the seats behind us. Luckily, no one was sitting there yet. "Hi, Brookie!" Alyssa exclaimed, waving.

"Hey, Al," Brooke said. She looked tired and weary.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Sleepy," she answered.

"Why are you up, then?" Eli asked.

"I was waiting for you guys to call," she said. We smiled sadly at her.

"So the boys saw these two really slutty girls in the airport," I told her so I could improve her mood a bit.

"Oh, really?" Brooke asked, her eyes brightening a bit.

"Turns out that they were just slutty. Not hot at all," Eli said.

"Soph and I pretended to be Chase's and Derek's girlfriends to make them back off," Alyssa explained.

"But no one claimed Eli," I added.

"So I went to talk to them. Good thing, too. They were morons," Eli said. Brooke laughed.

"Aww! If only I had been there," she said. Her face fell slightly before she smiled again. "Are there a lot of people on board?" she asked.

"Not really," I said.

"Not yet, at least," Derek said.

"Excuse me. This is my seat," a woman said to Derek and Alyssa. Alyssa pouted.

"We should probably go," Chase said.

"All right. Take care of Soph. I know how she gets about flying. And Chase, you take care, too," Brooke said. We both smiled at her. Leave it to Brooke to remember our phobia of flying.

"We'll call you in twelve hours," Eli said.

"Bye!" we chorused.

"Bye!" she replied.

Chase turned his phone off and put it back in his pocket.

"Damn," he muttered.

"I know," I mumbled, sinking in my seat slightly.

It took about thirty minutes for everyone to get on-board and then another twenty to go over precautionary procedures. After that, though, the flight attendent wished us all a safe and pleasant trip and then the plane started up.

I swallowed and grabbed onto Eli's and Chase's hands. I closed my eyes shut and silently began praying.

"Please God, get me on land alive," I pleaded.

"It'll be all right, Soph. Chill," Eli whispered.

"I'm going to throw up. I'm going to vomit. I'm going to pass out," I said.

"If you keep freaking out, Soph, I will, too. So quit it," Chase hissed at me. His face was pale and I couldn't tell if it was out of discomfort or the terrible lighting in the plane. I nodded and clamped my mouth shut. With a great roar of the engine, the plane lurched forward and into motion.

"Sweet," I heard Derek whisper. He was still looking out the window although the flight attendent said to close all shades until we were up in the sky.

"Derek!" Alyssa hissed at him.

I squeezed Eli's hand harder in mine. I heard him take a sharp intake of breath with the sudden pressure I held his hand with.

After a few minutes, the plane stopped ascending and leveled out. It was only now that I loosened my grip on Eli and Chase's hands. Chase slipped his hand out of mine and flexed it, shaking his head at me.

"Give me the pills," I said, holding my hand out.

"Will you chill?" Chase said.

"Why don't you listen to some music?" Eli suggested.

"Hey! That's a good idea!" I said, sitting up and pulling my purse out from under my seat. I pulled my headphones and phone out and plugged them in.

♫"Let's go..."♫ the music began.

_______________________________________________________________________

A/N: Not too much action, but now the trip can start!

So Eli and Soph. Chase and Brooke. Alyssa and Derek? What do you think?

Leave me a comment!

Don't forget to vote!

XOXO