After some kissing, Alec losing his t-shirt and Rose getting comfortable on him, they fell asleep. It had been a pleasant evening and Alec was glad he'd got his going away settled and she was willing to give it a chance. Before they'd fallen asleep, Alec's arm around her, he asked how she really thought he'd not tell her until it was time.

"Alec, I didn't know what to think," she admitted. "It was a bit of a shock."

"You said someone else had left you, not this Mickey you talked about."

"I don't wanna be reminded Alec, it's over and done with. He dumped me – end of story. I can tell ya why I was a bit suspicious you making up excuses though," she offered.

Alec kissed the top of her head.

"You don't have to explain it to me Rose, if you say it's over, that's the end of it. You were suspicious of me?"

"Well yeah, after you ordered last Friday, since your daughter looked like she didn't want to be there. Alec, it's just the man I lost, James, well that's how I met him, he came into the studio I worked in for some photos. He was planning on just using them for the college he worked at, then he told me he was leaving, to travel around to write a world history book."

Alec moved her slightly. "Rose, I am so sorry, no wonder you got upset when I said I was going away. He never came back?"

"Yeah, he came back and never bothered to let me know. The next thing I knew, his book was going on sale and he used the photos I took to publicize it, even on the back cover."

Alec almost laughed, just checking himself in time but Rose knew and hit his arm.

"Sorry, you have to admire his nerve I suppose?" he replied. "Then why did you insist on taking my photos?"

"To prove not all men were using me like he did. We were together around six months, I thought we were happy and even though he went on about the book he wanted to do, I thought he'd do the research online, not actually go off. Then he had the nerve to do a book signing near where I worked, he never even came to see me."

Alec pulled her closer. "Did you go confront him?" Rose remained silent. "Rose, I had no idea I was going to be lucky enough to meet you when I applied for a transfer back to Broadchurch."

"Well I'll not ask if you would have still done so."

"I would have talked to you about it first. I know we can make it work," he assured her. "So, meeting Daisy again is the first step."

"Yeah though I'm not used to getting a teenager's approval to date her dad, my mum never bothered asking me what I felt when she brought her male friends home. I can't tell ya how many 'uncles' I had."

Alec smiled at the thought, then remembered he would probably have to meet the woman at some point. "Well, this will be the first time Daisy has been asked, you should get on well."

When Rose woke up, she was alone but hearing noises from the kitchen, the bedroom door slightly open, she grabbed his t-shirt he'd lent her and put it over her vest top she'd gone to sleep in.

"Rose," he called from the kitchen. "Are you awake?"

"Yep, whatcha doing?"

He appeared in the doorway with a tray. "Making breakfast for you."

He put it on the dresser and closed the door.

"Aw, that was sweet of ya. Are you wanting to impress me so I'll come back?" she smiled as he kissed her cheek.

"Do I need to? Eat before the toast goes cold and then I'll take you home. What time's your first appointment?"

"Not until ten, I've only got three, I took the Saturday ones off. I can use the time to catch up on my orders and working Tuesdays will mean I won't have to rush around the next day. Funny though, I thought Saturday would be busy."

"Maybe it would have been?" he wondered as he handed Rose the tray and got back into bed.

"Well I can't hang around all day just to get the odd one or two. Don't worry, I won't insist I spend the day with you, I know you meet Daisy."

"Sorry, it took me a while to get her to agree but I don't meet her until twelve. Next Friday though, if she stays over, well I won't be able to see you until Sunday night."

"Alec, it's fine, honestly, don't change your plans for me."

"You're being very understanding love. I'll talk to her today but we'll wait until you meet before I ask how she feels about you maybe staying over. Since it will only be for a few weeks, she may agree but when we leave, I'll tell her you will be coming down, she'll have to get used to it."

He put the tray by the side of the bed and Rose snuggled up to him.

"Can we say good morning properly now?" she smiled, putting her arms around him.

"If you give me my t-shirt back," he replied, going for the hem.

