[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme’s eyes never left Dean’s face, even when he turned his hand over and held her arm. Her face relaxed a bit when he answered her and saw him subtly check her over for injuries. She was about to answer him when he pulled her up and close to his side. It took a little by surprise. She just thought he’d help her up, and that was it, but he pulled her close and continued to hold her arm. She looked away from Dean and looked at Sam as well when he came up the stairs; she felt him look down at her before he squeezed her arm and let go. As she stood there, she sighed heavily, thinking this was another reason she shouldn’t stay. 

The feelings she had for Dean back then hadn’t faded as much as she had thought. At Sam’s voice, she nodded silently as she felt Dean’s hand come to rest on her lower back. She knew what this sign meant. She did, and she didn’t want to step away at that moment. Though she was soon hit by feelings of jealousy, she knew who they were coming from even before looking around the room. Her eyes fell briefly on Mika, taking in her facial features and seeing how her face mimicked what she felt coming from the woman. Esme gently squeezed Dean’s arm, in a way to let him know she was glad he was okay and understood his submission. 

Then she slowly stepped away from him, putting a suitable distance between them, for Mika’s sake. She looked to the stairs, hearing Annabeth’s screams, then looked at everyone else in the room. There was a wide variety of emotions flowing through the house, and she was the primary cause for one of those. At that moment, she saw herself as nothing but a cause for trouble between Dean and Mika and possibly the rest of the group. As much as she hated to do it, because she wanted to be around others, she talked herself into sneaking away and leaving without a word. 

Sighing quietly to herself, she took in a deep breath, turned away, and snuck out the door while they all talked. “I can’t do this.” she whispered as she stepped off the last step of the porch. Esme almost took off into a run to her car when her feet hit the ground, but she refrained from doing so. Not to mention, she was sure someone would hear if she had. “I have to leave and not cause stress among them.” she whispered as she walked to her car.