Author's note: here's another chapter and, at the moment, it's my favourite chapter! I also put in some of the conversation from the outtakes! Hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it!

NB: The Princess Diaries belongs to Meg Cabot and Disney.

Clarisse Renaldi Bonnell, former Queen of Genovia, slowly opened her eyes and stared at the cream coloured ceiling for a moment. She had been having the most wonderful dream about her wedding to Joseph…she looked over and smiled at her husband, sleeping peacefully beside her. Although she knew it had happened, she almost always looked over to see whether Joseph was really asleep beside her- she had been doing it almost daily for the past year. It had never ceased to amaze her that he was there- when she had been married to Rupert, he had usually slipped out by the time she woke up and, although she hadn't really thought about it until now, it had been rather lonely waking up alone. She now never failed to appreciate waking up beside Joseph, her husband, and the love of her life.

For he was the love of her life- sure, she had been married to Rupert for nearly 40 years, given him two sons, and had been his Queen Consort for nearly 30 years, but there had been very little tenderness between them. They had been virtual strangers on their wedding day, although Rupert had tried to bridge the gap- but, in the ensuing years (particularly after their sons were born), they had managed to develop a warm, but not necessarily close, friendship… but it hadn't been love.

But when she had first met Joseph…she had sensed something very special about him…not that she had been seeking love, or even friendship, but since he had worked as her bodyguard for over 25 years, it was natural that something would develop between them…but to finally admit their feelings for each other, and marry in front of the entire parliament…that was something she hadn't imagined, not in a million years!

Since Joseph was still asleep, she decided to get out of bed and get their cups of tea. As she passed her desk, now blissfully clear of papers, she glanced at the calendar and beamed. Mia's wedding was in two days, but the day after that was their first wedding anniversary! It was difficult to believe that they had been married nearly a year…it still seemed like yesterday…particularly with the reaction in the newspapers the following morning….

The morning after the wedding, Clarisse had opened her eyes and looked the ceiling- much as she had been doing for the past thirty something years she had been sleeping in this suite- and thought about the day before. Mia and Andrew would be on their honeymoon by now, and she could begin her day's work when she had her breakfast…there would be a lot of congratulatory telegrams and cards to answer, and she knew Charlotte would help her.

But, as she tried to slip out of bed, she was surprised to feel an arm around her shoulder…She looked over and almost jumped- Joseph was sleeping beside her! What was he doing in here? Surely she didn't have that much to drink last night, and…As she tried to push the covers back, she looked down at her left hand. There, sparkling on her ring finger, was a slim gold wedding band, and it wasn't the one Rupert had given her……

She looked over at Joseph again and, as realisation hit her, her eyes filled with tears- they had been married yesterday at the church, instead of Mia! Everything that had happened yesterday hadn't been a dream- she had really married Joseph!
She gently slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Joseph, and watched him for a moment, with a smile. He looked so peaceful…and so handsome…she fought the urge to lean over and kiss him, instead walking out of the room. She was going to bring him a cup of tea in bed.

As usual, her tray was waiting for her, but now there were two cups and saucers waiting for her, as well as the papers sitting beside the tray. Curious to see the headlines, she ignored the tea, and unfolded the papers.

Blared on the front page of the top one was: SHOCK WEDDING SWAP- QUEEN MARRIES BODYGUARD!", while another read "QUEEN CLARISSE MARRIES BODYGUARD IN SURPRISE WEDDING EXCHANGE WITH PRINCESS MIA!"

All of them, it seemed, were disgusted that Elsie Kentworthy had had all the exclusive details of the non marriage of the princess, and the marriage of the Queen to her bodyguard. She smiled softly as she read them- it was obviously a surprise to everyone that she had married her bodyguard but, at the moment…she couldn't care less!

As she read one of the articles, she felt an arm creep around her waist, and a soft kiss land on her neck. With a joyful smile, she turned to collide with Joseph, standing there in one of his bathrobes (they had moved his belongings in the suite the previous evening), giving her a gentle smile.

"Good morning, my beautiful wife," he beamed happily at her, before pulling her closer, both arms around her waist, and kissing her.

"Good morning, my handsome husband," she replied when they broke apart. "I was going to bring in a cup of tea for you," she continued, turning away to pour, but Joe pulled her firmly away, and kissed her again.

"That's sweet, my wife bringing in tea for me- I was actually planning to do the same for you."

"Why don't we do it for each other, anyway?" she suggested happily. "Although," she added as she headed towards the bedroom. "I won't be doing this every day!"

"Well," Clarisse began shyly, climbing onto her side of the bed. "I've though about that, and I'm not going to work today!"

"Why not?" Joseph looked at her, surprised.

Clarisse smiled at the memory as she placed two cups and saucers on the tray, and carefully carried it into the bedroom. To her delight, Joseph was awake, and halfway out of bed.

"I thought you had run away, so I was coming to find you," he explained as she brought the tray around to his side. "Although," he said, getting back into bed. "This is service with a smile!"

