A/N: Hi. Hello. So, I wrote a little one-shot something for one of the small fandom I am in and I like Broadchurch very much. I would love to share it and so here I am. I don't really know what to say but I hope it's okay. Bye bye.

Disclaimer: Hmmm. I don't own anything here in this story. Okay, but I made up Gracestone and Daniel though.

Fish and chips.

The first thing he ate the moment he reached Gracestone. It was not far off from Broadchurch nor was it too close to Sandbrook.

Bloody hell.

A heart finally functioning properly and now he could not even be bothered to consider his cholesterol intake. He cursed himself when a waiter barely the age of 18 came up to his table to serve his fish and chips and tea, thinking why he even decided on the meal upon remembering the doctor's advice on avoiding those kind of meals.

"There ya go, sir."

"Thanks, boy." Alec muttered. But the young man could barely hear his gratitude and yet he managed a smile despite Alec's grumpy mumbling. As he walked away, Alec was having a mental battle with himself on whether to call back the boy or not, having changed his mind to get a Caesar salad instead. Eventually, two minutes later after the meal was set before him, he finally ate up and discarded the idea of getting the salad.

But he felt a sudden shot of emptiness. He rolled his eyes.

Ellie Miller.

Bloody Ellie Miller jumped into his mind.

That was the reason why he ordered fish and chips. Didn't know how it made him conclude that, but he instantly blamed Ellie Miller. Maybe because he recalled that night she got his fish and chips and called out to him, asking what kind of a Scotsman he was when he said he could not eat it. He remembered how he gave in and took a bite of the meal, how Ellie just laid out her fish and chips on the couch in his former office.

Alec grumbled after taking his third bite. Unfortunately for him, the previous waiter was walking pass by him when he was doing so, making the boy turn around, "Something wrong, sir?"

But Alec just waved him away with a shake of his head.

"Everything alright, sir?"

"Uh." He nodded just to ward off the waiter, "Boy! Daniel!"

"Yes, sir?" The brunet came back to his table, looking quite satisfied at the fact that the bearded man knew his name.

Alec knew this of course, when he saw how a hint of a smile ghosted over the boy's face. He took note of that – to read a server's name tag and address them by their names – educating himself on basic human interaction.

"Erm," Alec pushed his meal a little bit further from him, "Can I please have a glass of warm water?" Daniel nodded, smiled and went off.

Alec stared at the fish and chips.

And then he took out his phone, looking at the last text he sent his former DS. "Pacemaker surgery. Don't worry. Will be done by 7."

They rarely texted.

Correction. He barely texted – most of the time he would just call, having barely any patience for a reply that comes off a text message. Alec then looked through his call log – at the top of the list was the agent whom he bought his current house in Gracestone from; the next were missed calls from Daisy, who had been trying to get hold of him; preceding it was the cab company that took him out of Broadchurch; and the last one was Ellie's.

Alec stopped there, his thumb hovering over the number, contemplating on whether or not to call her.

It has been three months ever since he contacted anyone in his life at all since he closed the Sandbrook case – not his daughter, not Tess and not even Ellie. He had returned to his father's summer house in Aberdeen, Scotland after both the Sandbrook and Broadchurch cases were resolved. There was no reason for him to do so, but he had to retreat, take a break from everyone and everything. But of all, he wanted to run away. Initially, he had no idea where to go after both the Gillespie and Latimer cases were closed. His call to the cab company to get out of Broadchurch was purely on impulse.

Alec still has his family in Scotland - his brothers and parents. But even from them, he wanted to hide away.

He never knew why.

Was it because of the humiliation of being nicked as Britain's worst cop and that he was a failure at being both a father and a husband? Was it because his failure with the Broadchurch case as well?

He never told or talked about it with anyone at all, be it about his career or his health. Hell, if he were to go home to his family in Scotland, he'd be a laughing stock. Of course, his embarrassment would not be something he would display, but still, he feels it inside. And every time he passes by a copper, he feels it over and over.

