Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


He pulled into the parking lot, stopped the car, and slowly lowered his head to the steering wheel. As he took a deep breath his mind starting functioning properly again. He was supposed to be in New York interviewing for a job that was perfect for him. But what Jim was more concerned with, however, is that he was supposed to be at that interview with a girl that was perfect for him. A girl that always said the right things. A girl that made him feel good about himself. A girl that knew what she wanted. But she wasn't the girl. The girl he wanted now, and had always wanted for that matter, was right inside the building he was now looking at, squinting due to the glare coming from the fourth floor windows. He turned away and looked down at the note she had written to him that was held in his hand. A small smile crept onto his face. He loved her handwriting.

As he unlocked his door to get out, a familiar memory came to mind from the previous year, in this very same parking lot. His stomach turned over as he remembered how he tried, twice actually, to win her heart—the one thing he was so sure he had a part of—but by the end of the night, his heart— which she had already won in it's entirety—was broken. She had denied him what he so desperately wanted. Her. But he couldn't blame her for what happened because she was, after all, engaged to another man. A sorry excuse for a man, but that was beside the point. He recalled the stomach dropping feeling he had after she told him, “I can't”. Not won't but can't.

He shook his head as if to literally shake the memory off of his brain. This time it was different. Roy was out of the picture, as was his girlfriend who's name he didn't dare think. He had to do this. He wanted to do this, even though he felt as though he might pass out. With butterflies rapidly fluttering in his stomach, and the crinkled yogurt lid clutched tightly in his hand, he stepped outside his car and headed towards the building he knew so well.

-------


“Then it's a date.” He shut the door quietly. The smile couldn't be wiped from his face. He ignored all of the eyes that were curiously staring at him as he started out of the office. But before he left, he walked back to his desk and grabbed a small piece of paper. He started scribbling a note, which proved harder to write than he expected due to the uncontrollable shaking of his hands.

Beesly- Couldn't stay. Meet me after work in the parking lot. -Jim

He smiled to himself as he added,

P.S. Bring your ski mask, bathing suit, and toothbrush. We're escaping through the sewers again.

He casually dropped it on her desk and headed for the elevators.

She would be leaving the office in a few hours. He wasn't sure where he was going to go to kill the time. He just couldn't stay there. He should have stayed and waited for her to come out of her interview, but he wouldn't know what to say to her when she did. He didn't want Dwight or Michael to be standing beside them as they took this huge leap in their relationship, either. It needed to be personal—just the two of them. No cameras, and no coworkers.

He drove around for two hours, planning things he might say to her. Should he be witty, or utterly romantic? Should he throw her into a passionate kiss or give a little fist bump? Whatever he said or did, he knew it would get a laugh out of her. That was his favorite thing to do: make her laugh, and right now he missed that sound more than he could handle. It seemed like forever since they had laughed together. He wanted to walk over to her desk everyday again just because he could. He needed to see her smile and hear her laughter.

Before he knew it, he found himself in the parking lot. He saw Pam leaning against her car. Upon seeing him a huge smile spread across her face, which made him grin, as it always did. He loved her. Everything about her. He put his car in park, and opened the door. Besides his heart beating a million beats per minute, he felt extremely comfortable. This is where he was supposed to be. He slid his hands in his pockets and strolled over to her and at that moment everything he had planned to say on his two hour drive to nowhere was completely washed out of his mind. Pam stood up straight, and began walking towards him. As they reached each other, rather than saying anything, he gently pulled her into a tight hug. He felt her arms wrap around him as he took in her scent and the way she fit perfectly in his arms and against his body. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, when he whispered in her ear,

“It's alright if I told Dwight he could come, right?”

