[h2]Esme[/h2]
Esme nearly laughed at how Dean jumped when she announced her presence. A smile came to her lips as she saw the plate in his hands. “Was he going to bring me breakfast in bed?” she thought. Her eyes followed him as he quickly ran to the table and then to her. “Hey, yourself.” she replied as he looked her over. It wasn’t hard to tell that her eyes had given away just how much pain she was feeling. It showed in his actions. “Alright, I’ll try.” she replied to his question about sitting down and eating. She sighed softly at how he guided her to the table as if she would break. As sweet as it was, it sometimes made her feel uncomfortable. “I’m not going to break, Dean.” she told him softly so only he could hear. Once they reached the table and Dean pushed Duke’s feet off the chair, Esme nearly laughed again as Duke almost fell out of the chair and complained. She slowly lowered herself into the chair with a wince, holding back a yelp as her sore muscles screamed at her. Esme turned her head to look at Duke as soon as he spoke.

“Lier. I know how bad I look.” she replied with narrowed eyes. While talking to Duke, Esme missed the looks exchanged between Dean and Bobby. She then turned back to her plate, about to pick up her fork, when Dean returned with a cup of coffee. Esme took the cup with both hands and a warm smile. “Thank you.” She brought the cup close to her lips, taking in its warmth as Dean spoke, then grabbed the bag of frozen peas before sitting across from her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had had a day off from anything supernatural-related. She opened her mouth to speak but shut it when Duke chimed in. Esme fell silent, looking into her coffee cup as the three talked, and Dean kicked Duke under the table. [i]“Is this what I have to look forward to if I stick around more? Bickering and complaining.” [/i]she thought. When Dean repeated himself about taking a day off and then referred to her as company, she looked up from her cup at him. Was he using her as an excuse not to go after a werewolf? Maybe. Or did he just not want to deal with it?

When he smirked and winked at her after explaining to Duke, she couldn’t help but smile and lightly shake her head. Esme took a sip of her coffee as Duke spoke. She sighed softly through her nose as she set down her cup. Esme looked over at Duke, taking in his bright smile. She felt that he was trying way too hard to win her over after last night. “Maybe.” she replied. She then turned her gaze to her plate of food and then to the bag of frozen peas. She picked it up and held it in her hand, looking at it. “At some point, I need to work on my car. She barely made it here last night.” she said. Esme then moved the bag of peas to her left hand, used her right hand to push her hair away from the right side of her face, and gently placed the bag of peas on her aching face. She took a sharp breath through her nose at the contact and closed her eyes tightly. After a moment, she opened her left eye, picked up a piece of bacon from her plate, and took a bite, chewing it slowly. 

Esme knew she had to give Duke a chance to redeem himself after what happened last night, but did it have to start today? She felt like utter crap. Like death warmed over. In truth, she would be fine doing nothing, just laying in a bed all day, talking to Dean and filling him in on what went on yesterday, which he knew he was dying to know about. She also just wanted to sleep off the soreness that was overtaking her. But she also felt the need to fix her car before her father saw the state it was in. Thinking about her car caused her to think about what happened last night, and she tensed up, growing angry again. [i]“Easy, Esme, don’t get yourself worked up all over again. It’s too early for that.”[/i] she told herself. Esme took a breath to calm herself, then ate more of the food in front of her.