Allyson fell back into her routine at the coffee shop, while JC was in and out of studios getting music ready for other artists.

Over the course of their conversations, JC had a handle on Allyson’s schedule and had confirmed she would be in town without plans Labor Day weekend.

JC called his manager, “Hey, I’ll be out of town for the next few days. I’ll be back on Tuesday, but I will not pick up Saturday through Monday. I am visiting Allyson, and that’s all I’m doing. No work, no appearances.” His request was met without argument.

Normally, JC would avoid morning flights at all costs, but he wanted to spend as much time with Allyson as possible, so by 6 a.m., he was on a plane bound for D.C., scheduled to arrive a little after 2:30.

Being Labor Day weekend, it worked out to have an earlier flight because it was not as packed as the later flights would be.

Arriving at Reagan International Airport without incident but full of excitement to surprise Allyson, JC grabbed his bag off the carousel and almost ran to the Metro to get to Tenleytown as quickly as he could so he could surprise Allyson.

Allyson was washing dishes after finishing up lunch when she heard a knock on the door.

“That’s odd,” she said to herself, turning the water off and drying her hands. She moved closer to the door, but waited to hear if the mystery guest on the other side of the door knocked again. Three knocks, right on cue. 

She made her way to the door and looked out the peephole, not believing her eyes. She had never opened a door faster, her mouth open wide in shock.

“Surprise!” JC said, striking a pose with his arms out.

“What the? How? Hi!” she said, hugging him as tightly as she could before they both moved inside. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to surprise my girl,” he said with a cheeky grin.

“Well, consider me surprised. I wondered why you didn’t text me back earlier today. Now it makes sense.”

JC pulled out his phone and looked at the unanswered text he had from her. “What’s on your agenda for today?” he read aloud. “Well, I’m flying to D.C. to surprise a beautiful woman.”

She smiled up at him before pressing her lips onto his. “You’re something else, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know,” he responded with a feigned cockiness.

“Shut up!” she laughed as she hit his arm.

Mandy was gone for the weekend, visiting her family in Cape Cod, so JC and Allyson took advantage by snuggling up on the couch. Mandy was not comfortable with that kind of affection in their shared space.

JC had his legs up on an ottoman as Allyson had her feet stretched out on the couch and her head resting right where JC’s shoulder met his chest.

“This is nice,” Allyson said, as she adjusted herself to a more seated position rather than lounging.

“This is what I miss most about you not being in LA,” JC said, kissing the top of her head, as he wrapped his arm around her midsection, his fingers gently resting on her waist. Allyson’s shirt had come up just slightly to where his fingers were touching her skin directly. The touch created goosebumps all over her body, like it was the first time her skin had felt his fingers.

She shivered a little from the feeling she was having and that it tickled a little, causing JC to question if she was comfortable.

“Yes,” she said, as she snuggled closer to him, allowing his arm to wrap further around her waist to where it almost reached around to her stomach, still resting on her bare skin, thanks to how the shirt shifted over his arm instead of the other way around.

She reached down and interlaced her fingers with his, letting out a content sigh in his ear.

“Exactly,” he said, as Notting Hill returned from a commercial.

After a few hours spent on the couch, Allyson brought up the topic of dinner, knowing JC had only snacked since arriving in D.C.

“Well, I thought I would cook something,” JC said, waiting for a reaction.

“Really?”

“Hell no! But I was doing my research in the airport, and found a few places? I won’t lie to you, Ben’s Chili Bowl seems pretty rad. I know it’s not fancy, but it looks great.”

“It is good! Yeah, let’s go. It’s early enough that we’ve got time to get out there, and we don’t have to change.”

Enjoying a dinner of chili, they discussed more in depth all the places Allyson had applied to and her plan moving forward.

“I’ll wait one more week before I start sending out another round of applications,” she said.

“Stick with it. Something will come up. It has to,” JC said, bringing a spoonful of chili to his mouth.

“I know. I just wish it would be soon.”

It was a little after 8:30 when they arrived back at Allyson’s apartment. JC had originally booked a room at a hotel downtown, but canceled his remaining nights, at Allyson’s suggestion. They debated using the room for one night, but opted to eat the cost of the first night. JC wouldn’t admit it, but he was still nervous about paparazzi getting a photo of him with Allyson. He had been careful, but going in or leaving a hotel with her would make her the center of attention.

“Do you want the couch or the bed?” he asked sincerely, but with a little hint of cheekiness.

“I want to recreate LA,” she said with a smile. 

JC could just chuckle. “Well, OK, then. Bed it is.”

After watching a movie and doing their bedtime routines, Allyson climbed into the bed, and JC filled in the spot next to her, draping his arm around her.

They just smiled at each other for a moment before she confessed, “I’ve never wanted to wake up next to anyone before. I never thought I cared about waking up alone or with someone. Until this. Until you.”

JC smiled and softly kissed her lips. “Remember last time I tried that here?”

They both laughed. “Yeah, things might have changed a little since then,” she said through the laughs.

“Maybe a little. And I’m so glad.”

“Me too,” she smiled back at him before taking her turn to initiate the kiss. “I still can’t believe you flew out here like this. Why?”

“Why not,” he said between kisses. “I missed my girl, wanted to see her, hold her, and I knew you’d be in town and off work.”

“You’re something else,” she smiled, leaning her forehead against his.

