[h3] Dean and Duke [/h3]

“Nothing happened while you were gone. We’ve been…here. Things have been quiet.” Dean chimed in as Esme began to stretch and ready herself to stand. Duke looked back at Dean, narrowing his eyes and then back down at Esme who still hadn’t really acknowledged him, past a simple ‘hi’. Either they had discussed him, or she was upset with him for leaving…or her and Dean had been way way way closer the past several weeks than ever, which was going to be awkward out with the three of them.

Then Esme suggested that they go out together, and Duke smirked, turning to Dean. Finally, she acknowledged him. Dean took a drink from his coffee and turned his eyes down to the map, as he drew his final line with the marker in his hand. He dropped the marker on the table and looked up at Duke as Esme stood from the from the floor and Duke hovered his hand out, like he was waiting to help her up.

After Esme was on her feet and stretched out, she walked right past Duke, heading to get more coffee without looking at him, and Duke frowned as he watched her. His normally chatty nature was lost, as he just watched her keep the entirety of her attention on Dean.

Dean sighed and leaned back in his chair, placing both hands on the back of his head as he looked up at Esme, watching every move she made, down to the way the coffee cup touched her lips. Duke chewed at his lip, placing his hands on his hips, and tilting his head down as the need to ask about the tension he felt around him, no matter how misplaced or misjudged was. The reality was, the tension was coming from HIS shoulders. He was a little offended that neither of them seemed happy to see him. Neither of them seemed like they cared that he came back.

“I can go on my own. I just thought we might could put last month behind us and have some fun.” Duke sighed, dropping his hands. He walked over and picked his bag up from the chair he had thrown it into but Dean cleared his throat.

“Alright. We can go out.” Dean said, looking up at Esme with an unsure but willing look. He gathered all of the information from the table, and stacked it, writing a quick note for Bobby on a torn off sheet of paper. He placed the piece of paper on the top of the pile, and scooted his chair back just as Duke stepped up to the back door.

“By the way…I’m happy to see both of you. Just thought you might want to know.” Duke muttered, snapping a bit as he pushed the back door open to head out to his RV and change clothes.

“And he’s upset. He’s going to sulk all night…” Dean sighed, waving his hand at the door. He shook his head and walked his coffee mug over to the sink, turning to Esme, “Just because I don’t really trust that he’s back doesn’t mean that you can’t…talk to him or anything. We talked about that.”