A/N: FINALLY, a little light relief... hopefully things are going to be on the up and up from now on! J and C cannot live unhappily ever after!
Thanks to all my readers and reviewers- you all rock!

The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me!

They both remained frozen in postion- Clarisse on the sofa, a blanket wrapped around her, Joseph standing above her, clad only in his jeans- before whoever was at the door knocked again, and then spoke:

"Joe? Boss, it's Matt and Mike... we've brought your supplies..." and the two occupants in the room relaxed somewhat at the sound of the familiar voices- thankfully, no one else had discovered their hideaway- before they instantly realized that they were in varying stages of undress (he had his jeans on, while she had just slipped her undergarments back on) and their remaining clothes were strewn across the room, including near the door...

"Just a second!" Joseph called, thinking quickly as he swiftly tiptoed across the room and gathered the clothes, shoving Clarisse's at her once he had sorted them out. "We're just sorting out the fire..." he added uselessly as he threw his shirt on, buttoning furiously before throwing his sweater over the top.

He wasn't totally surprised when, glancing over at his wife, she was already dressed and curled up under the blanket that had recently been covering her, staring into the fire- it was only him that was holding things up, he though wryly- and it was only seconds later when he padded to the door and opened it... thankfully, there was no sign of what had transpired prior to his former colleagues arrival.

Aside from giving 'the boys' a warm smile when they brought their supplies in, Clarisse continued to resolutely stare into the fire, even when Joseph walked them out, stood outside talking to them and then returned, closing the door behind him. She only stirred when he sat down next to her and sighed heavily.

"What?" she asked, still staring into the fire but sensing that something was bothering him.

"I...I'm sorry about before..."

"About what? About making love to me or saying that we had made a mistake by being intimate?" she responded sarcastically- she was angry and hurt about that and she wanted him to realize that.

"The latter," he said immediately. "I know I hurt you by saying that and I didn't mean to..."

"What DID you mean, then?" she slowly turned to look at him with bleak, resigned eyes.

"I meant... we shouldn't be clouding our marital problems with this... intimacy..."

"Just because we have problems, it doesn't mean that intimacy has to stop... we don't have to make love, but we can do other things..."

"Believe me, I would love to spend my days making love to you... but I don't want this to be a temporary fix to our problems... we need to do some talking to try and fix them."

"Do you KNOW how it made me feel to know that you were regretting that moment?" she whispered to him. "I felt so ashamed, so humilated... even used... I never thought I would feel like that again."

"Again?" he repeated, although he knew the answer to that before she replied.

"Yes, AGAIN... Rupert made me feel like that on several occasions, but I accepted it... I never thought that YOU would make me feel like that- ever."

"I'm sorry," he said carefully, sighing heavily again. "I didn't want to make you feel like that."

"Then why...?"

"I guess... I was more ashamed of myself, for forcing you... treating you so roughly..."

"You didn't force me," she said gently, blushing as she turned back to the fire. "And you certainly weren't rough," she smiled a little. "We were both angry at each other- I suppose it just fuelled the flames of our emotions."

"But I've never done that before in anger- especially with you."

"I'm not that fragile," Clarisse replied with the same small smile, and then there was a long, not too awkward yet not totally comfortable silence as they both stared into the fire, wondering where they could go from here- they were no longer fighting, but the potential was still there for something, anything to provoke another explosion.

Joseph finally broke the moment by standing up and stretching.

"I suppose I should unpack our supplies, otherwise some of it won't be edible."

"And your men will have to go shopping again," Clarisse joked and they exchanged a small grin.

"I thought you didn't approve of me using our bodyguards as personal shoppers?" he teased.

"I don't, most of the time... but since the weather is so awful..."

"Yet not quite so awful for you to go walking?" his voice turned even and although the smile remained in place on his lips, hers slipped away.

"Please... I'll admit it was a slightly ridiculous idea... I don't want to fight anymore... I'm sorry I ddi what I did, and I won't do it again," she said quietly and penitently, her eyes never leaving his- she didn't want him to doubt the sincerity of her apology- and it was only a few seconds later when his face and posture relaxed completely.

"It's alright... it's just that, even when I'm angry with you, I can't help but feel protective as well."
"A hazard from being HOS too long?" she joked weakly.

