Another City Of Lights.

Chapter 24.

March, Chicago.

Aaron's POV:-

I have to be fair, I have never felt more shittier, and inferior to anyone more than I do now.

No one prepared me for this, and I didn't know how to prepare myself for this either, considering the fact that before this, I hadn't even left my over-polluted city.

It came as more than a shock to me. From the start of this trip, to the end of it, I have been in a complete and utter state of shock. It's like my brain just isn't taking it all in, just isn't comprehending it at all. Everyone else though, well to say that they had an amazing time would be kind of an understatement. Unlike me, this has been the best trip of their lives. Apparently.

It all went well, I guess. The wedding was huge, though I don't think Harry paid for that, and I know for sure my dad didn't, because all his money was spent on the plane tickets alone. So that left my Aunt and Uncle, who probably wasted all their savings too, on their daughter's wedding. What a waste. Knowing my brother, I didn't have much hope that it would last very long. I was going to give it a couple of months tops, more than that would be a record.

Throughout the wedding, I mostly stayed inside the house, actually I just stayed inside the room mainly everyday. There wasn't much to do for me around here anyway, everyone was just busy going around town and setting up the house for the wedding. I didn't realize I had to travel half way around the world for these people to finally leave me alone. So, I spent my alone time being extremely bored, and raiding the fridge and literally just eating whatever I knew I wouldn't find in Karachi. And that turned out to be a lot, mind you.

I had also been avoiding the multiple messages on every social media I was on, from Dash. I couldn't give him the answers that he wanted, and I had no intention of going out and getting lost in this city, trying to find someone I knew I couldn't. I couldn't even share his enthusiasm and give him all the details he wanted; of the plane, the people, the food, the city itself. I didn't want to tell him that I was a literal coward, hiding away in this house and waiting for it to be over.

So, I ignored him for a few days, replying and saying I was too busy to talk, until I couldn't anymore.

He actually ended up calling me. And apparently he didn't keep in mind the time difference, and so he woke me up in the middle of the night, when I had just fallen asleep.
He was ecstatic, and maybe slightly high on something. He started screaming in my ear as soon as I picked it up, and during the first fifteen minutes or so, I couldn't even make out what he was trying to say. I was probably half asleep still.

"What are you saying, Dash? I can't understand anything", I mumbled, throwing a pillow off of my face.
"I'm saying", He emphasised, "that I have figured out everything, so all you need to do is go".
"Huh?", He wasn't making sense at all.
"Sam, you moron, I found Sam!", He yelled again in my ear, and I regretted picking up his call.
"I don't think-", I started to say, but he cut me off.
"I have everything figured out, and I would go myself if I could, but since I can't-you should go. Go tomorrow!", He was overly excited with this, and I was still figuring out how to tell him that I can't go.
"Listen, I can't do it", I tried saying, "she doesn't want to be found obviously, and I'm not wasting my time".
"What?", He said, "you're giving up? What about the plan?!".
"It wasn't MY plan", I said, irritated.
"Really? Really? You're so close, Aaron", He said, his voice softer now.
"I'm going back to sleep", I mumbled in to my phone. I didn't want to argue with him, because I knew he would be able to change my mind.

Turns out, I really didn't get any sleep that night anyway.
After abruptly hanging up on Dash, I couldn't keep the thoughts of Sam, and his words out of my mind.
He was right, I knew that. And I knew I was going to end up regretting this, because God knows when I would be able to come here again, but I don't know why I was being so stubborn. Maybe the possibility of rejection was weighing down on me. What if I found her, but she didn't want anything to do with me? What if she already has a good enough life? I wasn't sure I was ready to see that with my own eyes. And what exactly was I supposed to say to her anyway? And that's considering the fact that I actually did manage to find her. Was I going to try and ask her to come back? I would be ruining her life if I tried that.

But it also turns out, that Dash is a massive pain in my ass. Because when I checked my phone the next morning, he had emailed me all the possible leads he had, the addresses, and everything else he was crazy enough to find.

And after further consideration, and a day of cursing myself, my luck, and my poor life choices, and feeding a bucket full of lies to my parents, I found myself heading out of Chicago, with a laminated map of New York in my bag, and a wave of paranoia in my mind.