((I'm posting this here as well bc damnit I like it and I can ))

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Vincent looked back over his shoulder at the teen, who was peering at him concernedly from wide brown eyes.

He allowed himself to send a tight-lipped smile at Scott, barely more than a flicker of his lips, and then looked back down at the path in front of them as they kept walking. Yet again, his answer came in the form of a short, abrupt, "I'm fine."

"Okay, because... just remember," Scott stopped walking, forcing Vincent to stop as well, "Hiding things from me isn't going to make this any easier, for either of us. I'm here for you, no matter what you have to say. That's what being in a relationship is all about, isn't it?"

"A relationship?" Vincent's eyebrows raised and a grin spilled across his face, genuinely amused. He turned back to Scott, "Well, aren't you rushing things along. We're in a relationship now?"

"Well-" Scott blinked, looking as though Vincent had missed something obvious, "Well, of course! I mean..." He glanced around, almost as if he were terrified someone would catch him uttering the words, "We kissed, Vincent. Like, proper kissing. On the lips. You can't get more relationshippy than that."

Vincent snorted, then broke out in giggles, "Geez, Scott, it was just a kiss. Nothing serious. You make it sound like we're getting married!" 

"Just a- Just a kiss?" Scott's eyes widened in horror, "You mean... there's something worse than kissing?!"

The laughter died in Vincent's throat. He stared at Scott, the look on his face slightly sceptical and slightly incredulous, "You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Scott asked, "What is it? Wait- there is something worse than kissing? No... You're joking, right?"

"Uhhh..." Vincent swallowed. Oh man, I did /not/ sign up for this. "Ummm... Well... you live in the Agriculture District. I mean, surely they've taught you how the animals... get pregnant, right?"

What little colour remained in Scott's face slowly drained out, "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no... Oh, gross! Humans do that!? Oh my gawd! That's- That's repulsive! Ugh!"  

Vincent frowned just a little bit, "It's not gross. It's part of life. And it's how you tell someone that you would give everything to them. That you would trust them with even the most intimate sides of you. In that way... it's actually kinda nice. Where did you think babies came  from?"

"I thought you ordered them from the Capitol!" Scott gasped. And then he paused, Vincent's words sinking in. A look of so much disgust spread across his face that it would have made Oscar the Grouch cringe. He looked Vincent like he was going to throw up, "Don't tell me... You haven't..."

"Haven't...?" Vincent blinked once, twice, and then- "Oh! Ohh! Scott, that is gross! Of course I haven't! I'm not that far gone! It's barely legal at 16 years old, for Panem's sake. Only adults do that kinda stuff. You have to get married first, anyway. Everyone knows that, dumbass."

They walked in silence for a little bit, both of them grimacing and shuddering every now and again.

Scott felt just plain sick. After five minutes of completely rethinking his life, deciding to boycott his parents forever, making a vow that he would never, ever have any kids, and then realising that none of that even mattered because he was going to die in a few days anyway, he sighed, "I could have lived the rest of my life in blissful ignorance."

Vincent grinned a little, "Yeah, that's how I reacted at first. You get used to it."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it," Scott groaned. "I feel sick."

Everything was silent for another fifteen minutes at least, apart from the soft sound of shoes crunching the dead leaves, and the mockingjays calling throughout the forest, and the insects buzzing around the trees. Despite the shocking truth Scott had discovered, he couldn't help himself from relaxing slightly, enjoying the peace while it lasted.

"Scott?" Vincent spoke at last, startling some forest creatures and cutting the mockingjays' song short.

"Yeah?" Scott hummed.

"I think I've figured out how I'm going to kill you," Vincent's voice was lacking any of its usual harshness. It was quiet and soft, and it felt very unnatural for the usually so-confident boy.

"Oh," Scott gulped just slightly, his breath shaky. "Yeah? How...?"

"It's... In a way, it's kind of personal... Which I know is weird, since you'll find out soon enough... but... It's going to be quick and you won't feel a thing. Well, that's the plan, anyway," Vincent bit his lip, because a part of him thought there was no way that anyone could have a painless death. Death always involved pain. If not for the person dying, then at least for the people around.

"Thank you," Scott whispered.

"And Scott?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah?"

"I know I laughed before, but," Vincent shrugged, his violet eyes darting around. "If you... did want to be in a relationship... Just, you know, so you don't die without even ever having had a boyfriend... 'cause, y'know, that'd be pretty pathetic... Well... I, um... I guess I wouldn't mind too much. If you wanted to be my boyfriend. If you want. For your sake, and all."

Scott smiled, reaching out and slowly taking Vincent's hand, twisting their fingers together, "Alright then. For my sake."

((aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA

also I'm sorry for the weird off-topic conversation that took place in this chapter but honestly it is kind of an important part of their age, especially if you live somewhere like Panem which I have a feeling wouldn't be very efficient in sex ed.))