That was never It!!

chapter 34

Haytham's POV

I couldn't believe it. She was so close all along. How could I have been so blind. Searching for her in places she was trying to ran away from.

"You can have the guest room tonight, my sister will crush in with Aliyah." Hanif said and walked out of the apartment. I guessed he just needed a break. 

"Thanks mate." I said and he nodded.

How does he feel? He is in love with Aliyah too. What does he think? Or is Aliyah in love with him too? My mind kept tormenting me. I needed fresh air so I took my coat and walked out of his apartment. Aliyah was his next door neighbour. I decided to knock the door.

"Hanif, I told you Aliyah left." A young Blondie said and was about to slam the door at my face when she realised I wasn't Hanif.

"Oh sorry, thought  it was Henry." She said with a smile. "I am Berenice Cater, Hanif is my brother."

"Haytham Ali."

"Well if you are looking for Aliyah, she is not here."

"Where is she?"

"She said she needed some space to think and left."

I turned around and walked away.

"You are welcome?" She shouted after me. I must have forgotten to thank her. Talkative little girl.

I walked out and breathed in the fresh air. It chocked me. How can you breath when you are too nervous. I tried to look for her outside but couldn't see her. I saw Hanif. He was just walking around while running his fingers through his hair.

Yea, I am not the only one who is almost going crazy.

"Hey." I called.

"What are you doing here?" He asked obviously angry.

"You mean in LA, well I came because I was helping you find Isabelle."  I said and patted his shoulder. The guy needed a break.

"Hey, I am sorry." I said not sure why.

"Why? What did you do?"

"I used to call you ginger the first time I met yah." I said and he laughed. He asked me how it started and I explained the whole story and apologized again. He just laughed at me.

"Dude! That's stupid." He finally said and we laughed again.

"You love her right?" I asked after a long silence. He nodded and I smiled.

"I love her too." I said and he laughed again. Walhi if I didn't know better, I would say we were both drunk.

"It's been almost four years of searching for her and when I finally gave up she just had to show up." I said subconsciously. He slapped my back in a brotherly manner and smiled at me.

"I have known her for just a few months but it feels like I have known her all my life." Hanif sighed. It's like we were in a trance. Just saying whatever the heart wanted out.

"Your sister is funny." I said trying to snap out of it.

"Funny? I think she is a sick humorist." He laughed. "You can't tell her jokes from tragedies, she can drive anyone nuts."

"Hey that's unfair. She seems lovely." I said while leaning on the wall.

"Lovely? Dude! Do you even have a dictionary? You can't use such a word when describing my sister." He literally beamed with happiness for a moment.

He started telling me how she once pretended that she was dying.

"Her eyes went white and she was shaking, I swear Lisa and I thought she was really dying. She was just 12, I still don't understand how she could act that well."
He shook his head and I couldn't help but laugh again. Just then we heard someone calling for help. We both stood up and alert.

"What was that?" I asked running towards the dark alley. Hanif tugged along. We both automatically rolled the sleeves of our shirts and ran faster. Whoever that was needed help and we were ready to help.

It was dark I couldn't make out anything. I saw four figures, two men and women. That's when I remembered Aliyah was outside too.

"Aliyah?" Hanif and I both called out at the same time.

"Richo ran!" A man's voice said and before I could move I felt something heavy hitting my head. I fell down and my head was throbbing.

"Oh Allah! It's Aliyah!" I heard Hanif saying and felt him running off. I heard a car engine starting. I tried to sit up but couldn't.

"They took her! I couldn't save her!" I heard Hanif shouting in panic.

Then it hit me, she has disappeared again. Hanif sat next to me.

"Dude! You are bleeding! Gotta take you to the hospital!" He was shouting but I could barely hear a thing.

"Ya Allah , keep her safe." I kept on repeating the same words over and over again until I could say no more and was drawn to a dark world.

As-salaam Alaykum
So what do you guys think so far?