#I think he's relieved Ellie would never in her wildest dreams suspect that's why -- but he still wishes he could tell her.

[schmweed]

#David Tennant #Alec Hardy #Ellie Miller #Broadchurch #my gifs #Ellie just keeps sparing him any direct eye contact outside of serious work-related situations #And he only looks at her when she's looking away #The way Ellie lights up when she realizes what he's saying. #That 'mostly' from him is the kindest most genuine and delightfully playful way of expressing how much she means to him #Love how she lets him know she doesn't believe he lost his phone and therefore her number and yet doesn't give him a hard time abt it #he's too brilliant a detective not to have memorized her number or found a way to say hi #It's just that she probably thinks he didn't care enough #I think Tess gave him an ultimatum -- stop contacting his outstanding Miller if they're going to make this work or Tess won't try #How many times do you think he looked at Ellie's number when he was alone and ached to contact her in any way #Especially given how concerned he was abt her at the end of S2 #But trying to fix the family came first and honestly he's a wonderful human to do that for his daughter's sake #I think he's relieved Ellie would never in her wildest dreams suspect that's why -- but he still wishes he could tell her. #Complicated doesn't begin to cover it. But he decides basking in her presence for their endless hours of work has to be enough. Oh Alec. #Aww. Look at Ellie's beaming face. #I love them so much! <3

[blueboxesandtrafficcones]

The French Connection - Chapter 12 (Final)

A HardyxMiller AU

Ellie Miller is left to go on her honeymoon alone after a devastating secret about her fiance comes to light - halfway through the wedding ceremony.  Sitting in St Pancras International in London waiting for her train, she runs into none other than her uni rival/best friend Alec Hardy, on the run from his own recent heartbreak.

They decide to make use of Ellie’s pre-paid trip, rekindling their friendship and escaping real life; yet, it turns out their years at uni are the hardest to outrun. Based on this prompt from @timepetalscollective  

Chapters will be posted every Wednesday and Sunday.  Beta’d by the wonderful @stupidsatsuma

This fic will remain at a T rating, but there is some steam.

Masterlist  |  AO3

---

Ellie drifted awake to lips on her skin, soft kisses pressed along her spine.  Bleary eyes flickered open to find Hardy next to her, lit from behind by the sunshine streaming through the open curtains and looking positively heavenly.

“Hi,” she rasped, turning on her side to face him, reaching out to brush her fingertips along his jawline just to be sure he was real.  “How’s it going?”

He chuckled, a deep rumbling in his chest she felt in her bones, pressed together as they were.  “I’m good.”  Dipping his head, he bussed a kiss over her lips. “Better than I’ve been in a long time.  You?”

“Same.”  They kissed again, longer this time, and she sighed against his mouth.  “I’m really, really good.”

And yet, for as happy and content and at peace as she was, he was able to make it even better.

Twice.

-

“Ugh, I don’t wanna go home,” Ellie whined, zippering her suitcase shut.  “I’m not ready.”

Hardy rolled his eyes, closing the last drawer as he verified they had collected everything.  “Aren’t you going to stay in London a few extra days?” he reminded her.  “Not quite the same.”

“Yeah,” she reluctantly agreed, before frowning.  “Hey.”

“What?”

Ellie bit her lip, watching him check under the bed for any errant items.  “You mean ‘we’, right?”

“What?”

“We are staying in London a few extra days?”

He set his hands on his hips, watching her carefully.  “Is that what you want?”

“Absolutely,” she didn’t hesitate, unable to picture sightseeing without him.  “I’ll even let you choose the itinerary.”  His expression didn’t change, and she faltered.  “I mean, if you want to- don’t let me pressure you.”

Hardy sighed.  “It’s not you pressuring me I’m concerned with,” he said bluntly.  “If you need some time on your own- it would probably be good for you anyway-”

“I don’t want time alone,” she cut him off.  “I want time with you.”  Her gaze dropped to the suitcase on the bed in front of her, and she idly double-checked the zippers.  “I keep thinking about how differently the last eight years might’ve gone if we’d kept in touch.”