"Partly that, and partly because I've ALWAYS felt that way about you... not because you couldn't look after yourself but... it was a natural instinct towards someone I cared about very much, even when you were my boss... I wanted to protect you, Clarisse, not the Queen, and that has never changed," he finished quietly before he strolled towards the kitchen, leaving Clarisse sitting on the sofa, absorbing heat from the fire and what he had just said...

0

After the 'excitement' of the morning- Clarisse's unexpected walk, their passionate 'reunion' and then their visitors- the rest of their day was spent relatively quietly in front of the fire and the television, although Clarisse spent some of the afternoon absorbted in a book she had been wanting to read for a long time, and talking only about inconsequential things.

Joseph's attitude had changed considerably after her walk- while at brekfast, he had been indifferent and allowed her to get her own breakfast; at lunchtime, on the other hand, he was more helpful, giving her some space when needed yet being far more solicitious than previously. She appreciated the gestures, even felt a little better by his attention, but she knew they were still avoiding the discussion they so desperately needed, which was what she was mulling over as she continued staring at the same page in her book..

Before she could put her book down and initiate conversation, her husband surprised her by getting in first.

"I'm sorry about before," and it took a moment for her to gather her thoughts before turning to look at him.

"What for?"

"For shouting at you when we were outside- I never meant... I never have yelled at you like that before."

"Only when you were fiercely against something I wanted to, advised me against it and then I go against your wishes," she reminded him with a sheepish smile and he responded with a wry smile.

"True... but your instincts were usually right in any case."

"Mmm," she hummed non committedly before sighing, half contentedly and half sadly. "Oh Joseph... what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean... this, us. We can't keep going on like this, fighting, throwing ourselves into work we shouldn't be doing anymore and avoiding each other like the plague."

"I know," he sighed heavily. "This has gone on for too long and caused so much damage- I was hoping that us being here would help," he sounded regretful, resigned, and Clarisse was quick to reassure him.

"It has, it truly has, if only slightly at the moment... it was a brilliant idea to get us away from the palace... I didn't realize it then, but it's what I need, what we both need... and I think I wanted it too, although I probably didn't want to admit it at the time."

"I thought..."

"I'm glad we're here," she said fervently, moving closer to him and resting her hand almost timidly on top of his. "It doesn't seem as though anything has changed, but it has, I can feel it."

There was a pause as they sat there in silence, her hand still on top of his as they avoided each other's gaze, before Clarisse decided to leap in with the question that, in another form, had started a fight only the day before, but hopefully wouldn't do it again now.

"Joseph... tell me what you're really thinking and feeling."

The silence that followed was almost deafening- even the television seemed dimmer after she had spoken- and lasted so long that she was starting to grow worried that she had said the wrong thing, again, before...

"I'm afraid, that's why I've been so distant."

"Afraid of what?" she pressed gently, and there was another silence before he spoke again.

"Afraid of this all falling apart."

"All of what?"

"Us, this, our marriage... you really hurt me yesterday when you told me you didn't completely trust me."
"I know," she sad quietly, but didn't say anymore- she had had her confession time yesterday, now it was his turn.

"It made me feel... inadequate, as if I wasn't good enough for you, as if you deep down believed what certain factions believe about me."

"Never, never!" Clarisse cried passionately, tears stinging her eyes at the thought that anyone would think that. "I have NEVER thought that, and I am truly sorry if I ever gave you that impression."

"You didn't," he said immediately, almost as fervently. "It's just that my self doubts convinced me otherwise, hence I threw myself into helping Scott- I felt I was needed, I knew what I was doing... and then yesterday... you not trusting your husband..." he trailed off for a second. "I don't want our marriage to fail- I've waited too long for you to give up at the first sign of trouble," he finished decisively, but with hope in his voice.

"Yet we've had so much trouble lately," she sounded depressed. "I know they say the first year is the hardest, but this... we never used to argue like this before we were married."

"Except when you went against my advice," he grinned as he patted her hand, still on top of his, before entwining their fingers, and she had the grace to blush. "I too have been desparing about us and what we can do... in fact," he paused to take a deep breath in- this was a time for honesty, no matter how much it hurt.

"The night of the dinner party, when I made that smart remark..."

"While probably completely inappropriate, was a very good wake up call."

"Maybe so, but that night..." he took a deep breath in- this was harder than he had expected, but she deserved to know. "I was considering whether you and I really had a future together... whether our marriage was really worth saving..."