[h2]Esme[/h2]
 Esme hardly noticed when Duke sat beside her on the couch until he wrapped his arm around her back and held onto her arm. She half expected him to be still standing in the middle of the living room or continuing his walk out the door. So, it surprised her that he actually came and sat beside her after she sat back down. She listened to what he said and softly shook her head as she opened her eyes and dropped her hand from her face. “Even with that. I shouldn’t have demanded that you two work things out. It wasn’t my place. I haven’t been around you with Dean long enough to make such demands.” she said softly, as she felt Duke wedge his hand between her legs and stomach gently, knowing what he was trying to do. Esme tried to straighten up but took a sharp breath through her nose as she did. She couldn’t just yet. Duke’s following words caused her to cut her eyes over to him. Why would her like this stop him from leaving if leaving was what he wanted to do? What did her physical state have to do with anything he did?

The next thing Esme knew, Dean crossed the living room and silently sat on her other side. She turned her head more towards him as he brushed her braid behind her, then leaned down to press his forehead against the side of her face and ask his questions. “I’ll be fine. Just give me a bit.” she said softly, trying to mask the pain in her voice, just before Duke spoke. When Dean lifted his head from hers, Esme nodded silently to Duke with a weak smile on her lips. She was glad he wasn’t going to leave in his state of mind but also wondered why he actually decided to stay. During the brief silence, Esme could feel the looks the boys were giving each other, and she slightly worried something would break out right there with her stuck between them. She mentally relaxed when Dean sighed, leaned back in, and whispered to her, then pressed a gentle kiss to her ear. The sweet action caused Esme to close her eyes and softly nod. “I’m trying.” she whispered, taking a breath and slowly letting it out. She leaned her head against Dean and focused on relaxing, which was proving to be a bit difficult with how strange it felt being sandwiched between the two boys. 

She did everything she could to relax, like pushing everything from her mind, including her anger at Dean, Duke leaving while upset, her need to call her father, and that Duke’s hand was still on her stomach, and his arm was still around her with Dean on her other side. She focused on her breathing as well as Deans, finally feeling herself starting to relax. It took a few minutes before she felt relaxed enough to try to straighten herself up again. Lifting her from Dean, she took a breath and straightened herself up, with a few choice words in Gaelic under her breath and a groan. She leaned into Dean, taking another breath and slowly letting it out. “Please, don’t let me get up like that again any time soon.” she whispered to them. “I’m usually pretty good with pain, but god, that was horrible.” She was still hurting quite a bit, but it was slowly becoming more tolerable as she sat there leaning against Dean. After all that, Esme felt she could take a long nap, but she really didn’t want to. “Alright, so what’s next?” she asked.