A/N: I made some changes and there are a few spoilers at the end. Hope you enjoyed the new stuff.

Chapter Twenty-one

The sound of the door opening made him open his eyes as Alec watched Ellie lead Fred in the room and Alec pushed the button to make the bed move up into a sitting position. Fred looked a little frightened as Alec sighed and folded his arms over his chest.

"You can come closer," he said and Fred slowly moved toward the bed.

"I'll be outside," Ellie said as she left the room and the door closed behind her. Fred looked at Alec when Alec titled his head to one side and glanced at the chair. Fred walked to the chair when he used the chair to climb onto the bed and sat on Alec' legs. The heart monitor had been removed and Daisy had brought Alec his favorite t-shirt and pajamas bottoms and Fred looked down at Alec' stomach.

"I'm alright," Alec finally said and Fred slightly smiled. "Sorry for scaring you."

"Mommy said that you got knocked in the water," Fred said and Alec nodded his head.

"Guess I'm nae ready for swimming," he said with a tiny smile. "Fred, look at me."

Fred looked at him and Alec took hold of his hands.

"You mom told me that you think I'm your daddy,"

"Yeah, but she sat down with me and Tom and told us about…him." Fred said and Alec saw the anger in Fred's eyes. "I don't like him."

"I dinnae really blame you," Alec said then sighed. "My father's nae my favorite person either."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later," Alec said and gently swung Fred's hands back and forth. "I'd like tae Alec again, ok?"

"Ok," Fred said then sighed and looked down. "Know what I would like?"

"What?" Alec asked and Fred looked at him.

"I would like you to be my daddy."

"Well," Alec said then pressed his lips together and his eyes widened a bit. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah," Fred said, nodding his head.

"I like your mommy."

"You do?!" he asked with wide eyes.

"Aye, but I dinnae think she likes me."

"Want me to ask her?" Fred asked and Alec gave him a stunned look.

"No," he said, elongating the "o". "But, if we did start…dating, it would be alright with you?"

"Yep!" Fred said with a wide grin and Alec smiled. The door opened when Ellie walked back in then stood at the foot of the bed and looked at them.

"Is everything ok?" she asked while Fred sat on the bed next to Alec and Alec placed his arm around Fred.

"Yep," Fred said then looked at Alec. "Right, Alec?"

"Aye," Alec said and Ellie smiled, folding her arms over her chest.

Alec slowly walked by the headstones as the wind blew through his hair when he finally stopped and looked down. Kneeling down on his haunches, Alec picked the weeds away from the headstone as he mentally made a note to ask Coates if he would make sure the grave was maintained then looked at the name on the headstone and placed his hand on the cold stone.

SARAH FRANCES HARDY – BELOVED WIFE OF FERGUS AND BELOVED MOTHER OF ALEC JAMES

He looked at the dates underneath as the memory of his father pushing the wheelchair the doctors wanted Alec to use for a few days to the grave then explaining why she wasn't coming home with them. The angry he felt then came bubbling to the surface as he growled and his heart slammed hard and fast in his chest.

"You fucking bastard," he thought then sighed and looked up at the sky. He closed his eyes for a few seconds then opened them and looked at the headstone. He placed the flowers he had brought with him against the headstone then sat down and placed his wrists on top of his knees.

The sky was clear as the stars twinkled in the darkness and the door opened. Elle walked down the steps then walked down the front path, headed down the pavement and placed her hands in her jeans pockets. It had been a week since Alec had been released from the hospital and she was amazed that he had stayed home. There had been a pool to see when he could come back, but he hadn't and she wondered if he was coming back.

Alec was sitting on the stoop in front of his house and he was wearing jeans, a gray hoodie and white converse sneakers. He was holding onto the top of the water bottle as he looked straight ahead and watched her coming closer. She saw the sadness in his eyes when she stopped and he titled his head to one side.

"Mind if I sit?" she asked as he took a long drink of water then moved over. Sitting down, Ellie looked at him when he placed the bottle on the step and his hands dangled between his knees.

"How's Coates?" Alec asked finally.

"He's fine. He told me that he came to see you at the hospital."

"Aye, he heard what happened and wanted to say thanks for getting monitoring bracelet off."

"He also told me he fell asleep."

"Aye, he asked if it was ok to pray for me and I told it was alright. He fell asleep half way through," he said and she smiled, looking at the empty space where Daisy's car was parked.

"I see that Daisy's car's gone."

"Aye, but she'll be back. She found a university in the next town over and went tae get her stuff," he said.

"So you're getting a roommate?" Ellie teased and he nodded his head. "And you're ok with it?"

"Aye," he said and scratched the back of his head.

"I ask because I know how much you like your privacy and independence."

"It's nae like she's becoming my caregiver. She can come and go as she pleases," he said then picked up the bottle of water and took a long drink. "The same goes for me."

