Rumors about One Direction splitting up have been breaking the hearts of fans everywhere, and it seems that this time, it's almost as good as final as Zayn Malik is reportedly quitting the group for good. According to The Hollywood Life, the 22-year-old member is super stressed and is thinking of leaving the group for good.

A source close to Zayn said to the Daily Star, "At the moment he's convinced he wants out. He is finding it all too much and wants to quit the group."

The source also noted that the 1D member is already talking to his lawyers about getting out of his commitments, but it does not seem that he can for the mean time. The source went on to say, "His legal team is seeing what the situation is. There is a strong chance he will have to fulfill his commitments and he might change his mind once he's had time away from the spotlight. But as it stands he's not keen to continue."

Simon Cowell may have been a tough judge on reality TV shows, but it seems that he understood Zayn's situation fairly well. A source for Hollywood Life said, "Simon has had his own run-ins with what Zayn is dealing with and has told Zayn to be the man he is and own it. Simon is confident that Zayn is OK and will be OK after taking some time off. He knows that the band are all brothers and they will not break up and are there for him as well."

Zayn already missed a lot of concerts for their "On The Road Again Tour" due to stress and allegations of cheating on his fiancée, Perrie Edwards. However, it seems that his band mates are not very happy with Zayn's leaving, because member Liam Payne decided to cover Zayn's face on the band's poster, in good jest, he insisted.

Fans were quick to react and lashed out at Liam for making light of Zayn's absence, with many 1D fans asking variations of "why are you covering Zayn's face?"

However, Zayn missed a handful of shows, and according to Billboard, this may be the beginning of the end for One Direction. There is still no news as to when Zayn will return, and the band has four shows left between March 25 and April 5. Zayn could be back for any of them, all of them, or none at all, but that he's quitting, according to the group's rep, is just speculation.

Do you think Zayn is really quitting?