Non of these characters belong to me, they belong to Meg Cabot and Disney, Thanks for my reviews, you guys are great!

Marina watched them dance, god Her brother had fallen really bad! Clarisse was lovely and Marina had never doubted that she loved Joseph, not after meeting her. Of course it was obvious she was different from them-just the way she walked gave that away, her clothing and accent didn't help much either but Marina actually really liked her. She had been surprisingly shy and retiring, not at all what she had expected.

Joseph was now completely lost in her eyes, marina sighed-she felt as if she knew Clarisse inside out. Ever since she could remember Joseph would phone her, in tears, sounding happy or completely sullen telling her how much he loved the queen of Genovia and how they just couldn't be together. He'd tell her everything she would say and do that affected him, she couldn't see what was special about Clarisse at first. Yes, she was verygood looking and well educated but marina had heard how she was the proverbial ice-queen. But now she seen her brother with her, she understood. Clarisse completely captivated him and apparently he loved it. Marina was delighted to see him finally happy after years, it was the best he could ask for.

The dance ended and Clarisse smiled dreamily at him,

"thank you", she whispered.

"you're welcome", he said, placing a light kiss on her cheek.

"did I tell you that you look wonderful this evening?", he said walking her slowly back to the table.

"yes", she laughed, " a number of times", she said picking up her still full glass. She took a sip and screwed up her face. He watched her intently and began to laugh heartily.

"Oh Joseph! This is vile!", she said thrusting the glass back to his hand and wiping her mouth in a very un -lady like manner.

"sorry!", he laughed, " too strong?", he grinned.

"oh I couldn't possibly attempt to drink that!", she said airily.

"what's wrong?", joined in Roberto, rather puzzled.

"ah, drink just doesn't agree with my lovely wife!", Joseph answered with a smirk. Roberto laughed and smiled. He liked Clarisse, she certainly brought a different side out of his brother.

"that's not drink, that's like paraffin!", she pouted.

"ok! Ok!", he laughed, " I'll get you something else. Do you want to come with me?", he questioned, offering her his hand.

"yes I think that's the safest option", she said taking his hand and standing up.

"by the way," he said leading her to the bar, " have you ever drank paraffin?".

"No!", she laughed, tilting her head back. He watched her intently, she was so relaxed and safe and thank god, all his family loved her.

"good, I hoped not!", he said, stopping at the bar.

Miguel watched as his brother and his wife as theywalked to the bar. He said something and she laughed richly, tilting her head back. He smirked, she was even stuck-up when she laughed, though he had to admit she was a nice bit of work. She was full of herself though, far too sure of what she was.

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Clarisse rested her head on Joseph' shoulder, watching everyone as they danced. She was quite content and happy.

"are you enjoying yourself?", he questioned, pulling her a little closer.

"oh yes, yes it's so lovely and you're family are all so nice, so accepting", she answered honestly. Taking his hand.

"yes, they really like you but I knew they would. You just have to have a little more confidence in yourself", he smiled.

"years of being aware of people hating me has made me like this Joseph, I hate feeling that way but it's the way I am", she whispered.

"I know and never change", he smiled and twisted to the side so he could kiss her forehead.

"they're pretty into each other, Miguel", Carlos sighed and took a sip of beer.

"she's so stuck-up", Miguel moaned and leaned on the bar.

"I don't know Miguel", Carlos admitted, " she was really quiet and down to earth when Joe introduced me to her and Dominic says she's really nice".

"Dominic does everything my brother tells him too, right enough so does everybody in this hell hole!"

"Don't be so nasty, Joe got out of here and you're just jealous and he made something of himself", Carlos bit back.

"what did you say?", Miguel said heatedly.

" I said you're jealous", he repeated. Before Carlos knew where he was he was hitting the hard stone cobbles and Miguel was kicking his face. Joe moved quicker than lightning at the first sign of trouble, he always had to save Miguel's skin because of his nasty temper.

"No", he growled grabbing his brother forcefully and pulling him off of Carlos. Clarisse watched the other men help Carlos up and wondered what it was about, she thought about going after him then decided against it, not if it was to do with Miguel.

"what were you playing at?", Joe roared at his younger brother.

"Hitting that ass!", he shouted back, his breath hanging with stale alcohol.

"shut your mouth!", Carlos muttered from the ground.

"No Both of you shut your mouth!", Joe scolded, " what did you hit him for?", he questioned with sheer resilience in his eyes. Now Clarisse understood why Joe had been so good at his job, he could be very intimidating.

"Nothing", Miguel muttered.

"Liar!", Joe said calmly, " tell me the truth!"

"he was being nasty about you, I cut in and told him not to be crude about your wife, he just landed one right on me!", Carlos cut in.

"Yeah that's right, I was talking about your stuck- up bitch!", he shouted to the whole village. Clarisse cringed, more for Joseph than herself . Joseph was quiet for a moment, he knew Miguel was bad but not like this.

"well Miguel, you've proved yourself to be lower than I thought you were. You do not know Clarisse, you have no right to judge. I tried to make you live right but if you can't treat yourself with respect I was stupid to think you'd give anyone else it", he said flatly. He wasn't angry, more hurt than anything else. He didn't know her and yet he'd been cruel about her, it hurt more than ever. It was his brother, much younger than him-he'd taught him everything, or at least he'd tried. Joe looked at his brother and smiled sadly;

"I love Clarisse and if you can't except that then we're finished, Miguel," he said, giving up. He turned away from the young man and made his way back to the table, everyone in the square had become quiet and watched. Trust Miguel to ruin the party they all thought.

"let's go home", he said to Clarisse.

"Joe…", Marina tried, " he's drunk, he'll come round".
"Yeah, Joe", Eva reinforced. They all knew there younger brother was a handful but what he had said was out of order. They hated seeing Joe like this, so hurt by the boy he'd practically raised. Clarisse wasn't hurt but she was hurting for her husband.

"Look Clarisse and I, we're going to go home now. Love you all, we'll see you tomorrow", he said lucidly to the whole family, " it's good to be home."

Ohhhh, poor Joe! Nasty Miguel.

Yours,

M.