[h2]Esme[/h2]
  Esme continued to look past Duke as he spoke, focusing on nothing in particular. She didn’t know why she was standing there. She should have walked into the house after she had said what she wanted to say, but yet she was still standing in front of him. Her jaw tightened at his half-tease, not finding it funny or the right time to be teasing. Esme listened to his second statement, only partly believing she wasn’t putting more tension on them than they already had. She didn’t find it very surprising that Duke would pick up the girls that Dean had been with, and yes, she knew how Dean could be. When Duke pointed at her, she returned her eyes to him, narrowing them a little more. She listened to his words but still shook her head at the fact that he was the only reason she would be leaving. She knew how much Bobby and Dean liked having her around. Not only had she felt it from them, but they had also told her. But she couldn’t stick around any place long if there was a lot of tension hanging in the air. It made her sick and quite challenging to be around. 

However, that was something Duke didn’t know since he didn’t know she was an Empath, and she wasn’t sure any of them would ever tell him. That wasn’t something she shared openly with just anyone. In the short time she’d known Duke, she could see how much alike Dean and Duke were and could see why they would butt heads often, but that didn’t make her feel much better. Esme’s eyes dropped to his hand as he raised it. He slowly reached down for her hand as he leaned forward a bit. He just couldn’t help himself. He just had to touch her when he knew she didn’t want to be. She clenched her teeth as her eyes returned to his face as he spoke again. Esme listened, picking up on his lie straight away. He had done it again, lied right to her face, and then dipped his head. He wanted to be friends, but here he was, lying to her face again. She knew the lie was about her, but she didn’t know the full extent of the lie. She could tell he liked her, but nothing more than that since she didn’t concentrate too hard on it, and she was still learning the extent of her empathy. 

Esme would never think it was more than that from Duke. She stayed quiet, his begging words rolling around in her mind until he spoke again, watching him glance to his truck and back at her. When he finished, she pulled her hand out of his and took several steps toward the back door. “No.” she started, looking at him. “When you can stop lying to me. Then we can think about being friends. I don’t do well with being lied to, Duke. The sooner you figure that out, the better it’ll be for you. I understand keeping things from me, I can’t be friends with someone who lies to me.” she told him flatly. “Dean keeps things from me, but he doesn’t lie to me. Not after the last time I called him out on it.” Without another word, she turned and walked to the door, opened it, and walked inside without looking back at Duke. Once inside, Esme walked through the kitchen and into the living room, where she left the books on the floor and tidied up the mess she had left in front of Bobby’s desk. Once that was picked up, she headed for the stairs, went up to the guest room, shut the door behind her, walked over, and sat on the bed with a heavy sigh. 

Esme laid back on the bed, closing her eyes tightly and running her hands down her face in frustration. Then brought her hands to rest on her stomach, taking slow, deep breaths to calm herself. She hated getting this worked up. It always took her some time to calm herself back down, and it always made her crave a lot of chocolate. It also drained her, making her feel horrible.