[h2]Esme[/h2]

[h3]5 Weeks later[/h3]
 Esme was sleeping peacefully next to Dean, her head on his chest and arm draping over his stomach. The past month had been relatively peaceful. There hadn’t been much to worry about after she got Dean to talk to her and share feelings, even though she had to twist his arm, and the two of them had gotten closer. With nothing to do the past week except answer phones and help Dean and Bobby help other hunters, things were too eventful. It was getting quite dull, actually. Her father, Sassy, and other family hadn’t even contacted her to help with anything they had going on. But she couldn’t complain too much. She had a roof over her head, food in her belly, and she was with Dean. Esme couldn’t ask for much more at that point, even if she was itching to get out and do something because she didn’t know how much longer she could stay in the house. However, it had helped with her and Dean’s relationship, having nothing by time together.

When Dean nuzzled her head and groaned tiredly, Esme’s wake-up process started, but she wasn’t ready to open her eyes yet. She wasn’t even ready to move yet. She was far too comfortable. When Dean tightened his arm around her and brushed his finger through her hair, she snuggled up to him more. Despite the sounds from the garage below them, Esme felt she could sleep a little longer and felt herself trying to drift off again. If it hadn’t been for Dean mumbling into her hair and scooting himself down on the bed, she would have drifted back off. She couldn’t stop the soft smile that came to her lips when he nuzzled her nose and spoke to her under his breath. She also took note of the mischief in his tone and almost laughed with him. It was hard to turn down. As he traced her eyebrows, Esme let her eyes flutter open and looked at him. “I’ll hold you to it.” she said tiredly, smiling warmly. It was at that moment that Esme realized just how strong her feelings for Dean had grown. It was almost scary, but she couldn’t deny it. She really did love him.

[h3]An hour later[/h3]
Esme was sitting on the floor, Indian style, in front of Bobby’s desk, pouring herself over books and cross-referencing to help out one of Bobby’s hunters. At the sound of a truck door slamming outside, she looked up from the books and out the window but couldn’t see much from where she sat. She hadn’t been around long enough to know that it was Duke who had just pulled in and was outside talking to Bobby. When Dean called to her, she looked to the kitchen and nodded, even if he couldn’t see it. “Really? With how you talked about how he runs off, I figured he’d be gone longer.” she called back with a soft sigh. Picking up her coffee cup that sat next to her, she brought it to her lips and took a drink before setting it back down and returning to what she was doing. Esme knew she should probably take a break to stretch and rest her eyes, but she couldn’t get herself to do it, even if her back was starting to ache with the way she was sitting and her legs and feet felt like they were going numb.

Esme found the place she left off, sliding her finger over the page as she read it. Holding her place with her finger, she switched to another book and used her other hand to keep her place as she read through the book. Grabbing the pad of paper and pen on the opposite side of her, she jotted down notes, making them as legible as she could. Then dove right back in to find out more to help the hunter, who had gotten lucky enough to find something to do. She wasn’t a fan of this part of the job, but she knew it was just as important as going out there and hunting. With a sigh, she ran a hand through her hair as she continued to pour herself over the books in front of her silently. Everything around her faded out as she concentrated on the words within the books.