Alec could already see where this was leading. Did he want to be in the middle of any divorce between the woman he'd already fallen in love with and her errant husband? It seemed clear to him that Jamie had been confronted with Rose wanting to have children and him not agreeing.
"Rose?" Alec reminded her he was still there.
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, ya'd best go before mum or Tony catch ya, it'd be better Tony did, then mum wouldn't get suspicious," she smiled at the thought.
"Rose, we won't be able to hide you know, not if I come back. Well if I am invited back?" he wondered.
"Alec, you'll always be welcome here, Daisy too if she wants? It was just us being at work all the time, I never got around to asking her," Rose admitted.
"Well Tess maybe would have objected," Alec replied. "It was I who was reluctant to come to your wedding but now, well I think I know why I gave in. Rose, I hope you do not think I came to the wedding just to meet you?"
"No, I don't think that Alec," Rose assured him. "Can we talk before ya have to leave, I really don't want ya to get caught sneakin' out of here."
"I understand your concern Rose but it does not bother me, really," he told her as he leaned over to kiss her. "See you at breakfast then?"
"Yeah, okay but let me talk to mum first?" she asked him. "I think they both know Jamie won't come back but I'll tell them you and I are just friends, for now."
"If that is what you want?" Alec had to agree.
He supposed it was better than Jackie Tyler giving him a grilling over his intentions towards her still technically married daughter. He had been a witness to Rose's marriage, he had danced with her, much to Jamie's dismay and Jamie had seen him as a threat even back then.
He had however had no intentions of breaking up what seemed like a happy marriage but now he understood what Rose had to put up with, if Jamie had objected to everyone Rose spoke to. After another quick kiss, he left her room and prayed Jackie was not already on the prowl, if she had discovered he hadn't been in his room if she'd knocked on the door.
Jackie was just getting up, luckily for Alec but she had already told Pete she was worried about Rose.
"Jackie, she'll be okay," Pete tried to assure her.
"Ya mean if she relies on Alec?" Jackie wondered.
"She'll do what it takes Jaks," Pete told her as he tried to beat her to the bathroom, knowing how long she took.
"Pete, ya'll have to wait for ya shower, I'm busting," Jackie then laughed as she dashed towards the bathroom door.
"Take your time, I'll use the main bathroom," Pete replied, putting his dressing gown on. "I'll check on Tony first."
"Make sure he wears something decent will ya?" Jackie shouted behind her as she closed the bathroom door.
Pete wondered what she meant by that remark. He'd arranged with one of the female staff to help get Tony up and dressed, since that usually fell to Jamie when he and Rose visited. Tony hadn't let anyone else get him up on a Sunday since they'd been together and Jamie had stayed over.
Tony was already in a mood because Jamie wasn't there.
"But Nancy," the boy had been objecting to being shaken awake by the young woman. "I want Jamie to get me up."
"Well Tony, you know he's not here this weekend, don't you?" Nancy tried to convince him.
Just then, Pete came in, seeing Tony sat up in bed with his arms folded.
"Dad. Why isn't Jamie here?" the boy wanted to know.
"Come on Tony, do as Nancy asks," Pete insisted. "We already explained Jamie couldn't come this weekend."
"But Alec's here," Tony complained.
"You know Alec from the wedding," Pete reminded him. "He's a friend on Rose and Jamie's. You remember Daisy?"
"Why isn't she here?" Tony then wanted to know.
"Tony, you'll be late for breakfast if you don't get a move on," Pete insisted. "Sorry Nancy."
"It's okay Sir, my brother was the same at Tony's age," Nancy smiled. "Come on Tony, let's get you dressed then."
"I can do it," Tony replied, moving slowly out of bed.
Alec was just outside his room when he heard them talking and rushed inside. When was the last time he'd been sneaking back without being seen by a girlfriend's parents? It had been a very long time. For Rose, it was maybe worth it, Pete may be more willing to let it slide than Rose's mother.
