A/N: My laptop crashed aka I lost everything that I had written for this story. But I managed to recall what I want to write but it wasn't as close to th e one I had. This chapter is a little choppy and I don't quite like it. Still, I hope it's okay.

Disclaimer: Definitely don't own Broadchurch.

Alec is a quiet man and there are many things that he would never say out loud or admit to. And one of those things is how he actually liked the view of his backyard from the window in his room. It wasn't as nice a view as the fields that surrounded his parents' summerhouse in Aberdeen but it's still nice nonetheless. He walked up to the window, rubbing his face to wake himself up and watched the over the still Saturday morning under the sunless sky.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his musing and when the door opened to reveal Daisy with a plate in one hand and a glass of apple juice in the other, his lips curled up into a smile.

"Still the early riser, I see." Daisy walked up to his bed and settled down.

"It's Saturday morning. Why are you up so early?" His accent was still thick from the sleep.

"To make you breakfast?"

Alec walked back to his bed, almost drooling as the smell of omelette overwhelmed his room, "Not like I can't make it for myself."

"Well, you're welcome, dad. I appreciate the gratitude."

He rolled his eyes and poked into his omelette, "No, seriously. Why are you up so early? It's what? Only 7? Have you had your breakfast yet?"

"Do you interrogate your suspects like that? One question after the other? How do you get answers out like that?"

He shrugged.

Daisy rolled her eyes. He took note of that, adding it to the list of traits that he realised she had inherited from him.

"Tom wanted to practise football. Asked if I could help him out with it."

"I forgot you used to play football."

"I think you forgot a lot of things about me."

He had more of the omelette, "I don't. You grew up. I wasn't there. I missed out."

She looked away and he knew he must have said something wrong but he didn't know what. And worst, he didn't know what to do. So, he finished up his meal and drank up his juice, "Alright, get washed up. I'm going to clean up and get you two to wherever it is you need to go."

"You don't have to worry about that. Ellie will drive us."

"You better don't get too close to her. Both of you getting along will only mean trouble to me."

And indeed it was true, what he said - that Ellie and Daisy getting along was nothing but trouble for him. Tom as well.

They had all gone into Ellie's car on her insistence and she drove them to a field. When they reached, she pulled out two tiny goal posts from the trunk of her car and passed it two the teenagers for them to set up. While Fred had already gone to pluck out wild flowers, Ellie took a mat out and shoved it into Alec's arms as she continued to take out a plastic full of crisps and juice boxes.

"Those crisps aren't good for my heart, you know."

"Too bad. You can join Fred pluck out some wild flowers and make a salad with it."

He owed Daisy the gratitude for making him breakfast.

He thought the football practise was all.

He was wrong.

After Ellie brought them home to get washed up, Alec was about to take a nap on the couch when he felt tiny hands smacking his face. He sat up, infuriated, before he realised it was his little neighbour, picking up the little boy and settled him down beside him, "How are you and your mum always so sprightly?"

When he heard muffled footsteps down his stairs, Alec stood with the boy on his hip, raising an eyebrow as he directed a question to his daughter, "Where are you going? We just reached home."

"Ellie is bringing us out. Didn't you pay attention just now? She wants to bring us to the arcade and then lunch afterwards." His daughter replied as she tied up her brown hair.

"Fine," Alec put Fred down, "you take this boy back to his mum and enjoy yourself."

"Mum wants you to join us." Tom interjected, as he appeared at Alec's front door.

"No, I'm too tired."

"Mum warned me you'd say that. She asked me to tell you not to be such a knob and just come along." Tom bent down and picked up his little brother who was tugging at his shirt.

"Well your mum should really watch her language around children."

But of course Alec wouldn't want Ellie to overspend on his daughter and he eventually tagged along, half-dozing off in the front seat of Ellie's car. He would have appreciated it if he could actually get the little eye rest if Fred hadn't been tapping his shoulder from behind, demanding for attention from his grumpy friend.

Tom pulled him away and settled the boy on his laps, distracting him with a game on his phone, "Uncle Alec wants a hush hush, Eddie. Don't disturb."

"Who the hell is Eddie?" Alec grumbled, adjusting himself in the seat to sit upright.

