[h2]Esme[/h2]
When Esme heard Duke’s answer to her question, she visibly winced even though she already knew the answer. If he had said no, she would have honestly been surprised. Scaring him and sending him running was the last thing she wanted, but when he kissed the side of her face and continued to talk, she nodded to show she understood, and the thought of him running at that moment faded. She smiled ever so slightly when he said it wasn’t the weirdest thing he’s seen but it was the weirdest from her and thought he was okay, and not killing him was a plus. She understood that he’d need time to process seeing her become a demon nuke, but part of her was glad that he witnessed it without the others after telling him about it not that long ago. And now he knew for sure that he wouldn’t get harmed or killed when it happened.

Esme kept her head rested against Duke and opened her eyes looking up at the night sky. Even though it didn’t seem like he was going anywhere at that moment, she did wonder if this whole thing would cause him to leave earlier than he intended. She pushed the intruding thought from her mind like she had done earlier that night. Knowing he was uneasy about this side of her, the old Esme would have started to push him away to keep him from witnessing anything more and possibly getting hurt trying to help her through it. She had tried to push both Duke and Dean away several times in the past when it came to her empathy getting the better of her but Dean fought against her and won. Now being older with a new ability, and going through so much on her own, it actually scared her of what it meant to go it alone and what this power meant. Truthfully, she didn’t want to go it alone this time.

Tilting her head, she rested her forehead against Duke’s neck, then released a soft sigh through her nose as she held onto his arms. “It’s always a plus when no one dies.” she breathed, nuzzling her head against him. “I know this whole thing has to have you uneasy and confused. This is the second time this has happened and I’m still confused about it.” She paused and closed her eyes briefly as she took a deep breath and slowly released it, due to her head pounding. “I’m sure yo……” She pauses again with a wince because of her pounding head and sighs softly. “You’re waiting for me to start pushing you away because that’s what I do. I push people away when I think it’s something I need to deal with on my own or I’m afraid they might get hurt if they stick around……” Esme then lifted her head from his shoulder and released his arm from her grip, she then slowly turned in his arms so she could see his face. “I’m not going to push you away. I’m done pushing others away.” she breathed looking into his face. 

Lifting a hand, Esme gently placed it on his cheek. “I don’t want to go it alone anymore…. But if you do decide that this is all too much for you to handle and you need out…. I won’t stop you. I won’t force you to stay.” She spoke the truth. If he did want to leave because he didn’t know how to handle this or if it became too much, she wouldn’t stop him from going even though she didn’t want him to. She wasn’t one to force anyone to stay where they didn’t want to be, even if it hurt like hell to see them leave. She wasn’t that selfish of a person. “I love you too much to do that.” she told him as she ran her thumb across his cheek. Esme fell silent, watching him for a moment before she let her head fall into her free hand with a slight groan, closed her eyes, and messaged her temple. Her other hand slid from Duke’s cheek to his neck. “I need to get into the glove box. There should be some chocolate bars and some painkillers in it…. If they aren’t there, there’s a small purple bag in the trunk that will have it. Chocolate usually offsets the effects of when I overuse my empathy. I’m hoping it’ll help with this too.”

Even back when they were a team, Esme always made sure to keep some sort of chocolate on hand and easily accessible. She kept at least two bars or a small handful of small chocolates in the glove box, the same in the purple bag in the trunk, and in her duffle bags. On rare occasions, she’ll resort to some type of chocolate cookie, like Oreos or double chocolate chip cookies. After a moment, she opened her eyes and lifted her gaze just enough to where she could see her damaged car and sighed heavily, shaking her head a bit. “You don’t suppose I could sweet talk Bobby into coming and getting her, do you?” she asked him with a small smile. Sarah inched herself closer to Esme and gently placed her muzzle against Esme’s cheek. Esme smiled at the action and moved her hand from her cheek and placed it on Sarah’s, giving it a rub to reassure her she was alright.