"You've changed," she said and he gave her a puzzled look.

"I have?"

"Yes, though you still are a grumpy, slightly insensitive pain in the ass."

"Aye, I am," he said with a nod of his head. She moved closer while he watched then slid his arm around her shoulders and looked up at the stars. She was shocked, but like his closeness and looked at his profile.

"We miss you at the precinct. Are you coming back?"

"You seem tae be running things fine without me."

"But I'm not you. When you give orders, they snap to it and get it done. With me, it's Ok, Ellie, I'll get to it when I have time," she said and he frowned.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said with a nod of her head.

"Then I better get back tae work," he said and she smiled.

"You know, you never told me why it would be a problem for you to stay out of my life and my sons' lives."

"It doesnae matter," he said as he lowered his head and she glared at him.

"It does so! Why is it a problem?"

"It…I…," he said as he lowered his arm then turned to face her. "I just dinnae want tae."

"Why?"

"You wouldnae understand."

"Try me."

"It's because I…I…Oh fuck," he said then looked up at the sky, tightly closed his eyes then opened them. "I like you."

Now that he confessed how he felt, Alec wondered if she thought he was crazy, but she moved closer and gently placed her hand on top of his hand.

"You like me?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"You said it yourself that we're friends, and I know that you care, but…but…Fuck, I miss having you around."

"I haven't gone anywhere," she said and he looked at her.

"You're over there," he said, pointing to her house.

"You miss living with me?"

"Aye," he sighed.

"You miss the chaos?"

"Aye, I miss waking up with Fred standing by the bed with this big smile on his face because I woke up. I miss stepping over Tom's shite as I went from the front room tae the kitchen. I miss you yelling for Tom to get a move on so you can get him off so he doesnae miss the bus. I miss the fights over what they wanted for breakfast, lunch, dinner or tea. I even miss story time before Fred went tae bed," he said then sighed and looked at her. "Guess you think I'm bloody daft."

"No, I don't," she said then looked down. "To be honest, I've missed having you around, too. For the longest time you were the only friend I had around here. It took a long time before most people would even talk to me. It was true that there were days you scared the fuck out of me because you needed your pacemaker adjusted, but you would just squeeze my fingers and give me this look like everything was going to be ok. When you went back to Sandbrook, I felt like I lost my best friend…again. Speaking of that, why did you come back? You said that missing Broadchurch was one reason. Was missing us the other reason?"

"It was the second reason," he said then pressed his lips together. He thought about how to explain why he really had to return to Broadchurch when he brushed his face with his hands and puffed out a breath of air. "When I went back tae Sandbrook, I found out that I lost my flat because I was gone for so long. Tess was able tae get my stuff, but my landlord had sold my furniture. I really didnae care because most of it was crap and so was the flat. I was pissed off that she had to sell my car, but I didnae need it."

"So you had nowhere to live?"

"No, Tess said I could stay with her and Daisy and I ended up sleeping in the den. It wasnae so bad because it had its own loo," he said and she softly giggled.

"Was it hard living with them?"

"Well, it was hard living with the guy Tess had the affair with. He had moved in shortly after I left."

"Shit."

"He's nae so bad and he treats Tess and Daisy well. What made me smile was he would call me "Sir" whenever he saw me."

"Well, you were his boss," she said and he nodded his head.

"Tess suggested we go see a councilor that dealt with family problems."

"Did it help?"

"Aye, he suggested Tess and I start dating again. But Tess and I realized after a few dates that, even though we did love each other, the trust we had was gone."

"What about Daisy?"

"I forgot was how smart she was. She figured out who really had the affair, but she was shocked when she found out who had the pendant. She was mad at me, but understood why I did it."

"And that's why you came back?" she asked and Alec shook his head. Memories flashed through his mind as he sighed, picked up the water bottle and took a long drink of water.

"No, that was the death threats," he said and her eyes widened.

"You were getting death threats?" she asked and he nodded his head, placing the bottle of water on the step.

"It started with a few weird phone calls then threatening letters taped on the windshield of Tess's car. We had the calls traced, but the calls were made from phone booths all over town and the caller was careful around the CCTV cameras. The letters were clean, so they couldnae trace them either."

"All that must have been stressful," she said as she reached over and placed her hand against his chest. She could just feel his heart thumping against her hand as he looked down, covered her hand with his hand then looked at her.

"Aye, my chest hurt and I was getting dizzy again."

"Did Tess take you to the hospital?"

"Aye and my doctor told me I had tae leave town or I'd need a second pacemaker."

"Fuck."

"He also told me flat out that I wouldnae survive the surgery," he said and saw the shock in her eyes.

"Did they ever find whoever was threatening you?"

