[h2]Esme[/h2]
Esme watched Duke as he took in her words in his drunken state and how he swallowed heavily as she looked into his eyes. She watched as he searched for his words to her terms. Her eyes narrowed slightly at his answer. She didn’t think it was that hard to figure out what she meant, but then again, he was drunk. There was still no telling how much of what she was saying was getting through to him. Her eyes were then pulled from Duke to Dean as he spoke. She sighed softly and opened her mouth to respond, but the knock at the kitchen door caused her to jump and close her mouth. Esme followed Dean’s gaze to the door. She wasn’t used to anyone knocking on the kitchen door. Her eyes returned to Duke as he spoke. Then, she watched as he got up from his chair and stumbled a bit. Her eyes followed him as he walked to the door and then looked back at Dean with a look. It was apparent Duke knew the person at the door and apparently wasn’t ready or didn’t want to talk to them. When Duke opened the door, Esme’s eyes fell on the girl standing there. 

Esme’s eyebrows raised slightly as she took in the girl at the door that Duke failed to block from view. Not only could she see the emotions on the girl's face, but she could feel it seeping through the open door and couldn’t help but feel a little bit for her. Esme’s eyes shifted to Dean briefly as he spoke before returning to the girl at the door. She sat in silence as she heard the exchange of words between the girl and Duke. Clearly, this girl had it bad for Duke and was devastated by how he left. She started to feel like she had a front-row seat to a soap opera as she continued to listen as Duke pushed the girl out into the garage. When Dean stood, Esme’s eyes went to him, and she watched as he walked over to the window and gently opened it to continue to listen in on the conversation. She softly shook her head with a slight smile on her lips. “You’re as bad as a teenage girl at a sleepover.” she whispered to him. Esme fell silent once again as their voices came through the open window. She felt sorry for this girl, even though she didn’t know her. 

Her eyes fell to the table as the conversation continued but then returned to Dean when he came over, leaned down, and dipped his head to her. Esme nodded her head at his words. ‘Worked until about a month ago? That’s when I met him, and he left the same night.’ she thought. Before she could think about it much more, the conversation in the garage continued, and her eyes returned to the table. Esme closed her eyes as she listened to Rachel talk to Duke, feeling slightly awkward overhearing the conversation between the two. Esme couldn’t blame the girl for being hurt. She would be, too, if she were in her shoes. Hearing Rachel say that Duke told her he would let her in caused Esme to tense a bit in sadness for her. From the short time she had known Duke, she could tell he didn’t let others in that easily, and if he said he would let someone in, it wasn’t guaranteed. Duke’s response upset her a bit. The girl deserved an answer better than ‘I can’t do this right now.’ The rest of the conversation caused Esme to sigh silently and shake her head a bit.

Duke was trying to avoid Rachel, and she was practically throwing herself at him and, in his drunk state, gave into her. When Dean spoke, Esme didn’t immediately open her eyes as she listened. She wasn’t so sure the two would be walking around like nothing happened. Something told her that Duke may regret his actions in the morning. After opening her eyes, she looked up and met his green eyes after he pulled a chair closer to her. “Awkward is one word for it.” she replied as he placed his elbow on the table. She watched him as he put his head on his fist close to her face. Dean’s following words brought a warm smile to her lips, and she nodded. “The dynamic feels better than it did. So, I would say yes, you did help.” She leaned in just enough for the tip of her nose to touch his. “Thank you.” she breathed, then tilted her head slightly to kiss his lips sweetly.