"Like I told you before, this isn't going to happen all the time!"

"No, just every second day," Joe retorted, and they laughed- they had taken it in turns to bring cups of tea to bed, despite Clarisse's earlier edict.

"I can't help it," she protested. "Whenever I wake up, I just want to get it for you…" she trailed off as she climbed onto her side of the bed, before Joe wrapped his arms around her.

"Good morning," he said softly, before kissing her, and she smiled.

"Good morning," she replied, kissing him in return. There was a comfortable pause as they each took a sip of their tea, before Clarisse said:

"I dreamed about our wedding again last night."

"What- as a nightmare?" he joked, and she laughed, lightly slapping him on the arm. "Hey, watch the tea!"

"No, just as a lovely movie about everything that has happened. When I woke up, I had to look over at you to make sure that it wasn't a dream.

Joseph, grinning, leaned over and gave her a long and tender kiss.

"Does that seem like a dream to you?"

"No," she replied dreamily- she loved it when he kissed her. After so many years of stolen kisses and looks, it was wonderful to be able to kiss and show affection whenever they wanted- usually in the privacy of their own suite.

"Do you realise that it's almost a year since we were married?"

"Yes- we're three days away."

Clarisse looked at him in surprise- Rupert had never made the effort to remember how far they were from their anniversary, although he usually remembered the actual day.

"How do you know that?"

"Because…" Joseph looked bashful for a moment. "I've been counting all the days since that day."

"Why?" Clarisse was genuinely touched at his confession.

"It's been a habit of mine…I used to dream of counting the days till we were together…and now we are…." He looked shyly down at the sheet for a moment, and Clarisse moved over and lifted his head to face hers.

'That must be the romantic thing I have ever heard of in my life….and it's so sweet of you to do that…I actually never allowed myself to dream of that. I just told myself that it was never going to happen, so I might as well get used to it."

"Luckily, you were wrong," Joe put an arm around her, and she put her head on his shoulder.

"I actually thought I had lost you…that night I….."

"Turned me down," Joe said soberly.

"Have you been thinking about us?" Joseph hated to ask the question- he loved having her lean on him like that- but he had been waiting nearly two weeks for her reply, and he couldn't wait any longer.

She hesitated to look up at him- she hated what she was going to tell him- and he realised that he already knew her answer.

"Yes I have," Clarisse said calmly, looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes, and he suddenly couldn't bear to stay there and see the compassion and pity in her eyes.

"Well…if you'll excuse me," he tried to pull away from her, but she wouldn't let him go. She didn't want to do this, not at all, and her heart was breaking, but he had to know that there were too many other things going on at the moment…

"You have to know what I was going to say," she said desperately. "Mia needs me now more than ever before. It's the monarchy. I mean, as Queen it's my responsibility. You know how it is."

And she knew he knew how it was- but maybe too much so, when he turned to look at her with disappointed eyes, she wanted to crawl under a rock. He had never asked anything of her, yet had given her everything she had needed, and now…

"You were never just my Queen, Clarisse. You were the someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

She tried to protest- there was nothing more she wanted than being married to him, but only if he could wait a little longer. However, he wasn't going to let her explain.

"But, if you prefer me to see you first and foremost as Queen, I will oblige…Your Majesty."

He inclined his head when she tried to touch his face, as she had done millions of times before, before walking out the door.

Clarisse watched the empty doorway in desperation- she was hoping that he would come back, that he hadn't meant what he said, that he still saw her as 'Clarisse' rather than Queen…but, as the moments passed, she knew he wasn't going to come back.

She walked over to where the CD was still playing, and slammed the thing off- the last thing she needed to hear was wedding music when she had just lost the only man she had really, truly loved.

"Your Majesty may I have Princess Mia come join you now to look over the wedding details?," came a voice from behind her, and she turned to see Charlotte, with her ever present clipboard

"No, I... Princess Mia doesn't need…Not now, Charlotte."

She started to turn away, when Charlotte's voice interrupted her thoughts again.

"Did you wish to be served in the dining room…?" Suddenly, Clarisse had had enough.

"NO! I just want one second for myself…" before she realised what she had done, and turned back to Charlotte. "Charlotte…I'm sorry…I'll get something from the kitchen later."

However, she was surprised to see Charlotte still looking at her, but with compassion in her face.

"I understand, Your Majesty."

And they shared a long look, whereby Clarisse realised that Charlotte did understand- more than she had ever realised.

"Really? You shouted at Charlotte? I don't think I've ever heard you shout at anyone- not even Mia when she's been particularly naughty!" Joseph joked, but deeply moved at how upset Clarisse had been that evening, and had lashed out at the nearest person.

"Yes, and it was a tribute to Charlotte's loyalty that she never mentioned it to anyone," Clarisse said thoughtfully. She had forgotten all about that until just then.

"You've always had Charlotte's loyalty and affection- that's not going to change, even now that she's in parliament."

"What about you?" Clarisse turned to him after a pause. "What did you do that night, when I turned you down?"

