[h2]Esme[/h2]
  Esme could feel the lie coming even before Duke opened his mouth, and apparently, he could tell she knew he was lying before he cut himself off. Plus, she hated it when people lied to her. It rubbed her the wrong way. She would much rather someone keep it from her than lie to her face. His lie about not being upset caused her to narrow her eyes at him slightly. They remained that way even when he shuddered, frowned, and sadly chuckled at her statement of not knowing how to talk to him. She could tell how hard it hit him, but that was how she felt. She didn’t see why she should hide that from him. But when he answered, he spoke about his physical appearance, which wasn’t what she was referring to, and Duke seemed to realize that after he spoke. Esme watched him as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed before talking about him leaving. Yes, she was referring to that, but she didn’t nod when he asked. She just listened to him as he spoke, not really liking how he said he couldn’t explain without getting himself into a world of trouble.

Even after he apologized and said that he didn’t know it would mean so much to her, Esme almost wanted to tell him to try. But something told her that he wouldn’t as he rambled to her. His frustrated growl caught her off guard, and she looked back at him as he stepped back from her. Duke’s following words caused her to knit her eyebrows together. So, that’s how he wanted to play it. Play it like she knew what she should expect from his running. Yeah, maybe she should have, but Dean did leave out a few details. But that didn’t mean Duke had to throw it in her face. Esme sighed, threw up her hands, and turned her back on Duke. “I don’t even know why I felt the need to try.” she said softly and mostly to herself. She came out here to fix what she did, feeling bad for upsetting him, and now he’s deflecting. Why? If that’s what he wanted to do, then fine. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and sighed heavily through her nose, not realizing she was channeling some of his frustration as she stood in the garage with him. 

“You know what? Forget I even came out here.” Esme told Duke. Without another word, she stepped away from him and back towards the back door, hissing after a few steps. “Dammit to hell!” she growled. Her bare foot had come down on a socket wrench that didn’t make it into a toolbox. Bending down, she picked it up, tossed it into a nearby toolbox, and continued on her way with a slight limp in her step. ‘Next time, I’ll just let him pout.’ she thought as she walked through the garage. She was now wondering if they should even go out together tonight. There would definitely be some tension in the air around them after this. The talk with Duke surely didn’t go the way she had planned, and she regretted even running after him to apologize.