Emma followed closely behind Ross as the two entered the house. Since the night was still young, everyone was acting pretty normal. Ross said hey to a few friends as they made their way through the crowd, and Emma noticed that there were quite a few people at the party already. 'This Andrew guy must be pretty popular.' Emma thought before noticing Ross stop to talk to someone. "Hey man, how have you been?" The guy asked Ross. He appeared to be Emma's age. 'Actually,' Emma thought, 'this guy looks kind of familiar. That's weird...' "Hey, I've been great. Thanks for inviting us." He turned towards Emma. "This is my friend Emma, by the way." The guy looked at Emma. He had brown hair and bright green eyes, and Emma wondered if all of Ross's friends were just as good-looking as him. "Emma? Oh my gosh. Didn't I go to grade school with you before I moved to California?" Emma was shocked. She remembered him. "Wait a second, Andrew Marshal? Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's you. How have you been?" She asked, able to feel a huge smile form on her face. Andrew gave her a friendly hug. "I've been great. Wow, it's been, what? Seven, Eight years? You look really good." Emma felt her face begin to turn pink. Did a really attractive guy actually just tell her she looked good? "Yeah, something like that. And Thanks." He smiled. "Well I'm gonna say hey to some more people. Maybe we can catch up later." "Okay, sure." Emma replied before Andrew headed into the crowd. 'Whoa,' Emma thought. 'Of all of the people in California, we come to Andrew's house for a party. How crazy is that.' "Okay, somebody's in love." Ross remarked, bringing Emma out of her train of thought. "What? Ha. No way. I just haven't seen him in forever, that's all." Emma told him, still blushing. "Alright, whatever you say." Ross teased her. Emma just smiled back and shook her head. "Hey, I'm gonna go catch up with a few people, will you be okay?" Ross asked Emma, spotting a few more friends of his. "What? Yes, I'll be fine. Go talk to your friends." She told him with a smile, and he smiled back. "Okay. Won't be long, I promise." He told her before heading over to some friends. For a second, she didn't want him to leave. She wanted to hang out with him. But he probably hadn't had time to talk to most of his friends lately, with all the time he spent practicing and performing with R5 and recording for Austin and Ally. So Emma let it go. 'Maybe I can still have a good time on my own.'
Emma headed towards where the kitchen appeared to be. The house was gorgeous; probably the same size as Ross's place. The house looked to be perfect for hosting parties; a huge living room space, where a DJ had set up all of his equipment was playing music. Several people were already dancing. Not really any inappropriate dancing or anything, just a bunch of people having a good time. The music was pretty good, with a lot of new songs as well as classic favorites thrown in. Emma recognized a lot of the songs, and wondered if it would be nearly as much fun dancing by herself. She instead made her way to the kitchen, which was really pretty and full of teens hanging out. Emma did feel a bit out of place, since she knew no one at the party. But why should she care? She'd probably never see any of these people again. Emma grabbed a bottle of water, thankful that there wasn't really much alcohol at the party. Actually, it looked like Andrew hadn't provided any alcohol for the party. 'Well, that's pretty cool of him. Even though his friends are probably just going to bring there own stuff.'
Emma headed back in to the open living room, and found an open spot on a couch. She listened to the music for a few minutes before Andrew sat next to her, plastic red cup in hand. "You look like you might need a drink." He told Emma with a smile. "A friend of mine just showed up with some stuff, you want anything?" 'Well, so much for thinking he wasn't going to drink.' Emma thought. "No thanks, I'm good." She told him, a bottle of water still in her hand. She was relieved to see him only smile back and not ask her again. "Alright. So what have you been up to?" The two talked for a bit and caught up, and Andrew seemed to still be the friendly guy she knew several years before. "So you wanna dance or something? I love this song." He told her with a smile. Emma recognized the song as Glad You Came by The Wanted, a favorite of hers as well. She nodded and followed him into the group of people. "I'm not much of a dancer." She said to Andrew over the loud music. "Hey that makes two of us." He said, getting Emma to laugh. Emma merely tried to move to the beat and just have fun, and she did have fun. As the song neared its end, Emma met eyes with Andrew for a few seconds. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. She felt pretty comfortable with him until she felt his hands on her hips. Her smile began to fade, and she realized she must of given Andrew the wrong idea. Plus he had been drinking and probably wasn't really thinking straight. 'Wait a second, I'm not interested in Andrew. What am I doing?' Emma thought. When the song finished and a new one began, Andrew leaned down so Emma could hear him. "Wanna go some place quieter? We can talk more." Emma felt her face getting warmer. She was nervous. Where was Ross? "Uh, that's okay." She told him, nudging his hands, hoping that he'd let go. His smile began to fade as well. "I thought you were into me. Don't tell me, you and Ross are together?" Emma shook her head. "No, we're not together. Look, let's just keep dancing or something." He tried to smile again, and leaned in a bit closer. "Wait, you're not dating anybody, which means you can't get in trouble. You sure you don't want to go upstairs?" He was trying to kiss her. She pushed him back. Bad idea.