Pete heard a room door closing and went around the corner, thinking it could only have been Alec. Maybe their guest had already been to see Rose? He hoped for Rose's sake if the pair of them had spent the night together, Jackie didn't find out about it. It would be better if Rose admitted it herself, she was old enough to make her own decisions but he bet divorce was on the cards.
Jamie should have faced up to it rather than run away from the problem, he had only himself to blame for getting jealous over Alec Hardy, Pete thought. Now, it was his fault for hiring Jamie in the first place and not daring to think Rose may come back to this universe one day and meet The Doctor's double.
Maybe Jamie had finally discovered the secret they'd all tried so hard to keep from him? Alec already had his suspicions something was going on, after all, he was a detective, Pete mused.
Alec got changed and went down to the kitchen, after asking one of the staff where breakfast was being served. Rose was already seated next to Tony, waiting for the cook to finish doing the boy's eggs how he wanted them.
"Tony, you're just being awkward," Rose insisted as he played with the remainder of his cereal.
"I like them best like that," Tony replied, looking up when Alec walked in.
"Hello Tony," Alec greeted the boy. "Good morning Rose."
"Hi Alec, help yaself to cereal," she indicated to another smaller table with various boxes and a jug of milk.
"Alec, you can have some of my choco-pops," the boy then grinned, Rose nudging him.
"I will save them for you," Alec laughed as he helped himself to another box.
He went to sit at the other side of Rose, hoping no-one would notice something was already going on between them.
"Are ya sure ya didn't see Alec creeping along the hallway?" Jackie was asking Pete, just to make sure their guest had slept in his own room last night.
Pete was hoping he'd been wrong about almost catching the pair of them outside Rose's room.
"Jackie, you have to trust Rose," he reminded her as they went downstairs, nodding to one of the male staff. "I can't think why Jamie would just go off like that other than what happened at the wedding. Alec's not entirely to blame, Rose talked to plenty of other people that day."
"Yeah Pete but non of the others looked like Jamie," Jackie insisted. "Do ya think Jamie thought Alec looked too much like him or do ya think seeing Alec made him think he looked like The Doctor?"
"We've never talked about it in front of Jamie," Pete replied. "Alec already suspects something. I told Rose she should tell him, if he asks. Jackie, she trusts Alec, leave them be for now eh?"
"Well there'd better not be anything already going on between them Pete, Rose is already fragile after Jamie left," Jackie insisted.
After breakfast, Jackie looking to see how Rose and Alec reacted to each other as they ate, Tony wanted Alec to play football outside with him, poor Rose having to go in goal.
"Tony, don't aim the ball at your sister," Alec was telling him in the middle of the pitch marked out.
"Aw, she doesn't mind," Tony laughed back. "Will you come and see us again Alec?" the boy then asked.
"As long as I am invited," Alec replied, throwing the ball he'd been handed onto the grass.
Rose declared she'd had enough and they left Tony with the ball to kick around, walking to the fountain. They sat down, being careful Tony wasn't watching as Alec tried to kiss her.
"He already misses Jamie a lot," Rose told Alec. "Dad said he wanted Jamie to get him up this morning."
"Well, I think Jamie was being pretty selfish, going off without saying anything to your brother," Alec had to admit. "Sorry Rose but you both deserved better than that, Tony does not understand."
"Yeah, we've been tryin' to cheer him up, it's gonna be a long school holiday," Rose agreed. "I wish ya could stay a bit longer."
Alec took her hands, making sure Tony was occupied and seeing Pete standing at one of the patio doors in the distance.
"So do I Rose but I have a case to solve. Maybe Jamie would still be here if I had not made the news again."
Rose thought he'd already said that once but it wouldn't have made any difference.
"Alec, ya showed me last night why Jamie probably left," she reminded him. "He just didn't want kids but we could have discussed it."
"He may not have changed his mind you know?" Alec told her. "What are you going to do now? Will you come down to Broadchurch by any chance?"