But as much as he tried to convince himself that he had put in his best - his everything - for the two cases, he still could not get over the fact that the blame and fault was stapled on his back for everyone to see wherever he went.

It was during one of his lonely days in the summerhouse that he made up his mind that if he had anything that can still be fixed, it will be the relationship with his daughter. He realized that his daughter still cared for her father and that she still wants him in her life. That was when he decides to get a house in Gracestone. He didn't even bother to look at the house, be it by coming down to the town in prior or through a picture. It was a very impulsive decision; he received Daisy's 14th call (which he missed it on purpose) and five minutes later he was on the phone with the real estate agent (mind you it was the same one that he sought in when finding a house with Tess) to whom he described the type of house he was looking for to and his price range.

When the agent came up with a suggestion he agreed to it in an instant - meeting the agent the very next day and settled everything. Four days later with all the paperwork and the transactions done, here he was in Gracestone, having fish and chips at the very first coffee house he came across with his bag of clothes still in the back seat of his car (even the car was bought on impulse the moment he reached Aberdeen). Now that he's sitting down in an unknown restaurant in an unfamiliar town that he realized he should really reconsider his recent impulsive behaviors, particularly because it was really a little too out of character for him.

"Your warm water, sir." Daniel's voice pulled him out of his reverie.

"Thanks, boy." Alec nodded, "Which way is Gracestone High Street?"

Daniel instantly turned around again to face the man with a question, nearly smacking himself with the tray he used to deliver the water, "Sorry?"

"High Street," Alec took a sip out of his glass, "Which way?"

"Uh, High Street." The waiter repeated as he looked around, "Up the road, take the second left."

"Hmm. Thank you, lad," Alec nodded again.

"Are you visiting someone or are you new in town?"

"What?" Alec mentally cursed at himself thinking about how rude he must have sounded.

"Nah, nothing," The boy's cheeks flushed, embarrassed at a failed attempt to be friendly.

"New," The older man answered, taking in a deep breath, "Just bought a house here last week."

"Right," Daniel nervously replied, half turning, "I shall not disturb you having your meal then."

"Aye," Alec straightened up and pulled his fish and chips closer. For once, he felt good.

Three long months and he finally had an almost proper conversation - the fact threatened to spread a smile across his face, but of course he couldn't betray his grumpy self.

Driving through Gracestone, he realized that the town was a bit too much like Broadchurch. Too many people in too small a town. But weaker coast winds. Bless that.

One glance at High Street reminded him of the house he used to live in when he had his own family - a two storey semi-detached with its own lawn and low fencing. But he noticed something the real estate agent didn't mention - or maybe he just wasn't paying attention - was that the houses had an open roof. He quite liked the idea of it that he began to think of what he could do with it ‐ probably a shack of some sort with a hammock or two.

A bit too plain, was his first thought when he parked his car in front of the house said to be his.

Too white.

The gates a bit too simple.

The plain wooden fence made it look like a farmhouse.

Alright, can't complain too much. He wasn't expecting much anyway.

Alec turned off the engine and got out of his car, with his hands on his hips, staring up at his new abode. He sighed, almost regretting now that he realized how big the house was for him to live alone. He opened the gates and walked in, examining the tiled floor for him to park his car on. Unlocking the door, he took a look before stepping in. It had dark shades of almost everything - brown walls, wooden flooring and a red carpeted stairs - gave it a grand and romantic vibe about the house and Alec surprisingly loved it. He realized he found a sense of satisfaction. He roamed deeper inside to find a living room almost twice as big as his living room in that blue cabin or maybe bigger. The kitchen even has an island - what was he even going to do with it?

Alec decided not to stress himself with having to think of what he is going to cook for himself every day - not that he doesn't know how to. So, he proceeded to venture the second level. It has a wide corridor, a master bedroom on one side, two smaller rooms and a washroom on the other, with a glass door at both ends. He knew the glass door at the front end was for the balcony, only when he went to the back that he realized that there was a small set of stairs that leads up to the rooftop. Alec lost in the battle of wanting to go up to it and so he went back downstairs, start up his car and parked inside.

