12 Works by essence_existence
Listing Works
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Summary
When his estranged father dies, Alec Hardy is certain there is nothing to grieve. He wants no inheritance, no funeral, no half-sister, and no new version of a past he settled more than thirty years ago.
But the dead leave things behind. Returning to the town he fled at seventeen forces Alec to confront what he remembers, what he never knew, and the child he still believes should have done more. With Ellie and Daisy beside him, he must learn that grief is not forgiveness and that love does not always disappear simply because it failed us.
Series
- Part 5 of The Practice of Staying
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Summary
On a cold February morning, Alec Hardy stands outside a hospital and prepares to make several very important phone calls.
Some things are easier to report than to feel.
Series
- Part 4 of The Practice of Staying
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Summary
They came to Scotland for a year. Long enough to breathe, recover, and decide what came next.
Eighteen months later, the boxes are unpacked, the children have grown, two cats have taken control of the house, and the temporary life Alec and Ellie meant to try has become increasingly difficult to distinguish from a permanent one.
But life does not wait for anyone to feel ready. Parents grow older. Children make plans of their own. Careers change shape. Houses are bought and sold. Love survives laundry, interrupted sleep, difficult conversations, and the occasional stolen chicken.
Life, apparently, followed them north.
Series
- Part 3 of The Practice of Staying
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Summary
Seven days before Alice Mercer is found unconscious on the beach, Tom Miller asks Alec Hardy how tall he is.
Then how many women he's slept with.
Then how much money he makes.
Hardy decides teenagers are strange and forgets about it.A week later, a missing phone and a group chat give Hardy and Miller rather more context than either of them wanted.
Some things are easy to count.
Wanting isn't one of them. -
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Summary
Paul Coates did not expect to run into an old friend while looking for a sandwich in a strange city.
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Summary
Alec and Ellie are very good at being together when nobody else is looking. The trouble begins when Broadchurch starts looking.
As their private relationship spills into work, family and the untidy remains of their previous lives, Ellie has to decide how much happiness she can allow herself, while Alec becomes increasingly convinced that one wrong move will destroy the best thing that has happened to him in years.
A story about wanting, staying, and trying to find a name for something that is already real.
Series
- Part 5 of Incidents and Consequences
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Summary
Ellie tells Alec about a recurring dream she had after he left Broadchurch. Alec asks the important questions.
This can be read as a standalone, but it follows A Little Flame which I naturally recommend reading, because I think it’s worth it. 💙🧡
Series
- Part 4 of Incidents and Consequences
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Summary
A sixteen-year-old boy is found dead in a Broadchurch playground.
As Hardy and Miller begin to investigate, the case draws pieces of Ellie’s past to the surface—pieces Hardy knows nothing about, despite having believed he knew her better than anyone. At the same time, they are trying to discover whether one night in a hotel has changed the partnership neither of them can afford to lose.
They are still Hardy and Miller. They still know exactly where the other will stand.
It is everything outside the work that has become complicated.
Not quite a case fic. Very much a Hardy-and-Miller-trying-to-be-normal-about-each-other fic.
Series
- Part 3 of Incidents and Consequences
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Summary
The night they spent together in a hotel room was one thing. Driving back to Broadchurch in the cold light of morning is quite another—and Ellie hasn’t stopped talking since they left.
With an hour of road still ahead of them, Alec and Ellie attempt to work out whether crossing one line has cost them the one thing neither of them can afford to lose.
Series
- Part 2 of Incidents and Consequences
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Alec and Ellie have learned how to stay.
Their life is noisy, imperfect, tender, and still new enough to frighten them sometimes. There are children at the table, ghosts at the windows, and ordinary days that ask more of them than either of them expected.
Love was not enough once.
Now they have to find out what else they can build.Series
- Part 2 of The Practice of Staying
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Summary
It starts with bad hotel wine, insomnia, and a painting of a boat in the fog.
It ends with Ellie Miller and Alec Hardy no longer able to pretend that what lies between them is only work.
Series
- Part 1 of Incidents and Consequences
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Summary
When Joe Miller reaches back into Ellie’s life, it is not with violence, but with paperwork, polite words, and the unbearable proof that some wounds do not stay closed just because time has passed.
As Ellie tries to keep herself, her children, and her new relationship with Alec Hardy from buckling under the weight of the past, Alec has to learn that love is not the same as protection, and staying does not always mean standing in front of the door.
A story about family, trauma, repair, and the terrifying tenderness of wanting a home again.
English is my second language, so please look kindly through your fingers at any small mistakes :)
Series
- Part 1 of The Practice of Staying