When Emily woke up the next morning the first thing she noticed was that she was not in her own bed. And when she tried to sit up she noticed the throbbing pain in her head.

She laid back down on the pillow with a moan and instead opened her eyes a tiny bit to take in her surroundings. It only took her a few minutes to figure out that she was in the Bass twins' bedroom and that she was currently lying in Ed Bass's bed. She checked to make sure she was still clothed and then she closed her eyes and groaned again as bits and pieces of the previous night began to come back to her.

"Ah, you're awake."

Emily reopened her eyes to see Ed leaning against the doorway with a smarmy smirk on his face and a glass of some murky-looking liquid in his hand.

She groaned and pulled the sheets over her head, "Go away, Bass. It's too early for me to deal with you."

He chuckled as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled the sheets down and handed her the glass, "Here, drink this. It will help with your hangover."

Emily's face scrunched up in disgust as she sniffed the liquid, "How do I know you didn't slip something into this?"

Ed rolled his eyes, "Just drink it, Vanderbilt."

She scoffed before she pinched her nose and gave in, downing the drink as quickly as she could. When the glass was completely empty, she set it on the side table and pursed her lips, "That was disgusting."

"Trust me; you'll be grateful in a few minutes when your head completely stops throbbing."

Emily sat massaging her temples for a moment before she pulled back the sheets and began to stand up, "I should really get going. Chloe Collins' party is tonight and I still haven't picked out what I am going to wear."

Ed cleared his throat pointedly, "Just a suggestion; you might want to change your outfit before you head out into the public eye."

Emily looked down at the dress she was still wearing from the night before and immediately noticed the obvious alcohol and vomit stains all along the front of it. "Ew, this thing is disgusting! Why did you ever let me sleep in this?"

"Well, I considered letting you borrow one of Celia's nightgowns, but I didn't think you would appreciate it if I took the liberty of helping you change into it." Ed's eyes scanned her petite figure to accentuate his point.

"Ugh, you are so vile." She said with a roll of her eyes, "But also correct. I can't let anyone see me like this. What am I supposed to do?"

"I know you won't even entertain the thought of borrowing something of mine," Ed said as he placed hand on the small of her back. Emily blanched at the very idea and Ed quickly continued, "But as I explained before, Celia has a whole closet full of clothing here that she will most likely never wear again. I'm sure we will be able to find something in there for you to wear, even if it is last season."

Emily looked skeptical as they entered the guest room that Celia used to stay in on numerous occasions. Ed opened the closet doors and stepped away as he gestured for her to move forward and look through the hangers of clothing, "Feel free to take whatever you want. Like I said before, I'm sure Cece won't even notice if it is missing. I don't think she is ever coming back to claim anything in here."

Ed leaned back against a desk in the room and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for Emily to pick something out. After a while he looked up to see the short brunette searching through the closet almost frantically, looking more and more frustrated with each article of clothing she passed over.

"Come on, Vanderbilt," Ed teased, "This isn't a fashion show. There has to be at least one dress or skirt or something that has caught your eye. Celia's fashion sense isn't that awful."

"That's not the problem, Bass," She huffed, "These dresses are all beautiful."

"Then what is the problem?"

"The problem is that none of them are ever going to fit me." Emily explained, throwing her hands in the air in an attempt to cover her embarrassment and self-consciousness with annoyance, "I don't know if you have noticed, Bass, but just like my dear cousin, Celia has a stunning, model-like body with amazing boobs and butt and legs that go on for miles. While I-," She gestured down to her own body, "well, I am obviously lacking in those departments. Next to them I look like a plain Jane."

"Come on, Vanderbilt, stop being ridiculous."

"I'm not. Girls like Celia and Anne are complete knockouts. I wish I had their curves and their looks. I can try to dress it up as much as I want, but underneath the fancy clothes I still have the physique of a twelve year old boy." She shook her head and looked down, "No wonder nobody wants to sleep with me."

Ed's eyes narrowed as he smirked and gave her body a sweeping glance, "I can guarantee that when men see you they don't see a little boy. And judging by the way the crowd was reacting to you last night; I think there are a fair amount of people who would jump at the chance to pop your highly guarded cherry."

"Oh please," She said with a roll of her eyes, "You don't have to lie to me, Bass."

"I'm not lying," Ed said as he took a single step towards her, "You're so tiny and delicate and-," He clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut, "God, if you would just let me, I would show you just how I would worship every inch of your perfect little body."

Emily's eyes widened slightly as she stared at him in shock. Ed thought he had gone too far and he put his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, Emily, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Show me." She whispered slowly, causing his head to snap up.

"Emily-," Ed said with a shake of his head. This wasn't what he expected to happen and as much as he wanted her, he didn't want to take advantage of the situation.

"Please, Ed," She said as she took a few hesitant steps forward and placed a hand on his chest, "I want you to."

He stared into her eyes and saw they were dark with lust, just like he imagined his were. He had tried to be noble, but he was Ed Bass, and he wouldn't question her twice. He could only restrain himself for so long.

