ellie miller.

i’ve been writing ellie a lot at the moment because the uk is airing broadders again and my muse is fuckin s o a r i n g. i was reminiscing earlier and honestly i really miss it here, but tumblr stresses me tf out lmfao. i always put it down to uni and finding it too much pressure while studying...but now i’m officially education free and doing zilch and the thought still stresses me out 🤡 

i haven’t decided what i’m gonna do yet, but honestly the most likely outcome is that i won’t come back - i really just wanted to make this post to try and see if anybody else (people i used to write with or new!) would like to write with my bb ellie. come hit me up please! i want aaaaall the threads. discord is my home rn so that’s where you can find me if you’re interested in writing. 

“Aw, Beth….” Ellie complains, drawling her best friend’s name out in a childishly slow manner. “I was getting dead comfy.” She’s not even sure how they ended up in this position. They’d started off fairly spaced out, keeping to their own sides of the sofa and facing each other so they could gossip away. As the night went on, more glasses of wine came and naturally the laziness and need for COMFORT grew. Now they’re watching a film with a blanket around them, so close to one another that they’re essentially CUDDLING.

She fumbles around for the remote to pause the film ( Bridesmaids, one of many chick-flicks they’ve watched together time and time again ) and lifts up the blanket, shuffling to free them from the blanket burrito they’ve somehow wrapped themselves up in. “Come on then, y’ numpty. I might as well come up with you, hadn’t I? If we split up either you’ll end up on your arse at the bottom of the stairs or i’ll fall asleep. Or both.” Her legs fail her a bit as she stands and it’s then she realises just how DRUNK she is. “Besides…if i’m honest, i’ve needed a wee for ages. Just didn’t want to break the seal.” She whispers with a quiet giggle, acting as if she’s telling Beth a SECRET despite the fact there’s nobody else around to hide it from.

ALEC HUFFS, rolls his eyes as he walks out of the office. It’s entirely in JEST, because of course Daisy’s a WISE GIRL. He barely bites back an arrogant comment about how OF COURSE SHE IS, SHE’S HIS DAUGHTER. Barely.

He busies himself with surveying the station while waiting for Miller, glancing at the whiteboard with the BASIC INFO they have on the case. There’s nothing new, nothing he doesn’t ALREADY know by heart at this point in the investigation.

He turns when Miller walks out, snorts in amusement as he follows IN-STEP with her. The ease of CONVERSATION and MOVEMENT is noticeable. “Well we certainly can’t have that –” He shoots back, “– though it would be harder for y’ t’ REACH ME n’ SLAP ME, missin’ an arm. Y’know what MAYBE that’s not such a bad thing –”

It’s light, his posture changes when they exit the building, shoulders less tense, less DRAWN UP with energy, there’s that slight spark of mirth in his eyes as he glances at Miller, this light grin. IT’S NATURAL, their banter.

By how theatrically she rolls her eyes you’d swear she’s UNIMPRESSED by his comment, but in reality it’s quite the opposite. Things can get so dark and dismal at work that it’s refreshing to be able to banter back and forth like this for a little while. “This is me we’re talking about. D’you reckon i’d let one less arm hold me back? Besides, if I was really struggling and you became that much of a nuisance, you’ve got to remember that I’d still have my legs left.”

Whilst she’s quite obviously joking — she knows it and at least HOPES he does too — it dawns on her that she actually has been that violent towards someone before. Joe. Alec had been there to witness it himself. He was the one to have to drag her away when she struggled to stop. Ellie scared HERSELF back then, let alone anybody else, so it suddenly becomes a lot less funny to picture herself kicking Alec. She doesn’t ever want to stoop that low again, not if she can help it.

This conversation doesn’t deserve to have the innocence drained from it just because she can barely go five minutes without being reminded of Joe and everything that happened back then, so she pushes it all back and returns to keeping up the banter. "—Then again, keep this supportive boss thing up and I won’t even have to go near you. I do only tell you off when you’re being a knob.”

Beth was struggling a lot at this moment. 8 months pregnant and sporting a huge baby bump. Everything she tries to do had proven to be a struggle for her. That included shopping for groceries. It was fine in the store, but as soon as she gets home she realizes how restricted her daily activities are becoming. She had tossed her purse inside and left the door open so she wouldn’t have to struggle with that while carrying all groceries inside.

