After visiting with Anna and signing all of the paperwork, Eliza heads to the airport to head home. She texts Penelope as she waits. "Is now a good time to share some huge ass news...?!"
Penelope answers rapidly: "How I wish, my sweet. This one's a doozy. Talk soon xx"
"Message received. Talk soon xo"
Eliza eventually flies out and gets home. The next day, she heads back into the office and works with one of her piano students until lunch, when she receives a text back from Penelope.
"Now's a good time. OR, we could chat on a plane to Nashville...squad can't charter the G5 until tomorrow afternoon. What do you say? Road trip?! If we fly out at 2:30, we can get settled by 3:30 Nashville time."
"Oh, HELLLLLLL yes. Send me the flight #!!! Tell the girls, but don't tell the boys we're joining the fun. I wanna surprise Aaron. ;)"
Eliza quickly books her flight and wraps up lunch to head home to pack. She changes into a matching jogger set and sneakers for the plane ride and soon makes her exit. She and Penelope soon meet up and get settled in as they wait for their flight.
"So, my star...what's the big news?! Are you pregnant?"
"God, no," she laughs. "I got an interesting phone call yesterday afternoon in between meetings."
"Ahh, I see...and who was this mysterious caller?"
"Oh, just a little lady named Anna Wintour."
"STOPPPPP...what did she say? Are you doing Chanel again?!" Eliza stays quiet to confirm. "Oh my God!! How cool!!!"
"And there's something else, too..."
"Something else?! Are you gonna be in Vogue?!?"
"Ummm, kinda...P, she wants me to be the May cover. And do another 73 Questions. And—and I agreed."
"Shuttttttt itttt!!!!! Eliza, this is your DREAM. What would only make it better is if the goddess Leibovitz documents it all..." Eliza stays quiet again and looks at Penelope with a smile.
"AHHH!!!" they both say, cheering and hugging in the middle of the airport. "You are the baddest bitch! Who else knows?!" Penelope says.
"Just you and my lawyer," Eliza says.
"You mean you haven't told Aaron yet?" Penelope asks curiously.
"Well no one's really had the time...plus, I'm kinda nervous to tell him..."
"Oh my sweet, whatever for?!"
"Because eventually, people are gonna learn more about him...I mean, I want him to come to all of the events with me that he can, and Anna threw around having him in the 73 Questions. This isn't something he signed up for, and I don't know how appropriate it is with his job and whatever."
"Well he's already on your Instagram, you know. And wasn't there some little article about him after Vogue published your speech?"
"Yeah, but it flew under the radar fast. And the more press I get, the more people will look for on him."
"Any reaction he has won't change your mind on doing it, will you?"
"No, I don't think so...in fact..." Eliza starts to smile.
"What is it? That's your loveeee smile," Penelope chides.
Eliza is still smiling as she speaks. "It's—it's just some advice he gave me after my attack, at a time when I was super upset...he just reminded me something I said in my hooding ceremony speech about how difficult stuff can make way for new paths, and he said that he didn't know what my path moving forward would look like, but that he—he'd be there whatever it was."
"Then I think you have your answer," Penelope smiles and touches Eliza's arm. "Will it be a bit weird for him? Sure. But I've known Aaron a long time, and no one lights him up like you do. And no one lights you up like he does. Of this I am sure."
Eliza smiles. "Thank you."
-
Meanwhile, at the Nashville Police Department, JJ's and Emily's phones ding as the crew is packing up their files and heading back to the hotel.
"Just landed!!!" Eliza texts.
"You're here, too??" Emily texts back.
"That's RIGHT...the boys don't know we're here, right?!"
"Not a clue," JJ says.
"On our way!" Emily says, excited to see her sister. She and JJ then speed out of the police station.
"Hey, where are you going?" Spencer asks.
"Gotta run some errands before dinner," JJ lies. "See ya!"
"What are they up to?" Derek says.
"Not sure, but something tells me it's gonna be fun," Dave says.
JJ and Emily soon arrive to the airport—they do quicker than usual since Emily turns on her sirens. Eliza and Penelope then enter the car.
"Um, sis...are you allowed to do that?" Eliza asks with a laugh.
"Not at all, which is why we gotta get out of here," Emily says, stepping on the gas and making everyone jolt. Everyone then laughs.
"Well now that we have that scare out of the way, Eliza has news!" Penelope says, volunteering Eliza to share.
"Are—are you pregnant?!" JJ asks.
"WHY is that everyone's first guess?" Eliza asks.
"Well, Penelope said scare, so..."
"Touché. Nah, Anna called me yesterday...I'm doing another Chanel campaign!"
"AND?" Penelope adds.
"There's more?!" Emily says.
"Oh my God, can I tell them?!" Penelope says.
"Yes, you can tell them," Eliza says with a smile.