After some fooling around, they got dressed and he went to get his car keys, taking another key from the hook.

"Take this, then if you want, come over one night and start making dinner," he offered.

"If I get some appointments for Tuesday, I might not be here before you," she replied, hesitating to take it. "I'll have to get the bus down."

"Well okay, leave it for now," he agreed, thinking maybe it was a bit soon anyway but he wanted her to trust him. "It's there if you want it. Will you be working anyway on Tuesday? Won't you have to inform the printers?"

"Well yeah, I'll have to put up with that bloke coming an extra morning," Rose smiled as he put his arms around her shoulders.

"Then tell him you are spoken for," he replied, going for a kiss.

"Yeah, now I can say it for certain," she agreed, reaching up.

Alec drove her home just before nine, making a point of going around the back and feeling pleased with himself the traffic cone was still there and the neighbours would get used to his car, even though it would only be for a few weeks. Now he was regretting his decision to go back to the town that had caused him problems in more ways than one. He got out of the car and Rose assumed he was going to help her out, which he did.

"See ya Sunday night then?" Rose asked him, kissing his cheek.

"Yes, I will pick up some food then? I'll call from the takeaway and I'll be sure to pick up some more wine on the way."

"Then I'll look forward to it," she smiled, putting her arms around his neck. "Bye then, have a good weekend with Daisy."

"Yes, bye love, I'll miss you and you know I'd make time if I could? Maybe next Friday, if she doesn't want to stay, I'll come over here and we can spend the morning together?" he asked hopefully, since Daisy may still be a bit reluctant.

"Yeah, we'll do that then? Bye Alec, I had a great time last night. When you come over tomorrow night, we'll have to talk about how often we see each other."

"I thought it was going to be every night, apart from Saturday?" he asked, thinking maybe he was assuming too much.

"Oh, right? Yeah, okay then since we should make the most of the time we have?" she replied, holding his jacket lapels then going to straighten his tie.

Alec smiled. "Yes, we should and I will do my best with Daisy," he promised.

They kissed goodbye and he watched her walk up the steps, Rose turning when she got outside her door and she waved and blew him a kiss.

Alec smiled to himself as he got back in his car, he'd have lingered a little longer but a man was coming along the balcony and Alec assumed a car would be his destination. He could have offered to stay until she went round to her studio but they had to give each other some breathing space or it could all be over by the time his transfer went through, then he wouldn't feel so guilty about leaving her behind.

As he drove off, resisting the temptation to wait for her walking round, all the tension that had built up when he'd started having feelings for her was disappearing. From him not knowing if she even wanted to be his girlfriend then wondering how to tell her it may be a short relationship, it had gone to her taking the news well, despite her having someone who'd gone off and left her.

He wondered how long ago that had been, was that the real reason she'd ended up in the same town he was in? Well whoever had left her was the loser in it and when he had time, he would look up who had written a history book in the last few years, with his photo Rose had taken on the back cover. How many history books could there have been recently?

As Rose got changed to go to the studio for a few hours, she hurriedly made a list of things she had to do on Monday, if she'd got enough bookings for Tuesday to justify changing her opening hours she'd have to call the printers. She crossed to the bedroom window, half expecting Alec to be sat there but he wasn't. She was a little disappointed but he did have to get ready for his daughter's visit, tidying the bed to start with.

She knew he was being brave, taking on his teenage daughter when they'd been apart couldn't be easy. Most of her mother's 'boyfriends' hadn't even acknowledged her half the time to the extent she'd totally ignore them back when she was old enough to get away with staying in her room.

She did regret mentioning James's name but surely Alec wouldn't look him up? Well she hoped not but they didn't look that much alike, did they? She was sure she was just being paranoid but the other coincidence of them both coming to her for photos should have put her off dating Alec but it wasn't. She was getting over James nicely until Alec walked into her studio.

