Another City Of Lights.

Chapter 22.

January, Karachi.

Aaron's POV:-

The thing about Dash is that he's very persistent. Once he sets his mind on getting something done, or in this case, to get someone to do something for him, there's no stopping him. He's always motivated about these things, like nothing else in the world matters except to just get these certain things of his done.
And the thing about me is that, I'm always easily convinced by him.

There were still a couple of days left before I left for Canada, accompanied by my overly excited family.
My house was, to say the least, not a suitable place to live in nowadays.
Having never traveled before, my parents were over the roof, and a little paranoid. And since Harry was getting married, my Mum had filled the house with her daily wedding shopping.

It was unbearable for me. There wasn't a place to sleep, let alone do anything else in that house. Not even my room was available to me, since Harry had taken over it. And whenever I did visit there, I was always dragged out for shopping or for some other errand. I was honestly sick of it.

So here's what I was doing to avoid all that:
I was bunking with Dash, mostly returning to his house for sleeping purposes, because I didn't like being a bother.
I was tutoring the kids at their own houses, rather than mine. Even though that involved me walking in the basking sun everyday to avoid wasting money on transportation. (My car had been given to Harry as well.)
Rest of the day I spent in school, attending classes and studying in the library. And eating greasy cafeteria food whenever I thought I could swallow it.

I guess it could be said that I was avoiding Dash, and Hailey as well for that matter. They both had been on my case recently, and I knew if they caught me with extra time on my hands, I couldn't escape their 'Sam rescue plan' theories. Avoiding it was just a simpler way of dealing with it. I knew talking to them about dropping this silly idea would result in a fight, and God knows I didn't have time to handle another shitty situation right now.

My plan of avoiding them had been working well enough for me so far, until Dash sent me the randomest text ever that threw me off for a bit, and got me curious.
I had been standing outside the school building, on the edge of the little grassy area where no one was ever seen, finishing off the last cigarette in my pack, when my phone buzzed.
I pulled it out of my pocket to check who it was. Normally I didn't text and no one bothered to text me, except for the phone company.
It was from Dash, and when I opened it, it made my heart literally stop for a minute.
"Found Sam Come home ASAP Actually NOW"
That's what it read, and I didn't know if I should be shocked at his not-at-all use of punctuation, or the fact that he actually found Sam.

My mind was all over the place. It was a fucking mess. I didn't know why and I was that I had never been so anxious in my life. I could bearly control the urge to call Dash and I ran through the streets to catch the bus home. I was clearly out of my mind, because I tripped twice, landing face down in the mud on the side of the road. But that didn't stop me. Not today. Nothing was stopping me today. I couldn't wait to get home and hear the rest from Dash.

It also made me question my own mental wellbeing. Because on one hand, I was hell bent on never finding her, and as soon as I read the message, she was all I could think about.
Throughout the bus ride to Dash's house, all I could see infront of me was her. She was everywhere. Her face, her hair, her smell. I knew I was standing squished between an army of sweaty men, all returning home from work, but it was as if none of them were there.

I was a fucking wimp. I knew I was. Still hungover the same girl after so much time. Just the thought of Dash finding her had sent me running through the city like a mad man. It was impossible. I was so screwed. I knew I kept lying to myself. I knew I kept lying to others around me, to Dash, to Hailey, and even to that idiot Harry, who had grilled me out her a couple of days ago.

But how do you forget a girl like her? How do you forget someone who flipped your life around, who was the the centre of your existence, and who just vanished one day, leaving you behind. When she was here, it was all too easy for me. I didn't have to think twice about anything, and I suppose I took it for granted, or maybe just didn't realise all of these feelings that had taken home inside of me. And now that she gone, I spent almost every day wishing what I could do to bring her back to me.

When I managed to make it to Dash's house, out of breath and sweating like a turkey, I swung the door open and ran straight up to his room, not bothering to be polite enough to stop and say hi to anyone that may have been there. If they were there, I barely noticed them anyway.

Dash was sitting on his chair, staring at his computer screen when I slammed his door and dropped down on his bed to catch my breath.

"You took your time", He smirked at me, twirling around in the chair to look at my disheveled appearance.
"Don't shit with me. What did you find?", I asked, taking off my shoes on his floor.
"Curious, aren't you?", He looked at me with that expression again, it was beginning to piss me off.
"Shut up. Where is she? Where did you find her?", I tried asking again, ready to hear it all from him.
"See, I knew you wanted to find her!", He got up and screamed like a sissy, before pulling me in to a hug.
"Will you tell me or not?", I asked again, pushing him off.
I just wanted to know everything, and I didn't even try to hide my desperation at this point.
"Uh well, actually.. I guess we can try now.. Since you're on the same page", He said, giving me that lopsided smile of his.
And then it clicked. And I wanted to strangle him and bury his fucking dead body in his parents backyard. That idiot.
"You played me?! What the fuck!", I yelled at him, I could feel the blood boiling in my veins and I couldn't control my outburst.
"It was necessary", He shrugged and sat down on the floor, clearly amused with how his little plan had worked out.
"Now that you're not lying to my face and to yourself, we can get to work. I already have a few clues listed down, the rest I need your help with", He explained, and got up to picked out a paper from his desk, which he shoved in my face.
"I want to kill you right now", I mumbled as I looked at his scribble, and he laughed out loud.
"It actually worked out better than I imagined, you looked like shit", He laughed, and got back to his computer.
I flipped him off, and got back to reading his amazing little list of 'Clues to Finding Sam'.
I guess we were really doing this.