No characters belong to me, just a few little ideas from my imagination. Characters property of Disney & Meg Cabot.

FIRSTS

Dance

'Thank you Joseph.' she said as she removed her glasses, curling the expensive neck chain around them and placing them on the table. She froze as she sensed his tentative steps towards her and felt her heart jump as he reached across, turning the music back on. 'You've been wearing black too long.' he said. Her sparkling eyes met his following his perceptive statement and a soft smile graced her lips. He offered his hand and she knew there was little point in resisting, that she did not even want to resist as she took his proffered hand and allowed him to lead her towards the centre of the room.

His fingers were gently holding hers, his other hand resting on her back as they moved slowly back and forth. This was by no means their first dance together, but it was their first since the loss of her husband the year before and her beloved Philippe six months earlier.

Joseph gently spun her out and she gracefully returned, curling into his embrace, closer to him than she felt was wise, but as both pairs of hands were gently pressed together, Joseph's arm wrapped around her and their bodies closely entwined, she felt safe and secure; a feeling only he could elicit.

Their hips swayed, the gentle caress of their fingers uniting them as they gazed into each other's eyes, both smiling contentedly as they almost floated around the room. Clarisse had long since sensed her Head of Security's deep affection for her and had secretly been harbouring her own deep feelings; feelings so intense that they terrified her to her very core and she knew it was best to do as she had always done: bury her emotions deeply beneath that shell of perfection and duty.

As the music came to an end they stalled in their movements and Joseph immediately saw her fear shadow her beautiful crystalline eyes. No matter how much he desired it though, he could not, not yet.

One arm still wrapped around her, he lifted her hand to his lips, gently pressing them to her soft skin, his eyes still focused on hers as he longed for her to see in them the true depth of his love for her. He slowly pulled back, finally easing his arm from around her slender waist, but Clarisse was not ready to let go, and continued to hold his hand as she closed the gap between them once more and reached up to lightly caress his cheek, hoping to convey in this most tentative of touches just how intense her own feelings were.