“So you say,” he said, pushing a little on her forehead. “So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

“Wanna get brunch and then explore Old Town Alexandria?”

“Sounds perfect,” he said with another kiss before Allyson turned back around, so JC was once again the big spoon.

Just like in LA, they both slept better together than apart.

Opting for a casual brunch near the Capitol, they headed to Zest Bistro and toured the National Mall a little bit afterward before going back to Allyson’s to regroup before going to Virginia.

“Let me check my email real quick before we go,” Allyson said.

“Sure.”

A few moments later, all JC could hear from the other room was, “OH MY GOD!”

“What is it? What happened?” he asked, running into the living room from Allyson’s bedroom?

“I got the job!”

“Congratulations, honey! I told you! Which one is it?”

“I’m coming to California!”

“No way! LA or San Diego?”

“San Diego! I have to call them to officially accept, but the email is offering me the position, so you’re looking at the new senior marketing coordinator for the San Diego Zoo,” she squealed.

Instinctively, JC rushed over and hugged Allyson, picking her up off the ground and swinging her around. “I’m so proud of you, Allie! I told you they’d be fools not to hire you.”

“Let’s celebrate just us, and I’ll tell Liz and Shannon tomorrow.”

“Fine by me. We definitely need to celebrate tonight. Think of a place in Old Town where we can celebrate.”

“OK! I can’t believe it! It’s happening! I can move on from barista.”

“Well, no matter what, you’ll always be my favorite barista,” he said with a wink.

She just hugged him again.

JC had never explored Old Town Alexandria, so they took the afternoon to explore the historic architecture and take in the culture of the town.

Hand in hand they walked along the brick sidewalks, looking at the shop windows before deciding which stores to stop in on their way to the riverfront.

“It’s so quaint,” Allyson said. Everything seemed a little brighter, now that she knew she had been offered one of her top jobs and would be moving to California where she’d be in driving distance from JC.

“Wanna explore some museums?” JC asked.

“Sure,” she smiled. “I am down for whatever.”

JC brought their hands up to his lips and kissed Allyson’s knuckles. “I’m so proud of you. I can tell how happy you are.”

“It will be weird to leave the East Coast and especially to leave this area, but I am so excited for the future.

“Me too,” JC squeezed her hand in his. He would deny this if ever asked, but he was secretly hoping Allyson would get one of the jobs in California before hearing from the firm in D.C. He wanted her close to him, if that was an option.

For the next few hours they continued walking around the town, exploring a public art display, ducking into a photography exhibit and looking in some of the local boutiques. As the sun began to set, they made their way to the Landini Brothers restaurant for a nice Italian meal to celebrate Allyson.

A few seconds before anyone came to take their drink order, Allyson headed toward the bathroom, and JC took advantage of telling their waitress that they were celebrating Allyson’s new job.

“What is her favorite dessert?” she asked.

“Do you have a tiramisu?”

“Do we have tiramisu? We’re an Italian restaurant! We have the best homemade tiramisu. I’ll put it in so it will be ready as soon as you finish dinner.”

“Perfect. Thank you!”

“No problem, sir.”

JC was wearing his glasses, which he had not been doing lately, so it made enough people think he was just someone who looked like JC Chasez – and he was fine with that.

“Cheers to a new chapter,” JC said as he held up his glass of red wine.

“Cheers.” Allyson clinked her glass of her red blend with his. “I can’t wait for this next chapter.”

Dinner went along with both of them clearing their plates of pasta.

“Gah that was amazing!” Allyson said as she leaned back in her chair, her hands resting on her stomach. “I don’t think I can eat one more thing.”

“I thought you wanted dessert?”

“Oh, yeah, let me clarify. There’s always room for dessert.”

He laughed. “OK good.” He caught their waitress’ eye and subtly nodded to let her know they were ready for the tiramisu.

“A special dessert to celebrate,” the waitress said as she laid the plate in front of Allyson.

“Awww!” Allyson was genuinely surprised as she read “Congratulations Allie” in chocolate drizzle on the edge of the plate with cocoa powder dusted lightly all over the plate.

“I told her we were celebrating something special,” JC beamed.

“Thank you! This is wonderful!” Allyson said, looking from JC and up to the waitress, who nodded and took her leave from the table before returning five minutes later with a check.

After dinner, the couple strolled along the Potomac River, taking in the sights of the lights reflecting off the water. Allyson leaned her head on JC’s shoulder as they stood hand-in-hand by the water’s edge. “This reminds me of our day on the beach.”

JC didn’t say anything, but just smiled and looked over to kiss Allyson on the top of her head.

“Can we stay here?” she asked absentmindedly.

“We can,” he said in response.

“Wait, really?”

“Sure, why not. We can see if one of these little hotels has any vacancies.”

“But it’s a holiday weekend,” she asked.

“Well, we’ll see what we find. If not, we’ll just go back to D.C. It’s worth asking.”

She smiled and nodded.

“Connected to a nearby restaurant’s Wi-Fi, JC searched for hotels. “Hotel Indigo or Morrison House.”

“Oh let’s see if we can get in at Morrison House!”

“Let’s find out,” JC said as he dialed the number. It was 8, so he was worried the hotel would be full.

“Hi, yes, do you have any rooms available for tonight? Yes, just tonight. A king would be fine. Great, we’ll see you in a few minutes. Thank you,” he hung up the phone. “Shall we?” he turned to Allyson, offering his arm.