She only looked up when he lifted her chin, and she stared into those comforting brown eyes, hope beating a tattoo in her chest.

“Ellie,” he murmured her name like a prayer, “don’t.  What we have is the here and now- if you spend all your time thinking about what could have happened in the past, you miss what is happening in the present.  We’re here, together, and we’re free to do as we please.  If you want to spend a few days playing tourist in London, we can do that.  I’ll do anything you want, as long as it’s with you.  Even if it’s not, really.”

“How can you say that?” she asked, putting a finger across his lips when he went to respond.  “That’s not what I- that didn’t come out right. What I mean is, how can you, grump of the party, serial sulker perennially exhausted by everyone and everything, say such beautiful words to me?  How are you real?”

He shrugged, lips curling up into an amused smirk.  “You inspire me.”  He made a show of checking his watch.  “C’mon, we’re going to be late.”

“But-”

He had his suitcase already off the bed and halfway into the hall before her brain rebooted, and grabbing her own and her purse, she hurried after him.

“Hardy, wait!”

-

“So, do you have a hotel for London?” Hardy asked once they were seated on the train, stretching his legs out in front of him.

She gave him a guilty smile, and he huffed a laugh.

“Right.”

“Hang on, let me…”  Pulling out her mobile she started tapping away, and he took the opportunity to watch her.  It was amazing how much she’d changed in a week and a half away, how much more she resembled the Ellie he’d known in uni.  The weight appeared to be gone from her shoulders, though deep down he knew her troubles were far from over, based on how her conversations with her family had gone.  But she smiled easier now than she had the first few days, didn’t get so lost in her thoughts.

He liked to think he’d helped ease her worries, even if it was only a temporary respite.  She could never know how she’d helped him at his worst, after his mother’s passing, how she had kept him going.  If he could offer even a modicum of comfort in return, he’d do it- even if it meant going on amusement park rides and wearing a silly hat and whispering dirty jokes in her ear.

He’d learned long ago that he’d put himself through anything for her, even when- especially when- she didn’t have the faintest idea.  It had been reassuring to know that hadn’t changed with time.

How is it possible to be so in love with someone?

The fact that he was in love with her was old news; he’d suspected as much most of the time they were in uni, and knew for sure the morning after graduation, the first time he’d woken up next to her.  It had been a miracle, beyond his wildest dreams, a once-in-a-lifetime chance – or so he’d thought.

In the ensuing years he’d managed to convince himself that it wasn’t real, that he was only remembering what he wanted to.

Five minutes with her, falling back into their familiar bantering patterns as easily as an old, favorite jumper, had proven that it hadn’t been all in his head.

If anything, it proved he’d underestimated it.

I could happily wake up next to her for the rest of my life.

It hadn’t been a lie, when he told her how much he preferred living alone – he and Tess had quasi-lived together, neither willing to give up their flat in favor of alternating where they spent their nights, but he could only take two or three in a row before needing space, room to breathe and nothing to hear; no trashy reality tellys shows she loved, no overhearing arguments with her sister, no office gossip.

Not once had he felt a need to get distance from Ellie.

That says it all, doesn’t it?

For a self-proclaimed hater of nearly all people, or at least adults, one who often went out of his way to avoid people he knew, or might know, or even just looked like they wanted to chat, he could talk to Ellie for hours, listen to her, just be with her.

If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

She was his favorite person in the world.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes, he realized, thinking of all the heartache that awaited her in Broadchurch.  When she’s ready, I’ll be there, and I’ll be hers.

He smiled.

I can wait as long as she needs.

-

After too damn many hours stuck on a train, first from Chessy to Paris then the Eurostar back to St Pancras, Ellie was relieved to step onto the platform and hear English over the speakers again.

“Home,” she sighed, “or near enough.”

