[va] Emergency Protective Order Out Of Nowhere After Roommate Move-out Dispute. Not Sure What To Do

Location: VA

My roommate and I have been having issues over rent and her moving out, and now she has filed an emergency protective order against me. I'm trying to understand what I should be doing to protect myself legally.

When my roommate moved in, she had issues paying her portion of the rent. The second month it happened again and we almost received an eviction notice. Even though my half had been paid on time, it would have affected both of us. I told her that either she needed to move out or I would have to. She agreed to move out but asked for about a month and a half.

During that time, I had the full rent drafted from my account to avoid another missed payment, and she was supposed to pay her half directly to me.

By the agreed move-out date, she had only paid me around 1/4 of what she owed, I wasn't seeing much progress with her moving, and it had become difficult to reach her.

I contacted apartment management and they told me they could potentially change the locks if I couldn't get in contact with her. On the agreed move-out date, I emailed her saying the locks could be changed if I didn't hear from her by the end of the day. She responded within minutes saying she needed a few more days. I asked her to move sooner since we were already at the agreed deadline and my parents were coming to visit the next day.

Later that day she came by and packed one suitcase. I asked about the rent she owed me, but she said her Uber was outside. I asked her for the apartment keys and she handed them to me. She said she would return around 5 PM the next day to get the rest of her belongings. After she left, I texted asking her to please pay me back before coming back.

The next day, instead of coming at 5 PM, she showed up around 1 PM with police to be let into the apartment while I was at work.

While at work, I received a call saying an emergency protective order had been filed against me and they were trying to serve me. I was told not to contact her directly or indirectly.

From what I've been told so far, she's claiming she doesn't feel safe and that I was harassing her by calling multiple times. I haven't seen the actual allegations yet, so I don't know what else is being claimed.

I'm obviously not going to contact her, and at this point I'm much more concerned about the protective order than the money.

She also left furniture, other belongings and her cat at the apartment. I've been told police and a relative may come to pick up the cat in a few days. I have saved the texts/emails, payment records, call logs and communications with apartment management.

I've never dealt with anything like this before. What should I expect once I'm served? Should I get an attorney? What evidence should I prepare? And how should I handle her remaining belongings without violating the no-contact order?