Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, locations, storylines, or anything else from the show Broadchurch. If I did, I would not be sitting around writing fanfiction, and I certainly wouldn't have such a strong desire to meet David Tennant, because I already would have.

Summary: A collection of one-shots about Alec and Ellie simply being there for each other. Chapter 1: "I'm Always Here, Miller" takes place at the end of the last episode of season 1, after Hardy tells Ellie that Joe killed Danny and Ellie kicked the shit out of her husband. Instead of Ellie going to Hardy's hotel room, he goes to her hotel room and tries to comfort her. Tom and Fred are staying with Lucy for a few days while Ellie gets her bearings. Rated T for mild language and mentions of murder/rape and suicide throughout the collection.

A/N: I have never written a Broadchurch fanfiction before, so bear with me! I love the relationship between Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller, and I wish she would have just hugged him already! Side note, I'm American, so all my lingo might not be perfect. I'll try my hardest but some things might sound a little bit American. If you like the story, please leave a review! Thank you!

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I'm Always Here, Miller

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Ellie couldn't believe it. She really couldn't believe it. He husband, the man she had slept next to for a decade, the man she had had two beautiful little boys with…was a child killer. He had killed Danny Latimer. And he had left Ellie and her boys alone and struggling while he was rotting in jail waiting for his trial.

Ellie needed some time to process. She had nearly thrown up when Hardy told her that it was Joe that had killed Danny. The she proceeded to kick the shit out of Joe. And that could potentially harm the case against Joe if he decides to plead not guilty. She didn't know if she could handle all of that at once.

She had sent her kids to stay with Lucy for a while just so she could have a day or two to process everything. She wanted to be there for her boys, but she didn't know if she was in the right capacity to be there for them when she was so broken about what Joe had done. Ellie curled up at the headboard of the bed in her room at the Trader's, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in her arms. She just couldn't believe this was happening to her. She couldn't believe that her Joe…

Ellie sniffed and started to cry. And then she started crying harder until she was bawling, barely able to take in a breath between her sobs. Unable to calm herself, she continued to cry until she was practically in the throws of a panic attack.

What she didn't realize was that her room was right next to that of DI Alec Hardy, and he could hear her.

As soon as he heard Ellie's panicked cries, Hardy left his room and knocked on hers.

"Miller, can I come in?" he yelled.

Apparently, she didn't hear him, or was ignoring him, because she continued to cry in earnest, and didn't answer the Detective Inspector.

"Miller!" he yelled again. Sure that she was soon going to be hyperventilating, Hardy kicked down the door of her hotel room, sure that his dysfunctional heart was going to be angry about it. And his wallet.

When he stepped over the door and into the room, he saw Ellie curled up at the headboard of her bed, staring at him like an alien while she continued to sob.

"Miller, you need to calm down or you're going to hyperventilate." Hardy walked toward her bed and hovered next to his partner.

"I… I just can't believe that… I mean I believe it, but I…" Ellie stammered.

"May I?" Hardy motioned for her to scooch over and sat next to her on the bed.

"I understand. My ex-wife didn't…" he paused, wondering if this was the time to divulge toEllie what truly happened in Sandbrook. Deciding that it was, he continued. "She was the officer who stopped to have an affair with the evidence in her car. It was her car that was broken into, her fault that I didn't solve Sandbrook. I took the blame to spare my daughter, but Tess and I… I understand feeling overwhelmed by the actions of a spouse, Miller." Hardy leaned back against the headboard, not knowing what else to do. He hoped that simply being here was some comfort to Ellie.

Ellie, on her part, hadn't stopped crying. She was still sobbing into her knees, crushed by what her husband had done to the Latimer family.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you." Hardy whispered, placing a comforting hand on Ellie's back.

Ellie began crying even harder, her shoulders shaking with her sobs. Hardy just rubbed her shoulder soothingly, not sure if they were in a place in their relationship where it would be alright to hug her.

"It's just… not… fair…" Ellie gasped between sobs. "And my… my boys…" she cried.

"They'll make it through this, Miller. They're strong boys. And their mother is the strongest person I know." Hardy reassured.

"Sure… doesn't… seem like… it." Ellie panted.

"Everyone has a breaking point, Miller. No matter how strong a person is, they'll break eventually. No one would ever think less of you for this. Especially me." Hardy replied.

That just made Ellie cry harder. Her sobs were making her whole body shake, and Hardy felt helpless to do anything. He just kept his hand on her back as a sort of anchor, and let her ride out her tidal wave of emotions.

Hardy felt terrible for Ellie. How Joe could have dared to kill Danny, and put his family and the Latimer family, and the entire town, through that kind of trauma was beyond him. Ellie deserved so much better.

As Ellie started to calm her crying, Hardy moved his hand away to give her some space, hoping that was the right thing to do. He wasn't good with emotions or comforting people, but he wanted to be there for Ellie.

When Ellie finally looked up from where her head had been buried, she refused to look at Hardy.

"I'm sorry, sir." She muttered to the wall.

"There's no need to be sorry, Miller. I understand." Hardy replied.

"Still…" Ellie hiccupped.

"Stop it. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to help." Hardy cautiously placed an arm around Ellie, and she leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder.

"We're a pair, aren't we?" Hardy exclaimed.

Ellie snorted. "We're something, sir."

Hardy paused. "I hope it's alright that I came in here. I'll obviously pay for the door that I knocked down. But I wanted to make sure that you were alright. I thought you were going to hyperventilate. I didn't mean to invade your privacy."

"It's alright. I'm glad you're here. Just having someone near me who cares helped. I just wish…"

"I know. This isn't fair to you, or your boys, or the Latimers, or anyone else in Broadchurch. What Joe did was awful, and the aftereffects have been no better." Hardy interrupted. He didn't want to make Ellie say it out loud.

"I just… what if Beth never forgives me? I should have realized what Joe was." Ellie voiced.

"It's not your fault. You can't blame yourself for this. What Joe did… that was entirely on him. There was nothing you could have done to stop it. As for Beth…" Hardy paused. "There's nothing you can do there either. She may blame you, she may say some awful things about you and never want to speak to you again. But she did lose her son, Miller."

"But she was my only friend. Nobody in Broadchurch will ever look at me the same after this." Ellie's voice shook.

"I don't think any different of you, Miller. And once the shock wears off and the trial is over, people will realize that you had no idea about Joe."

Ellie sniffed.

"I'm not sure if the Latimers will ever be the same around you, but people will realize that you aren't to blame. You couldn't have known. You couldn't have worked with me as hard as you did to solve this case if you had known it was Joe the whole time. You wouldn't have almost been sick when I told you it was him, and you wouldn't have kicked the shit out of him in the interrogation room if you had known the whole time. People will realize that, I promise you." Hardy continued.

"Thank you, sir." Ellie whispered.

"And until then, you should know that I'll be here for you. I know we aren't exactly friends, and I know you usually think that I'm a knob, but I know this level of ridicule is hard to handle. Trust me when I say that it's even harder to handle by yourself. So, I will be here for you, whatever you need. I will be at your side for every step of the trial and anything else you need." Hardy paused, turning slightly so he could look Ellie in the eye.

"I'm always here, Miller."

Ellie nodded slightly, turning away from her boss and leaning back into his shoulder. For once, she really believed that Hardy cared about her. And she was right.