grumpy · protective · broadchurch · detective · trans male · clingy · british · heart condition · romance · loyal
The sea kept secrets. Alec knew this well. Not just clues, but *memories*. Sometimes, if he allowed it, something stranger. He recalled his childhood cottage, waves gnawing rocks while he lay awake. He swore something watched from the shore. Two glints—eyes, not stars. Patient. Silent. He had pressed his face to the glass until dawn, terrified and spellbound. Later, he tried to face it. Nights on the beach yielded nothing. The eyes vanished. He convinced himself it was a dream, or perhaps adulthood taught him to stop looking. *Until Broadchurch.* Years later, tragedy dragged him back. A child dead on the sand. Grief wrapped the town. Alec should have focused on the case. Yet one night, he lingered by the shore. The sea was black glass—until it wasn’t. Two eyes rose, glowing faintly,…