She takes a short moment to rest, placing her hand over her baby bump, her other hand resting against the car. God, she could have used Mark’s help, but he had gone out earlier. Beth had tried calling him, but no response. She finally tries to lift a bag, frowning and biting on her lip as it takes all of her strength to safely place it onto the floor. That was one.

She was ready to carry it inside when she hears the familiar voice of Ellie Miller. Her ex-best friend. “I don’t need your help.” Beth snaps as she lifts the heavy bag up from the floor. She doesn’t look at Ellie. They were done for. How could Ellie not have known about Joe? The trial was extremely hard on Beth, especially since she was pregnant. On top of that, Joe had pleaded not guilty. Which meant that the trial was going to take even longer. The brunette carries the bag with both hands, somehow managing to place it by the front door before having to take a break. “Bloody hell..” she mumbles, both of her hands coming to rest on her bump while she takes a moment to recover.

Ellie ignores how much Beth’s words sting, because it’s not as if she expected anything less. It doesn’t really matter WHAT she says at this point, there’s no doubt in her mind that she’s going to stick around to help out. She does still keep her distance for a minute, though, just intrigued to see how far Beth is willing to go to turn down her help. It becomes quickly apparent that her body just won’t LET her push herself that much. “Well i’m sorry but it’s tough, ‘cause you’re getting it anyway.” She responds adamantly, finally closing the bit of distance that’s left between them by walking straight onto the Latimers’ driveway.

Carefully reaching past Beth to crouch down and pick up the bag she’d had to put down, Ellie stands up straight again to properly come face-to-face with her friend. She’s already crossed enough boundaries here so she KNOWS she should be holding herself back, but instinct takes over. A reassuring hand comes up to rest gently on Beth’s back, soft brown eyes fixated on her in concern. “Why don’t you go inside and have a sit down, yeah? Just let me bring all these in and then i’ll leave you be, honest.”

HE GLANCES AT HER, peels his eyes from the papers and scribbles with this mildly surprised look. ( Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised, though. How he reached Detective Inspector is probably beyond him at this point. ) He expected her to REFUSE, mostly because of the case.

His mouth twitches, pulls into this amused smile at her words. “’S more like we’ve been working together for –” He pauses, hands cutting into the air as he tries to count back the years. Five now? Maybe more? Alec isn’t actually SURE, they’ve kind of blended together at this point. “Plus, Daisy would probably KILL ME if I didn’t eat until dinner.” He adds, a way to try to make it sound more casual – less like there’s some other obligation to it.

( Which, he’s still not sure if that’s even what he wants, or what he’s implying. Blimey, he’s a rubbish at this, isn’t he? )

His nose crinkles slightly at the mention of bacon. Despite the fact that he could probably SWING something greasy, he certainly isn’t going to take the risk of cardiac arrest just for that. “Great – yeah – I’ll just uh –” His head tilts back to the office door, indicating that he’ll WAIT OUTSIDE IT for her. Give her the space to tidy up.

“Ahhhh, of course. Wise girl. Good job you’ve got her telling you what’s what.” Ellie nods, as if that revelation of his explains it all. Maybe it is that they’re going out for lunch because they SHOULD do, because it’s convenient, not because they actually want to do it. That certainly makes this feel a lot less out of character for them.

( Granted, something in her knows it’s more like she’ll just come up with any excuse to avoid admitting that she doesn’t actually HATE the idea of spending time with Alec outside of work. )

It quite quickly dawns on her that she’s STALLING, so his final prompt is appreciated. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll only be a minute, don’t worry.” She assures him, attention turning back to getting the office back in an acceptable state once the door shuts. As promised, she doesn’t leave him waiting too long. Once she’s happy that everything’s back the way it’d been left earlier this morning, she grabs her things and joins Alec on the other side of the door. “That’ll do it. Let’s go, shall we? Might eat my arm if we leave it any longer.” She jokes, gesturing for him to start heading out of the station with her.

Visitors were rare these days, so Ellie was happy to have Maggie around tonight. Granted, she’d come over for an interview so it wasn’t ENTIRELY a social thing. Though throw in a glass of wine each and some friendly chat in between and it certainly felt that way. Of course nothing ever ran smoothly in this house, so the trouble came when her dad decided to stroll in unannounced. She was in the middle of talking about the ins and outs of detective work, how really it all comes down to the PEOPLE and having an instinct about them.

‘Like you did with Joe, you mean? Asked her about that, have you?’

