“Alex!” Lena suddenly yelled. “The solution! It’s spilling!!!”
Alex stopped and looked down in horror, seeing the liquid bubbling out of the flask like some kind of toxic waste. She hardly had time to react as it spilled over the back of her hand which was perched on the desk right beside it. She yelped as the liquid made contact with her skin, feeling a slight burn and an itch almost instantly.
“Oh my god–!” Before Lena could get to her, Alex felt a presence behind her and arms suddenly circled her body as strong hands gripped her wrists. Everything happened so fast and she didn’t have time to say anything when she was practically half-carried over to the sink.
She looked to her right and saw V opening the faucet, his face calm yet there was a seriousness in his expression as he gently placed her hands under the cold running water.
His fingers rubbed on the spot where the chemical had spilled gently and Alex winced, seeing a small red mark on her skin. The class was now looking over at the commotion, everyone stopping their experiments to watch. The running water ceased and V grabbed a towel to wipe her hands with.
“Are you okay?” He whispered and she looked up, meeting his eyes. He looked genuinely worried and Alex thought she just might melt under his gaze right there. When she didn’t answer, he huffed slightly.
“Meet me after class.” He said before leaving her to Lena and moving to the front of the room swiftly.
“You okay?!” Lena asked but Alex was unable to speak. “Did it hurt? Do we need to take you to the clinic?”
“If you’re all done, please clean your stations and submit your papers before you leave.” V announced to the class and everyone resumed to their experiments.
“Just sit here and don’t do anything else. I’ll clean everything up.” Lena said and Alex smiled thankfully. It took about fifteen minutes for the class to wrap up and leave. Not that Alex was counting down the minutes…Â
“You coming?” Lena asked and Alex told her that the professor had asked her to stay afterwards.
“Oh… you’re in trouble~” She teased and Alex rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to throw something toxic at her. Lena just chuckled then took her bag and left, telling her that they should meet later for dinner.
Once she was gone, she went over to V who was inspecting a flask with a frown before putting it down and heading towards the cabinets. She bit her lip as she approached, embarrassed for causing a commotion in class a while ago and for being so careless during the experiment. She wasn’t usually like this.
Alex took a deep breath, preparing to say an apology. “Professor–”
“Sit.” He ordered as he turned and Alex saw that he had retrieved the first aid kit. Alex sat down on the nearest station as V approached. He stood in front of her then reached for her burned hand; the skin was red but it didn’t look too bad.
“Caused quite a scare back there.” He said as he inspected her hand. “What were you doing putting Sodium Hydroxide into the solution?”
V smirked, giving her a slightly amused stare as he rummaged through the first aid kit. “There were Sodium Hydroxide pellets diluted in your solution.” He told. “It’s a chemical made from salt… used in soap-making, usually. You’re lucky it didn’t burn your hand off.”
“What?!” Alex’s eyes widened, realizing the severity of what she had done.Â
“Kidding.” V chuckled slightly before retrieving a small silver canister. “But it could’ve been worse. Sodium Hydroxide, or Lye, is a caustic chemical. You should’ve been more careful, Alex.”
Alex flushed at his statement, unable to answer. She couldn’t really say that she got distracted talking about him which was why she had been careless. V opened up the canister and dipped his finger into it. It was some kind of ointment and as he applied it to her skin, Alex felt  immediately relieved at the cold feeling of it.
“Better?” He smiled and Alex could only hold in a moan at how good his fingers felt as it rubbed circles on the back of her hand. She nodded, pressing her lips together instead.
A few seconds of silence passed and Alex wasn’t sure what to say next. It was a good thing, V was the first to break the ice.Â
“You’re oddly quiet.” He said, tilting his head to the side. “Are you alright?”
Alex just nodded and V smiled, “Okay no talking.” He chuckled. “You know, you don’t have to feel so bad. These stuff happen all the time. I swear I almost caught fire in one of my lab activities back in college. And I think I exposed myself to something toxic at least five times in a semester.”
Alex chuckled at his story, amazed at how easily he could make her smile. “That must’ve been fun.”
“Oh yeah.” He said as he let go of her hand (to her disappointment) to wipe his hand clean. “Highlight of my college years.”
The room went quiet once again and Alex could only stare at the beautiful human being in front of her, unsure why she felt her heart constrict; making it hard to breathe whenever he looked at her.
Could it be that I’m…
“You better apply ointment on that at least twice a day for the rest of the week to keep it from marking. We wouldn’t want a scar on the pretty hand now, do we?” He said with a smile as he looked at her. But it faltered when their eyes locked.
Alex smiled softly then looked away as she remembered something, breaking their gazes.
“What?” V asked, seeing that she was smiling like they just shared an inside joke.
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “I just… I just remembered I did the same thing for you a few weeks back.” She pointed at his hand and V raised it to his face, seeing a faint mark on his knuckles from when he had punched Clark.
“Oh yeah…” He said thoughtfully.
“Guess this was a favor returned…?” She trailed and V looked at her, his gaze softening.
“I think… we’re way past the favors.” He said a matter of fact and somehow his words pinched at her little heart, sensing the meaning behind it. “Don’t you think?”
Do you want more? Full novel, HERE.Â
