𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑 | Stefan Salvatore

a curious child

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

JADE FORBES was unsure of a lot of things, but she knew with certainty that she had fucked up.

She had known this was a bad idea from the get go. She should have stopped repeating her actions again and again. But this wasn't her fault. Nobody was supposed to be in the damn house.

Three months ago, the Great Microwave Incident had occurred at the Forbes residence. She'd kept some very toxic, very explosive acid in a bowl for her latest experiment, and her sister had accidentally gotten their bowls mixed up and put hers in the microwave.

The microwave had not survived that incident.

Elizabeth Forbes, her mother had been furious with both of them, mostly with Jade because not only did she blow up the unfortunately very expensive microwave, she also stole hydrochloric acid from the school laboratory to make it happen.

She had been forced to find a new spot for her experiments. There was no other option.

So for the past three months, she had been performing all her experiments in the Salvatore house.

She had run into Zach Salvatore a few hours after the Incident and told him all about her dilemma. He'd listened solemnly, and offered her to have a room in their house to conduct her experiments.

Jade had seen the Salvatore boarding house before. She knew it was large enough that a few explosions wouldn't really affect much. It was the perfect solution to her problems. Even her mother had agreed and was paying Zach a reasonable amount for all his trouble.

But now, she was in danger of losing her new spot as well.

Most of the experiments she did in the Salvatore house were of the explosive kind. She could do all her regular boring ones at home, and some in school if they were part of the curriculum. She reserved her dangerous and toxic ones for the Salvatore house specifically.

Jade regrets all life choices that brought her to this moment here.

"That was entirely my fault," she tells the new guy who is doused in acetic anhydride, "I am so sorry."

"It's okay."

Unfortunately his okayness with the situation is not very visible, partly because of the liquid currently dripping down from his face and clinging to his clothes. Jade wasn't even sure where he'd come from. He had barely made a sound. She got very engrossed in her experiments once she started, but she wasn't absentminded. She would have noticed his presence there.

She felt a bit guilty that she was more upset about the chemical than his face. That chemical was spectacularly expensive and not to mention banned in various countries. She'd gone to an unbelievable amount of trouble to obtain it and now it was all on the floor. And his clothes.

"You need to wash that off immediately," she informs him, words coming out in a rush, "it's extremely toxic. Your skin will burn off if it's there for too long."

"I'm fine."

"You're fine?" She looks at him with wide, terrified eyes. "Isn't it burning?"

He blinks at her. And then lets out a hiss of pain, doubling over. "Oh god. It's burning! Ah!"

"Just go take a shower! Wash it all off with soap!"