"Tess insisted being in charge of the investigation and they found out that it was….her boyfriend "

"Are you shitting me?"

"No, Tess was furious. Unlike with you, she wasn't allowed near him after he confessed that he was jealous and didn't want to lose his family."

"But it wasn't his family, it's yours."

"It was mine."

"What happened to him?"

"There was a trail and he was placed in a maximum security mental hospital."

"Why did he have to be put in a mental hospital?""

"When they tried to arrest him, he had grabbed Daisy and…"

"He held Daisy hostage?!"

"Aye, I ended up in the hospital from the stress. After the trial, Tess insisted that I come back and she and Daisy helped me find this house."

"Shit," Ellie said and Alec nodded his head. There was one more thing Ellie wanted to know as she sighed and brushed the hair out of Alec' eyes. "You never told me who caused the boating accident."

"Why do you want tae know?"

"I'm curious," she said and he sighed.

"It was Peter's brothers."

"I didn't know he had brothers."

"That's because they were arrested and sent tae prison."

"Where did they get the boat?"

"They had gone tae the next town and met some girls. One of the girls' fathers had a boat and they borrowed it."

"They stole it."

"Aye," he said with a nod of his head. "The police report stated that if they had been going any faster, they would have killed us. Luckily they stopped after hitting us and called for help."

"You must have been so scared," she said, gently stroking his hair.

"I was unconscious. Peter told me what happened after I woke up."

"Your parents must have been a wreck."

"My dad was fucking furious. He punched my cousin in the face, broke his jaw and threatened tae sue my uncle for child endangerment."

"How long were they in jail?"

"Three of my cousins got five years, but my oldest cousin got life imprisonment."

"For stealing a boat?" she asked with wide eyes.

"He was also charged with involuntary manslaughter," he sighed and she gave him a confused look.

"He killed someone?"

"Aye," Alec said then took a drink of water. "It was my mother."

"Was she with you on the boat?"

"No," he said then pressed his lips together. The memory of Peter's mother coming in the hospital room and telling him what happened filled his mind as he sighed and Ellie saw tears in the corners of his eyes. "When we got tae shore, there were EMTs, ambulances, fire trucks, police cars and news vans and my father charged down the dock, demanding tae know what happened. My aunts got in the ambulance with me and Campbell when…"

"Wait, I thought Peter was with you."

"They both were," he said and looked at the dark sky for a few seconds then looked at her. "While they were putting us in the ambulance, my aunts heard someone screaming and saw my dad running to where my mother was. She had fallen to the ground and the paramedics were working on her."

"She was dead?"

"Aye," he said with a nod of his head. "My dad had an autopsy done and they found out she had a fetal stroke. He was so furious that he demanded my cousins be tried for murder."

"And your oldest cousin was found guilty?"

"Aye, my aunt and uncle were so pissed off, but that wasnae the end of it."

"It wasn't?"

"No," he said then took another drink of water. "My dad didnae take my mother back tae Scotland for burial."

"Where is she buried?" she asked and he lowered his head. She gently lifted his chin as he sighed and she saw such sadness in his eyes.

"Here," he said softly and her eyes widened.

"She's buried here?"

"Aye," he said and she brushed the hair from his eyes. "My father took me tae see her grave before we left. When we got back tae Glasgow, he fought like hell tae keep me. My aunt wanted me tae live with them, but the court awarded custody tae my dad. He vowed that I would never see them again, but the court ruled that I needed them and they had supervised visits because my dad was afraid they would take me."

"Now I understand why you ended up this way," she said and was surprised that he allowed her to hug him. He moved away as she softly smiled at him and he took a long drink of water.

"Um, now that you know how I feel. Do you like me?" he asked, wrapping his fingers around hers. Looking him in the eyes, Ellie moved closer when she gently kissed him and he let go of her hand. He gently held her head in his hands as they deepened the kiss then moved back and she smiled at him. She had never noticed the freckles hidden under his dark stubble or how cute he looked when his face softened and his eyes became a soft, chocolate brown. "I guess you do."

"Yes, I do, but we're going to take this slow. We both have been through shit and we need to see if this is real or just us compensating for what happened. Is that alright with you?" she asked and he nodded his head. She moved closer to kiss him again as her fingers slid through his hair and he softly moaned in her mouth. Moving back, he watched her get up then walked down the front path when she walked to her house and walked up the stairs, going inside. Ellie leaned against the door as she thought about kissing Alec and a smile spread across her face.

Standing up, Alec pressed his lips together as he thought about kissing Ellie then smiled and opened the door, going in the house and closed the door behind him. Neither Ellie nor Alec noticed the woman dressed in jeans, sandals and a white t-shirt standing across the street as her dark brown hair moved in an invisible wind and a small smile spread across her face. Turning, she walked into the darkness and slowly faded away.