Gone | Where is Zoë Sugg?

02

Zoe's POV
By the time 3am came around, I was sure Alfie was asleep, I could hear his soft snores. I carefully climbed out of the bed, hoping Alfie wouldn't hear me. I made my way to the hallway and waited by the front door.

A couple of minutes later, I saw Marks figure coming down the stairs in the dark. He made it to the bottom step and then tripped slightly. I stifled a giggle, despite what was happening. When he reached the bottom, I put my finger on my lip, signalling for him to be quiet and pointed towards the coat rack. Mark nodded with a small smile and put on his coat. I grabbed mine and put it on too. He gently opened the front door and we left, feeling the soft Spring breeze against our faces.

Once we had walked a safe distance down the street, Mark turned to me and put his hands on my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes. His facial expression was one of concern. 'Zoe'
'What's wrong?' He asked tenderly.

I sighed. 'Alfie keeps picking fights with me'

'Wait. Like physical or-'

'No, no! Just like... snapping at me and being really rude... I think he's avoiding me too'

Mark was nodding slowly as I spoke. 'I got that vibe from earlier'

I was relieved. It wasn't all in my head. 'I think he's been cheating on me' I whispered sadly.

'Oh Zoe! How do you know?' Mark replied sympathetically, giving me a warm hug.

I hugged him back and we kept walking.
'He's been at his office a lot. I hadn't heard from him at all yesterday so I rung him. He was super awkward and didn't seem to want to speak. There was a muffled voice in the background. It sounded like a woman. He told me it was just YouTube...but...'

Marks POV
I felt so bad for Zoe. A single tear rolled down her cheek. 'Don't cry Zo... He's not worth it' I said, squeezing her hand.
She nodded. Another small tear appeared. 'It doesn't seem like s-such a big deal... B-but... it's the fans... they'll never let it go. They'll take sides. They'll accuse us of things... It's just hard' she weeped. We sat down on a bench and she burried her head in my chest.

'Shhh it's okay Zo... It'll all be okay...' I tried my best to comfort her.

After a while of tears and comforting, we headed home. It was almost 5am.

*********
8:30am on Saturday, 22nd of April 2017.
Zoe's POV
I woke up alone in the bed once again. Alfie must be downstairs I thought, as I could hear movement from the kitchen. I rummaged for my phone on the bedside table and turned it on, my eyes still tired from the last nights events.

As per usual, I checked my social media. I opened twitter. My notifications were blowing up! I tapped on one and it led me to Alfie's most recent tweet.

I gasped. What was that supposed to mean?! My heart was racing. I clicked on Alfie's profile, hoping he had been hacked. I saw the tweet before it.

Suddenly, my eyes began to water and let out an uncontrollable sob. Alfie told everyone that I had cheated on him!
And judging by the comments on all my social media accounts, people believed him! I was receiving endless hatred.

I threw my phone onto the bed and ran downstairs, expecting to confront Alfie, but it was just a scared looking Mark, about to leave.

'Mark!' I sobbed. 'Wait!'
He just shook his head. 'Zoe, people are saying that you cheated on Alfie with me!' Tears were welling in his eyes. 'I'm getting death threats! The press are outside my house! I can't deal with it' He exclaimed, before walking out and closing the door loudly. I was alone.

I broke down in a crying mess on the stairs. I could hear my phone buzzing with tweets and texts that I couldn't bring myself to read. Alfie had lied about me cheating on him! But why?! Was it because he wanted the attention? Probably...

I traipsed back up the stairs, feeling a panic attack coming on. My breaths were becoming rapid and constant and it felt like something was pressing down on my chest...

I reached for my laptop and clicked on Skype. Please pick up, please pick up! I silently prayed to myself. I sighed with relief when my brothers face lit up the screen.

'J-Joe...' I gasped.
'Zoe! Are you okay? It isn't true, is it?!' He asked.
'No! He's a liar' I cried. 'I need you! Mark hates me!'
'Hold on Zoe! Don't move a muscle! I'm coming!' He told me, ending the call.

I lay sprawled out on my bed, tears rolling down my face like a waterfall during a storm. I cried so much that I gave myself an awful headache. I knew joe wouldn't arrive for at least an hour, but I couldn't bring myself to move. I wrapped myself in a blanket and lay there alone.

About an hour later, I heard shouts from outside. I sat up slowly and made my way to the window. I slowly raised the blind and peeped out.

Oh sh*t. It was the press... I forgot to blur out the street in my vlog...