Author's note: So, here we are at the Epilogue. I always wanted to end it like this and it might not be very satisfying for some readers but I do believe that, in cannon at least, they'd never have an affair. That's not to say they wouldn't do it in my alternative universe.

Anyway, a big thank you to all of you for your generous feedback and reviews. I am so so grateful for them all. Please keep reading what I write. I really enjoy it.

With further ado...

Epilogue

Andre had made it a rule, when Joseph reduced his share in the company to a non-controlling one, that he'd take every single weekend to himself and spend time with Maria and the children. It had been a few years of constant work and it had felt, at that point, like a punch in the gut when his friend walked out. Now it was his wife and the children and the grandkids he spent the weekends with and he was glad he'd made that little vow in a short-lived temper. He'd been incredibly angry at first, nearly coming to blows with Joe over his decision to leave their company and take up the full time role of Head of Security in Genovia. It felt like so long ago now that it had been stupid to be so angry at him but at the time it had been a betrayal of everything they'd set out to do.

He often wondered whether he'd been afraid not of Joseph leaving but of what his decision would eventually do to him. When Joe had thundered out of the office that morning Andre had told him never to bother coming back, and that he'd put his money from the selling share into his bank account, he'd really meant it. But by the time night had fallen he had been able to examine himself and had known, for the very first time, his friend was happy.

And he was angry at himself for denying him that.

Andre had went straight to his friend's apartment and apologised and asked him to stay on as an advisor to the company and as a partner. Through a smile, a genuinely sore one, his friend agreed. Then Joe had cried for hours and Andre had never asked why, he had been too afraid of hearing the truth.

He hadn't really thought about this for a long, long time and he was only forced to think of it today because of the wedding being screened this morning. When he thought of Joseph he thought of long weekends in Genovia and that sports bar his friend was so fond of; not of the fights they had once had or the time that Joseph scrapped their dream in favour of his own. He thought of how his friend was Jaime's godfather and one of the best men he knew. The reason it was so concerning him today though was the phone call he'd received that morning. Joe usually phoned once or twice a week, as had been their habit since the moment he'd moved across the border, but he hadn't bothered at all in the last two weeks until this morning.

He had phoned to tell him he was resigning from his role of twenty-five years. No pleasantries, no football chat or inanities, just that. He had handed in a letter of resignation to the queen. He made a lame joke about them retiring at the same time. Andre had been so shocked he didn't even ask why.

"Want to watch this?"

Maria sat down beside him and pulled him from his recollection, proffering the remote control for the TV on the far wall. He hadn't told her about the call because it wasn't sitting easily with him. They'd escaped Madrid and come home for the weekend, meaning that both were a little worse for wear having caught up with Rita and Miguel and their spouses the night before in the little bar that the Romerros owned in the town square. They'd been coming home more recently since Andre was about to hand control of the company over to Jaime. Then they'd been in the farmhouse till four a.m that morning.

"You're shouting," he grumbled, feeling sensitive.

"I'm not," she said, nudging him, "Do you think we'll see Joe?"

"No, he hates being seen," the channel burst to life and they watched as the young princess walked down the aisle, "No, there's Pierre though, see?"

"Yes."

The once crown prince had come here before abdicating and helped on the Romerros fishing boat and prayed with the local priest and stayed at the farmhouse for months on end. He'd needed to escape, according to Joe, and Miguel had taken him under his wing at Joe's request. He still visited annually and called Rita in particular, who had adopted him as she adopted everyone who was lost or broken.

"He looks so much older," she said absently, picking at her breakfast omelette with distaste.

"He is much older…but he looks happier," Andre answered, watching as the princess slowed down and her face darkened, "She doesn't look too happy, does she?"

"No," Maria agreed, sitting forward as the princess spoke and then turned on her heels, "Now that's not good at all."

The transmission cut out then and onto the T.V. came an image of one of the quaintly cobbled shopping streets of Pyrus. The voice over, obviously not expecting this, apologised for the issues in transmission and then some jaunty classical music took her place.

Maria laughed, "It looks lovely right enough. You should take me on one of your boys' trips. Joe would love that."

Andre kept on staring, wondering what terrible issue Joe was trying to solve now. He only shared bits and pieces but Andre had heard and seen enough to know just how involved Joseph was. He had known his friend to be a fool and a rake but it turned out that he had impressive patience and loyalty too. And of course, it had occurred to Andre one day that his friend was irreversibly in love with the one woman he couldn't have. It seemed utterly simple at the same time as it was bizarre.

He had thought Joe would get over it, he'd leave one day and never go back. He thought one day he'd turn up at the offices and tell Andre he was over it. He still hadn't and it had been a very, very long time.

"What do you think has happened?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, "Typical drama. I'm going to go out and start the garden. It's woeful."

He bent down and kissed the top of her head. He was barely in the garden though before she was at the kitchen door, calling him back in.

"Seriously," she said incredulously, "You'll want to see this."

"What?"

"I…ah...just come," she shook her head, "Honestly."

He stood before the television and watched as his best friend, the man he'd suffered the terrors of military training with and who'd been beside him at the altar as he married Maria, stood before the Archbishop of Pyrus and married the Dowager Queen with her oldest son and granddaughter standing as witness. He was genuinely shocked and both entirely unsurprised.

"Son of a bitch," he whispered, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he leaned forward, and watched his best friend slip the ring onto his new wife's finger, "That absolute son of a bitch."

His wife was watching him with disbelief, "You knew about this?"

"For a very long time," he smiled, his initial shock being replaced with happiness, "I…I…You've never seen him look at anyone like this before."

She swatted his chest, "And you never said?"

"I don't know," he took a seat, never tearing his eyes away as Joe leaned forward and kissed the queen, who he'd met only twice. Then it had been so obvious, so clear, what had made Joseph want to stay.

"He's never said outright," he simply said, "And he is fiercely protective of her, you know that. He finally has what he stayed for I think. He just had…," he laughed loudly then and felt his face stretch into another smile. He was irritating Maria with his half-talk, his half-stories, but he couldn't help it.

"That's why he stayed?"

She finally asked.

Andre motioned towards the screen, "Yeah, but look at that smile. Wasn't it worth it? He was only meant to go for a year…and look what happened."