He noticed the lack of people around, thinking that the town doesn't seem as welcoming as that Daniel at the coffee house, but he remembered that it was midday of a Tuesday - people were probably at work and children were probably at school.

Alec was grateful that the previous owners left behind some furniture's covered up like the queen bed in the master bedroom, the set of stools around the kitchen island and a matching set of sofas and coffee table in the living room. At least there is a place for him to sleep on.

Alec brought his bag of clothes up to the master bedroom, unpacked and arranged everything in the walk-in closet - he would have appreciated it if they had left some hangers as well, so that his shirts won't be as crumpled (folding isn't really his strength). He still has half a day to go, but Alec doesn't really want to go venturing the lawn yet, and so, he got back into his car, moved it outside, it out again to lock the gates (he made a mental note to get them automated), returned to his car and headed for the nearest furniture store.

That night, Alec brought some candles up to the rooftop together with a sandwich in his mouth. He noticed how the parapets were actually one such that the two roofs of the semi‐ds were conjoined with a metal railing separating the house in the middle. As he was about to light up the candles, he heard a woman's voice, "You know, all the rooftops here have default lights installed. The switch is right beside the glass door inside."

He turned a little too fast that his sandwich almost flew out of his mouth and the voice continued, "The story about this house being bought is true then. I'm-,"

"MUM! EDDIE WANTS SOME MILK!"

The woman rolled her eyes, "For goodness sake! Yeah, alright! Give me a bit, will ya?"

Alec still had his jaw dropped, his sandwich in hand and his brows furrowed but still nothing came out his mouth. He was still staring at his neighbour, his neighbour staring back at him with her arms crossed, "Hey, are you alright?"

But Alec kept silent.

"You know what, sorry. Maybe we could introduce ourselves properly tomorrow, yeah?" The curly haired-woman pulled her night robe tighter around herself before smiling and turning around to make her way back inside.

Alec was still stuck in the same spot on his roof, thinking, "How?"

Alec couldn't sleep that night.

Ellie Miller.

Was that really her?

But- How did she not recognize him?

Hell. That was the closest to being nice she had ever been to him.

Alec rubbed his palms against his face, sighing.

And then he realized that he had been a clean-shaven man since the day he bought that house.

Of course she couldn't recognize him.

He sighed again, feeling himself sink deeper into his bed.

They didn't even have a proper hello or goodbye. Ellie had rushed back into the house before he could even process the whole meeting. Alec would have stopped her if he hadn't been so shocked.

He spent the whole night just rolling in his bed, trying to get his eyes to sleep but he simply couldn't.

He couldn't get Ellie Miller out of his mind.

Not that she hadn't been constantly on his mind lately, but that night, all the memories of being with her came flooding back. He had thought of her often during his days alone, but it never really crossed his mind to ever meet her again. Although he would love to, he didn't expect to meet her like this. It all happened too fast. Alec eventually gave up and got out of his bed and went out to the balcony, trying to get himself some air and calm himself down.

He stood there with his elbows perched on the railing, his mind clouded, but he didn't really know what to think and eventually, he watched the sunrise and families getting out of their houses to go to work and sending their children to school. When he saw the car next door pull over into the driveway, Alec almost shouted for it to stop, but he couldn't bring himself to being too exhausted after a long drive the day before and a slumber he didn't get. He gave in finally and headed for the bedroom to sleep.

When he woke up, it's only two in the afternoon. Alec groaned and raked his fingers through his hair.

The memories of his time being with Ellie came hitting back at him.

Seeing her on the roof top the night before, almost made him forget that he already had a pacemaker put in.

Alec rolled over and buried his face into the pillow, groaned again.

For god's sake.

He's craving for some fish and chips.