[h2]Esme[/h2] As Esme took the chocolate and a couple of other things out of her glovebox, setting them on the seat beside her, her thoughts went back to Duke’s reply of getting food. A new smile came to her lips but faded slightly as the rest came to mind. As much as she wanted to sit here and wait for Bobby, she was in the same mindset as Duke. They couldn’t just sit there like ducks, waiting for another attack by idiotic demons who wanted to kidnap her. That was one of the last things she wanted to happen to her. She was neither in the mood nor shape to hold off another attack and didn’t want to put any more stress on Duke. The poor guy had been through enough that night. After Duke agreed to help her get her bags in his truck, a warm smile made it to her lips that was taken over by a laugh as she looked over her shoulder. “If you had it your way, that’s all I’d be wearing.” she said playfully. She then placed the items from her glovebox into a royal purple zippered pouch with a running white wolf on it. Esme sat up in the seat and tucked the pouch into the inside pocket of her jacket. As she sat in the seat, she watched Duke through the mirrors of her car. It surprised her, that despite everything that went on that night, Duke was still in rather good spirits. Then again, it did take a lot to bring his spirits down, which a lot had happened and yet here he was still smiling brightly. After he had put her bags in the truck bed and jogged back, she stepped out of her car, a smile resting on her lips. “That sounds like a great idea.” she said looking up at him with a laugh. “Let’s just hope this place makes it right, unlike the last one I had.” She shivered at the thought of the last burrito she had, that was a terribly rough night. Shaking the thought from her mind, she shut the car door, then walked to her trunk, pulled out a small bag then shut the trunk. Walking back over to him, she took his hand and interlocked her fingers with his. Giving his hand a squeeze, she led the way over to his truck. ___________________________________________________ Esme slept peacefully through the night, which was a rare thing. Not one nightmare plagued her dreams during the night or even early that morning. Her dreams were about the good times she had with the boys and then turned into ones only with her and Duke. Though most of them involved instances where they weren’t hunters, but people living an ordinary life. One of those dreams was of them going on that trip they had planned all those years ago but as normal people. What a beautiful dream it was too, but that’s just what it was, a dream. She was so committed to this life that she couldn’t see herself living a normal life, especially now with demons trying to kidnap her every chance they got. Even if she tried to be normal, she knew at some point there would be some black-eyed asshole laying in wait around a corner. If she didn’t have these abilities, maybe, just maybe it could be possible. What was it about her abilities that made her so desirable to demons? How the hell did she even get them? She didn’t mind the empathy too much, but being psychic was rough. After Duke got out of bed, Esme began to slowly wake up from the empty feeling the bed had. As she lay there, her thoughts were far from him getting dressed to leave, she thought he had gone to the bathroom and would be back. When he didn’t return in the time she thought he should have, her eyes fluttered open just in time to catch Duke closing the door behind him, fully dressed and with his backpack. A frown appeared on her face as she jumped up out of bed and quickly got herself dressed so she could catch him. Running to the door and grabbing a key off the dresser, Esme stuffed the key into the back pocket of her jeans and somewhat tamed her hair with her fingers then opened the door, seeing Duke about to get into his truck. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting out, she did her best to relax to hide how she was feeling. “Taking one from my book, huh Cowboy?” she said calmly. She shifted her weight between her feet before leaning back on the closed door of the room and sighing quietly to herself as she looked at him. “I guess this is karma coming back to bite me in the ass.” she said, mostly to herself. Her gaze dropped to the pavement, now knowing how Duke and Dean must have felt with the way she left all those years ago. This was definitely karma coming back to bite her, she knew for a fact it was. “I know you told me you never intended to stay very long.” she said, lifting her gaze to the tailgate of his truck. “I never intended to stay long either. I had planned to see if the rumor was true about Dean coming back from Hell and then leaving, but things happened and I ended up staying. I did try to leave though, and against my better judgment, I ended up staying because he practically begged me to. And to be brutally honest with you, I still feel like leaving.” she admitted. Esme sighed heavily as she ran her hand through her hair, bringing it all to rest on one shoulder. She didn’t know what made her tell him all that, but she was glad she did. She knew she didn’t have to tell him, but she felt like he should know. She really did feel like leaving still but was struggling to make herself do it. Part of it was because Dean wanted her to stay, the other was because she was afraid of being ambushed by demons and being locked away and tortured again if she was on her own. Which was something she never planned to admit to anyone. That fear lingered in the back of her mind constantly. No matter how much she tried to shove it down and forget, it was always there. “I also still stand by what I said. I wouldn’t stop you when you were ready.” she added after a short pause. Esme fell silent as she searched her mind for her next words. Before she could find them, Sarah came and sat next to her and rested her head against Esme. Esme brushed the back of her fingers against Sarah’s shoulder and continued speaking. “I just don’t know what has made you want to leave so suddenly…… Is it because of my powers or Sarah?…… You don’t want to get caught up in what tends to follow the Winchester name or are you afraid of getting hurt again?” She sighed, lifting her gaze higher, so she was now looking at his chest. “If your answer is yes to some or all of those questions…… I can’t say I blame you for wanting to leave so suddenly. I would too if I were in your boots.” She fell silent and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and waited for some kind of response, either it be him answering her or getting in his truck and leaving in silence. She hoped that he would talk to her.