"I will Alec, when I sort things out. I'm not going back to our apartment, I'll get dad to handle it all, he'll get Jake onto it. I'll just have to go get my things. Anyway, ya don't want me gettin' in the way down there," Rose replied.
"You would not be in the way Rose," Alec assured her. "I meant it, come down any time eh? Maybe then you will be ready to tell me about the friend you lost, who myself and Jamie look like? It does not bother me."
"Alec. Yes, Jamie was more like him than you are, he must have suspected. When I met Jamie, I missed my friend so much and there he was, right in front of me in Jamie. They were so much alike, always showing off, causing trouble, getting told off by my mum," Rose recalled with a smile.
"You thought you had got your friend back?" Alec asked. "You see none of those things in me then?"
"Don't take it the wrong way Alec, please? It's just, well you act more your age, unlike Jamie and my friend. I think I needed someone like that really but I let myself be led by him. How could I tell him Alec?"
Alec was at a loss what to tell her. He'd already gathered she missed her friend and had seen Jamie as a substitute, maybe Jamie had finally noticed now that he himself had appeared? Had Rose given Jamie an indication of that, even accidentally? Maybe he was right and Jamie had wanted to slip away quietly and not cause a big argument?
Jackie would be on Rose's side, that was for certain. Pete would be feeling guilty for employing Jamie but surely he'd known Rose may meet him one day? He still wanted to know how Rose and Pete had met in the first place but there wasn't time today, he had to leave soon and there were more important issues to resolve, like persuading Rose to visit him in Broadchurch, murder investigation underway or not.
He held his hand out to help Rose up as Tony came towards them.
"Come on Rose, I'm hungry," Tony laughed as Rose dropped Alec's hand.
Tony ran ahead of them and Alec took her hand again.
"You won't fool your parents as much as your brother," Alec reminded her as they approached the house.
"You're not kidding," Rose replied, smiling at the thought of her mother's face if she saw them. "Mind you, mum will already suspect something, you just being here."
"Now you tell me," Alec remarked. "After I went to great lengths to avoid being caught by her earlier. I heard Pete talking to your brother, he must have heard my room door closing and he did see us last night."
"He won't tell tales on us Alec," Rose assured him as Alec opened the patio door where Pete had been stood earlier.
"I expect he will be impartial?" Alec wondered. "Rose, I do want to know how you met Pete but I have a feeling you hushed all that up with Jamie?"
"I wanted to make a fresh start Alec," Rose told him. "I wanted to forget the past. It was too much of a reminder about the Cybermen, we all wanted to forget them and I wanted to forget what part me and my friend played in the whole thing."
"I do not blame you Rose," Alec replied. "Then tell me what you are comfortable with?" he suggested.
"I will Alec, I promise," she smiled as Tony waited in the room doorway.
"There you all are," Pete greeted them as he caught up with them. "It seems your mother wants you Tony," he grinned.
"Aw Dad, I can wash my own hands," Tony insisted.
"She's not waiting to wash your hands young man," Pete told him, looking at his dirty football shirt and shorts.
"About time," Jackie told the young boy as she was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Look at the state of ya."
"Sorry, we left him to play with the ball," Alec apologised.
"Rose, you were in charge of him," Jackie insisted. "What were you two doin'?"
"Let the boy have some fun Jaks," Pete intervened. "He just misses Jamie. He got messy all the time."
"Well Jamie's not here, is he Pete?" Jackie told him as Tony went up the stairs.
"How can we tell Tony why he's really not here?" Rose wanted to know, Alec taking her arm.
"Leave it," Alec insisted, having a feeling this was about him.
"Well you two have some explainin' to do," Jackie turned back to them.
"Sorry," Pete turned towards them as Jackie went off after Tony. "It's getting to all of us Alec, don't take it personally."
"It's fine Pete, I totally understand," Alec agreed as he put his arm around Rose's shoulder. "Does Jackie think something is going on between Rose and myself?"
