(no subject)

The walk back home after her confrontation with Jude on the beach hadn't been especially long, but it felt like it, her desire to return to the hut growing steadily stronger with every step she took. She just didn't want to deal with this at all, and its inevitability left her seeking out the one relief she was all but guaranteed to get. Ryan needed to be told that Jude was back, anyway. Given the way her own conversation with him had gone, she doubted it would be pleasant if the two of them were to run into each other. Jude would have known Ryan, but Ryan would certainly have recognized Jude, and Lucy was certain, in that moment, that she didn't want the two of them to even have to walk past each other. Jude was a part of her past; she'd made that clear months before he'd disappeared, and now she could only hope that she had done the same again.

When the hut finally appeared in the distance down the beach, Lucy was absolutely positive that she had never seen a sight so welcome in all her life, perhaps not even Max's appearing at her doorway a whole year and a half ago. It didn't take long, then -- at least not as long as the rest had felt like -- for her to get there, and as soon as she had made it inside, she slammed the door behind her, letting out a long sigh as she leaned back against it, head in her hands. All she wanted was for Ryan to be there, at least giving her a chance to vent, to not keep so much frustration pent up. Just then, though, she needed an opportunity to catch her breath, a moment to catch her breath and cool down so she could at least start thinking straight again. The sensation of her head reeling hadn't yet passed, and that was the first thing she needed to amend.