Joseph looked pensive, as he tried to remember the night when he thought he had lost his one and only love forever.

He had forced himself to say the words after Clarisse's speech, but he felt as though his heart had shattered into a million pieces. The one woman he had loved and cared about, not to mention protected over 20 years, had turned him down. He had asked several women, over the years, to marry him but they had all gently turned him down- they all wisely saw that there was only one he wanted- the Queen of Genovia.

He managed to stumble to the door, and after he left, he leaned against the wall for a moment, hoping against hope that Clarisse would follow him and tell him she had changed her mind. But, as he saw Clarisse move to shut the CD down, her head bowed, he knew that she wouldn't do that, so he decided he needed to go for a long, long walk. He wasn't on duty that night, so he was free to do what he wished.

He headed down towards the lake- he had often taken moonlight walks down there when he couldn't sleep, or he was worried about Clarisse. He had been tempted to take her down there one night, but he didn't want to cause any further gossip about their relationship. It was bad enough that Viscount Mabrey had made the hint at the inspection of the troops, and this would be just the ammunition that he needed to try and control the parliament.

"Our Princess is a klutz who doesn't know the people, while her grandmother lowers her standards to date her bodyguard…what else do we need?" Joe could hear him say to his cronies in parliament. He didn't want Clarisse's reputation ruined by gossip.

But now…now that he had lost her, he didn't want to be down here, but it was as if a magnet had attracted him, as he stood and looked out on the lake. It was such a peaceful place down here…he had dreamed of taking Clarisse on a picnic out here…yet that was all over.

He sighed, and turned around to look back at the sparkling lights of the palace- in there was Clarisse, the woman he had loved for a long, long time, and she was probably going about her business without a thought of what had happened between them…No, he knew her better than that, she would be hurting deep in her heart…He felt a lump well up in his throat…

But why did they have to come second to everything else in her life? Mia, it was understandable that she was a priority (he would have questioned it if she hadn't been), but that parliament and the people…the future of Genovia was assured- Mia would marry Andrew, a boy with much less spirit that Mia had in her little finger, and then become Queen of Genovia…why were their lives in the hands of the parliament?

Just then, another thought struck him- how on earth was he going to be able to work with Clarisse after this? It had been easier before, while they were friends, although there were simmering feelings between them…but now, he didn't think he could bear being around her anymore than necessary- and he was Head Of Security, not to mention the Queen's main bodyguard.

He sighed, and continued walking past the lake, deep into the grounds of the palace…he knew these grounds so well, he wasn't worried that he would get lost…How could they still work together? He didn't think he could so, he thought to himself, there was no option but to hand in his resignation- but he wouldn't do it until after Mia's wedding.

"You were going to resign?" Clarisse was looking at him, wide eyed. "But, what if I hadn't accepted your resignation? What if I had said that I wanted only you as my bodyguard?"

"All I can say is, it was up to you- but wouldn't it have been rather awkward with the man you had turned down only recently?"

"True…" Clarisse said thoughtfully, and then looked back at him. "But I would have married you in a minute if I had been able to then…I was actually hoping that, once Mia had become Queen, I would have come after you, and begged for your forgiveness."

"On your hands and knees? I wouldn't have accepted it otherwise," Joseph said seriously, but there was a smile teasing the edges of his mouth. Clarisse pretended to look shocked.

"A former Queen begging on her hands and knees? I would have liked to have seen someone make me do that!"

"So would I," Joe said with a grin.

"But I would have," Clarisse said softly. "Would you have forgiven me?"

"Let me see…" Joe pretended to think for a moment, and then laughed. "Of course I would have- you can be charming when you want to be…and I can never resist those eyes!"

He pulled her close and they shared a long, tender kiss, before Clarisse snuggled in closer to him.

"What are on the plans for today, then?" Joe asked, gently brushing the top of her hair with his lips.

"Mmmm….I think….oh my goodness!" she sat bolt upright in bed. "I just realised- the rehearsal dinner is tonight! Mia's getting married in two days…there is so much still to do!"

She tore out of bed, and reached for her bathrobe, pausing when she saw Joseph chuckling at her as he slowly got out of bed.

"What?"

"You're not Queen anymore, and you're still doing way too much…can't you just relax and enjoy this wedding?"

"I want to make it perfect for her- and Mia does need the help…I was wondering," she suddenly became coy, and Joe was instantly suspicious- he had come to realise that she only tried that trick when she wanted something.

"What is it?" he asked warily.

"I was wondering if you could help me do a few things today…just minor details, before you go with Nicholas to pick up his suit."

"Alright…as long as we get some free time this afternoon- just you and me!"

"Deal!" she beamed, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Now I'd better go have a shower- Mia's expecting me in half an hour!"

Joe watched, grinning, as Clarisse began rummaging in her closet before heading into the shower. She was still doing almost everything she did as Queen- except the official business- but he was happy to see her looking so happy and relaxed…As he thought about that, their anniversary came to mind….although it was their first, it was still a momentous occasion, and he wanted to make it all the more special….what was he going to do?