A/N: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers- you all rock! Happy New Year!

The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me!

They spent the rest of the two hour car trip to the beach in companionable silence- such was their friendship and the deep bond between them that neither Joseph nor Clarisse felt the need to fill the silence with conversation- they knew each other well and they were comfortable enough with each other to allow the silence to continue.

"It feels strange to be doing this on a work day," Clarisse said after a moment as the car made its way through the town of Mertz- they were nearly at the beach house, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement, this was actually happening. "I feel like that I'm playing hooky from school and that the principal is going to discover where I've gone."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that- the principal has approved of you playing hooky- although I can understand that you feel that you're playing hooky… I feel the same way as well…."

"Workaholic as you are, I can understand why you're feeling guilty… of course, you could have sent Scott or one of your other men to accompany me," Clarisse turned her head slightly to give him an impish smile, knowing that he wouldn't have agreed to that at all.

"Workaholic? Hello pot," he retorted with a smile. "That's pretty rich coming from you."

"True," she mused. "But I wonder what Scott or one of your other men would have done if they had accompanied me…"

"I'm sure they would have been frozen to the steering wheel and wouldn't have even dared to say a word to you…although they would have appreciated the day off."

"At least they would have been more respectful that you are," she chuckled.

"At least I tell you the truth when necessary," he responded with a chortle and Clarisse couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Yes, although there were times when you pushed the boundaries and I wondered whether I would have to fire you or not."

"As if you could have fired me, you depended on me."

"You're very confident in yourself, aren't you?"

They were both aware that they were flirting - a practice that Clarisse had very little experience with but finding that she was enjoying it, especially with Joseph; while Joseph was appreciating the fact that the Queen was relaxing, unwinding and that she felt comfortable enough with him to actually flirt….

"I am. I know I'm the best at my job and that no one can replace me."

"What about when you retire?"

"Who says anything about retiring?"

"Well, once Mia comes of age and ascends the throne, I'm not necessarily going to need protection…"

"Wrong. You will always need protection, even as the Dowager Queen."

"…Well, you'll probably still be needed to protect Mia, especially since you are still the Head of Security… I'm sure I'll be fine with some of your men…" she said teasingly, knowing that she was winding him up, particularly given the silence that had followed her sentence, as well as the fact that she could see his hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Why don't we wait until that moment is actually approaching before we consider logistics," he finally said, lightly but with tension in his voice.

"Alright, we'll wait until then…."

0

All too soon, the car was making its way down the gravelled driveway leading towards the beach house, and Clarisse was sitting almost rigidly up in her seat, her eyes glued forward- if Joseph had even spoken to her (and he was already watching her carefully), he doubted that she would have heard him.

Finally, the beach house came into view and Clarisse suddenly sat back in her seat with a sigh, her body completely relaxing.

"Are you alright?" came from a distance (or what seemed like a distance to Clarisse) and it took a moment for Clarisse to gather her thoughts before she nodded.

"I'm fine. I just thought… for a moment… that….Phillipe was there…"

"That's understandable," Joseph said quietly. "How do you feel about that?"

"I…disappointed but I know the truth, I know he's gone…"

He stopped the car in front of the house and turned to look at her.

"We don't have to stay if you don't want to. If it's too hard…."

"No, it's fine," Clarisse shook her head. "I WANT to be here and I really do appreciate the time and effort that you and Sebastian took to planning this… it's just that I… remember that Phillipe loved this house."

"He did, I know that. Shall we go for a walk down on the beach first?"

Clarisse paused for a moment, considering his words.

"No, I would like to see inside the house first… I know it was cleaned up from the last time Phillipe was there, but the few times I visited here, the house was usually a mess…" she said with a small smile and Joseph smiled along with her. "I wouldn't mind seeing what the house was actually meant to look like inside."

After stepping out of the car, helping Clarisse out of the car and retrieving the picnic basket out of the boot, they walked towards the front door and Joseph reached into his pocket for the key, handing it to Clarisse.

"I'll let you do the honours," he said gently and Clarisse smiled before stepping forward and unlocking the door. The front door swung open and there was a slightly silence as Clarisse hesitated, but it was only a momentary pause before she stepped into the house, Joseph at her heels.

There was a musty smell in the air as they stepped into the darkened living room- the curtains having been pulled across the French doors that led out onto the small patio and the steps that led down to the beach- but Clarisse briskly turned on lights and strolled over to push open the curtains and the doors, Joseph following her to set the picnic basket on the table.

"Mmmm… the sounds and smell of the ocean, I've always loved them," Clarisse said as she stepped out onto the patio and surveyed the scene below her- the waves of the deep blue ocean crashing onto the yellow sand, the blue sky seeming to go on forever, the green of the garden (now fairly overgrown) that separated the shore and the beach house, a contrast to the blue and the yellow. "I already feel better… I feel invigorated and young…."

"That was a quick recovery… if I'd realised that that would help, I would have brought you to the beach long, long ago," Joseph quipped as he joined her, and Clarisse couldn't help but laugh, the deep, rich sound that he loved but hadn't heard for a long time.

"Believe me, if I could spend more time here, I would, I've just realised that… I can now understand why Phillipe came out here as often as he did.