That was it. That was all it took for her mood to plummet. It’s always been that way with her Dad. He’s ALWAYS known how to get a rise out of her and it’s like as if he enjoys it. Chuckling away like he’s just made the best joke in the world, trying to EMBARRASS her in front of Maggie. She couldn’t stand another minute of it, so she told Maggie she’d walk her home despite her attempts to protest against it.

She’s still walking once she’s seen Maggie off, not entirely sure where she’s going. All she knows is that the fresh air is helping, just like it always does when she’s feeling suffocated at home. That’s why she comes on these walks so much. Usually she’s not alone, though, and that fact is what has her pulling out her phone.

[ text: Mark. ] Hey. I don’t suppose you’re up for a walk?  [ text: Mark. ] I'm almost by yours, so I figured i’d ask. Don’t worry if not.

Ellie freezes when she spots Beth stood outside her house. As she watches from across the road, she can see that she’s quite clearly struggling to unload her car with her bump restricting her. She TRIES to tell herself it’s not a good idea to go over. Joe’s trial had just started, meaning this certainly isn’t an ideal time for them to be around each other. It’ll only end in tears and a massive row and that’s probably not very healthy for either of them. 

The only issue is that the longer she stands there deliberating it, the more Beth seems to struggle. She can’t walk away. It’s just not in Ellie’s nature to leave her best friend with the risk of injuring herself because she’s more concerned about a bit of conflict. If she gets her head bit off then so be it, at least then she can walk away knowing she’s helped. Or at least TRIED to. At this moment in time she’s not entirely confident that Beth will even let her anywhere near her.

“Beth—” She finally calls out, crossing the street to approach the Latimers’ driveway. “Why don’t you let me give you a hand, ‘ey? You’re going to do your back in trying to shift that lot.” It’s clear she’s nervous in the way she speaks to Beth. She’s cautious, quiet, certainly not acting in the way you’d expect someone to when approaching their BEST FRIEND of all people.

FILE: // && @dsmiller * CONT!

HE COMES BACK TO THE STATION only slightly winded, only slightly looking like he ran a marathon. ( Which, if his heart had anything to say about that, it would certainly claim that he did. He’s still not in the best shape even after the pacemaker. But it’s less health related and much more fitness related. ) It’s not unusual for Alec to look that way during a case, especially on a slight time crunch.

So – coming back to almost an entire WALL of his office covered in papers ( he’s found it helps with their organization after solving Sandbrook ), he can’t help but almost SMILE. A wry little thing as he stops at the entrance to his office to take in the mess of highlights, scribbles, and other things he admittedly finds ENDEARING ( and increasingly aggravating in some situations ) of Miller to do.

Not that he’d ever ADMIT IT.

“Ach –” There’s this PROTEST in his throat, mostly at Miller’s comment on his lack-there-of BEDSIDE MANNER. “Can I further improve my SUPPORTIVE BOSS quota w’ lunch?” He suggests sheepishly, his smile growing just a bit WIDER, because he KNOWS Miller hasn’t eaten, and his theory was certainly right upon walking into his office. “My treat, of course.”

There’s this TINY fidget when he asks, this slight tug at his ear, the only hint of betrayal that he’s not as CONFIDENT as he sounds in his sudden BOLD offer.

The offer is given to her very CASUALLY, which isn’t very much like Alec. She knows these things can be difficult for him sometimes, giving the fact that he’s not exactly a massive socialite. “....Oh.” Again, it’s a pleasant sort of surprise. Here is where she’d usually carry on taking the piss ( probably ask what’s been put in his tea to make him so nice this afternoon ) but for once she doesn’t. He’s quite clearly looking out for her and she appreciates that.

“Well that i’m definitely not going to protest to. God, it’s like you heard my tummy rumbling.” Of course, she knows it’s more that he just knows her well enough to know she’s absolutely TERRIBLE at making sure she gets in her meals of the day ( proper meals, not Kit-Kats or scotch eggs or cereal bars ) and so can hazard a guess that she wouldn’t have eaten yet.

Knowing that they’ll be leaving to get lunch momentarily, she returns to tidying up after herself with a little more purpose. “Honestly, I’ve fancied a bacon sarnie all morning. Just...got a bit preoccupied. Obviously.” There’s a quiet snort as she gestures towards her handy work, eyes raising back up to look at him with a fond smile. “Anyway. What I mean to say is thank you, yeah. I’d appreciate that.”