And he saw Ellie rolled her eyes beside him, "That's what Tom calls Fred sometimes. Fred is the name of my youngest son, if you've forgotten again."

Daisy scoffed at the back, "Still having troubles with names, then."

He still couldn't quite grasp the point of kiddy rides. You put a child there and they just sit in it while the machine bops up and down and apparently wee Fred agrees with him - after one ride, the young one went about tugging at people's shirts to have a try at whatever game they were playing. He tugged at his mum's distracting orange jacket (Alec is seriously not happy with the jacket's comeback) but she couldn't be bothered being in the middle of a pinball game, "Give me a bit, yeah, Fred?"

And Alec, who was standing beside her all along, felt his fatherly instincts overwhelming him as much as it was annoying him at the same time, reached his hand out to the boy, "Let's take a walk, aye lad?"

And the boy gladly wrapped his hand around two of his fingers and pulled his tall and lanky friend out into the pavement outside. Alec followed suit, bending down slightly, not wanting to strain the boy from his hand being pulled up too high. When he realised how uncomfortable it was for him, Alec decided to just pick up the little boy and settle him on his hip as he walked down the street surrounded by shops, following Fred's direction as the boy pointed out, "You know your way around here already, lad?"

Apparently he does.

Because two minutes later they stopped in front of an ice-cream shop and Fred cried when Alec decided to walk off. Somehow or rather, the little one managed to convince Alec enough with punching the latter's chest and Alec had to set him down and brought them into the shop.

"I just bought him that jacket and you let him paint ice-cream on it?" Ellie nagged.

Alec ignored the question, quietly licking off his ice-cream as he sat side by side the young boy on a bench at the playground next to the ice-cream shop.

Ellie crossed her arms and shifted her balance, "Hardy, you are the worst."

"Should get that on a t-shirt for me," Alec calmly and flatly replied.

Daisy and Tom came along after, each with one ice-cream and Tom asked, "Where are we going to have lunch?"

"Unbelievable," The curly hair woman muttered as she watched over the four of them.

Daisy had forgot to mention to him that Ellie didn't intend to go home after lunch as well because after that, she had brought them to a nearby castle ruin where the two teenagers continued with their football whereas Fred was already curled up sleeping on the mat in between his mom and Alec. Alec himself had kicked his shoes off and laid down on his side, "Did you plan all this?"

"What?" Ellie replied him with a mouthful of the homemade club sandwich she had brought along.

"This whole day out with Daisy," Alec turned at her with a confused look, wondering how she could still eat after lunch, "Did you plan all this?"

Ellie laughed, "Don't be so daft. I didn't plan this for you. Tom and I talked about this a long time ago before you bloody came along and decided to be my neighbour. I just decided to bring you along. Not like you're going to make new friends here anyway."

Alec let out a sigh and tucked his arms under his head as a pillow, closing his eyes, "Thank you, Miller."

He winced the moment he realised what he'd called her but he couldn't help the habit. However, he was glad that she didn't mind when she responded, "Shut up, Hardy. Just go to sleep. You are going to bore me anyway."

But he continued watching her eat her club sandwiches instead.

That night, they skipped dinner because everyone was too exhausted. Daisy crashed on the couch, still with her shoes on, falling asleep instantly. Hardy shook his head and carried her up to her room.

If Alec could describe his first week in Gracestone, he'd say that it's alright with the grumpiest tone and that he could barely sleep at night.

If people should ask him why, he'd say he doesn't know. Truth is, he does. He gets restless at night and he tosses and turns himself in bed but he couldn't quite get the shut eye. Like his first two nights, Alec brought himself back up to the roof top, this time round with shoes on, and sat on the parapet.

It's a peaceful night, like it always was in Gracestone. The wind is stronger that night and he wished he had put on a thicker jumper instead but he sat still where he was, reflecting about the day he had.

And it made his lips curve up into a smile.

For once, he didn't feel as lonely as he'd always been, never thought anyone would make him feel so included. The day was beyond everything that he imagined getting back into the world would be - his daughter coming back into terms with him, spending time with Ellie and her sons at the ruins, the arcade, eating ice-cream.

