[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

As Esme leaned against the counter in the kitchen, she became more and more lost in her own thoughts and eventually zoned out. Most of the conversations going on around her went unheard, but there were a few things that made their way through her heavy thoughts. She just barely caught the conversion of who was riding with who on the way to the town they were headed to and hardly any of the conversation that Natalia had on her phone. Her mind was still swimming with all the potential outcomes of the case, if they managed to keep the seal from being broken or not. What exactly would they go through when they got to the town and began to keep the demons from breaking the seal and what would happen if Samhain was in fact risen? She unconsciously gripped her beer bottle tighter as scenarios flashed before her eyes. Esme knew this was going to be the biggest thing she had ever faced in her time as a hunter. 

When Cason approached her and gently wrapped his arm around her waist, she was completely oblivious until he gripped her waist, leaned in, and whispered in her ear. The action caused her to flinch and take in a sharp breath as she looked at him as he pulled back. Esme could see that he was scanning her eyes and trying to read her emotion before he spoke again. She had to admit to herself that she wanted to go along with what he said. She did just want to leave Bobby’s and be on the road for a while. As she saw his sweet smile and she worked to find her words, Esme didn’t realize that he worked to scrunch up the fabric of her shirt or the fact that his arm was still around her. “I’ll be better once I get out of here for a bit.” she said in a low tone. “Leaving before the others sounds………” She trailed off when she felt Cason’s thumb on her skin just above her hip and flinched. 

She knew what he was trying to do. Calming someone was much easier with skin to skin contact, but did he really have to worm his way under her shirt to touch around her hip for the skin contact? His was calming her, but really? It was feeling like a losing battle to keep him from getting so close, almost as if he had no knowledge or didn’t care about personal boundaries. “Really? You couldn’t have just taken my hand?” she asked him with a raised brow. After a moment, Esme pulled away from him and downed the rest of her beer, and tossed the bottle in the trash. “Come on, let’s get a head start.” she said to Cason before walking to the door. She turned once at the door and looked at the two women in the kitchen. “We’ll meet you all there.” she told them, then walked out the kitchen door without waiting for a reply. As she walked to her car, she pulled her keys from her pocket with a small sigh. 

She was just about tempted to let Cason drive her car, just so she could relax in the passenger’s seat on the way there and not worry about too much. Though it was really hard for her to let anyone drive her car, the only ones that had ever been behind the wheel were her parents, herself, and Dean. Then there was the demon that Cason had to retrieve her car against her will, which still got under her skin a bit. Was she in a fit state to drive? Probably not. Could she drive? Yes. Esme had driven in a far worse state before and had made it to her destination just fine, with only a few minor hiccups on the way.