Zayn Malik had to dip out of the One Direction tour due to "stress," which might have been caused by the world tour's demanding schedule - but it doesn't help that he's also in the midst of a scandal: photos of him and a mystery woman in Thailand have sparked rumors that he cheated on his girlfriend (and fiancee) Perrie Edwards. In light of all the turmoil, both Zayn Malik and Little Mix's Perrie Edwards have disappeared from Twitter and Instagram.

"Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate," a rep for One Direction told E! News. "The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta."

But just days earlier, Zayn Malik was featured in photos taken with a certain Essex girl Lauren Richardson; his hands are around her waist in one photo and he's holding hands with her in another.

Zayn denied the rumors that he cheated on his fiancee and Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards with a message on Twitter, stating clearly:

I'm 22 years old... I love a girl named Perrie Edwards. And there's a lot of jealous fucks in this world I'm sorry for what it looks like x

— zaynmalik1D (@zaynmalik) March 18, 2015

Soon after he waved goodbye to One Direction, Zayn was spotted back in the UK with Perrie, the Daily Mail reports. After five hours of talking, Perrie was pictured leaving their home in the early hours of Friday morning, while shielding her face and getting into a taxi with several bulky bags. HollywoodLife.com notes that while it looks like Perrie was leaving Zayn for good, she was still wearing her engagement ring.

With all of the cheating and break up rumors swirling around the couple, Zayn and Perrie have gone dark on social media. Zayn's last tweet was the one posted above on March 18. Perrie was actively posting photos on her Instagram a week ago, but as soon as the drama started she stopped. She also hasn't posted anything on the Little Mix Twitter page in a while, though her other band mates have been active on the account.

Interestingly, Perrie Edwards' last Instagram photo was an aggressive one: the photo, posted on March 15, features the singer baring her teeth while wearing fierce make-up and tribal-inspired accessories.

A photo posted by Perrie Edwards (@perrieeele) on Mar 15, 2015 at 5:22pm PDT

Is Perrie making that face at the media? At fans chatting about her fiance cheating on her? Or is she making it at Zayn himself?

Only time will tell.