On her 29th birthday, Eliza Carlisle meets one SSA Aaron Hotchner. The catch? Eliza happens to be Emily Prentiss' beautiful, rich, learned younger sister. Will this connection ruin Eliza's and Aaron's chemistry, or will they rise above? Keep reading...
About a month and change passes by, and Aaron and Eliza have gone on several more dates and SoulCycle rides. While the team knows Aaron's and Eliza's status, the jokes on the jet don't lessen, Derek enjoying telling Aaron to "Get some!" whenever the moment lends itself. Soon enough, it is graduation week, but before that, Eliza has her hooding ceremony speech to give, and her nerves are rising by the second. On the big day, she manages to get her hair curled before her nerves overflow, so much so that she plays the piano for over two hours and loses track of time she needs for her makeup. She gets spooked from her bubble of nerves to a knock at her door.
"Hi sweet—um, Eliza? Aren't you ready yet?" Aaron asks concerned.
"Fuck, what time is it?" Eliza paces away, leaving Aaron to enter and shut the door behind him.
Aaron checks his Rolex. "It's...4:30..."
"Fuck fuck fuck," Eliza says, frantic and still pacing. "Oh my God, I can't do this."
"Hey, slow down," Aaron catches up to Eliza and places his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
"I—I'm so nervous, Aaron...people have doubted for so long now when I said I was doing this. They think, 'Oh well, what's a model doing getting a Ph.D.?' or 'She got promoted because of her good looks and all the money she's given,' plus I hate public speaking, and I REALLY hate sweating this much and—"
"Eliza," Aaron says softly but firmly enough to get her attention, looking straight into her eyes.
"What?" Eliza says sharply. "Oh, God..." Eliza says, regretting her tone and trying to leave his embrace.
"Eliza, listen to me," Aaron says softly, stroking her left arm up and down, keeping her in place. "Prove them wrong."
"What?" She asks, confused.
"I want you to go up there and prove every single person who has doubted you wrong. Walk up there like your name's on the fucking building. Honestly, with your money, you could probably do that," he jokes, which makes her smile. "You owe it to yourself to do this. By standing up on that stage, you've WON. And if that doesn't work? Just look at me. I'll be right there." Aaron says, smiling as he now moves to gently stroke her face.
"Thank you," Eliza moves closer to hug Aaron, nuzzling her face into his neck. "I love you," she thinks silently to herself, not wanting to be the first to say it out loud. Aaron puts his hand on the back of Eliza's head, overwhelmed with love, but also holding back.
"Now go and get ready; we have to leave in a half hour," Aaron says. Eliza exits to do so. She quickly gets to work first applying more deodorant and perfume before moving to makeup. Once that's done, she changes into a navy dress with jeweled cap sleeves and nude Jimmy Choos before putting on all of her academic regalia, leaving it unzipped to stay cool. She then heads downstairs to a smiling Aaron.
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"So pretty," Aaron says, taking her hand and kissing it as they exit the penthouse and head to campus.
-
Eliza and Aaron enter the ceremony space hand-in-hand while laughing and smiling. Meanwhile, the pair don't notice a man and a woman on the perimeter of the building watching them closely, the woman holding a camera.
"They're here," Madison says into an earpiece before snapping some pictures.
"Lovely, that means the rest will be too," Sam replies cockily.
Once Eliza and Aaron enter the space, they hear someone. "Eliza!" Someone shouts in their direction. Eliza quickly let go of Aaron's hand to head toward this mystery woman.
"Oh my God, Carol, hi!" Eliza greets the woman with a smile and a warm hug. Aaron soon catches up.
"I'm so proud of you, Eliza," Carol says. "Are you ready?"
"I think I'm as ready as I'm going to be," Eliza says. "Ugh, where are my manners? Carol Rodgers, this is Aaron Hotchner...my boyfriend." She says with a smile up to Aaron, rubbing his back. Aaron reaches to shake Carol's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Aaron says.
"Oh please, the pleasure is mine," Carol says cheekily. "You're a lucky man, you know...I trust no one else but your girl to lead my team." Carol replies.
"Carol is our current VP and my mentor extraordinaire," Eliza says with a smile. "And a GW legend."
"You exaggerate, my child. Come with me now...we've got a few last-minute boring details to review before your shining moment!" Carol says with excitement.
Eliza turns toward Aaron for a hug. He kisses her cheek as he takes her in his arms. "Go get 'em, baby," he says in her ear, which makes Eliza smile from ear-to-ear. They linger a bit before they are interrupted.
"Alright lovers, she's gotta go!" Carol says, pulling Eliza away. The women loop arms and head into the ceremony space, leaving Aaron in the lobby to wait for the others. Carol moves to speak once they gain some distance.
"Goddamn E; where did you find HIM?"
"I FOUND him at SoulCycle, but it turns out he's Emily's BOSS..."
"FBI, huh? Now the Armani suit makes so much more sense." Eliza laughs at that remark. Carol may be her mentor and her supervisor for a few more days, but they banter back and forth like two best friends. "Don't let him go, honey...that man is in love with you."
"And just how do you know that?"
"I can just feel these things. Plus the way he looks at you?! Please. For a profiler, he sure doesn't give a shit about his body language." They both laugh.
-
Flash forward to Saturday after the graduation ceremony. Eliza spots her crew and struts over to them, playfully tossing her hair on her way.
"Ayyyyy, there's the hot new doctor!" Derek cheers, pulling her in for a side hug and kissing her head. "Congrats, baby."
"Thank you, baby boy," Eliza says, returning the hug.
"I'm so proud!!" JJ says, beaming and hugging Eliza.
"As am I!!" Penelope says, joining the hug.
"What am I gonna do now that I'm not the only doctor?!" Spencer says playfully, giving Eliza a hug.
"Don't hang your head, Doc; now you just have someone else to exchange academic papers with. After all, you're the quickest proofreader I've ever had," Eliza says playfully, which makes Spencer smile.
"My turn," Dave says, arms open wide. "I'm so proud of you, angel," he says into Eliza's ear.
"Thank you, Dave," Eliza says back. "And thanks for your donation," she says softly. She then turns to find Aaron with a big soft smile on his face.
"Hi," she says softly.
"Hi," he replies as he takes her in his arms and dips her for a kiss. The rest of the squad beams at the sight. The moment is quickly interrupted, however. "Eliza?!" A voice asks. Eliza turns to find her sister and another woman. Eliza and Aaron both freeze in their respective spots. Aaron quickly takes his hand off of Eliza's lower back.
