[h2]Esme[/h2]
Esme didn’t stop when she heard Duke call to her. She just wanted to get back inside and away from him momentarily. She needed to collect her thoughts and rethink everything, especially why she felt the need to come out here and apologize to Duke. Esme hardly knew him. She had only been around him for 24 hours before he had decided to bolt and stay gone for a month. What was it about this guy that made her feel this way? She had stepped between him and Dean and demanded that they work out the problems between them, and now she felt the need to come out and fix what upset him. What was her empathy picking up about him that she hadn’t caught on to yet? Thinking about it made her head spin and hurt at the same time. Duke’s running footsteps echoed in the distance as she searched her mind for answers. She didn’t hear him skid to a stop next to her. When he grabbed her arm and spun her to face him, she gasped and caught his eye, seeing the worry on his face, but that didn’t stop her from narrowing her eyes at him. 

As Duked pulled Esme into a hug, she raised her arms and placed them between them. She didn’t want to hug him, and she didn’t want him hugging her. Pushing against his chest, she tried to push herself away from him but couldn’t. So she kept her face turned away from him until he let her go. She took in his words, not liking them one bit. She couldn’t quite understand what could make him look so horrible at that moment. Esme also couldn’t understand why he cared how she saw him. It wasn’t like there was much between them except for that moment of comfort a month ago. When he pulled away from the hug, she noticed how his hands lingered against her body as if struggling to let her go. When Esme thought Duke was going to let her go, he didn’t. He took hold of her upper arms, held her in front of him, and came down to her level to talk to her. Her eyes remained narrowed as she took in his words and looked into his wide blue eyes. When he finished, Esme shrugged out of his grip and took several steps back from him. 

“I can't promise anything.” she said, nearly snapping at him. She took a few more steps back to avoid getting drawn into another hug by him. “I’m not upset because you left, Duke. I get you had to leave after you and Dean sparred.” she told him. The frustration was evident in her tone as she spoke to Duke. “What’s upsetting about you leaving is the way you left. I know it was mostly Dean that caused you to go, but it also made me feel like I was part of the reason to…. I know it shouldn't bother me since we don't know each other that well, but it does.” she admitted, not knowing why. Esme looked past Duke and sighed heavily through her nose. Her hands clenched into fists. “I don't want to be someone that puts tension or stress between you and Dean, and I’m not going to force you to leave your own home. I'm the guest here…. If things go south, you can bet your ass I’ll be the one leaving here.” As Esme spoke, you could feel she meant every word she said. Esme fully planned on leaving if she felt she was a problem between the boys.