Another City Of Lights.

Chapter 30.

                    March, Karachi.

Aaron's POV:-

I was ready to leave the party as soon as I entered through the door of the old, dull painted house.

Dash and Hailey pushed in behind me, the three of us mixing in with the crowd easily. As if we already belonged here, in this shithole of a place, with all these people.

I never wanted them to be involved in this with me, but instead of trying to convince me to straighten up, both of them joined in. Slightly stable they were, probably more than me, but I knew this was some shit guilt-trip sort of idea that Dash probably came up with. And even Hailey joined in. Hailey! And Dash couldn't even think straight nowadays to see how he was risking her.

But I wasn't giving in, not by a long shot.

So, here we were.

On the complete opposite part of the city, where once a long time ago, Dash and I would've never taken the girls with us.

And yet, here we were, the three of us, sitting with our backs against the wall, sharing one of my cigarettes.

The reason I always managed to show up at all these idiotic gatherings was mainly because no one knew me here, and nobody give a crap if I did what I felt like. And I could go home in the morning, not smelling of old cigarettes and booze.

I didn't even know who owned this place, and I would've gotten high royally, but with Hailey here tonight, I couldn't help but feel a bit protective.
And I really didn't want her to see that high-as-fuck side of me. Ever.

Hailey hated this. She despised smoking with a passion, but for some reason, she took a puff and handed me back the cigarette.

"I shouldn't be doing this, what will my parents think? And you two? You guys have gone to hell", She laughed, and I cringed at her remark, "and I'm definitely getting hitched after I graduate so this is bad for me".

It wasn't as if we didn't know. It was actually pretty common here, girls getting married right out of college. Families, responsibilities, culture.
I never dwelled on this, because it didn't really affect me.
But I saw Dash's face fall from the corner of my eye, and I looked the other way, ignoring it.

Hailey never noticed it, or maybe she did and she ignored it like I did.
I didn't feel any sympathy for him. I was in no position to talk to him about this anyway.

Both of them quit half an hour later, and demanded we go home.

We pushed our way through the now overly crowded room, and stepped out in to the open air.
It was a little over 12am now, and tonight the moon was glowing bright in the cloudless sky. It made everything look even more lonely somehow.

We did eventually make to our car, and even got in, but then we just sat like that for a while because Dash was pissed, and Hailey was whining about her parents being on her case.
And I was just trying to tune them out, for a few minutes of peace.

And then Dash reached across the seat and smacked me on the head, and Hailey burst in to her weird laugh.
She pulled out a couple of pink frosted cupcakes from the back seat, and they gave me a little moment to register what was happening before smearing my face with those, laughing all the way.

It took a while for my confusion to dissolve, and when it did, I realised I had miraculously forgotten my own birthday.
Mostly because I wasn't expecting anything to happen anyway.