She should have known she'd be attracted to him when she'd opened the studio door to him last Friday but she'd kept herself in check and tried to ignore the fact they could have been twins, well to her anyway. Her mother had never even mentioned it, which was something for Jackie Tyler, who should have been the first to point it out to her and Mickey, well if he got to know she was with Alec, he'd no doubt have something to say about it.

She opened the studio, half expecting Alec to creep up behind her again but he was at home, making sure Rose hadn't left anything behind and taking his time before going off to meet Daisy. He connected to the internet on his phone, meaning to pick up one of those tablet PCs at some point, Daisy telling him to get a certain brand and typed into the search about recent history books, getting thousands of results and not knowing what he was looking for.

Then he remember she'd called the man James but he still got loads of results for first and surnames and it was almost time to set off. When he'd found a space in one of the car parks, he made his way to their usual meeting place, Daisy looking miles away as usual but since he was in a good mood after seeing Rose in only her skimpy underwear, he let it slide as she looked up.

"Hi Dad, you're early," she greeted him, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Well?"

"Well what?" he asked, kissing her cheek back as she put her arm in his after putting her phone away.

"You know what Dad," she grinned as they walked off. "Well how did your date go last night?"

Since when did his teenage daughter get to ask about his love life? Well he supposed he now had one, considering Rose had stayed with him last night and he'd been the perfect gentleman and kept his shorts on. He just hoped she'd be agreeable they needed to speed things up and forget the 'dating' part due to him leaving.

"It went fine, we went out, we had an enjoyable evening," he replied, not wanting to go into details.

Daisy however wanted them. "Come on Dad, I'm pleased you found someone, have you told her?"

"Yes," he admitted as she dragged him into a shopping arcade. "Those tablet things you were telling me about, are they expensive?"

"It depends what you want? You could probably get one free with your phone plan, mum let me get one but I have to pay seven pounds a month for it."

"Is that all?" he asked, trying to remember what network he was with now since he'd changed it when he'd discovered Lee Ashworth had stolen a bunch of letters.

He spotted the phone shop and Daisy smiled. She thought it was about time she modernized him, the photographer didn't seem anywhere near his age. After checking his account and Daisy saying she had a model just like it, half an hour later he stepped outside, Daisy carrying the paper carrier bag and they headed to get some lunch.

"I'll show you how to download all the apps," she told him as they ate. "You'll want a chat one and video calling. You got loads of data with the plan."

"I don't think I'll use it all," he admitted, putting his specs on as she passed it to him.

"What about when we move? What did she say about it anyway?" Daisy asked him as he squinted at the screen.

"I thought she was mad at me but she took it quite well. Daisy, I can't just leave her behind," he admitted, thinking he'd be better turning the screen around to make it wider.

"Then why go out with her? Oh, you mean to carry on seeing her then when you bring me back? She's okay with that?"

"Yes, I was surprised since we'd only just established a few things," he replied, passing the device to her. "Where's this video calling thing then?"

Daisy smiled at him. "What things? Did you ask her to be your girlfriend?" she teased him. Alec looked at her. "You did!" she laughed.

"Yes though we both admitted it other people before we actually agreed," he admitted.

"Geez Dad, how did you do that?" she asked, starting to scroll through the various 'Apps'.

"I mentioned it to someone at work and she, well she told the printer's delivery man she had a boyfriend."

Daisy giggled. "So, what are you doing about it? Just seeing each other when you bring me back?"

"Well that depends," he replied, knowing he wouldn't get the device back and she'd use all the data up in one go.

"On what? I'm okay with you seeing her while I'm with mum," she assured him, still flicking through what she thought he needed. "Honestly though, is she okay with it?"

"So she says but I had to promise her something to get her to agree to still being my girlfriend when I leave."

Daisy stopped what she was doing. "Such as? You didn't ask her to visit when we go to live there?"

Alec was about to say yes when he saw the look on her face.

"Why, is that a problem?" he dared ask.

If it was, what could he say to Rose? She'd just agreed because he'd said she could visit but if the two of them didn't get on?