Aryan & Imlie - A Collection of Stories

Stranger in the Night

A/N: Hello Readers!

I know it has been a long, long time but life got in the way and I couldn't update. However, I am back, momentarily, with an Arylie AU one-shot. I am not sure when I will be back with another update, but I want you all to know that I really appreciate your reads, votes, and comments!

Hope you all like this one-shot!

-- Cos

Trigger warnings: None (Aryan and Imlie are okay.)

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Surkhhiyaan hai hawaaon mein
Do dilon ke milne ki
Arziyaan hai nazaaron mein
Lamha yeh tham jaane ki

Kaisi huzoori ji yeh lab dikhlaaye
Chuppi laga ke bhi gazab hai ye dhaaye

It was too loud. Way too loud.

Aryan never understood what people meant when they said that it was too loud to even think, but right now, if someone said it, he would agree with them.

His cab driver had suggested trying out the clubs in the vicinity as he had dropped him at his hotel from the airport about four days ago, and he was regretting his decision to be in one of those clubs with the music blaring and the strobe lights blinding him.

This was supposed to be a short break to get him out of his writer's block. It had been a year since the release of his last best seller and with every passing month, his agent, Jyoti, kept on haunting him for a new book and since he felt like his brain had been short-circuited, she had suggested taking a break from his usual surroundings, exploring something new.

So, that's how he had ended up in Amsterdam.

It had been almost four days since he got here and the only new thing that he had explored were the tulip fields that everyone raved about. That was on the second day of his arrival in Amsterdam. Sure, the tulips were beautiful and ignited a calmness in him that he had lost in the past year, but they didn't inspire him. Disappointed, Aryan had spent the next two days holed up in his hotel room, sleeping his frustrations away until he had received a very long, strongly worded text from his sister – Arpita – asking him to get off his ass and do something fun.

And that's why, on the fourth night, he had impulsively walked into the nearest club he could find, taken a picture inside, and sent it to his annoying sister. He had planned on walking out immediately but had stopped in his tracks noticing the bar in a corner of the club. He desperately needed a drink.

Turns out, it was a big mistake.

Despite being in a secluded corner, the bar somehow seemed louder that the rest of the club. With every beat spewing from the speakers, he felt his gut sinking. His palms felt like they were freezing yet he wanted to shed off his clothes. He felt his breath getting shallower. He could feel his heart thudding inside his chest. His ears had started ringing and every sound was suddenly muffled.

The aforementioned inability to think did nothing to stop the panic that was creeping into his head.

He had to get out. He was getting a panic attack, and he knew that if he didn't find a way out soon, someone was going to find him unconscious in a club.

Pushing past the people dancing, he walked through the first door he spotted. The next few seconds felt like minutes. He didn't remember how he got outside or where he was sitting but the muffled voices kept calling out to him.

"Hallo meneer?" said another one of those voices again. What the fuck was that?

Aryan had to look up, his vision was blurry, but he could make out a figure opposite him.