Hey all -

This idea came to me after rewatching THG and CF. In the films, Peeta seems to say "Come on" to Katniss a lot and it struck me how often she caves to whatever he's asking once he does say those words. So here's a short story depicting different times Peeta said that to Katniss - some are from the film and some are made up.

Hope you enjoy! Would love to hear your feedback. And if you enjoy this, please check out my other THG stories, More Than Allies and My Mother's Daughter.

Come On

"Come on."

Two words. So simple in their construct. So powerful in their delivery.

Through the years, my stubborn will has lost many a battle to those two words.

And the victor of these skirmishes?

Why, that would be none other than Peeta Mellark. With those soulful eyes of his and that coaxing smile, he wields his two-worded weapon with gentle and unerringly accurate skill.

Time and time again.

I think back to the first time he used them on me.

We were on the train, entering the Capitol as Tributes in the 74th Hunger Games.

At the first glimpse of those glittering towers and sparkling lakes, Peeta jumped up from the breakfast table, eager and excited to see the glitz and glamour of the Capitol. He was greeted by all of that and more. To Peeta's captivated gaze, every oddity that had ever been imagined was on full display.

I was rooted to my spot.

He turned to me then, his hazel eyes sparkling with delight and his smile genuine, as he beckoned me to join him.

"Come on. Come on."

I didn't heed him then, too afraid of what I'd see. Too defiant to make an effort.

But the next time he used that phrase in earnest, I complied with surprisingly little resistance.

It was in the cave and he was at death's door.

His leg nearly cut to the bone, an infection-induced fever left him pale, weak and shaking. I'd just returned with the medicine he needed to stay alive. Even before I could tend to him, his thoughts, his focus, were on the harmless cut above my eye.

Through sheer force of will, I ignored the unexpected way his urgent appeal tugged at my heart and focused instead on applying the salve to his leg. It barely had time to sink in to the gaping wound before he was pleading with me again.

"That feels better." He sighed, his relief short-lived as he turned his attentions to my innocuous injury. "Ok, now you. Come on."

"I'm ok." I protested.

"No, you need it too." He urged, his finger already dipping into the salve as he waited expectantly for my acquiescence. "Come on."

I turned to him. Our eyes locked and held. And I felt it. I felt that something stirring in the pit of my stomach, in the center of my chest. That something that is so familiar to me now, that without it, I would shrivel up and die.

As I now gaze down at the slumbering product of Peeta's latest two-worded plea, I'm taken back to the week we spent in District 4 several years ago...

"You ready?"

I gazed unyielding at his eager expression. "If you think for one moment that I'm going to survive the Hunger Games, a Quarter Quell and a revolution just so I can die by voluntarily jumping off of a 30 foot cliff, then you, Peeta Mellark, have lost your mind."

His lips curled into a smile and those warm hazel eyes of his sparked with unrestrained laughter. "Well, that's a given. I fell in love with you, didn't I?"

"Ha. Ha." I responded with a roll of my eyes.

It was at that moment I saw just how close he's standing to the edge and that thing kicked in. That unique instinct that took me over in the Hunger Games, that motivated my every action through the Quarter Quell. That sense - the certain knowledge - that nothing in the world be right if Peeta Mellark was no longer in it.

"Seriously, Peeta, come back this way a bit."

He laughed at my cautionary command and began taunting me with shifting feet and flailing arms as he danced to a jig only he could hear. "Why? You afraid I'm going to fall off?"

"Yes, actually." I grabbed an extended hand and yanked him back toward the safety of the solid rock beneath our feet. I couldn't stop the exasperated sigh that escaped me. "This has to be, without a doubt, one of the most foolish things you've ever decided to do. What are you trying to prove anyway?"

Hands firmly on his hips, the laughter drained from his face as those strong shoulders that had become my shelter, my home, shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I guess I want to do it for Finn."

I followed his suddenly somber gaze to the miniature of Finnick O'Dair. The four year old was on the blanket we'd spread for our impromptu outing, with Annie smiling next to him, an arm wrapped around his tiny waist, holding him back from breaking into a reckless run toward the cliff. Bouncing excitedly on his restrained tiptoes he waved at me and his 'Unca Peeta' with childish delight as the wind rushed across the ocean waves to playfully dance through his sandy-blonde curls.

Just like Peeta, his excitement was infectious.

I smiled and waved in return then turned back to face Peeta, my questions unspoken.

"I want him to know that there's nothing so big and scary in this world that can't be conquered with hope...and love. And that sometimes you have to take a fearless leap of faith into the unknown to embrace all life has to offer." Peeta said softly.

"I think Finnick would have wanted him to know that. And who better to show him than me…" Peeta's lips tilted in a heart-tugging smile as he reached out and gently traced the lines of my face with warm, familiar fingers. "…and you. The ultimate survivors. After that story Annie told us about how much Finnick loved this place, how jumping from this very cliff as a boy made him feel free, it just feels right to do this."

"Peeta..." As usual, my heart melted at the pure goodness that seemed to envelop every fiber of my husband's being.

"You know, Katniss. We've survived much worse than this." The twinkle in his eyes returned with a vengeance as he inched his way backwards, his hand outstretched once more. "Jump with me. Just this once." He paused as a slow smile spread in that way I've never found the secret of resisting. "Come on, Katniss. You know you want to."

One wink and I was his. And he knew it. But for good measure he added a taunting whisper. "Come on..."

My hand slipped into his that day. Just as it had a year before when he managed to surprise me with a pearl ring and a question I hadn't been expecting.

Tbc…