A/N: Two chapters in three days, not bad! I'm hoping to wrap this story up in the next chapter or so (I'm sure Joseph will be relaxed enough!) and develop other ideas!

Thanks to all my readers and reviewers- you all rock!

The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me

"So, what do we do now?" Joseph asked once they had pulled away and they were leaning back on the sofa, Joseph's arm around her and they were both gazing into the fire.

"I'm not quite sure."

"What?!" He pulled away and looked away at her with mock horror and disapproval. "I thought you were organised! You whisked me away from the palace for the day and yet… you don't have anything prepared?"

"Would you like to go for a run?" she teased and he laughed.

"I think not, not in the snow or with my knees the way they are!"

"Are your knees playing up again?" Clarisse suddenly turned concerned. "Maybe I shouldn't have… you drove all day yesterday and now…"

"Clarisse, Clarisse!" he took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. "I'm perfectly alright, my knees aren't giving me the slightest problems at the moment… I was just joking with you…I wouldn't mind going for a walk, though."

"That would be nice… if you wanted me to accompany you," she gave him a flirtatious smile and he laughed.

"I would be careful otherwise I might have to kiss you again," he threatened good-naturedly and she quickly dove out of the way by standing up.

"Oh no you don't, I know that you would like to do that… but a walk sounds appealing."

"Yes, it does to me too… and hopefully it's not too cool outside."

"It shouldn't be."

The air still had a touch of crispness as they stepped out of the wooden cabin and onto the porch, both of them wearing the heavy coats they had brought with them, but the sun was shining thinly through the grey clouds, onto the melting snow, revealing the green of the grass underneath.

"Where shall we go?" she glanced around- his cabin backed onto a deep wood forest, making the area seem cosy and even more isolated, and while the snow was melting and there was an obvious path that led into the forest, Clarisse couldn't help but shiver.

"Are you warm enough?" Joseph noticed her shiver immediately. "We don't have to go for a walk if you're too cold."

"I'm fine, I'm warm enough and I do want to go for a walk- I was just asking where shall we go?"

"Not into the forest, I think," he had seen her glance almost apprehensively in that direction. "It's quite nice in spring and summer, but in winter…."

"I'm not scared," she said indignantly.

"I never said you were- but even I wouldn't want to go into the woods in winter… we can walk up the driveway, towards the road, if you wish."

"That sounds like a nice idea," before she slipped her arm through his and, after walking around the car, they began their walk. "You should have a garden," Clarisse declared decisively and Joseph couldn't help but laugh.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, your advice is well appreciated."

"I didn't mean it as an insult!" Clarisse said, mortified that she had been so blunt but Joseph shrugged, not bothered.

"I know you didn't, but I'm never here enough to start a garden, let alone possess the interest or the passion in doing as much."

"I could send out some of the palace gardeners, if you wish," she offered and he chuckled but she noticed his shoulders stiffen slightly and she realised that she had insulted him again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that… if you don't want a garden, that's fine with me as well… I just thought if you needed some assistance…."

He stopped and turned to her with a gentle look.

"Thank you- and I mean it. I do appreciate your assistance and your very generous offer but, as I said before, it wouldn't be feasible… I'm not here enough."

"You could be, though."

"Are you trying to give me a hint… or a holiday?" he laughed out loud and she blushed deeply.

"No… no…."

"It's a joke, Clarisse, a joke," he tilted her chin up and gazed warmly into her blue eyes.

"Oh…" her mouth formed the word and he was tempted to kiss her again, but he didn't want to push her too far so, instead, he turned back towards the path and continued walking.

"My mother loved to garden," he said after a moment. "She used to grow some of the most beautiful flowers in her garden…"

"Really? I would have liked some hints."

"You don't need hints, you possess the same talent as she did."

"With a great deal of hard work as well."

"Exactly, that's what she said. Anyway, my brother and I often had to help in the garden… I'd say that's where my lack of interest in gardening started."

"It's a pity, gardening can be quite therapeutic."

"For you, maybe."

"Well… what do you do to relax? What do you find therapeutic after a long day in the security hub?"

