Alex's POV:
As soon as we landed in France, we were immediately driven to our hotel within a hurdle of fans. Izzy was strangely silent throughout the whole ride, and even though I'd tried crossing glances with her, she would never take her gaze off the window. I could notice that her eyes were red, and not to mention the eye bags under them that weren't usual in her. She rushed into her hotel room once we arrived, and I don't think she got out of there until the next morning, where we all met downstairs for breakfast. I'd tried contacting her over the night, but she'd turned off her phone and not even Rob got any news from her, although his room was right next to hers.
"Hey, Iz!" Matt greeted when he saw her nearing our table. "Had a great night?" Izzy let herself plop down on her chair and rested her head on the table, wrapping her arms around it. "Well... I think that answers my question"
"What's wrong, Izzy?" Nick asked.
"I'm tired, that's all" Izzy slurred, her voice muffled by the table.
"You've been tired for days now" I drily commented.
"Yeah, I know" Izzy attacked. "And I still am"
"If you didn't look so on point, I'd say you look like shit" Jamie remarked.
"I'm not in the mood, Cookie" Izzy groaned. "I'm going to go for some food" She stated, standing up and walking towards the infinite amount of tables filled with food.
"Seriously, what's up with her?" Matt questioned.
"I don't know, but she's acting weird" Nick replied. "That surely doesn't look like her"
"Do you think something's wrong?" Jamie inquired. "Maybe she needs help with something and she doesn't want to say it"
"Al?" I raised my head up when I heard my name being called, and I was met with Matt's inquisitive face staring at me.
"No idea" I barely answered.
"Well... have you tried finding out?" Matt insisted. "She hasn't been sleeping for days, this is serious shit"
"I don't know, Matt" I complained.
"Mate, isn't that the girl you're crazy about?" Matt said. "Go and find out!"
"She doesn't want to talk about it, are you all done reproaching me?" I claimed.
"Whatever, mate" Matt surrendered. "I'm just saying, she looks terrible" I was aware of Izzy's state; in fact, it was worrying me a lot. She'd never behaved like this and I knew she would ask for help if something was troubling her, she wasn't a girl that would doubt whether to ask for it or not. Moreover, it was even more terrifying to witness how her physical health was crumbling down, but no matter how much I'd try helping her, she would still keep avoiding me, for some reason.
"Shut up, she's coming back" Nick warned us, making us all go silent. Izzy sat down again and began stirring her coffee with a spoon, focusing all her attention on it. Nick and I shared a concerned look when we noticed there was only one toast on her dish, which she wasn't even pretending to eat.
"What?" Izzy spat. "Why are you all staring at me like that?"
"Do you want some of my food, Iz?" Jamie offered, slowly pushing his dish towards her. Apparently, Matt and him had also noticed Izzy's lack of appetite.
"Uhh, thanks, but no" Izzy smiled. "I'm alright like this"
"Are you sure?" Jamie insisted. "That doesn't look like a lot of food"
"Well... us girls don't eat like fucking beasts, unlike you"
"Whoa, alright" Jamie exclaimed, putting his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry"
"Iz, I think you should still eat something else" Nick chimed in.
"Why? Seriously, why are you all being so annoying about it?"
"We're just taking care of you, Iz" Matt soothed her. "We thought it might be better if you ate something more than just that toast"
"I'm fine" Izzy concluded. "You don't have to worry about me" The lads remained silent, just like I did, given that it looked like Izzy wasn't backing away. She slowly started sipping from her coffee, and after a while, she took a bite of her toast.
"Good morning, everybody" Mark greeted, dragging a chair from a nearby table towards ours and taking a seat. Izzy unexpectedly began choking on her coffee uncontrollably, almost giving us a heart attack, but she managed to calm down after a few seconds.
"Sorry" Izzy apologised in a weak voice.
"No problem" Mark answered before anyone of us could. "As I was saying, I'll let you know everything there's to do for today" Mark started listing an endless amount of tasks for the day, and with every word he pronounced, Izzy's face would look sicker and sicker. It was all very suspicious, somehow. Izzy had looked bad since the very first moment she'd sat down at the table, but it got way worse when Mark showed up.