"Honestly?" Pete smiled. "I wouldn't try hiding anything if I were you Alec. If she suspects something, she'll tell you, won't she Rose?"
"Sorry Alec, dad's right," Rose had to agree.
"Rose, it will take more than that," Alec promised as Pete went in front of them towards the dining room. "Is this a formal lunch?" he then smiled.
Rose nudged him, calling him a plum and making Alec feel better that Rose was being herself. He had showed her last night how he felt about her and he hoped it was enough to make her realise that while Jamie had abandoned her, he himself wasn't about to do the same.
"Rose, you won't get rid of me that easily," he then whispered to her as they entered the dining room.
He held a chair out for her then sat beside her, opposite Pete.
"So, what are your plans Alec?" Pete wanted to know. "You're not fooling me or Rose's mother you know?"
"I was not trying to fool anyone Pete," Alec replied. "Rose asked for my help and I will do my best to try and find Jamie, if he wants to be found."
"He won't want to be found," Rose had to admit. "I'm sorry I dragged ya all the way up here Alec."
"Don't be sorry Rose," Alec insisted, hearing a noise outside. "I promised to help you."
Tony was chattering away as they ate, then asked about Daisy.
"Will she come and see us Alec?" the boy wanted to know.
"Ask your sister to invite her to visit," Alec turned to Rose, having taken her hand behind the table, not that they were fooling Jackie.
"I will, now I'm not working," Rose agreed. "Alec, do you see much of her now?"
"No, sadly," Alec replied, wondering how long Jackie would be before she erupted. "I invited her to visit me in Broadchurch but she has not got back to me yet. Maybe you will have better luck inviting her here Rose?"
"I'll call her, I promise," Rose replied, wondering why her mother was so quiet.
Jackie had been trying to get information from her young son while he'd been getting washed and changed.
"So, what did they do after Rose said she'd have enough?" Jackie had asked him.
"They went to sit by the fountain," Tony had told her.
"Then what?" Jackie kept on at him.
"Well, I was playing with my football," Tony hesitated, Jackie knowing he was holding something back. "I think they might have been holding hands Mum."
"They were, were they?" Jackie had huffed.
"Well they might have been getting all kissy," Tony then laughed, making faces.
"I don't need the details," Jackie told him, wiping his face and making him drop the big grin.
"Is Jamie not coming back Mum?" he'd then asked her.
"I don't know Tony, none of us do," Jackie admitted as Tony went to put his arms around her neck.
"I miss him Mum," he replied. "Does Rose miss him? I mean if she was with Alec?"
"I can't explain it Tony," Jackie hesitated, giving the boy a hug. "We'll just have to wait and see. I'm gonna find out though."
"Pete, can ya take Tony to his playroom?" Jackie suddenly spoke up, making Alec think she was about to say something.
"Aw but Mum, I wanna stay," Tony insisted as he sat back on his chair.
"Come on Tony," Pete grinned, knowing what his wife was up to.
No amount of keeping silent would spare Alec if Jackie wanted to know something, Pete thought.
"Well? You two have some explainin' to do," Jackie reminded Rose and Alec, Alec with his hands now on the table.
Rose though looked less than innocent to her mother.
"Ah, Jackie," Alec started to explain. "I assure you, Rose and I are only just friends. I respect the fact that Jamie may come back at any time and then, it is up to Rose what happens. If she decides to patch things up, then all well and good but if not, well I will be there for her."
Rose just looked at him. He was still willing to step back if she decided to forgive Jamie for going off without saying a word but did she want Jamie back? Alec had given her a taste of what it really felt like when someone loved a person and Jamie had always backed away. Did she want things to be the way they had been or did she want more of what Alec could give her?
Both her mother and Alec were looking at her, she couldn't decide right now. Jamie leaving her had upset her though Alec had been there for her in more ways than one. She had loved Jamie as she had loved The Doctor but now, she had a choice to make.