"She's gonna be on the cover of Vogue!!!!"
"Are you serious?? Eliza, that's awesome!" JJ says.
"Ok, but who's the photographer?" Emily says.
"Can I tell them this one?" Eliza says. Penelope nods. "It's—it's Annie."
"Oh Eliza!!! That's your dream! That's amazing," Emily says with a congratulatory tone.
"Thank you, thank you very much," Eliza says. "Now I just gotta break it to A-a-ron."
"Will he not like it?" JJ asks curiously.
"No, I think he'll be ok—just something different because I'll have a lot of attention on me."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about being in danger...I mean, the man has an ankle holster, for God's sake." Emily says.
"PERIOD, queen," Eliza smirks. "So where are we going tonight?"
"A little bit of everywhere, I think," Emily says.
"Well I'll tell you what, I'm ready to TURN UP. I haven't been drunk since my birthday," Eliza says.
"Well that can certainly be arranged tonight," JJ smiles.
"Ok, but just don't get the spins tonight...you know what you missed out on last time that happened," Penelope smirks.
"Penelope!!" Eliza says, smacking Penelope's arm. Everyone laughs as they pull into the hotel and sneak upstairs to get ready.
-
The girls get into Emily's room with everything they need to get ready. Eliza then pulls out a bottle of tequila.
"Did you fly with that?!" Emily asks.
"Well yeah; I only had a carry-on!" Eliza says, pulling out four shot glasses, too. "Drink up, bitches!!!" They clink glasses and start to get ready. For the night out, Eliza rocks tight black flared jeans with a brown Gucci belt, a pinkish v neck babydoll top, and Free People clog pumps. She does her makeup and rocks a bold pink lip, and she does hair in soft waves and tops off the look with a black Madewell wide brim hat.
Soon enough, it's time for them to meet the guys, but they're too busy having a dance party to notice the time. From the lobby, the guys are getting impatient, so Derek heads up to the girls' floor. He can hear "WAP" playing as soon as he steps off the elevator and he bops down the hall toward Emily's room. The music only gets louder as he approaches and knocks on the door.
"Are you ARMED?!" Eliza shouts, tipsy from the tequila before falling into a fit of giggles with Penelope.
"Eliza?!" Derek replies. Eliza and Penelope head for the door.
"SURPRISE!!!" They shout as they open the door.
"Well alright ladies; welcome to the party!!!" He says, hugging them both. "We gotta go though, we're already late for dinner."
"You mean you don't want a shot first?" Emily asks, handing him one, which he quickly downs as the girls cheer.
"Alright, let's gooooo!" Derek exclaims.
"Alright, DAD," Eliza says, patting him on the back as she strolls out with the girls.
"Hey, watch it," He teases, following closely behind.
"So how are we surprising the others?" Penelope asks once inside the elevator.
"We pull an Aaron & me—just show up." Eliza replies, and everyone laughs.
"I got an idea...just trust me." Derek says.
"Deal," Penelope says.
Derek exits the elevator first, the girls adjusting their lipstick and then peering around the corner to hear Derek's plan.
"Hey, I hope y'all don't mind that I invited a couple of honeys I found upstairs to join us tonight...." Spencer, Dave, and Aaron look at him in confusion, until they see the girls—all of the girls—make their way over.
"Penelope, Eliza!" Spencer says excitedly. Aaron smiles ear-to-ear at the surprise.
"Hello, boys!" Penelope says, hugging Spencer.
"I hope you don't mind me joining the BAU bonding night," Eliza says to the men as Aaron makes his way over. "Hey," she says sweetly as he grabs her waist and they share a quick kiss.
"Hey yourself," he replies. "How was New York?"
"It was great; I got some big news up in the Big Apple," Eliza replies.
"Oh yeah?" Aaron asks.
"That's right."
"Do I get a hint?"
"Nope," she teases. "Later."
"You're really gonna tease me like that?"
"Ahh, that's not the only thing I'm gonna tease you about...sir," leaning up to put a kiss on his neck before strutting out of his arms. He looks her up and down until Dave taps his shoulder.
"Time to go," Dave says. Aaron quickly follows and they soon catch up with the others.
The team heads to downtown Nashville for dinner and stays there for the bars. They hop around until they find a spot they all enjoy and they have space to sit. They drink and dance, and everyone soon is lit. The mood changes some when Chris Stapleton's "Tennessee Whiskey" starts to play.
Aaron gets up from his chair to find Eliza with the girls and takes her hand so they can dance. As the song starts to end, she whispers in his ear, "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah?" He replies.
"Oh yeah," Eliza says. They pull away so he can kiss her, and they then leave hand-in-hand for the hotel. After several minutes, Derek notices they're gone.
"Hey, where'd they go?" He asks.
"I guess Eliza doesn't have the spins tonight." Penelope says, smirking at the girls.