1| WAKE UP LITTLE ONE ( zalfie)

Chapter 11

When Alfie left, I broke into another panic attack and a fit of sobs.

"Zoe, babe, what's wrong?" asked Jack, concerned.

"I-I never wanted to give Alfie up, Jack. I never meant to hurt him. That wasn't my intention! I just wanted you to love me," I cried between gasps for breath.

Jack wrapped his arms around my shoulder, not pulling me as close and affectionately as a boyfriend would for some reason, but I didn't question it. I couldn't lose Jack as well!

"Zoe, do you care about him?" Jack asked, disgusted.

"Yes," I sobbed. "More than I knew."

"More than me?" Jack asked, his face as blank as paper.

"No, of course not," I said. "I love you Jack. But Alfie was a great friend and I-"

"I'm so sorry Zobear," Jack said sadly, pulling me close. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to get so jealous around Alfie, it's just I see how much you care about him and I'm worried that one day you'll choose him over me. I'll text him and apologise, and get him to come back if it'll make you happy darling."

"You would do that for me?" I asked.

Jack had a genuine smile on his face. "Anything for you Zo."

"No," I said, wiping away a tear. "I'll give him space. He can't just forgive me after what I put him through. I lead him on Jack and I'll never forgive myself for that."

Jack and I sat watching movies and cuddling with popcorn and hot chocolate for the rest of the night to try and distract me from Alfie. But then Jack got a call and had to leave.

"Bye, Jack!" I called, pecking him on the lips.

"Bye Zo," Jack said, and drove off quickly into the night.

I shrugged and starting watching Dance Moms. I laughed like I hadn't laughed in a while, curled up in my pyjamas. I felt like a teenager again.

I fell asleep on the couch, my head lolling into the cushions and the faint buzz of the television still humming around the room.

In the morning I was awoken to the obnoxious sound of my phone ringing. Groaning, I checked the Caller ID. Caspar. Of course, he was the only one who'd call me this early.

"Hello?" I yawned.

"Zoe?" Caspar's voice filled my ear.

"Yup, it's me," I said in a fake cheery voice.

"Sorry to disturb you so early, but is Alfie with you?" Caspar sounded serious. Caspar's never serious.

"No," I said. "W-we kind of had a fight and he ran off. I thought he went home?"

"No, he didn't come back last night," Caspar said.

My stomach knotted. "Well...Have you tried his parents' house?" I asked, trying to come up with logical excuse.

"Yeah," Caspar said. "I tried every one of his friends I know of in England, his family and every YouTuber. I called his phone but he's not picking up. He hasn't been home since... Well that night you slept over, when I was out at a party."

"Oh God, Caspar," I said. "You don't think he got into an accident, do you? He was upset when he left because we were fighting...Maybe he crashed! This is all my fault!"

I burst into tears.

"Zoe, calm down," Caspar told me. "He might just be out for the night. There's no proof anything happened. We'll just wait and see if he comes back or contacts us, and if he doesn't we'll call the police. But I'm sure he's fine. There's no need to get upset. Stay positive."

"Caspar we need to call the police now! What if something's happened to him and it's too late by the time we realise he's really missing?" I sobbed.

"Zoe, we can't. We have no proof. We could just be overreacting. Just wait another day, please," Caspar said.

"Fine," I hiccuped.

I wondered if I should mention my car... What if whoever did that to my car was doing the same to Alfie's, and he was stranded in the middle of nowhere?

"Hey Caspar," I said casually.

"Yeah?" Caspar asked.

"The other day when Joe was picking Alfie and I up from your flat to bring us back here to shoot a video, I stopped in town to pick up my car but the tyres were slashed and there was a threatening message written in the dust of the bumper. Obviously, being me, I freaked out and ran into the nearest shop and I met Jack Harries. He came outside to take a look but the message was gone, so me drove me home. Do you think Alfie maybe stopped somewhere along the way and while he was there somebody slashed his tyres? Then he'd have no way to get home," I said. It sounded like a pretty good theory to me.

"My God Zoe!" Caspar cried. "You need to contact the police and tell them that, that's serious stuff! You could've been hurt! Someone obviously purposely did that to you as they knew your name. That's dangerous!"

"I know, I know, but I don't think I should contact them just yet... Not while it's this mild. I might've imagined the message and slit the tyres on a rock or something. But anyway, the theory about Alfie?" I questioned.

"That seems unlikely that you slit all four tyres Zoe," Caspar said. "And how can you imagine a message? Someone must've wiped it off while you were in the shop. And as for Alfie...Well, I don't know. He would've called someone if that happened, surely?"

"Maybe his phone died," I suggested.

"It's all a bit far fetched," Caspar said. "But I'll come and take a look at your car later on. I have to go call some more people about Alfie. Make sure you post about it on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook - all of them to see if anyone knows where he is."

"Will do," I said. "Thanks for calling, Cas. I'll meet you next to Primark in Brighton at... Say eleven o'clock."

"Works for me," Caspar replied. "Bye Zoe. Stay safe and call me if anything else happens."

"Same to you," I said. "Bye Cas."