Ed found himself slowly approaching the bar. He was completely mesmerized by the sight of Emily Vanderbilt swaying to the music without any inhibitions. It was not something he had ever seen before nor was it something he had ever expected to see in a million years.

He would have been totally content to watch her move up on that bar for the rest of the night, but when he saw other men taking notice of the petite red-head, he began to move forward a bit more quickly. And when he saw someone try to grab her, he immediately stepped in and wrapped a hand around her arm.

"Eddy!" She squealed excitedly when she noticed him as she leaned down to wrap her arms around his neck. In her extremely inebriated state, the movement caused her to lose her balance slightly and she started to fall off of the bar, but Ed managed to help her land on her feet and remain steady.

He had never seen Emily so blatantly intoxicated and he couldn't help but chuckle, "Careful there, Vanderbilt." He looked around the club for any familiar faces before he looked back at her with confusion, "So where is your ever-present posse of minions? Surely you aren't here alone."

"Of course I am, Bass. I could never let any of my friends see me like this; I would lose all the power I have over them." She slurred as she swayed slightly on her feet.

Ed raised a dubious eyebrow, "While I am in full support of the new, freer side of you, I have to ask, what brought this on?"

"My mother," Emily rolled her eyes dramatically as she grabbed another shot from the bar. Ed watched her down it and his eyes widened in shock. Her face scrunched up for a moment at the burn of the alcohol before she continued, "I'm a constant disappointment to her. I'm not nearly pretty enough, I'm set to graduate third in our class instead of first, and I keep company with trashy riff-raff." She said with a lazy wave in his direction.

"Excuse me?" Ed asked, "I know you are not referring to me as trash. I'm a Bass."

"Yes, but you and your brother act like scum and my mother knows it. Between you two and Anne and your reputations and your partying my mother has come to the conclusion that I must be just as bad as you are."

Ed chuckled, "I can only dream..."

Emily scoffed and shoved him slightly, "So I decided tonight I was going to be the party girl that my mother has already decided I am."

He looked at her skeptically, "And you thought a good way of going about that was to go to a seedy club by yourself and get completely shitfaced?"

"Well, like I said, I couldn't come with my friends. I have a reputation to maintain."

"But this was a stupid idea, especially for you, Vanderbilt. You know just as well as I do that your tolerance isn't that high and any one of these low-rent frat boys could have easily put something into one of your drinks." Ed said with a hint of anger, "Besides, we both know you could have called me. I would have showed you a wild, fun time without any judgment." He smarmed as he leaned in close to her ear.

"Gross." Emily scowled before she took a stumbling step away from him.

"Whoa, careful there, Princess," Ed laughed as he grabbed her arm and pulled her close to help her maintain her balance, "I think you have had enough partying for one night. How about I take you home?"

"I can't go home like this!" Emily protested although she began to follow as he led her out of the club, "My mother will literally kill me if I come home drunk."

"Don't worry, Vanderbilt," He said with a sleazy smirk, "You can come home with me. My parents won't even notice if you've had a shot or two too many."

By this point they were standing outside the club by the limo. Emily's eyes were beginning to droop closed as she leaned against Ed, "You promise they won't tell my parents?"

Ed opened the door and helped her into the vehicle before he replied, "I don't know if you have noticed, E, but our parents aren't exactly the best of friends. I don't think you have to worry about my mom giving Maureen a social call anytime soon."

"Good," She said as she rested her head back against the seat, "Thanks, Bass."

He looked over at her with a smirk, "You're welcome. My bedroom is open to you anytime, Vanderbilt."

Emily looked over and met his gaze with lust-filled eyes before she slid across the seat closer to him, "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer." She said seductively as her lips approached his.

But just before their mouths met, Ed pushed her away gently and shook his head, "Stop, Em, you don't want to do this."

She pouted and tears sprang to her eyes, "Of course," She said bitterly, "Not even Ed Bass, man-whore extraordinaire, wants to have sex with me."

Ed's eyes snapped to her face and he tilted her chin so she was looking at him, "That is where you're wrong, Vanderbilt. If you were sober, or at least only slightly buzzed, I would already have that dressed ripped on the floor of this limo. But the fact of the matter is, you are completely wasted and I'm not going to take advantage of you like that."

"But I'm asking you to," She said as she pressed herself close to him again, "Please, Ed, take me."

Her hands began to drift down his chest towards the buckle of his pants, but Ed took her hand and stopped her. Seeing the rejection cloud her face once again he explained, "You don't want this, Emily. You're just drunk and upset. In the morning you would regret it, trust me."

She shook her head, "No-"

"Yes, you would," He repeated, "But how about we make a deal? We won't do anything tonight, but in the morning, if you still feel the same way and your hangover isn't too severe, I promise I will be more than willing to fulfill all your dirtiest dreams and desires."

Emily's eyes began to drift shut again as she rested her head on his shoulder, "I'm holding you too that, Bass."

Ed grinned, "Oh, please do."

…

By the time they arrived at the Bass building, Emily was basically asleep in the limo. She looked so peaceful resting against his chest that Ed didn't want to wake her. Plus, she weighed barely a hundred pounds so it was not difficult at all for him to carry her to the elevator and up the stairs in the penthouse to his room.

He set Emily down gently on his bed and removed her stilettos so she would be more comfortable. He thought about helping her change into one of Celia's old nightgowns, but he decided Emily wouldn't appreciate that sort of help when she woke up in the morning.

Ed sighed and looked around the room, figuring that he would be sleeping in his brother's bed that night. He had texted Theo on the drive over to make sure that their room would be empty. The last thing he needed was to walk in on his brother and some bar slut hooking up. Theo had responded, telling him that they had gone back to the girl's dorm so Ed would have the room all to himself.

As he watched Emily sleep, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful and perfect she looked, even after a night spent drinking and dancing at a club. All he wanted to do was crawl into bed behind her and hold her against his chest.

Ed quickly shook his head, trying to clear those kinds of thoughts out of his mind. He had never wanted to just cuddle with a girl, especially a girl he hadn't even slept with yet. Sure, Emily was his friend, and yes he did want to hook up with her, but his thoughts were sounding downright domestic. Ed Bass didn't do soft and mushy. He needed to get a grip.

But before he could dwell on it more, Emily woke up and bolted out of the bed and into the bathroom. Moments later Ed heard the tell-tale sounds of her throwing up into the porcelain bowl and moaning in agony. Ed shook his head as he went over to help her out. This was going to be a long night.

….

A/N: Okay, the problem right now is that I am so excited about the chapters that are to come that I can't get these next few chapters written. Hahaha. Ugh, hopefully I will get them done soon and we can get to the good stuff.