Andrew frowned. "What's with you?" He asked, finally letting go of her hips. He looked like he was getting annoyed. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just-" "If you were sorry, you'd just kiss me. Come on, it doesn't even mean anything." Emma was freaking out. She needed to get out of there. "Andrew, I just don't want to. Look, maybe I should-" "Maybe you should leave." Andrew said, getting angry. By now a couple of people were looking at them, but no one said anything, probably in fear that they'd get kicked out of the party. Then, Andrew grabbed her arms. "Look, just kiss me or I'm kicking you out." Emma started shaking. She was scared. She tried to push Andrew away again, which was probably an even worse idea. He pushed her. Emma fell into a couple of people, with how crowded the dance floor was. She looked into his eyes, which looked really angry by now. "You're such a loser. Get out." He picked her up forcefully and by the wrists, and looked like he was about to drag her to the door.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Ross pushed Andrew away from Emma. "What am I doing? What are you doing!? This chick won't even kiss a guy, what the hell is wrong with her?" He tried to grab Emma again, put Ross nailed him in the jaw first. Emma couldn't believe it; Ross just punched the guy. Several gasps were heard from the many teens who were now watching. "Go to the car, Emma." Ross said as Andrew got back up, his cheek becoming swollen and red. Emma turned around and pushed through the crowd, everyone's eyes now fixed on the guys. Some people were shouting for them to fight. Emma finally made it outside and gasped for breath. She was horrified. But she couldn't just leave Ross.
A minute later, Ross finally came outside and saw Emma. "I told you go to the car! Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" Emma was shocked that he was the one asking if she was okay, when he just got into a fight. And he clearly wasn't okay; he was bleeding just above his eyebrow. "Oh my gosh, did Andrew hit you? Ross, I'm so sorry." Emma was getting choked up. "Don't worry. I can't believe I left you alone, Andrew could have seriously hurt you. Please tell me he didn't hurt you?" Ross looked at Emma, who felt tears running down her face. She felt her wrists sting, but she shook her head. Ross knew she wasn't okay. "Let's go. I'll drive." Ross grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her towards the car. She followed him quickly.
Once to her car, she dug out several tissues from the middle compartment. "Come here." She said, and tried to soak up the blood from where Ross had been hit. Her hands shook, and she tried to steady herself by putting one hand on the back of Ross's head while she soaked up some the blood using her other hand. His hair felt soft, and Emma wondered if she'd ever get to feel it again. Ross looked at her, then noticed her wrists. "Emma, you're bleeding!" It turned out that Andrew must have dug his nails into Emma's skin when he grabbed her, because there were small nail marks on her wrists. He took a few tissues from Emma and tried to soak up the blood on her wrists. "I never should have left you alone. I can't believe Andrew did this to you." Emma looked down at her wrists, then up at Ross, who was focusing on her wrists. He looked so concerned, so worried. "Ross, I never meant for any of this to happen." she told him, tears still running down you face. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault at all. Here, I'll drive you to the hotel. Keep this on the cuts, okay?"
Minutes later, the two arrived at Emma's hotel. They went through one of the side entrances to avoid seeing anyone, and headed straight for Emma's room. Once Emma saw her bed, she sat down and gasped for breath again. She started to cry. "I was really scared, Ross." Emma said, starting to cry harder. "He asked me if I wanted to go upstairs, then he told me he'd kick me out if I didn't kiss him, and I should have just kissed him. I should of-" "Hey, hey, hey." Ross said to her, just like he had the other night when he was comforting her after she was dumped. "I'm right here, okay? I'm here now. And I should have been there sooner." Ross embraced her, and Emma dug her face into his chest. "I'm so sorry." He whispered to her as she cried. She continued to shake softly, so Ross held her tighter. Before long, Emma fell asleep in Ross's arms. Ross didn't want to leave, in fear that Emma might wake up and he not be there. He sent a text to Riker asking him to tell their parents he was sleeping over at a friend's house, then fell asleep in a chair in Emma's room.