I'm updating fairly soon!...I think. It hasn't been that long, has it? I don't think so… Lol! Well, anyways here's chapter 7 and it's got some action in it… Please review and let me know what you think-the more reviews, the sooner I update!

Chapter 7

It was just after dusk and Lea was seated on the corral fence, thinking deeply to herself. People and horses passed her unnoticed as she focused on her thoughts, wondering where Nick had been the last few days.

It was strange not seeing him at some point during the day, but she tried to push the feeling away. He was avoiding her, she was sure. After all, the other day she had been just plain cruel to treat him like that.

"No one talks to her usually. She's just rude and emo all the time." Lea heard a guy say as him and a friend walked by behind her. Feeling her skin tingle at the words, she scowled before turning to look at the speaker. Of course he was talking about her. She was the only one at the stupid ranch who could be labeled as "rude and emo all the time".

"You better watch your mouth, blondie." Lea snapped sharply, easily catching his eye with her hard gaze. He held his hands up in mock surrender before laughing and rolling his eyes and turning to walk off.

Lea jumped swiftly down from her seat, stalking over to him and tapping him on the shoulder. The stranger turned and his eyes widened momentarily, apparently not expecting her to come over to him. His mouth twisted into a smirk, though, and he whipped his long bangs from his face.

"I'm serious." Lea spat at him, feeling the adrenaline from the anger he had caused her. It wouldn't have bothered her so much if she hadn't already been in a foul mood. Besides, she was itching for a fight or at least a heated argument.

"And I'm scared." He stated sarcastically, the smirk still plain on his face. Lea wanted to punch it off.

"You don't know what you're messing with, so don't go talking about me like that." Lea warned in a threatening tone, and she was sure she saw a flash of uncertainty in his eyes for a split second.

"Yeah, whatever." He scoffed, taking in her small height.

"Ever gotten into a fistfight?" Lea raised an eyebrow with her own smirk, to which the blond guy narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"I'm proud to say that I haven't." he shook his head.

"Then back off." She crossed her arms over her chest with a glare, "because I'd hate you to be out for the count after my first punch."

"Are you threatening me?" The guy snapped, finally getting annoyed with the girl in front of him. His friend seemed to remain silent, watching in interest.

"You bet I am."

"I don't hit girls." The blond said cockily.

"Maybe you should reconsider, because it's hard to defend yourself when you aren't fighting back." Lea retorted. Yes, she was all words, and no fight-but only for the moment.

"You wouldn't dare to start a fight here-not with all these people around. I'm sure there's an adult somewhere nearby." He replied reasonably.

"I wouldn't dare?" Lea raised both eyebrows in amusement, "You don't know me well. Obviously."

"Will you just get outta my face already?" he snapped, turning to walk away but Lea blocked his path.

"Then stop talking about me behind my back." Lea demanded, infuriated when he shoved her aside to walk past her.

Immediately she reacted by punching him square in the jaw. Pain exploded in her knuckles, but Lea ignored it with ease. No pain, no gain. Besides, she'd been through much worse pain before and she was only getting started.

"You hit me!" the guy yelled, testing his jaw before shoving her roughly, "Just back off. Stop picking a fight."

"Fine. Since you're obviously not man enough to take it." Lea stated nonchalantly, pretending to examine her nails in the process. Apparently this statement sent him over the edge as he swung his fist in her direction, but she ducked.

Lea never thought of herself as a professional fighter or anything. She didn't know karate or any martial arts, but she'd definitely been in street fights. Simply by experience had she become a decent fighter, and proud of it.

"I thought you didn't hit girls?" Lea spoke innocently, seeing him getting angrier and angrier. A shame he was lame at fighting and inexperienced. His only response was a nasty look, curse word, and another failed punch.

"Guess you weren't lying when you said you'd never fought before. It shows." She spoke up to encourage his anger. With that said she struck again, hitting him harder than before and ignoring the fire in her fist at the impact.

There was a crowd gathering around them, and Lea wondered why no one tried to help him. Typically, the fight was interesting and rare entertainment and even the goody two shoes were probably interested.

"C'mon, dude, hit me already." Lea sighed impatiently, "We can't call this a fight if only one side is fighting." He instantly aimed a strike to her head, but she dodged it, only to find him strike with his other hand and finally make contact-with her stomach.

For a moment, Lea felt herself go weak but forced herself to regain strength and push away the urge to be sick. They were only getting started and the crowd was still growing. Did no one care to tell on her? Oh, well.

"Nice one, blondie, but I'm still standing." Lea spoke when she managed to get air into her lungs again, "You can't even knock a girl down." The people around them seemed to all murmur amongst themselves, possibly deciding whether it was bad enough to go tell on the two or maybe people were guessing who would the loser.

Lea swung a kick at him but he dodged it, only to lose his footing and fall to the ground. She took her chance and kicked his side before giving him a blow to the face. He tripped her up afterward, ignoring the blood on his face and giving her a retaliating punch-this time in her face.

The pain was overwhelming at first, and Lea could see the world fade for a moment before she kicked him off, attempting to catch her breath. This guy was bigger than her, but she'd fought worse. Adrenalin enabled her to make it to her feet again, spitting blood out before smirking at the blond guy.

"Give up yet?" he asked, his own blood wiped away on his shirt.

"Talking to yourself, I see." Lea chuckled, "At least I assume, since you should know not to bother asking me that question."

Lea managed to kick him in the stomach and dodge his next punch, but he tripped her up which threw her out of balance and he took his chance to swing at her head again. Instead, he had managed to hit her collar bone, which was amazingly painful but she still stood.

"Well, well, getting better, aren't we?" Lea commented, panting but smirking at him before glancing around at the crowd, "But blondie has still failed to beat a girl." She said cheerfully.

Lea was ready for his blow that time and beat him to it and added a strong kick for good measure, bringing him to the ground yet again. He glared up at her, and she punched him in the face before feeling a tight grip on her arm.

She went cold for a split second, Nick's disappointed face flashing in her mind as she turned to face who had grabbed her. Inwardly, she sighed in relief at the unfamiliar face before her, but began to worry when he didn't say anything.

"That's my friend." He stated coldly.

"A wimp." She stuck her chin out arrogantly, "But even you can see that." Lea gestured to where the blond still remained on the ground, catching his breath and not bothering to get up when his friend showed up.

"Let's see if you can take two at a time." He threatened her, and she smirked.

"I've taken more than that." she shot back at him, twisting her arm just right to make him release her only to turn around and come chest to chest with someone. Lea wondered if the fight was worth it. It sure had her adrenaline pumping-she loved that feeling!

But wasn't it a useless fight?

Lea only stood staring in his eyes and breathing heavily, beginning to feel guilty now that she saw the disappointment and anger in Nick's eyes. He stood much too close to her for comfort and she shifted her weight.

"Lea, what are you doing?" Nick sighed, his tone full of disappointment in her and she almost wanted to break into tears at that moment, but "blondie" came out of nowhere, punching her stomach- plainly wanting the last hit in the fight.

"Hey!" Nick shouted, shoving the guy away, "She's done fighting! Leave her alone-it's over." Lea felt him pull her to his side and lead her away, ignoring the angry stares of the two guys and the remarks of the crowd.

The crowd was plainly happy that "blondie" had gotten in the last punch and Lea wasn't surprised. She wasn't like the others- a goody two shoes or anything. It was normal for her to be a one man show.

Lea was used to being up against the world alone.

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Lol. First time I've ever written a fighting scene…found out how fun it was!

Reviews are always appreciated and loved!