He felt his chest tightened, a sudden flood of emotions overwhelming him, making it hard to breathe. Alec placed a hand to his chest, trying to soothe it, taking in deep breaths. Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands on him, one rubbing his back gently, the other holding onto his hand rubbing his chest, "For god's sake, can you try not to die when I am around?"

Alec rolled his eyes at Ellie's all too annoyed tone and he responded in his tone, "Didn't ask you to save me."

"Shut up. I don't want the money you put in for the pacemaker to go to waste. You want to die, just please don't let it be around me," She hit his shoulder lightly, "Jesus, you alright?"

He nodded and let out a cough.

Ellie folded her arms across her chest, "What's the matter with you? Is your pacemaker working?"

"Why are you here?" He snarled.

"What do you mean why? I have my own rooftop too you knob. I was thinking of getting some air before I sleep but then you just happen to be dying out here."

"How did you get to my side?"

"I fuckin teleport. How do you think, shitface? I bloody parkoured over that stupid metal railing," Ellie tilted her head, "Bloody hell, what happened just now?

Alec stood up and walked over to the metal railing, silently hinting her that he didn't want to talk about it. But, she stayed put, and had instead, sat where he was. He knew she wouldn't budge and so he had to walk back over to her, "I'm alright. I just had a lot of things in mind."

Ellie threw her arms in the air, "Can't you just like confide in someone? That's what people do to make themselves feel better, Hardy. Not keep everything to themselves. Why the hell did I even think that I am a friend to you when you don't even want to talk to me about anything? What's the point of finding me again if you couldn't trust me enough?"

"I didn't find you. You just happened to be my neighbour."

"Oh, don't be a smart-arse," And Alec felt a punch to his right shoulder, "I'll get you a bloody diary to write in if I have to."

Alec rubbed the hurt area and then sat beside her – almost too closely he realised, "I don't want to bother anyone."

"Shut up. Just fuckin' spill it already before I leave you here to die alone in the cold. You bother me all the time anyway, might as well make good use of it."

There was a slight truth to what she said, that perhaps confiding in someone will help but he didn't know who to talk to until then – when she had blatantly laid it out for him that she was willing to be his listening ear.

He sighed.

But on another note, he was grateful to have returned to the real world and still have someone who still looks out for him.

And that so happened to be Ellie.

He thought maybe that was just her way of repaying him after him being by her side through Joe's trial after the whole town turned against her. However, to him it was mostly her taking care of him, helping him through both the Broadchurch and Gracestone cases. She was there for him when he almost died in her arms. She was the first to be by his side when he underwent surgery. She was the only one there to actually check up on him after the cases closed, the only one to know that he was going to leave Broadchurch three months ago.

Alec didn't plan to tell anyone on leaving – hoping to disappear and also because it's not as if anybody wanted or needed him there – but there she was, still with him.

And here she is, found again and beside him, still checking up on him in her over-concerned manners that irk him so much. He could never express how that meant to him because putting his feelings into words or even talking nicely in general wasn't one of his strengths. So, he decided to keep his gratitude to himself and went to reach out for her hand to both their surprise, taking it in and placing it on his lap, as he turned his face to look at her directly, "I'm fine more than I've ever been."

"Then," He started to draw circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, causing her to almost stutter, "Is your pacemaker working?"

Alec knew however that wasn't the question she had in mind, "It's fine."

"Fine. Just don't bloody die on me."

"Right." He stood up, still with her hand in his, dragging her over to the railing to send her off, "Come on, then. Off you go. Get rested."

One part of him was hesitant of letting go, but the other was telling him that he might need her company, maybe take up her offer of confiding in her. But when she let go and crossed her arms again as she turned to face him, he decided to let her go before she decided to punch him again – this time in his face.

She didn't, she rolled her eyes at him, "You are such a pain."

But he couldn't seem to resist himself and he just went at her, slowly, wrapping his arms around her, testing, giving her a chance to back out.

And again, she didn't. Instead, she just sunk into his embrace and buried her face onto his chest and he rested his chin on top of her head while she complained, "Why the hell do I care so bloody much about you?"

"Just shut up. You think you're the only one capable of caring? Why the hell do you think I worry so much?"

"You shit."