“Yeah- keep going,” Hardy grunted behind her, and she did as they made their way out onto the street.  Compared to France’s bright sun and blue sky London was dark and dingy, overcast with a cool breeze.

They joined the queue for a black cab, and sooner than expected were on their way to the hotel she’d found.  Check in was a breeze, and they bounced down onto the mattress together laughing before relaxing back into the covers.

“This was a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself,” she said cheekily, rolling onto her side to face him.

“Agreed.”  Hardy shifted as well but didn’t stop on his side, instead continuing until he was propped above her, their legs intertwined.  “You’re full of them.”

The kiss was only just starting to morph into more when chirping came from his trousers pocket.

“I think that’s you,” Ellie said between kisses, skating her fingertips along his spine.  “You should answer it.”

“Busy.”  He hooked an elbow under her knee.

“Could be your assignment.”

Hardy groaned at that, tearing himself away to dig it out of his pocket.  “If it’s not…” he trailed off, sighing as he stared at the screen.  “It is.  Don’t go anywhere.”

“Where could I?” she asked rhetorically as he went out into the hall, already answering it.  “Right.”

Leaping off the bed she hustled to the bathroom, trying to clean up quickly after a long day of traveling.  If she had her way, with no evidence to suggest she wouldn’t, they would stay in bed and order takeaway.

I’d give just about anything not to have to go back to real life, she thought, scrubbing her face.  I don’t want to deal with what’s waiting in Broadchurch – I just want to be here, with him.  Happy.

She wasn’t looking forward to the coming months, as she untangled her life from Joe’s.  The only thing that made the idea bearable was knowing she didn’t have to do it alone; that she would have Hardy’s support emotionally, even if not practically.  There would be long talks with her family, setting the issue to rest with them once and for all.

If they don’t accept that it’s over and I want nothing to do with Joe, things will have to change.  Maybe, once Hardy’s settled, I can put in a request for transfer to be nearer to him.

Fluffing her hair and refreshing her chapstick, she returned to the bedroom and settled on the bed just as the door opened.

“Well?” she demanded, straightening up and watching him walk in, far from comforted by the vaguely stunned expression on his face.  “Where are you moving?”

He put his mobile on the desk before leaning back against it, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Why does he look scared?

“I want you to know,” he started slowly, “that I wasn’t given a choice other than to accept or reject the position.  And even that wasn’t much of a choice, more of a technicality that I had to agree to it. I didn’t ask for this, didn’t even know it was possible, and have no idea what this means.”

“You’re worrying me,” Ellie watched him anxiously, “and I don’t like how that sounds.  What is it?  Oh, God, they can’t send you to bloody Ireland or something, can they? Or back to Scotland?  Don’t tell me- it’s Berwick-upon-Tweed.”  Technically the northern-most point in England, it was a little village on the Eastern coast at the border between Scotland and England.  “Well?”

Hardy huffed out a laugh, though after a week of genuine amusement it was a pale imitation.  “No, not there- about as far from there as you can get.”

“Cornwall?”  She tilted her head.  “Penzance?”

“What?  No, not literally- or at least, not that literally.”  He ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling the strands, and it took effort for her to keep focused on the conversation at hand and ignore the lingering heat.

“Just tell me,” Ellie said, rising from the bed to wrap her arms around his waist, concerned when he merely tensed.  “Whatever it is we’ll deal with it, yeah?  Like a team. Please.”

Lips pressed into a thin line he nodded, meeting her gaze and holding.  “Fine.”  Exhaling deeply, he said the name, and the world shifted on its axis.

“Broadchurch.  My new constabulary is in Broadchurch.”

“What?!”

---

The End (for now)

Thank you for joining me on this journey!  I hope you’ve enjoyed this fic.  I do anticipate a sequel following this sooner or later.

Thank you!

#bbatcfic #broadfic #Broadchurch #HardyxMiller #Alec Hardy #Ellie Miller #AU #The French Connection #platonic honeymoon fic