Without anymore hesitation, he crashed his lips down to hers and pulled her body flush against his. Almost instantly her lips began to respond to his and she buried her hands in his thick, dark hair.

With practiced ease Ed maneuvered them onto the bed without ever breaking the kiss and within minutes he had stripped Emily of her filthy dress and began to show her just how perfect he found her to be.

…

A few hours later, Emily awoke in the Bass guestroom with Ed's arm wrapped tightly around her waist. She took a few deep breaths to gather her wits and figure out how she was going to get out of there.

When she was ready, she slipped out of the bed as quickly and quietly as she could and went to the closet. She threw on a simple, flowy dress and pulled her knotted hair back into a ponytail.

She had grabbed her dress from the night before and was just slipping on her shoes when Ed sat up and looked at her with a raised brow, "Leaving so soon, Princess?"

She finished adjusting her heel and stood up to look at him, "Don't worry, I know how things work with you, Ed. I'll be out of your hair shortly."

"Em, you don't have to-"

"Stop pretending to be nice, Bass. Sex is a onetime deal with you, isn't it? 'Use them and lose them,' right?"

Ed shook his head, "It doesn't have to be-"

"Don't pretend to treat me differently," She interrupted, "I can handle it. It was fun, but that's it. It doesn't mean anything. We can just go back to normal and act like this never happened."

"Emily-," Ed said as he began to rise from the bed.

But she held out a hand to stop him and walked to the door, "Don't worry. I'm fine. Thank you, for last night, for what just happened," she smiled softly, "For everything. I-, I guess I'll see you around."

She walked out of the room without once looking back and Ed fell back onto the pillows with a quiet groan. Everything she said about him had been true, so why had he wanted so desperately for her to stay? He already missed the smell of her hair against his face and the feel of her body pressed against him. He had never felt this way before about anyone. And even though it scared him, he knew he was going to do whatever it took to get her back in his bed. He quickly rose from the bed and headed to his bathroom. He needed to get ready for Chloe's party that evening.

…

Later that night, everyone from Constance and St. Jude's was at Butter for Chloe Collin's seventeenth birthday party. Ed and Theo strolled in to the party about an hour after it had started and took a look around.

Usually, the twins only spent a short amount of time at parties thrown by their high school classmates. In their experience they had found that most of the girls were teases and the girls that would give in to their advances were not nearly as fun as the girls they could be picking up at a bar. In the past, they would show up at a party, have a few drinks and scope out the prospects. Ed tended to find it more entertaining to win over a Constance schoolgirl while Theo usually wanted to leave shortly after they would arrive.

But on this particular evening, Theo was well aware that his brother was on a mission and would not be persuaded to leave the party early. Ed may not have specifically told him, but Theo knew that something had happened the night before, and it was something big.

As soon as they walked into Butter, Theo went over to the bar, just like he always would, but Ed did not follow him. Instead, he looked around the club until he spotted Emily Vanderbilt talking with a few others girls in a corner.

He strolled over to her confidently and placed a hand on her elbow, "Hello, Princess. How is your head feeling this evening?" He whispered huskily into her ear.

She shook off his touch and tried to put some distance between them, "It is fine, thank you."

"Really?" He asked with a smirk, "Because I was going to offer another round of my special, personal treatment, if you were interested." He ran his fingers down her arm slowly and his grin grew as he watched the goosebumps appear along the path he had touched.

Emily spun around with pursed lips as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him out into a back hallway. When she was sure they were alone she turned to him with a glare, "What the hell do you think you are doing, Bass?"

"Oh come on, Vanderbilt, don't act like you didn't like it."

She placed her hands on her hips angrily, "I have a reputation to maintain. You can't just go around molesting me in public. I thought we had a deal."

Ed's face hardened, "I didn't agree to anything."

Emily looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "So what? You want to be my boyfriend? Go on dates? Hold hands? Have dinner with my parents?"

Ed swallowed deeply, "I don't know about all of that," He said as he slowly walked towards her until she was backed up against the wall, "But I do know that I want to have you again. I want you back in my bed, naked and writhing in pleasure."

"You-, you do?" She asked with wide eyes. Her breath had already become shaky at his closeness.

"Of course I do," He said as his eyes drifted down her body, "Jesus, look at you. Why wouldn't I?"

"I-, I don't-"

"Look, it doesn't have to be anything serious. We can just have some Bass-approved fun. Come on, Vanderbilt, you can't honestly say you don't want another taste of this." He said gesturing towards himself, "So what do you say?"

She closed her eyes and thought for a moment before she opened her eyes and look at him sternly, "No one can know. Everything I've built would be destroyed if people found out I was sleeping with one of the Bass boys, especially without any commitment."

"Fine." Ed agreed quickly, his lips only millimeters away from hers, "Sneaking around will add some excitement, don't you think?"

Emily rolled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Shut up, Bass."

And he did just that, pressing his mouth to hers without further commentary.