This is kind of a twist on the plot of Broadchurch. It's a little weird and OOC but I wrote and thought I'd just post it :) Hope you like it!

Ellie was mad at him. Very mad. How could he do that to her? Tell her that when she was confused already. It was summer, Danny Latimer's killer was still at large and Alec Hardy had asked Ellie Miller to run away with him once the case was solved.

He hated cheaters as he had been cheated on but it wouldn't be cheating, not really. He proposed they do nothing until the case was solved and then she would tell Joe she was leaving and if she could she would take the boys too. In his mind he didn't care about Joe feeling betrayed and only cared about Ellie. However, Ellie was happy. Just not with him.

There were no hints as Alec Hardy was not one to flirt. What he did made the whole thing ten times worse. He called her into his office, closed the door behind her and told her everything. Ellie Miller looked like she had seen a ghost but soon came to her senses and slapped him across the face, leaving before he could say anything else.

It would be so much easier if she was not so tempted by it. Alec got under her skin most of the time but they had little moments that hall the magic she felt when she first met Joe and then some.

She sat on the beach, a spot near were Danny was found, and pondered her choices. She loved Joe but he had seemed distant as of late but he was her husband and she loved him. But did she love Alec bloody Hardy too? But she was a mother and they should come first but then in 20 years they won't need her anymore and she would be left wondering what if she ran.

Looking up to the sky, she saw a star brighter than any other. A star almost directly above her.

"Oh Danny" she sighed, allowing a tear to make a trail down her cheek. "What should I do? Why did this have to happen and why were you caught up in this twisted mess."

The star flicked slightly and disappeared for a second behind a cloud.

"Tell you what, disappear and it's Alec and stay were you are, it's Joe."

She watched, she nodded in agreement and began to walk towards the police station.

Alec sat alone in his office in almost darkness with only his computer screen producing light. He was flicking through his favourites and staring at them with heartbroken eyes. A cottage in Cornwall, a townhouse in London, a farmhouse close to Whitby, even a little house in Broadchurch close to the bay. Whatever Ellie wanted he would give her. He was a man of little hope but he has dreamed of him and her living in their own home. Now he knew that was not meant to be.

"Why is it so dark?" came a familiar voice that made him jump out of his seat and turn on his desk lamp. Ellie stood in the doorway of his office, trousers covered in sand and dry tears staining her face.

"Ellie" he began but the words got caught in his throat as though his entire body was preventing them from being said.

She understood and nodded "I know. That's why I'm here." He frowned which made her laugh. She walked forward and hugged him tight, burying her head into his chest. He put an arm around her waist and another ran through the black curls that had escaped their grips.

"I asked a star something" she admitted and he laughed. Ellie could feel the vibrations in his chest that rippled from his throat and it comforted her more than his manly scent and unfamiliar heartbeat.

"So, DS Miller, what did you ask this star?" he asked in amusement, feeling more relaxed as she was neither mad at him or avoiding him. She was closer to him than ever.

" Whether to go with you or to stay with Joe as I was so confused and when it gave me the answer it told me to go with Joe" she replied, burying her head further into his chest.

"So this is a way of letting me down easy" he spoke sadly and in turn buried his head into her hair.

"Alec, when I saw it was Joe I was disappointed."

He pulled out of the hug and smiled at her like an idiot. "So that means you are coming with me?"

He looked in her face for a smile, happiness in her eyes or any indication to a positive answer. She looked sad and his heart dropped.

"I can't. I love Joe and my boys need us both together not in two separate places." She told him as tears began to stain her cheeks yet again. "You confuse me and I shouldn't be confused. We need to stay professional until the case is over at least as our main priority now is to find out who killed Danny and send them to hell were they will be punished forever more."

Alec nodded reluctantly and they shook hands. He savored the touch of her hand in his for those precious moments he held it. Not since his wife had he done that and he doubted he ever would again with anyone else. She was different to his wife as she was honest and cared about people's feelings and he admired that more than anything.

How funny was it that the thing he loved most about her stopped them from being together.

Well there it is. Let me know if you want more :)