[h2]Esme[/h2]
 Before the mischievous smile came to Esme’s lips, she nodded to his suggestion about going to the bar and then laughed lightly at his tease. They did get into a bit of trouble at times, but it was worth it. She also had been happy to see how happy Duke was to have his hat back, even if he did flinch when she placed it on his head. She had never intended to make him flinch from her putting his hat on his head, but the chuckle and the way he ran his fingers along the hat's brim made it so much better. There was hardly ever a time she could remember him going without, and she also knew how he felt about his hat. When he looked down at her and raised his eyebrows at seeing her mischievous smile, she couldn’t help but go along with the thought that went through her mind. Duke’s laugh was music to her ears, especially after seeing him so upset after his and Dean’s conversation. But when he wrapped his arm around his stomach, she hovered her hand over his stomach too. “Yeah, just like the old days.” she said with a laugh. 

Esme continued to hover her hands over Duke’s stomach when he stretched back and laughed again, watching his face as he laughed, taking it all in. She then nodded when he said he thought it was too cold for swimming and he’d be shrinking in all the wrong places as he brought a hand in front of his crotch with a worried and teasing look. Now it was Esme's turn to laugh and wrap her arm around her sore stomach. “No, we can’t have that…. I guess we’ll have to save the skinny dipping for when it warms back up.” she said between laughs. “And yes, you almost did, and that was only because…. Well… You play dirty, you ass.” she said, playfully slapping his arm. Esme then moved to his side and started walking again but stopped after a few feet, looking at herself and Duke. “Before we go anywhere, we need to get you a shirt, and I’d like to change out of these clothes.” she told Duke. “And I need to try to hide the mess on the back of my head so I don’t freak anyone out.” Her smile slightly faded as a partial memory came to her mind, reminding her how it happened.

Esme unconsciously raised her hand to gently touch the back of her head, wincing as she touched the spot. Shaking the memory away, she removed her hand from her head, wrapped her arm around Duke, and headed for the RV. That’s where Sarah had taken their bags. “Also, you can thank Sarah for saving your hat.” she told him. “She came out of the barn with it and has had it since.” Esme winced and shivered when she said the word barn. She didn’t want to think about it or anything associated with it after everything. Plus, it was still too early to start thinking back on it anyway. It was still too fresh in her mind.  As soon as they reached the RV, Esme grabbed her bag at the base of the steps, walked up the steps, opened the door, and walked in. She dropped her bag on the couch, unzipped it, and pulled out some fresh clothes, laying them on the couch. Zipping up her bag, she tossed her bag on the floor and began the painful process of getting out of her jacket, wincing and hissing as she felt the stitches on her shoulder pull. Just now realizing Bobby and Dean must have done it after she passed out. 

After a bit of a struggle, Esme finally got out of her jacket. Folding it in half, she tossed it to the side with a sigh. Closing her eyes, she sighed again and rolled her shoulders a bit. She still had two shirts and pants to remove before putting something clean on. Once she took a slight breather, Esme returned to work, removing her dirty clothes as carefully as possible, wincing and holding hisses back from pulling her stitches and sore muscles. She never liked being this sore. It was a pain to get anything done.