[h3] Duke [/h3]

Duke held his hands up in defense as Esme shrugged out of his grip and took a few steps back from him. He had felt her struggling against his chest when he hugged her. He had assumed it was just her frustration with him in the moment, and so he had hugged her through it. But now, it was obvious she didn’t want to be touched…at all. The tone of her voice stung a little, but Duke straightened his cowboy hat and placed his hands on his hips, listening to what she had to say.

He was a bit surprised to hear her say that she wasn’t upset with him for leaving and that she understood why he left. In fact, he was instantly confused and he tilted his head, opening his mouth to speak before she continued. But she began speaking almost instantly and he closed his mouth again, his eyes widening at her assertion that he had blamed her for his leaving…or that she was at fault in some way. There was truth to her statement, but not because she had come between him and Dean. It was because his feelings toward her were complicated and he had only just met her.

“I didn’t…” He started as she continued again, looking almost more angry than before. He turned his eyes down to her clenched fists and he sighed. As she finished, he huffed, and took a step forward, holding a hand out in front of him to make sure she knew that he wasn’t going to touch her unless she wanted him to.

“Okay. First off…I’m glad that you want me around.” He half teased, his nose twitching as he fought down a smirk, to make sure she didn’t think he was patronizing her in any way. “Second, you ain’t puttin’ no more tension on me and Dean than we put on ourselves. We have been at it for a while. I’ve known him almost my whole life. In fact, I’ve picked up a few…quite a few of his girls and put them back together before sendin’ them home to their parents. You know how he can be.”

He shook his head, and pointed his finger at her, “And you are not leavin’ this house, because of me. Bobby likes havin’ you around and apparently so does Dean. You gotta understand that I leave to relieve that pressure valve, a lot of times. It’s easier to give Dean a breather, than to beat each other’s asses every few months when we butt heads. We’re too much alike.”

Duke raised a single hand, and he slowly reached down, leaning forward a bit while keeping enough distance to keep her comfortable, and he picked up her hand. 

“How about we take a deep breath, alright? I’m sorry I made it weird the second I walked into the house. I’m sorry I ran off when things were tense and made you think I ran away from [I]you[/I]. And I’m sorry…that I have to refuse to leave well enough alone, because I want to be around you. I want us to be friends.” He explained sweetly, taking one more step forward as he dipped his head. Half of what he said was an absolute lie. 

He did leave to get away from her, at least partially. He could see her being a huge problem for him, but she was a problem his brain wouldn’t let him leave alone. He should have walked back into the RV, unpacked his stuff, and gone to a bar to pick up some sweet girl. But he was standing there, in front of Esme, practically begging her with his bright blue eyes to give him a chance…maybe not quite the chance he wished he would have had in a perfect world, but a chance none the less.

“So, how about this…” He glanced out toward his truck and then back down to her, “After we go to the bar, and we get back home…no girls tonight. I will be out there sittin’ on that tailgate and if you show up, I’ll do my best to explain. If you don’t, I’ll take the hint and we don’t have to be friends.”