[h2]Esme[/h2]
 Esme’s eyes never left Dean’s face as she brought his hand up and kissed the back of it. She took in his smile and sigh at her words. As he spoke, she took in his words and softly nodded. “Okay, I’ll do my best not to worry about it.” she replied softly as he paused. It was hard not to continue thinking about it even when she didn’t want to think about it anymore, but since she couldn’t read Duke’s mind. She couldn’t help but wonder a little bit about what it was about her that made him leave. She wasn’t used to people running away from her unless they knew what she was. Duke had no idea that she was an Empath. No one had told him, and with how things were going, she still wasn’t sure she would. But she would keep her word to Dean and push it to the back of her mind. Esme watched as he pressed his lips tightly together before bending down and kissing her forehead, which made her close her eyes briefly with a soft smile. Dean’s suggestion caused her to smile even more as she looked up into his face. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” she said warmly. 

Getting some rest and time to collect herself and then going out with Dean sounded like something they both needed, but she couldn’t help but feel a little bad about ruining their earlier plans. But after everything that had happened since Duke got home, she couldn’t see herself having much of a good time with the tension hanging around them and trying to avoid Duke. Esme didn’t want to see or talk to Duke right now, with everything still so fresh in her mind. 



[h3]A little later[/h3]
After getting comfortable on the bed, Esme passed out almost immediately, falling into a peaceful and deep sleep. She never heard Dean leave the room or leave to go to the store to get her some chocolate. Which just went to show how much the whole situation drained her. By the time she woke, Dean had returned and was talking to Duke in the kitchen. Esme laid in the bed, stretched and yawned, hearing the muffled voices of Dean and Duke traveling up the stairs and through the bedroom door. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. She didn’t want to leave the comfort of the room, but she knew she couldn’t hide herself away in there forever. She would have to leave it eventually and have to face Duke. Laying there a little longer, snuggling a pillow, she thought about staying there once again. Finally, she forced herself to sit up, put the pillow back in place, and took to her feet. Esme walked over and grabbed a pair of socks from her duffle and her boots. Then, she glanced in the small mirror and wiped the sleep from her eyes, seeing she was still a little pale but had some color returning to her cheeks.

Walking back to the bed, she sat on the edge and put them on. Once that was done, she stood and walked to the door, hesitantly placed her hand on the handle, and opened it. Walking out the door, she pulled it mostly closed behind her. Esme walked to the stairs and slowly descended them, listening as the boy's voices got clearer the closer she got to the kitchen. Her stomach also knotted the closer she got. Esme kept her footsteps soft, not wanting to alert them to her being awake, then stopped and hung back out of sight, listening to their conversation. Coming in on it at the point where Duke said he couldn’t get her to talk to him. She remained as quiet as possible as Dean explained things to Duke and told him he needed to tell her the truth. Dean was trying to get Duke to come clean with her. She couldn’t stop the small smile that made it to her lips. ‘Leave it to Dean to try and fix things and protect my emotions.’ she thought. But Duke didn’t seem to be so willing to, thinking it would cause trouble, sighing inwardly as she continued to listen.

Her eyes widened when she heard Dean admit that Duke liked her and had already gotten attached to her because they talked. ‘Did he really get scared because we talked and he felt something?’ she thought. Esme continued to listen as Dean told Duke he needed to talk to her and that she’d get it because she’s good like that. She smiled a little more as Duke asked what if it was more complicated, and Dean told him to uncomplicate it and talk to her. She shook her head. Leave it to Dean to try and force someone to uncomplicate things. Just as she got up the nerve to walk into the kitchen, Bobby moved at his desk. She had entirely missed he was there. Esme nearly jumped out of her skin and squeaked in surprise. She snapped her head towards Bobby, giving him a look that said, ‘Have you been there the whole time?’ only to receive a shrug of his shoulders and then gestured for her to go into the kitchen. Nodding her head, she took a couple of deep breaths to slow her racing heart a bit, then stepped into the kitchen with the boys.

After walking into the kitchen, Esme sat at the table on the opposite side of Duke, still not quite able to look at him just yet. She stared at the top of the table, crossing her arms over her stomach. She felt a tad awkward sitting in the kitchen with Duke after hearing what she did. Esme didn’t even know what to say as she sat there until one thing came to mind. It could easily be directed towards both of them. “Thank you for letting me sleep. I feel a little better than I did.”