Pt.2

Ellie would be lying if she said she wasn't surprised to find out about Claire, but it wasn't that far from the truth. If there was someone who would choose to hide a person in an isolated area to protect them, it had to be Alec Hardy. So she wasn't surprised he had done it. What had shocked her was that this had been his reason to come to Broadchurch, and that he seemed to give up everything in order to keep this woman safe.

So far, Ellie had decided, Claire was nice enough. Though there was something about her that made Ellie hesitate to trust her. In a way, the two women were the same. And yet they were so very different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about Claire was off.

She wasn't sure why she accepted the offer, or maybe it had been an order, to stay over. It made her feel like an intruder, sitting on a strange bed and rummaging through a strange closet. That closet, she had discovered, contained more than just clothes and quilts. She had found an empty sheet of paper with a bluebell. It could mean nothing, it could mean anything. All Ellie knew was that she wanted to get out of here.

She also knew she couldn't just leave. Not when Hardy had brought her here, trusting her blindly that she would help him, that she would understand why this was important to him. She just didn't know what to do.

Ellie flopped down onto the bed. Being alone in an unfamiliar room, everything seemed much more miserable than before. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into her own bed and cry, to scream, to cry some more and fall asleep. No, that was not quite true. More than anything Ellie just wanted this all to be a bad dream she could wake up from.

There was a light knock on her door. ´Are you all right in there, Miller?'

She jumped to her feet. 'Don't come in!'

She could imagine him rolling his eyes. ' 'Course I'm not coming in. I'm on the sofa.'

Right, of course. Such a big house, why would he have to sleep on the sofa, she wondered briefly.

'Goodnight!' she called, crossing her fingers, not sure whether she really wanted him to go.

'Fine.' -It wasn't fine at all.- 'Goodnight.'

She heard him walk away.

One step...

Two...

A third...

She stepped closer to the door, leaning her ear against the wood.

A sigh.

Two steps away. One back...

Ellie bit her lip. It wasn't too late, she could still call out for him.

Another step back.

'Miller?'

His voice was soft and tentative, making him sound unsure, even shy.

'Just... Are you sure you're all right?'

She couldn't respond. Her voice had given way to the tears.

She heard the rustle of cloth, possibly him pushing his hands in his pockets as he walked away.

'Wait.'

The door creaked as she slowly pulled it open.

He turned, surprised and worry written over his face.

'I'm not all right.' She distantly heard herself say. 'In fact, I'm the furthest from all right I've ever been.'

Silently he brushed past her and she closed the door behind him. It occurred to her that the situation must be quite embarrassing. He wasn't wearing his jacket and she was in her nighty. She didn't care.

'Ellie.' He started.

'No.' She swallowed. 'Please don't do that.'

He nodded, correcting himself. 'Miller.'

'Sir.'

His lips turned upward in a smirk and despite everything Ellie smiled too. A small smile, barely even there, but it was more then she had managed in a long time.

'Look at us.' Hardy sighed.

'We're a mess.' Ellie agreed. 'Still, it seems you're coping better than me.'

He shrugged. 'Not so sure 'bout that.'

'At least you have a plan. I don't know what I'm gonna do now.' She confessed. 'Life's never gonna be normal for me again, is it?'

He leaned back against the closet rubbing a hand over his scruff.

'I have Fred.' She continued. 'I have to take care of him.'

'And you have to take care of yourself in order to do so.' He cut in.

She shot him a glare. 'We were gonna be all right. And now Joe's messing everything up again. And now you are asking me to help you to fix your life.

'Look at me.' A single drop slid down her cheek. She brushed it away before it could fall from her face. She felt more wounded and vulnerable than ever. 'Look at what has become of my life. I'm broken, my life is a mess. How can you possibly expect me to fix yours?'

The silence weighed heavily down on them. Hardy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and dropped his gaze.

He didn't have answers.

She hadn't expected him to.

Ellie knew he was racking his mind for something, anything he could say that would somehow make it better. In the end, maybe he decided such a thing didn't exist.

'Is there anything I can do to help?'

She smiled watery, wiping her nose with her sleeve. 'I don't know.' She replied honestly.

His arm moving up a bit as if to reach for her. Before he could put it on her shoulder, he cringed and let it swing down, hand fisted.

Suddenly Ellie longed for the touch. It'd been so long since someone had offered her comfort (and she hadn't declined it).

'Does...' she bit her lip. 'Does your offer still stand?'

He frowned in confusion. Then he realised and his face lit up a bit. 'It does.' He informed her, stretching his arm out to her.

She stepped in, letting him pull her closer into his embrace and hid her face in his chest. Tears seeped through the thin material of his shirt and she felt him tighten his grip.

'Anytime you need it.' He mumbled, leaning his chin on her head.

Ellie's arms left his chest and encircled his waist. Alec brought his hand up to stroke her hair while the other rubbed soothing circles on her back.

They stayed like that for what seemed minutes as she let the tears flow freely. Eventually she had calmed down enough to stop shaking and lifted her head. He caught her gaze and smiled lightly. There was no need for words in this conversation. He pulled back to him and held her until her body completely relaxed against him.

As he released her he leaned casually back against the closet, watching her with soft brown eyes. 'Better?'

She nodded. 'You?'

His hand came up to scratch the back of his neck. 'Yeah.' He admitted. 'A bit.'

Ellie yawned, quickly covering her mouth. 'Sorry, I'm really tired.'

'I'll leave you to sleep.' He hastily moved towards the door.

'Alec?' she gripped his wrist and had him turn to her. 'I'll help you. I don't know what your plan is, but I want to help.'

He nodded. 'Thanks, Miller.' he mumbled.

Then he was gone.

AN: Sorry it took so long. Maybe I'll continue this throughout the series. Writing this is a good way of coping with the feels.
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