Eyes of Fire [Sam Uley]

NINETEEN|The Burden of Emotions

"What?" She asked.

"You've got amber eyes. They're like little flames." He said as she sighed, lowering her head. "Eyes of fire." He said and she was looking at the ground. "Hey, Livvy, what's wrong?" He asked at once, when he realized that she was trembling and she was crying again.

Olivia got up and she was walking quickly up the stairs and she was leaning against the door to their room as she felt the rollercoaster of emotions rushing through her again and again. "Liv?" He tapped on the door. "Please Livvy, just open the door." He said and there was legitimate worry in his voice.

"Come on Spark. Would you please just open the door?" At the private nickname from him, Olivia opened the door and he looked down at her. "What's wrong?"

"It's just another thing that makes me different from everybody else, Sam." She said and he sighed. "I can't change what I look like, I can't change my eye color, I just feel like a fake." She whispered and he was looking at her. "I'm a white person with god who only knows what background, living on a reservation and helping to feed a pack of teenage soldiers whose DNA quite literally comes from your tribe's legends." She said and she shook her head.

"Olivia..." Sam began, but Olivia wasn't finished.

"I don't even belong here. The pack only cares about me because I give them food and they're probably sick to death of hearing about me in your thoughts. They would probably kill me by now if it wasn't for the law against harming imprints of your fellow pack members. The Elders whisper about me, they always have. Old Quil detests me, he pushed for me to leave La Push in the first place. Billy doesn't trust me and Harry only tolerates me in their lives because Sue does. My own family hates me. I can't talk to Quil because he hasn't phased yet, my mother hates me for my temper and everything else that she was right that is wrong with me. Your mother probably blames me for you sticking around here instead of going to college and everyone here either doesn't trust me or just plain hates me for being different than all of you!" Olivia had finally let it all out and Sam looked at her, as she looked completely drained and he sighed.

"You done?" Sam asked and then she was staring at him, before she slowly nodded at the words. "Well jesus, Livvy, you have just been clearly carrying that around for a while." He said and she sat down on the end of the bed and he shuts the door as then he sat down next to her.

"I'm not angry at you." Olivia murmured quietly and he smiled a little, as he moved hair out of her eyes and she looked over at him. "Why are you smiling?" She asked and he was shaking his head.

"Just looking at you." He said as she sighed quietly, looking down at the floor. "Liv, why are you so resistant to compliments?" Sam asked and she looked at him. "What is it?" He asked and she was shaking her head.

"Sam, what do you see when you look at me?" Olivia asked and he looked at her in surprise.

"Okay... Before you phased and imprinted on me, when you used to see me after being bloody from fights in the halls and in classes. What did you see in your mind when you looked at me?" Olivia asked and Sam looked at her, but this time, it looked like he was thinking about it.

"I saw a tough teenager." He decided and Olivia glanced over at him, listening to the answer carefully. "I saw somebody in front of me, who was willing to fight to be heard, even if it meant getting the negative attention over all. You didn't give a flying donkey about your reputation, you really just wanted to be heard." Sam said and she sighed.

"And, what do you see now?" Olivia asked quietly and he looked at her. "Please answer it honestly, Sam." She said quietly as she was waiting.

"I see somebody who knows exactly what she needs to do for her family. I see a strong person who is willing to step into a cage, to earn money for the rest of us. I see a person who keeps getting up, who refuses to let her emotions show. Who keeps herself closed off to the outside world, but to her pack, she is able to let her emotions out. I see somebody who is strong enough to leave her own stuff at the door to help everyone else." Sam said and she looked at him, before she shook her head.

"Where you're seeing all of that, is completely beyond me." Olivia admitted quietly and he looked at her.

"Where you see strong, I see weak. When you say closed off, I just say broken. I don't let my emotions out, Sam, I just bury them until they explode. I look in the mirror every day and I see an outsider, a scarred and broken human being, who won't ever truly fit in." Olivia was shaking her head. "I look in the mirror and I don't see any of that... I don't see anything that you do." She said and he was looking at her. "Do you get that Sam? I don't see it, any of it. I can't see myself that way, I can't." She said as he was standing up and she shook her head. "I have no idea why your wolf instincts chose me. A broken fighter."

"A broken fighter, maybe, but one that always gets back up without the shadow of a doubt. Just no matter what happens, you will always get back up." Sam murmured as she felt his arms around her. "I love you for who you are, no matter how different our opinions are." He said quietly as she sighed at the words.

"I still can't tell Quil about any of this stuff until he phases, can I?" Olivia asked quietly and Sam's almost sad sort of a sigh, it gave her the answer that she needed. "That is what I thought." She murmured softly and he rested his head gently on top of hers in a sort of hug.