"Right, I'll get going, then. I'll start getting things ready" Izzy announced once Mark was done talking. She took another bite from her toast and hastily left the table, leaving more than half of it on her dish.
"Well, that was quick" Nick let out. "I was going to tell her she should eat all of her toast, at least, but I didn't even have time to protest"
"I'll go check on her" I stated, standing up and leaving as fast as Izzy had done. Once I reached her room, I was met with Rob knocking on her door, but from the look of it, he wasn't having any luck as well. "Hey, man"
"Miser Alex" Rob exclaimed. "I've been trying to check on Miss Izzy for ages now, she won't come out of her room"
"I know, I've been trying to talk to her as well" I replied. "Let me try" I knocked on Izzy's door and received no answer. "Izzy! Izzy, open up!" It took a while for Izzy to open the door to her room, but after some very heavy insistence from my part, she finally gave in.
"What?!" Izzy blurted irritated.
"I..." I trailed off doubtfully. I didn't have any speech prepares, and I was clueless as regards what to say. "I wanted to check on you. You left so fast you didn't even finish your breakfast, is everything alright?"
"Oh, my God, are you still insisting on that stupid toast?" Izzy snapped.
"You know what? Forget it, Izzy" I attacked. "Meet us downstairs at ten to head down to the photoshoot" I concluded, walking away from her and locking myself in my room as well. I stayed there until it was time to meet everyone down at the lobby, like I'd indicated to Izzy. Of course, she was the last one to arrive, but fuck, waiting her was worth the while because she looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing quite a Frenchie outfit, but it was perfect to match the occasion.
"I love your girl, Turner, she never fails to surprise me" Mark chuckled by my side, making me turn to face him bewildered.
"What?!" I squeaked in shock. "What the fuck did you just say?"
"None of your business, kid" Mark evilly grinned, walking past me before I could protest.
"Did you also hear that?!" I asked Matt, who was standing right next to me.
"Yeah, mate" Matt gasped with his eyes as big as the moon. "That was fucked up. Is he hitting on her or something?"
"I don't know, but he's seriously worrying me now" I determined, and during the whole trip towards the studio where the photoshoot was taking place, I couldn't help but think about Mark's words. I still directed myself to my changing room and patiently waited for Izzy, hoping nothing bad had happened to her. Luckily, the door opened to reveal her on the other side, and I felt an instant relief invading me. "Hey"
"Hey" Izzy barely replied. "I see you've already changed into the clothes I selected for you"
"Yeah, I... I thought I could ease your job a bit"
"Thanks" Izzy smiled. "Let me just fix some details"
"Sure"
"Mmm, let me see" Izzy hesitated, taking her index finger to one of her cheeks. "Tuck your shirt into your trousers"
"You think so?" I frowned at her.
"Who's the stylist here?"
"Ugh, I know" I groaned, doing as Izzy told me.
"See? Much better, it highlights your pretty body shape"
"My what?!" I chuckled.
"What?" Izzy shrugged. "You've definitely been hitting the gym during these past six years" I laughed, rubbing a hand against my forehead.
"I suppose" I mumbled. "I was way too fucking skinny" Izzy softly smirked at me and stepped closer, eyeing my outfit intensely. "Iz..." I called, taking her from her chin. "Are you sure you're alright? Is there anything you want to tell me?" Izzy seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, but then she bit her lip and looked up to me again, ready to speak up.
"I'm fine" She sentenced. "You know I love you, right? No matter what"
"Yeah, why?" I questioned, suspecting something weird was going on.
"No matter how many times we fight or how many times I pretend I don't love you or I tell you that I hate you... you know that's lie. You know I still love you, don't you?"
"Of course I know, Izzy" I said as if it was obvious. "Where's this coming from?"
"The very depths of my heart, maybe?" Izzy murmured. "Don't believe what people might tell you about me, please. I know I've been acting weird lately, I'm just having a real bad time trying to get some sleep. I love you, Al"
"I know, Izzy, and I love you too" I reassured her, raising her beret upwards to have a better look at her face and closing the space between our mouths. Suddenly, Mark's voice was heard from the distance, and Izzy jumped up in surprise without even letting me hold her back.
"We should get going" Izzy announced.