"I often play cards with the other men… I like reading as well…and, before my knees started to go, I really enjoyed running… just getting out in the fresh air, away from the palace, the security team…"

"Me?" she teased and he chuckled as he stopped and looked at her again.

"Not necessarily… I never had to escape you… except when you were being particularly stubborn or difficult."

"I was never stubborn or difficult," she looked at him innocently. "I think my Head of Security was a bit stubborn himself at times."

"Touché, Your Majesty, touché!" he laughed and she joined in with a chuckle.

"Phillipe and Pierre loved running as well," she said reflectively. "Phillipe in particular… as he grew and got faster, he gave his security detail a merry chase."

"I remember that… they came to complain to me and I told them…"

"What did you tell them?"

"I told them to get fitter and faster," and both of them laughed again.

"Well, that wasn't very nice of Phillipe to deliberately do that… and I know he did that on purpose on occasion, and I told him off for it as well… but he just laughed and kept doing it."

"Well, I guess he learned his tricks from his mother."

"I never ran away from my security detail. Never," she turned to him indignantly and he gave her a look.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Clarisse…." he continued to give her a look and Clarisse finally had the grace to blush.

"Alright, on occasion I tried to… but it didn't work well, did it?" she gave him her own look and he shrugged.

"I was sworn to protect the Queen and protect the Queen I did," he said formally.

"Traitor," she muttered to herself but then he could see the smile creeping over her mouth.

"So, if Phillipe was more into running and sport….what was Pierre interested in?"

"He was always more serious than Phillipe and preferred reading, writing and studying… but I recall that he enjoyed playing tennis, soccer and some basketball…"

"Basketball? Really?"

"Occasionally, particularly when he was younger. He also enjoyed watching some of them on television… oh, and he was exceptional at swimming… Phillipe hated that."

"Yes, he was always competitive on the sporting field," Joseph agreed, remembering the times when the young princes had fought, Phillipe insisting that Pierre had cheated and vice versa, something he relayed to Clarisse moments later.

"Yes, well all children do that, don't they? Didn't you and your brother do that?"

"Oh yes, all the time… although, I have to admit that my brother was usually right, I did cheat on more than one occasion."

"Phillipe was the same, but Rupert always believed him over Pierre… poor Pierre," she said with a sigh and Joseph sighed as well.

They continued their work in a companionable silence, something that they had always been able to enjoy during their friendship- they didn't always have to speak, they enjoyed the silence and knew that if they had to talk, they could.

It was something that Clarisse had never experienced with Rupert and definitely something Joseph hadn't experienced with any of his past relationships and it was a quality that had convinced him long ago that his relationship with Clarisse was something different to anything else he had experienced, and it was worth pursuing, although he knew that there had been a connection between them, even from when they first met.

"Penny for our thoughts?" Clarisse asked gently and he shrugged.

"Nothing important."

"I see," was all she said- she didn't believe him, she could see that he had been thinking about something serious, but she didn't want to push.

Finally, they reached the end of the driveway- a trip that had gone faster than she had thought, but they had been talking and not aware of their surroundings- and she looked up and down the empty black road curiously.

"Do you know if you get much traffic up and down here?"

"Not much… hence, the appeal of the location of the cabin."

"Have you always been so isolationist?" she looked at him curiously and he shook his head.

"Not always."

"When did that change?"

"When I came to work in the palace and… constantly being surrounded by men, women…"

"Yes, it can get a little much," she agreed. "Why do you think I always tried to have a daily walk in the garden, simply just to get away for even ten minutes."

"That was very sensible of you."

"And this is very sensible of you… but won't you ever get lonely?"

"How can I get lonely when I'm never here?" he laughed openly.

"What about when you retire?"

"When I retire… maybe I will purchase another property somewhere and split my time between the two… but that's something that's hopefully a long way down the track," he said briskly, looking back up and down the road again before glancing at his watch.

"Would you like some lunch, Clarisse?"

"I would…"

"Well, by the time we get back to the cabin, it will be time for lunch… and I assume that your little assistants left food for there for lunch?" he teased as they turned back and she blushed again.

"I'm sure they would have."

"Good… then let's go and have some lunch and then relax before the fire."

"That sounds like a good plan."