"I can too… he tried to come out every weekend, didn't he?"

"Yes," Clarisse chuckled. "Much to my exasperation and regret now- I thought that he didn't appreciate his responsibilities as much as he could have but I now realise that he did, to the extent that he often needed time out to relax and unwind."

"Hence why I thought it would be great place for you to do the same."

"It's a pity that it's only one day," Clarisse said with a heavy sigh.

"Don't think about that," Joseph said, slowly and cautiously reaching out of her hand and taking it in his, something that surprised neither of them yet did surprise them in the way that they didn't think it was anything unusual, that it was part of their normal relationship. "We have plenty of time to enjoy the day, I don't want you to worry about having to return to the palace until this evening… and even then, we may be able to come out again soon."

"Really?" she looked at him in delight.

"Really," he affirmed. "Now, I had better put our picnic lunch away, otherwise it will be rotten before we get to eat it."

"And then I'll give you a tour of the house."

"I'm looking forward to that!"

0

As it turned out, (although Joseph hadn't been sure) the house was still fully furnished- including the refrigerator, freezer and dishwasher- and he was pleased that he was able to put everything away, he had been hoping that the day would run smoothly and, so far, it was.

"What would have happened if there hadn't been a refrigerator here?" Clarisse had to tease as she watched him pack everything into the fridge. "By the way, what are we going to have for our lunch?"

"You're just going to have to wait and see," he turned and gave her a smug smile as he set the basket onto the bench. "I have to admit, this open plan kitchen and dining room is great, Phillipe certainly knew what he was doing when he had that wall knocked out."

"His father thought he was crazy- so did I, initially- but when I visited and saw how much more light there was, and that the doors added more light to the room. Did you know that there wasn't two French doors, there was only one when he bought it?"

"I think I can remember Phillipe complaining about it when he bought the place…I can still hear him saying 'Two French doors would be better than one… you could literally step out onto the beach, which would be great… and the sunlight could stream into the room."

"Yes, he wasn't happy about that… but he made some great decisions, I think he could have been an architect if he hadn't had his royal responsibilities… he always loved drawing."

"Yes, he was quite talented…" he agreed as he noticed that Clarisse was still staring almost blankly out of the windows, out the ocean, and Joseph was suddenly a little worried that she was remembering other, sadder and more painful memories of Phillipe, before she suddenly turned back to him with a smile.

"Would you like to see upstairs?"

"I love to."

Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, two of the rooms sharing a bathroom, but Joseph couldn't help but let out a gasp when they stepped into the main bedroom, with its own en suite and a spectacular view of the ocean from the enormous windows, revealed after Clarisse had pulled open the curtains and opened the windows to get the musty scent out of the air, although she could almost smell Phillipe's musky aftershave, if she strained hard enough… it was only a whisper, a ghost of a memory, but she was certain that she had smelled it, before she realised that Joseph was still standing behind her, his mouth slightly agape.

"What?" Clarisse asked, pushing away the memory of Phillipe's scent to focus on Joseph and the present. "You look… a little taken aback."

"It's nothing… it's just… this view is spectacular."

"It is indeed," she agreed, stepping towards the windows and taking a deep breath of sea air. "This was the feature I really noticed when Phillipe brought me out to look at it before he bought it, and I told him so."

"What did he say in return?"

"He agreed… although, he happened to mention that he didn't necessarily buy it for the view…more for….his down time….and before you say anything, I know what that meant but I was glad that he didn't make it perfectly clear to me."

"He was quite the young man," Joseph said with a grin as he stood next to her.

"You were fond of him," she turned to him with a soft look.

"I was… I was quite fond of both of your sons… I'm still very fond of Pierre."

"They hero worshipped you," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I know that, although I really didn't expect that of them… they should have seen their father as their hero."

"In some ways, they did see him as that- Phillipe more than Pierre- but in other ways, they saw you more than their father, you played basketball and other games with them, you treated them as normal young men and we all appreciated that."

"Even Rupert?"

"Well, maybe not Rupert but the boys and I certainly did…and I never got to thank you for that, so… thank you."

She looked at him seriously, intensely and Joseph felt a little embarrassed, but decided to accept the appreciation that Clarisse was obviously trying to give him.

"You're welcome… it was my pleasure to look after them as I did."

"I'm glad you did…" before she trailed off and turned to survey the room- the king sized bed was still there, as well as other wooden furniture (Phillipe had always preferred to keep his beach house simple with only basic furniture) including bed side tables, a tall boy and a wooden cupboard. "I'm certain that I never saw his bedroom like that before….there were usually clothes, books, shoes and sports equipment all over the floor….the bed never made… even food on occasion….he was such a messy boy at times… but he was also a good boy, a good man… he would have made a great King," she said with a touch of emotion in her voice and Joseph gently touched her shoulder for a moment.

"He would have," Joseph said softly. "But you have made a wonderful Queen as well and he would have known that…life may have been very different if Phillipe had survived but you have to admit, you being Queen has also been good."

"You're a charmer," Clarisse said with a smile. "But, I have to admit, a good one."

"It's part of my job description."

"As is telling Queens that they need days off," she added with an impish smile and he laughed. "Now, I know what I would like to do next."

"What's that?"

"A walk on the beach."