"Iz, he's not going to come in here" I smiled, gently stroking her cheek with the back of my hand. "Not without knocking on the door first, at least"
"Yeah, yeah, anyways" Izzy stuttered. "We should leave" All of a sudden, Izzy's face turned paler than before, and I thought I could see a hint of panic in her eyes. It was very strange, but I decided not to ask her to avoid getting her in a bad mood again.
"Alright, mardy, let's go" I agreed.
Izzy's POV:
My eyes felt heavy as I watched the boys getting their pictures taken, and whenever I felt my head falling downwards, I would jump up in surprised and harshly blink to prevent myself from falling asleep. I would get inquisitive looks from the rest of the crew members, but at this time, I couldn't care less. I seriously needed to get some decent sleep, or at least stop worrying for a while. Yet, Alex's kiss was still swirling in my mind, and I couldn't help but think that maybe someone somewhere had witnessed it and taken a picture of us. That's how I felt most of the time nowadays. I would have that constant sensation of being chased by a spy, following my every move, and sooner or later, all my secrets with Alex would be revealed with only a single photograph.
"Isabella" I wildly turned around when I heard Mark calling me from behind, almost knocking myself against him.
"Mark, hey" I whispered, nervously drawing my hair back.
"you didn't come to talk to me like I'd required" Mark reproached me, folding his arms over his chest.
"I... I know, I'm sorry. I got entertained with some designs and I totally forgot" I lied. Truth is, taking to Mark privately was the last thing I wanted to do, and I would do anything to prevent that from happening.
"Do you have a minute?"
"Uhhh... I think I should stay to check the boys have their outfits-"
"The boys will do just well" Mark interrupted. "You've got the other stylists in the team to help them, so I think you'll be just fine"
"Mark, I-"
"Follow me, this way" Mark ordered, facing his back to me and walking away. I glanced backwards where the boys were still being photographed, and I couldn't catch anyone's eyes. No one here looked like they could help me, so I swallowed nervously and stepped forwards, following Mark's footsteps. "After you" Mark signalled, opening the door to one of the thousand rooms inside the studio, and I entered what seemed to be a kind of editing place. "You might be wondering why I brought you here" I nodded, already expecting the worst from this man. Mark took one of his hands to his pocket, getting an infinite amount of money out of it. "I promised I was going to give you something that might cheer you up" He said, shaking the money in front of my face. "This is only a small part of the money I receive from the contract you already know about. It's mine, but I supposed I could share something with you. I'll only ask you once; take it or leave it, darling"
"You can have it" I established, shaking my head at him. "I don't want that. I'm not letting you blackmail me, you can keep your stupid money"
"You're admirable, honestly" Mark grinned, putting the money away. "You keep amazing me every day, Isabella. Thanks for your kind gesture, anyways. I really appreciate you letting me keep my part of the income. I thought you were going to be a hard one to convince, so I had to find other ways of keeping your mouth shut, that's why I thought about raising your wage, but you proved me wrong. You're actually going through all this pain just for that prick"
"Was that it? Can I leave now?" I inquired with a shaky voice, wanting nothing else but to get out of that nightmare.
"Hold on there" Mark maliciously chuckled.
"I have work to do, Mark"
"Oh, you shouldn't be pushing yourself to the limit, darling. You know you're good at what you do, you're going to get yourself sick. In fact, you're already looking like it"
"Why are you pretending you care about me?"
