Chapter Text
“Well, if it isn't Alec Hardy in the flesh.”
Their reunion had started on the sad and gloomy beach of Broadchurch.
“It's been a while, hasn't it?”
Alec didn't respond, the other man's voice had reminded him of the past. Their short lived friendship that had ended after the other had to move away.
“Colin.” Alec hadn't moved from his spot in the sand - the edges of his shoes were starting to bury themselves into the sand, he had stood himself far from the waves.
“I'd say… almost a year, no? It's been a looong, long time.”
“When did you move here?”
“When our boss had me transferred, he said it was so I could stay close to my mum since she was sick.”
“I see.” Alec muttered, his eyes glued to how the water glided over the sand and shrunk back into itself. “Uh, how is she now?”
“She passed almost four months ago.”
“I'm sorry.”
“It's fine, she's not suffering anymore. I think she didn't want to burden me anymore, even though she never could.”
It was silent after that - apart from the sounds of waves crashing against each other.
“So… what brings you down to the quiet old Broadchurch?” Colin had moved closer, his hands had been slipped inside of his pockets and the woollen red jumper he wore had a leaf stuck to it.
“Was told that I was gonna be transferred here too.”
“I think I heard about that, you're gonna be the boss right?”
Alec just shrugged. He turned his attention towards Colin and stared. He'd definitely looked happier, unlike now.
“What happened to your cheek?” Alec had noticed a small cut on Colin's face, it was fresh.
“Oh yeah. I accidentally fell asleep at my desk on my papers and… well, let's just say. I moved my head the wrong way.”
“What does that even mean?” Alec's face turned into one of confusion.
“I gave myself a paper cut on my cheek.”
“That was stupid.”
“No shit sherlock. Anyways, when are you supposed to be transferring in?”
“In the next, ah… week or so.”
“You got a place to stay yet?”
“No. I might just stay down at that hotel I saw.”
“The Trader's Hotel? I haven't been there yet - heard it's good.”
Alec grunted and dug his foot into the sand.
“You have a leaf on your jumper.” He muttered after his lack of a response. He looked at the leaf and picked it up, pushing it into his pocket.
“Oh, thanks.”
Alec grunted again and removed his foot from the sand, he shook the sand off before placing his foot down again. The sand against his shoes felt uneven now, it was uncomfortable.
“Do you… maybe wanna catch up at some point? It's been a few years.”
“Not really.” Alec instantly replied, before snapping his mouth shut and sharply turning his head away from Colin. He didn't even try to apologise, having decided that he had spoken enough for the day.
“I don't think you've ever changed…” Colin stared out into the sea, with an expression that could be mistaken as him reminiscing about the past.
“I'll be at the chip shop down the road tomorrow, lunch break. If you're still here, of course.”
Colin could have sworn that he'd heard a grumble of a small ‘fine’ come out of Alec's mouth before he had walked away, leaving Colin alone in the corner of the beach.
Soon, Colin had left after that. He didn't need to be on the beach anymore, he'd already found what he was missing.
—
When Alec had found himself in front of the Trader's Hotel, the one Colin had said the name of, he didn't know what to do. Booking a room was annoying enough, but for an extended stay? Alec didn't know if he even had the money.
When he had finally made it into a room, he clicked the door shut and flopped down onto the hotel's bed.
Letting out a sigh, Alec started relaxing - a luxury that he rarely would give himself. He could feel the slight popping of his olding bones, his body was tired and it was completely evident.
He didn't mean to fall asleep with the light on.
When he'd actually woken up - around an hour or so later - Alec was immediately blinded by the ceiling light. It was big, bright and a bit too yellow.
The light was buzzing, why wouldn't it be? Hotel's always have buzzing ceiling lights, right?
Alec couldn't move, not yet anyway. It was like his body was melted onto the bed. He felt weird, wrong even. His body was heavy and he couldn't find it in himself to even try to move.
The light was annoying him.
The light bulb was uncovered, so nobody should look directly into it. Not when it looks like a tiny sun is strapped to the ceiling and you aren't wearing any sunglasses.
When Alec had finally been able to move, he rolled onto his side and pushed himself into a sitting position.
He didn't dream - he'd stopped that when the Sandbrook case became too much for him.
Alec found himself outside again.
It was dark outside - a bit chilly, but nothing he couldn't handle.
He was walking down the street - when did he start doing that?
Alec couldn't feel his head anymore, like it had floated away because he hadn't been taking care of himself properly. The hand someone had wrapped around his arm and yanked him back had stopped him from walking in front of a car.
“Bloody hell, Alec!” He knew that voice.
It was Colin. Again.
“Gave me a bloody scare- you shouldn't walk out into the roads without looking, man.” Colin was out of breath.
Alec didn't say anything, but he could see Colin shaking a bit.
“Alec, talk to me.”
“You're shaking.”
“Are you fucking serious right now? You're worried about me shaking, and not that you almost got hit by a car!?”
Alec falls silent.
“I just- I just ran here, okay? I live nearby… saw you walking and you looked out of it, so I ran after you when I didn't see you looking for any cars.”
“Oh.”
“I thought that you were going home, Alec.”
“No, I just…” Alec swallowed, looking out onto the road, then looking at Colin again.
“Did you want to hang out with me?” Colin asked, a tiny sliver of a smile crawling onto his face.
“This late? Not really.”
“It's not that late. It's 9pm, not very late.”
“It can be.”
“Sure.”
“You look really tired, do you wanna just crash at mine?”
“I'm fine.”
“No, you're Alec and you're staying at my place. Come on.” Colin then grabbed Alec's wrist and tugged him along to his house.