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I love that they both recognize they are fuck ups and they they got themselves in to the mess by not taking and communicating well.
Adore the ending d84;a039;

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Few years late to this fic but I'm glad it exists. To this day I read a lot of comments about Pam being selfish and stubborn in the final season but you cut right to the heart of the issue which was her insecurities and her fear. You even managed to foreshadow the "not good enough for you" line later in the season. And of course a great ending ;-)

Oh, I needed this so badly. LOL Great tag - thank you for writing it. It was fantastic - definitely believable thought processes for both of them! And the Hi and Hey was a perfect callback. *claps loudly*

Author's Response: Jazzfan, thanks so much for the review and the clapping. I needed some sort of post-CD fic so badly too--badly enough to actually write, apparently.

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I’m baaa-aack =)  You made me happy to get to work on this rainy Monday morning, because I really wanted to expand on my review from yesterday.  I really wanted to pull some of my favorite lines from this story.

It was a heavy responsibility, being the only thing someone cared about. Love this, and this has often crossed my mind about Pam.  And on a related note:  He glimpsed for a moment the abyss of life without her. Perfect S2 Jim.  This also makes me think of the stairwell conversation with Dwight in Money, one of my favorite emotionally-magnificent moments.  This, too:   “I could never…” He shook his head and searched for the words. “I would be completely fucking lost without you. Like I was lost without you before. It would just be…over for me.”  Excellent job at creating their argument.  It rang true for me.  I could envision the two of them and how difficult it must have been to communicate so honestly.

His voice became thin and emotional. “I know how you feel, a little…when you were in New York, sometimes I would wonder if you would find something there that…I thought maybe you would realize you weren’t supposed to be with me. I wondered if maybe you’d never come back.”  Guh.  This gives me chills.  Just beautiful. 

She looked at him, her face soft. He couldn’t face her, though. She saw the strain in his face, the same strain she saw on their third date when they finally talked about their past. She took his hand and started stroking it. This is what makes me think of your lovely May and Everything After.  In fact, I’m going to re-read that one yet again.

Jim had the same hungry, boyishly excited look that he used to get.  This makes me long for bits of info on their early dating days.  Still holding out hope that we will get a little bit of info in that regard before the show wraps up. 

So happy you were inspired to write, brokenloon <3

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Brokenloon! So wonderful to have you back, buddy :) Not able to give this a proper review right now, but I'll be back when I can get to a PC. The abbreviated version is that I love this. It makes me think very fondly of one of my favorites, May and Everything After. Thank you so much. x

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OMG Tis was absolutely PERFECT! I was laying here thinking just how much I wanted someone to write what happened when they got home and checked the recents page and here thos was! I find this to be so startlingly believable, I swear it's like you are one of the writers just following up on the personalities that you gave these two. I had actually even been thinking about taking a crack at it myself, I was going to base it a little bit on season 2 Conflict Resolution when Jim and Pam were in the kitchen and Pam was going on about how she was certain that Angela had complained about her and after a bit Jim asked "well, what does Roy think about it?' She said, "I don't like to bother him with these things' to which he says 'you mean your thoughts and feelings' and not knowing exactly what he's getting at she just says 'yeah.' I mean, I think we all know what is going on with Jim and Pam here is so much different but it just strikes me so much the paralells here.

Anyhow, I really do love how you bring out that there is so much more going on in both of there minds, but especially Pam's, than what we're seeing. It really does make sense that when Jim is excelling and making something of himself, especially being around with people that are really big deals, that Pam would fall back on the insecurities that she has always really lived with. I can see her wondering if she and the kids could really measure up, would she end up embarassing him in front of the people he wants to impress and would they just kind of become a pit stop for him. A place he goes in between the important things he does and just not really seeing right now that she and the kids will always be his most important thing in life and none of the famous or important people he has to be around will ever measure up to them. BUT, I see why Pam feels that way right now because they have both fallen back on their old patterns of noncommunicating lest is lead to problems and/or issues between them. The lead into their activites later that night felt so completely real and the way you wrote that part, her just wanting him to be in her and him being still, locking eyes and saying "I will never ever, ever leave you Pam." THat just felt so real, so natural and like it was the obvious next step.

Oh and I REALLY Jim telling her that they need to make a decision, one way or the other he doesn't care he'll do either thing but he just can't live apart from her any longer. THIS is the Jim that has always been in my mind. One thing that has really bothered me about him living part time in Philly and even so much more after last week's episode when they had him saying he was enjoying being a bachelor again part time, that just didn't feel right to me and didn't at all sit well because the Jim in my head, the one they created for me NEEDS his family to really function well. THat Jim was unhappy last year being forced into the stint in Tallahassee and now living part time without his family for an undetermined amount of time, and this leading to a real disconnect between him and Pam, I just see Jim as being fairly miserable with things being that way. I also see him as taking it really very hard hearing what happened with the warehouse guy and how Pam could have been very severely injured because I think Jim would have felt like he should have been there taking care of her himself and not needing someone else to save his wife.

Anyhow, thank you for eriting just a truly excellent story. The word needs to get out that there's a new story here because I think people aren't checking much because it's been so dead. I am thrilled that a talented writer, like yourself, who I felt has always written Jim and Pam SO perfectly, came back and is writing again. I REALLY hope we'll see more from you soon! Fantastic job and thanks for sharing!

Author's Response: It's really gratifying to get a review like this; for someone to respond to my story with this sort of enthusiasm and kindness really makes me glad I decided to write it (I had been pretty sure my fanfic writing career was over). I sense we have a very similar take on these characters. I hope you'll take a crack at writing the story it sounds like you have brewing in your head; I'd love to get to read it. Thanks so very much for all your kind words.