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

The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me

"This is nice," Clarisse said a little while later as, while she set the table and brought different parts of their meal to the table, Joseph was in the kitchen, chopping up salad and finishing grilling the chicken for their lunch.

"What is?" he asked as he came to the table with the grilled chicken and the salad bowl, setting them down on the table before coming around and holding Clarisse's chair out for her.

"This. Us," she said, waving at the table between them. "Just doing something as normal as preparing lunch together… I haven't had that opportunity in years."

"It's not all that wonderful."

"You're probably blasé about it because you have to prepare your own meals…" although she didn't think that he had prepared his own meals for a long time, courtesy of the palace chefs, not that she held it against him, he worked hard and deserved to eat the best food.

"Well, only when I'm not working… if I am…"

"Which is all of the time," Clarisse smiled at him.

"True… but if I am working, I am very fortunate enough to have my meals prepared by some of the best chefs in Genovia… and their food is much, much better than anything I could prepare."

"I don't know about that," she said after she took a bite of the chicken. "I know that you can cook and that you're quite a good one…"

"Where did you hear that?"

"The maids… they know everything," she looked at him meaningfully and he chuckled.

"Those dratted maids," he mock complained, although he had to admit that they came in useful at times, particularly in regards to Her Majesty and her doings (particularly her moods). "They have to know everything."

"Takes one to know one," Clarisse teased. "You are just as bad… and I assume that you get some of your information from my maids."

"I wouldn't say that," he frowned.

"I would, though… and I don't mind that you get information about me from them… as long as that information doesn't go any further than you."

"Of course it wouldn't go any further than me," he looked slightly insulted. "You can trust me on that."

"Indeed I can," she gave him a warm smile and it was his turn to flush and look down at his plate. "Anyway, as I was saying, this food is delicious… and just as good, if not better than the chef's food."

"I wouldn't tell them that… and I have to disagree with you on that. They cook very well for the Queen."

"Exactly, they cook for the Queen. Yes, they do cook delicious food and I'm very appreciative of what they do… but sometimes… sometimes… even just a simple grilled chicken salad such is this is what I want."

"Then I'm pleased that I've been able to help you today."

"Even though it's your day off… you've driven up here and prepared our lunch… "

"It's been a great day off, and I've even found driving and cooking quite relaxing… as well as other things…" he looked at her meaningfully and she blushed.

"I was glad to be of assistance," she finally murmured in response and they ate in silence for a while before he decided to break the silence by changing the subject.

"So. Now it's time to talk about you," he said decisively and she looked up in surprise.

"What?"

"Now it's time to talk about you. We've talked about you, we've got a few solutions that I plan to put into action when we return to the palace… now it's time to talk about you and what you have been doing."

"You know what I've been doing…."

"Yes, on the schedule but I want you tell me about what you actually did… how you've been doing."

"I've been doing fine," Clarisse said simply, embarrassed that he kept turning the conversation towards her but appreciative that he wanted to know about her life- she had to admit that their respective lives were as different as day and night, and their only shared common experience was their burgeoning relationship.

"Really? You've been resting well, getting enough sleep, eating enough?"

"I would have thought you would have noticed the above if I hadn't been," she chortled.

"Well, I would have… but, as I would have to admit, I have been more than a little preoccupied as late."

"I've noticed… no, I've been alright. Yes, I have been sleeping and eating well… you sound like my doctor…"

"Weren't you just as worried about me a couple of hours earlier?" he looked at her pointedly and she nodded.

"Alright, alright, you've made your point."

"We are allowed to care about each other, remember? We're in a relationship, are we not?"

"I... I… I suppose we are," she stammered, blushing a deep red again- she knew that they were in a relationship, if they weren't, she would hardly been letting him kiss her, but… she still wasn't quite sure whether she was ready to declare it openly. "I… I…."

"I know," he leaned over and rested a hand on top of hers. "I know that you're still not sure about what's happening, or that you're ready to admit it, even to yourself, I know that and I can wait…but I was just trying to make the point that we are friends as, as such, we can worry about each other."

"True."

"So, since I haven't been quite good company in the last few months, I want to know how you are and how things are with you."

"Honestly, they're fine," she shrugged lightly and he looked at her pointedly. "Really. Yes, there will always be members of parliament that will cause me problems- although they weren't so bad during the Christmas period just gone…"

"I'm glad of that because, if I had had to deal with them in my mood, I probably would have been fired."

