For notes and disclaimer, please see part one.

Here's a couple things you might need to know or maybe you just forgot: Ellie asks Casey to go with her to Chicago. He accepts.

Ring Around the Collar

It had been a whirlwind week. Telling everyone had gone over easier than expected. Chuck was excited for her—for them. Alex, too, provided they made at least two trips per year back to Echo Park, and she, in return, would make at least one venture to Chicago, as her funds allowed.

Casey had done research on the best parts of Chicago to live, and they had three different realtors finding them something perfect. He liked having options open, as well as the competition. He knew they'd get the best deal that way.

In all of the newness, however, there was still something comforting about the familiar. And so, on Sunday, they were back where it all began, doing laundry in the complex's laundromat. The swishing of the washer, the humming of the dryer, even the soft floral scent of the fabric softener was like an old friend, like being wrapped up in a warm blanket. It made the chaos of packing up, of getting ready to move seem distant.

At least, it did for Ellie.

Casey seemed jumpy, on edge.

"Are you okay?"

He grunted something, his eyes trained at the door, not at all at her.

"John…?" She reached out, placing a hand on his arm.

For some big, strong Marine, for someone who was a spy, who was supposed to keep things or people from sneaking up on him, he was startled. "Ellie?"

Her happy thoughts were dashed as her Bartowski brain kicked into overdrive. What if he was having second thoughts about going to Chicago? What if he couldn't leave Alex? What if he was being courted with offers from some other government agency, and he'd be off to D.C. and then parts unknown, never to be seen or heard from again? "What's going on? What's… what's wrong?" she asked, her voice sounding foreign even to herself.

"Nothing," he answered quickly.

Too quickly for her liking. Her heart ached. This was bad. This was horribly, awfully terrible. She opened her mouth but couldn't speak.

He stood, glancing at the open door of the room. "You haven't seen Downy, have you?"

She felt like she was falling, spiraling. He was going to make sure she had the cat at least before he said something horrific. Downy had always made her feel better. At least he was thinking of her, right? "N-no. Why?"

"I've been thinking." He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, firing off a quick text message.

She tried, desperately, to keep her voice even. "Oh? What…" She cleared her throat. "What about?"

"Life. The future. Our future."

She nodded very slowly.

The tightness in Casey's shoulders vanished when Downy scrambled into the room. Alex, in his line of sight only, shot him a thumbs up before vanishing deeper into the courtyard. "There she is," he said, scooping up the cat.

Ellie watched as he crossed toward her, offering the cat to her. Numbly, she took the calico, still confused, still dancing on the edge of hurt. Her fingers quickly got lost in Downy's fur, getting caught on something… different. Something loopy, something satiny.

Casey knelt in front of her. "Ellie Bartowski…"

Her jaw dropped when she saw him in front of her. She felt like she was on a roller coaster, going from the painful, agonizing lift up the big hill, to careening down, weightless and free, surrounded by excitement. Her hands, still moving through Downy's fur, caught something cold, something hard attached to the loop.

His distance, she realized, was because he was nervous. Her anxiety had been completely unfounded and yet so very Bartowski-like. "Yes."

"Will y—" He paused. "I haven't asked yet..."

"Doesn't change the answer. Yes!" she said again, tears of happiness building in her eyes.

Reaching over, he untied the blue satin ribbon from Downy's collar, revealing the diamond and garnet ring he'd purchased for her. "I had this planned a little differently," he admitted. Mostly, he had intended to actually verbalize the question.

"John, it's beautiful," she whispered.

"Well, it belongs to someone beautiful," he said quietly, sliding it onto her left hand.

Ellie put Downy into the empty seat beside her (eliciting a sigh from the cat) before she slid off her chair.

Casey wrapped her up in his arms, kissing his fiancée for the first time.

Stay tuned…