[h2]Esme[/h2]
Esme dropped her hand from her head, crossed it over her chest, and opened her eyes when she felt Dean become uneasy. Did he think she would still leave after she said she was staying? Before she could reassure him she was staying with a warm smile, Duke chimed in about the shower. “I never…..” She was cut short by Dean slapping the back of Duke’s head. Esme stifled a laugh as Duke spun around to look at Dean. Duke definitely had that one coming. When Bobby chimed in, she held back the grin that threatened to show itself. These two were acting like a couple of two-year-olds, and then it was taken further as they decided to play a game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who got the shower. Esme lightly shook her head as the game played out in front of her, with Dean winning and Duke being a sore loser. If she was being honest, she was glad that it was Dean who got the shower, knowing that once he had cleaned up, he’d be at her side checking on her. Plus, you could only do so much with a bucket of soapy water and towels. 

As Dean moved around the chair and to the linen closet, Esme didn’t move from her spot on the wall. She didn’t need him seeing her stagger to a chair or the couch. When he stopped at the bathroom door and asked her not to leave, she looked at him with a soft smile. “I’m not going to leave.” she told him reassuringly. Her gaze shifted to Duke, and her smile faded as he stood from the chair. She watched his movements as he went to the linen closet, his hands in front of his face as if she would lash out at him again. She sighed softly as he raided the linen closet and waited for him to pass her to get to the basement stairs, but he stopped and looked down at her. She looked up at him as he spoke.  “As am I. And we’ll see about that.” she replied after Dean yelled at him. After Duke went down the stairs, Esme stood up a little straighter, getting ready to attempt to walk to the couch, when Bobby stepped around his desk. She watched Bobby move the back into place, then pick up Duke’s hat and sigh. 

When he spoke about Duke, she sighed a little. She could agree with the first part of what he said but wasn’t so sure about the other. “If you say so, Bobby. If you say so.” she replied tiredly. After the first impression she made, she doubted he’d want to be anywhere near her anyway. She shoved him into a chair and told him to shut up, and she insulted him in less than five minutes. She wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he had nothing to do with her after that. “I doubt I’ll get the chance to find out after what I did to him.” she said, pushing herself off the wall. She slowly walked over to the couch, deciding it would be more comfortable than a chair, occasionally catching herself on something as she swayed. Esme lowered her sore body to sit on it with a wince and slight hiss. She sank low to rest her head on the back cushion and crossed her arms over her stomach. Once comfortable, she closed her eyes, sighed heavily through her nose, and tried to clear her thoughts. She needed to relax and not get herself all worked up again.

 But her thoughts went to the guy who told Sassy about the haunting. She still felt she needed to track the guy down and let him have it. She felt her anger rising the longer she thought about the guy, so she quickly tried to think about something else. Her car, she needed to fix up her car, then thoughts of how it got damaged angered her again. What could she think about to calm herself? It was hard to think of anything positive with her head still pounding, but it was dying off now she was sitting down. As she sat there, she cleared her mind of everything and focused on the bracelet on her wrist and its charm, which she was rolling between her fingers. Esme could feel herself relaxing and the anger dissipating. At this rate, she might doze off before Dean got out of the shower.