[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme sat there with her face still in her hands as she listened to Natalia tell her to ignore Mika and then explain how it was between Dean and Mika. Natalia’s words didn’t really make her feel all that better. She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach as she listened. Esme didn’t look up from her hands until Natalia had finished talking. She really had no words to reply to Natalia with about what she had just told her. Her mind had gone completely blank. 

She knew she wasn’t the only one to give Dean something. That wasn’t news to her. It was just something she had done to show her gratitude for his help and friendship. She looked away from Natalia and ran her hands through her hair. “This might be anything new for them, but I don’t want to be the cause of tension between them.” she told her. “Maybe it was a mistake for me to come here.” she said, mostly to herself as she took to her feet. 

“Even if I wanted to see if he was truly back from the dead…….. Maybe I would have been better off not knowing the truth and continuing things on my own.” she continued, still mostly to herself. She was now getting a headache and the feeling that everything was closing in on her. “I…..I need some air.” She needed to think about things, but her mind had become muddled. She rushed to the door, opened it and dashed out, letting it close behind her. 

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Dean and Mika were talking in the hall. “Hellfire!” she muttered. Esme then walked past them as quickly as she could, not making eye contact, to get to the stairs and outside.