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“ Jim had been circling the block her apartment building was on for several minutes, nothing but a damn parking spot separating him from literally reuniting with the love of his life.”

As a resident of LA, this detail stuck out to me painfully, lol

“ Pam was stunned. Time? She wanted the exact opposite of time. She wanted to catapult them a month or two into the future, when they had moved past the unsettling, out-of-synch feelings of guilt and regret and had settled into feelings of patience, trust, maybe even true romance. She wanted to have him kiss her again, and then she would grab his hand and they would run off into the sunset—well, sunrise was more likely at this point, given it was almost midnight.”

Oh, how I loved all of this.

“ She gently broke off their kiss, squeezing his hands appreciatively. Her eyes flicked to the hallway, and back down at him. “Do you want to, um… lie down?” she asked, figuring that was the nicest way to frame the question.”

This is SO PAM I adore it sooooo much

Okay. So. I’m typically not super into reading Jam smut but this... was not that. This was absolutely beautifully written, so emotional, perfectly paced and wow just a wonderfully in character first time sex scene. Blew my mind. Well done.

“ “Did you, um, sleep okay?” she asked.

It was a dumb question. But what was she going to say, I don’t know how I can ever sleep again without you with me, and I want to make sure you’re okay with that?

He smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

It was a lame answer. But what was he going to say, You make me so happy that holding you as I fall asleep cured my insomnia?”

This exchange was *chefs kiss*

I’m really glad this had a happy ending. I wish this is how it had actually happened, sometimes I just wanted to knock those two dummies’ heads together.

So, so good. Thanks for sharing!

Author's Response:

😭😭😭 Thank you so much for your sweet reviews! They truly made my night, and I’m so glad you liked the story. (PS I’m from Southern California myself, so I’m particularly glad you appreciated Jim’s parking hassle, lol.)

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Pam’s prank on Dwight was awesome, haha!

“ The thought of breaking up with him terrified her, but the thought of going through with her wedding scared her even more.”

This. This is such a great way to show the beginning of the Evolution of Pam.

Okay the convo with Roy was so good. They truly never humanized him until after the breakup, really, and you did a great job with that balancing act. And love that Isabel is there for her.

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Well, damn. You shouldn’t hate angst because you’re great at it.

“There was no use in leaving up a house of cards when the bottom row was well on its way to collapsing.“

Oh, this is beautiful.

Michael laying out the terrible pictures and no one taking any but Jim is so in character for both. You painted a really nice image of that photo, I could see it in my head.

“But the Pam that was in the photo was the real Pam, and he had just spent yet another night with imaginary Pam, who was still better than any woman he could ever hope to have. He couldn’t look at real Pam anymore. Not when he had to accept that imaginary Pam was the only woman who could ever be his.”

I love this take. I always assumed Jim convinced himself he’d made everything up he thought Pam felt for him as a self preservation tactic, but the idea he’s actually thinking she does feel something and is trying to tell himself she doesn’t leaves a bit more hope on his end.

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Such a wonderful story! I have to say that normally, excessive tears in a fic are annoying to me, especially when Pam cries a lot. But the tearful sex really resonated for me because I always cry the most when I am RELIEVED about something. All the stress leading up to a resolution is released once I know the pain will stop. Poor Jim and Pam were in so much pain for YEARS that the lovemaking was a huge relief, both emotionally and physically, that tears were a completely natural reaction in my eyes. Might it also reflect my first love? Yeah, maybe.

There is so much more that was fantastic about this fic --- it unfolded so beautifully. Thank you for this beautiful gift! Love it!

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Ugh the feelings and the "I'm coming over". It's about time!

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MY HEART TPB!
Everything about this was beautiful. The feels, the smut, their thoughts and actions.

I am completely floored. This was utterly amazing. I really hope you write more angst in the future, you're really good at it.
What an amazing story!

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I liked Pam’s little moment of going from “OMG YAY” to “OMG AHHHHH” when she realizes she’s not prepared to entertain. Pam’s subsequent panic was fun to read, her finally realizing why she shouldn’t have thrown out her makeup was a nice touch.

I loved Jim’s moment of celebration in the car, and him trying not to get his hopes up, recognizing that they still have some work to do, and the parallel with Pam also realizing they’ve there are things they have to talk about. In general you did a good job with parallelism here – you can really see how they’re finally on the same page, even when the same page is “that was wildly awkward and I wanted it to go differently.”

Love the lines about Jim’s being the good kind of territorial, and Pam’s sexual anxiety with the expectations set by CVS magazines. I appreciate that you made their first sexual encounter start as something less than perfect, and something they can laugh at. They’re a little clumsy, they’re unfamiliar with each other, there’s a lot riding on it (TWSS), there’s a lot of reasons for this to not go 100% smooth.

The morning after was deeply adorable.

You survived your first dive into angst! Congrats!

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I’m really, really sad this is over. I could use about 30 more chapters, please and thank you.

TPB, my fluffy friend, I am SO glad you wrote this even though it was out of your wheelhouse and difficult for you at times. Because it was beautiful and realistic and wonderful. I loved reading it so much!!

The smut scene was fantastic and felt so real and true to the story you created and built up. I love how sweet and vulnerable they were. Also, “Don’t cry, it’s not over yet.” Perfect. Hahaha

I think I’ll make it my life’s goal to convince you to write more like this because talent like yours gone unused?

“What a waste. What. A. Waste.” -Kevin Malone

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“She needed him to know that there was more to the story, even though he had been written into most of the chapters by now.“ I love this idea that Pam left Roy not *just* for Jim, but that Jim slowly became the biggest reason. She did it for herself too.

“He spoke mainly as king, prince, and joker of the Friend Zone, but also to reassure her that he treasured their relationship more than practically anything in his life.” You already know how I feel about this line.

“It worked.” YEAH IT DID.

Ugh, I love this chapter. I know you love dialogue and turns out you’re also really, really good at angsty dialogue! ;) Can’t wait for him to show up!!!

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Love the start of this where Pam is setting up her new life. She needs some time to process everything, deal with the wedding fallout, and start figuring out who she is through it all. Good job Pam. Growth often comes through painful times and you made that really clear here.

Excellent reason as to why she hadn't called Jim until now. With a hundred other letters to write and all the emotions involved, makes sense she'd let a few things slip.

Love her trying to rescue the picture.

Now, let's talk about this phone call. Excellent job with flipping back and forth between them. I didn't get lost once. The back and forth, the ups and downs of the feelings, the slight bit of hesitancy and fear that's still there for both of them. Perfectly executed.

Now that's a great way to end this chapter. Pam tells him finally what's in her heart and he is ready to hit the road back to her. Wonderful!

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A couple of moments in here I really liked. You have us a really strong sense of Jim's desperate times in Stamford and what that would have looked and felt like, the specifics there felt right and real.

And I like the unexpected finding of the picture prompting Pam to call - it feels like she just needed a jolt here, and seeing that and now having re-assessed what that part of their past meant seems like an appropriate one.

And that's a heck of a cliffhanger to leave us on. Hope to see an update soon!

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YES, PAM. THIS WAS THE RIGHT DECISION!

This is probably the calmest Roy and Pam break-up I've ever read, to be honest. And I'm here for it.

I love that the first place Pam wants to go is Dairy Queen. You go, girl! Get yourself a Blizzard, you deserve it!

Great update, TPB!

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One thing I really like about this chapter: you've done well here identifying fear as the driving factor in Pam's head - it's all about what she's afraid of more and about what she doesn't want way more than what she wants. I think that's a solid character insight.

Kudos on taking on the details of the Roy conversation, which is always a high degree of difficulty move, and using it to give both of their pain some attention.