"I care about you, Isabella" Mark exclaimed offended. "It pains me to know you think that wrongly of me. I was the one who insisted Alex should get you back when you quit. I'm the reason why he showed up at your doorstep pleading for forgiveness"
"That's not true" I cut him off. "He did it because he wanted to"
"Yeah, well, whatever" Mark dismissed. "It still took fucking hours of deep conversation to convince him to get his arse off the couch and walk up to your apartment"
"I'm going to leave" I let out decidedly. "I'm not going to let you play with me"
"Leaving so soon?" Mark perked his eyebrows up at me, digging his eyes in mine and making me look away. There was something about him that was just too intimidating, and I could never hold his gaze for more than a couple of seconds. "What is it, Isabella? Does it scare you to be alone in a room with me?" My body paralyzed as soon as Mark was done talking, and I could already feel my legs going weak when I saw him walking towards me. I still refused to look up at him, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed he'd stopped right in front of me, making my heart beat harder than a drum. "You're not scared of me, aren't you, Isabella?" Mark asked, taking me from my chin and forcing my face upwards. I opened my mouth to reply, but it was as dry as the desert. "There's something about you that's... tempting. No wonder men are crazy about you" Without letting go of me, Mark moved my face sideways as if he was inspecting me from every possible perspective. Suddenly, I felt him rummaging and noticed he was taking the money out of his pocket again, opening my purse and putting it away inside of it. "I know I said I was only going to ask once, but I'll do it a second time because I think your beauty deserves it. Keep it, because I'm definitely going to need you to keep your mouth shut after this"
Before I could react, Mark's hand on my chin hastily moved upwards and harshly grabbed my cheeks, and before I knew it, he was bringing me closer to him and crashing his lips to mine. The fear in my body rose to unknown levels as despair took the best out of me, leaving me without time to think and find a way to escape. I was frozen for a moment, but as soon as I felt one of Mark's hands holding me in place from my waist, I woke up from my trance and broke apart from him, pushing him backwards as a high-pitched scream erupted from the back of my throat.
"What are you doing?!" I yelled at him, taking a hand to my lips.
"Feisty, aren't you?" Mark laughed under his breath.
"You're sick! You have a girlfriend, for fuck's sake!" I cried out.
"Come on, darling, this is actually beneficial for you. Not every girl gets to be noticed by a manager"
"Leave me alone!" I pleaded, but Mark only shook his head and darted towards me once more, kissing my lips again. This time, breaking free from his grip was much harder. He was heavier, bigger, and stronger than me, and pushing him away was a real struggle. I actually feared for my life for a moment, hitting the air with my hands as I desperately tried aiming my punches at him. Eventually, he must have got tired of struggling with me and let me go, shooting me one of his evil grins. I rushed towards the door, wishing this was all just a really bad nightmare, but Mark's laughter behind me was a constant reminder that it wasn't.
"Remember not to talk about this" Mark winked at me before I could leave. I shot him one last disgusted look and opened the door that led to my freedom with shaking hands, running away towards the direction of the limousine that had brought us to the studio.
"Izzy!" Alex's voice called when I rushed past them, but I ignored him completely. "Izzy, wait!" I could listen to people trying to stop Alex from walking away from the photoshoot, but his footsteps trailing behind me seemed to be nearer by the second. I still ran as fast as I could towards the limousine, wiping the tears away from my cheeks and trying not to run out of breath. I started waving my hands at Robert once I spotted him standing right by the vehicle, and he furrowed his eyebrows at me, going on full alarm mode when he noticed state I was in.
"Robert, I want to go to the hotel!" I begged when I reached his side. "Robert, please, tell the driver I want to go to the hotel!"
"Miss Izzy, what happened? Is everything alright?" Robert asked in concern.
"Robert, please! I want to go right now!" I whimpered, my words getting caught between my sobs and sniffs.
"Izzy!" Alex called again, and when I turned around, I saw him running straight towards me.
"Robert, please, there's no time to explain! I demand to go to the hotel right now!"
"Whatever you wish, Miss Izzy" Robert reluctantly agreed, opening the door to the limousine for me and ordering the driver to get us back.
Once the limousine parked by the hotel entrance, I almost threw myself out of it, not even waiting for it to come into a halt. I could hear Robert calling for me, but I still rushed inside the place and went straight to my room, locking myself inside and falling on the floor as my back slid down the wall. I brought my knees to my chest and allowed my crying to intensify, only calming down a bit when I took a hand to my chest and began stabilizing my breathing. I'd never been so scared in my life and I'd never felt so helpless as well. What the fuck had just gone on? I took the money Mark left in my purse and tore it into smithereens, shouting out of pure rage. I didn't feel safe in this place, not as long as Mark was around, but I had no other options, anyways. Trepidation and uncertainty grew bigger within my body, almost to the point in which I thought I was going to lose my mind. Hours of sleepless nights and the threatening episodes with Mark were taking a toll on me, and my brain was already starting to fear for my life. What was going on and what was going to happen to me?