"Which is why you were more than a little busy in the security hub," she said with her own pointed look. "I didn't need any more complications than I already had."

"Are you saying that….?"

"I'm not saying that I wouldn't have appreciated you coming to my defence, that's what I always appreciate about you, your willingness to do that… but it would have attracted attention to the fact that you were stressed and acting less as a HOS but more like a jealous boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? You're calling me boyfriend?" he teased and she nodded. "Well, if that's the case, then you're my girlfriend…."

"Girlfriend?" she wrinkled her nose in disgust, feeling nervous again at the fact that they were quantifying their relationship by defining the titles they would inhabit.

"I'm not sure of the sound of that… I'm too old to be considered a girlfriend."

"Just as I am too old to be considered a boyfriend… but if the title fits," he winked at her and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"We'll see," was all she said and Joseph decided not to push the situation.

"So, what do we do now?" he inquired as they sat back in their chairs, their plates empty.

"You're really full of questions today, aren't you Mr Head of Security?" Clarisse teased lightly. "I knew that I liked to know everything that was going to happen but I never thought that it would apply to you as well."

"I guess that means we have something else in common…."

"Which is what?"

"We're both control freaks," and they both burst out laughing at his words. "Of necessity, of course."

"Of course. I wouldn't mind to have a little more leisure time and have less work to do."

"As would I."

"Hence today."

"Hence today… although I have to feel sorry for the men back at the palace, they're not having a day off."

"On the contrary, they are."

"They are?" Joseph looked puzzled.

"Yes, they are… you're not there," she joked with a sly smile and Joseph couldn't help but roar with laughter.

"True enough. They did deserve a day off…"

"That they did."

"So?"

"So… what?"

"What are we going to do now?"

"I have one suggestion…."

"What?"

"Washing up!" she suggested with a bright smile.

0

"I've never had time to do this either," Clarisse said twenty minutes later as, after they finished the washing up, they curled back up on the sofa in front of the fire and Joseph flicked on the television with the remote resting on the table beside him. "I do watch a little at night but I much prefer reading…"

"Hopefully not paperwork…"

"Sometimes… and I know you don't approve of that," Clarisse added hastily, seeing his mouth open, about to register his disapproval. "But sometimes it's necessary… although I will reassure you that I would much prefer reading a book rather than paperwork."

"Yes, I would prefer to do that as well."

"Do you watch much television?"

"A bit, in the security hub, when it's quiet and…"

"When I've retired for the night," Clarisse finished with a smile.

"Yes, then too… and I occasionally watch the set in my room when I'm fed up with dealing the men… but I much prefer the peace and quiet of a dark room when I go to bed. I spend enough time talking and watching other people, at night, I would prefer to just shut down and not worry about anything at all."

"That's what I try to do as well, but sometimes it's difficult…"

"It would be difficult for you, you are the leader of a nation and have much on your mind."

"Yes… I can know understand how Rupert found it difficult to sleep… he often spent late nights in his study and then usually only had a few hours' sleep, I don't know how he did it."

"Neither do I, but it seemed to work for him."

"It doesn't work for me, though."

"Why should it? You're a different person and have different needs to him."

"Still…."

"Don't compare yourself to him, you are nothing like him," he said definitely, reaching over and squeezing her hand tightly. "In no way, shape or form are you like Rupert… may he rest in peace," he added almost grudgingly, although Clarisse never expected him to do as everyone else did and add that phrase every time they mentioned the late King's name.

"Well, one major difference is that I'm a woman," she said flippantly, but the expression in his eyes didn't change one iota.

"And a much, much better ruler than His Majesty."

"That's debatable," she responded, still trying to be flippant- she could sense the tension in the room and she was trying to diffuse it.

"DON'T say that about yourself," he almost growled as he moved closer to her, her hand still firmly squeezed in his hand. "Don't you dare…"

"Joseph…" she said almost breathlessly.

"Clarisse…" he responded, inching ever so closer to her and she knew that he was going to kiss her again and that there was nothing she could do to stop it… not that she wanted to- Joseph was the only man she had always felt powerfully attracted to (she had been fond of Rupert but what they had shared was nothing compared to this), a sensation that she had never experienced before and while it frightened her, it was also exhilarating… for once, she wasn't Queen, she was simply Clarisse, a woman… a woman in love with a man… she was in love with Joseph, she knew in that heartbeat and she knew that she would never love as much as she loved him…..