"Ok," Lydia reasoned with herself as she high-tailed it back to the house, "so that happened. So what? It doesn't mean anything. You barely got two hours of sleep last night, and you're living in the old house again. Hell, you even took over your old bedroom. It was bound to bring up some demons…"
She shuddered, mentally chastising herself for her poor choice of words. She forced her mind to empty as she ran up to her front door. She flew past Barbara and Adam, up to her mostly unpacked room, and began wildly chucking her belongings into what used to be her dad and step mom's room.
As she struggled to move her bed frame, a tiny, rebellious voice in the back of her head made an observation she had been avoiding.
"You liked it."
"I did not," she said to herself, "I was asleep!"
"Doesn't matter, you liked it and you wanted more. You liked feeling helpless, being dominated…"
She jammed ear buds into her ears and turned on the loudest rock she could find quickly on her MP3 player.
[~]
Twelve hours later, all of Lydia's boxes were unpacked and her things were put neatly away. Cobwebs and dust no longer covered every surface in the house, and every single one of her dishes had been scoured within an inch of its life. She collapsed exhaustedly onto her second-hand couch and surveyed her handiwork.
Barbara, noticing the silence, crept down the staircase and entered the living room.
"House looks great," she ventured, "That must have been some walk you took, to have inspired all this work."
"I fell asleep in the woods out there and had a…really messed up dream. It fucked with my head a little bit, so I needed the distraction."
"Oh. Do you want to…?"
"No," Lydia said firmly. "Of all the topics in the world that we could discuss at this very moment, that dream is strictly off limits."
"But it might…"
"No, Barb. Seriously…just no."
"Ok…well…how about I make you something to eat? What sounds good?"
"Nothing. I'm ok, really, you don't have to cook for me."
"You haven't eaten all day." A motherly tone crept into Barbara's voice. "How about some soup?"
[~]
She didn't want to admit it, but tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich turned out to be exactly what Lydia wanted, and she ate greedily. The soup warmed her inside and out, making her feel a little light headed.
"Go on," Barbara said, "Bed. Now."
Too tired to protest this childish treatment, Lydia smiled sleepily at Barbara and headed upstairs.
AN: Ah yes, another super short chapter. Wanted to get this up before the weekend. Being away from work makes it slightly more difficult to upload chapters. But rest assured, there will be more coming this weekend. I have a plan! Thanks to jh831 and Lill for reviewing, and thank YOU for reading. Reviews make me super happy! :-D