He kissed the top of her head as they broke apart, now hand in hand, and he listened to the sound of her laughter ring through his ears.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


She had plenty of questions for him. How could she not have them? Jim just showed up with no warning. Not that she was complaining, she definitely wasn't, but she wanted to know what happened in New York with the interview and—she took a breath—Karen. It was the one thing that had been in the back of her mind since he walked into her interview. He hadn't said anything yet, and she didn't feel like bringing it up. There would be time for questions once they arrived at the restaurant. At this moment, she was enjoying just being with him. It amazed her how something so simple as watching him drive down the streets of Scranton made her so incandescently happy. He drove with his right hand on top of the wheel, his thumb gently tapping to the beat of the music. His left elbow was propped next to the window and his hand was in it's normal position: two fingers across the mouth, two on the side. He had a smile that hadn't left his face since she saw him in the parking lot. He looked over at her and caught her staring at him.

“What?” He laughed quietly.
“Nothing,” she smiled at him, “keep your eyes on the road.”

But she didn't look away. Jim reached over and grabbed her hand. She felt her stomach do a back flip. They sat there in silence—a good silence, not an awkward one—until they pulled into the restaurant.

They sat down at their table, far in the back, thanks to Jim's request. They began talking like friends that hadn't seen each other for ages would. She filled him in on things Dwight said or did when he wasn't there, and he told her stories of Stamford. They had never really talked after the merger—not like this. It felt good. She started to see the facial expressions coming from him that had been absent the last few months. She still remembered the names she had given to each one of them.

But there was one thing still nagging at her brain that she need to talk to him about. New York, the interview, and Karen. She finally spoke up, stopping Jim mid-sentence.

“Jim.”

He looked up at her as if he knew what was coming.

“Yeah?”

She swallowed hard and starting fiddling with her fork.

“What happened? In New York? With the interview, and...Karen?”

His face fell and he looked down at his plate, which slightly worried Pam. He had broken it off with Karen, right? But as soon as the thought entered her mind it left because that smile she loved so much came to his lips.

He reached across the table and grabbed her hand. He looked her straight in the eyes.

“I could have had that job. The interview went better than I ever imagined it would. I had every intention of moving there and starting a new life with Karen. She's still in New York, Pam. I'm here. Some 'Fancy New Beesly' set me straight.”

He pulled the yogurt lid and note out of his pocket and put it in front of her plate.

“I don't want a new life, Pam. My life is here, in Scranton, sitting across from me right now.”

She didn't know what to say. She felt a lump rising in her throat and tears coming to her eyes. She put her hand over her mouth. He was perfect. He was hers. She felt like leaping over the table and showering him with kisses. She resisted and instead, she lowered her hand, and looked at him.

“You know...I kind of like you, Halpert.”

He let out a gust of air that was more of a laugh, and smiled.

“I kind of like you too, Beesly.”

Disclamer: I don't own anything, but I'm adding things to my Christmas list. ;)





Their plates had long been cleared off the table, but they stayed and continued to crack jokes and talk about their day. They didn't talk about what was happening, nor did they have the “relationship status” talk. Neither of them needed to talk about what they both knew they had all along. It felt comfortable, and they liked that.

Pam had her elbows on the table and she was playing with her straw. She looked at the waitress as she walked by, and then looked back at Jim.

“That waitress keeps giving us dirty looks. I think she might want us to leave.”

Jim squinted towards her.

“So...you DON'T think it's because I'm smart, handsome, and funny...and taken?”

She grinned and then shot him a look as if to say, “Seriously?”

He laughed and began to stand up.

“Okay, maybe it's because she wants us to leave...”

“Thank you.”

He walked over to her side of the table and offered his hand to her.

“Let's get out of here.”

They walked to the door and Jim looked down at Pam.

“Where to, Beesly. It's your call.”

“Wait. You mean to tell me we AREN'T going to pick up Dwight? Jim...you promised him. Now he'll be stuck at home..er..farm with nobody to talk to but his beets. And here I am thinking you're a good guy. I misjudged you, Halpert.”

He turned his corners of his mouth down, raised his eyebrows, and shrugged. Pam let out a small laugh. Jim wondered if he would ever tire of hearing that sound. He looked down at their locked fingers and something told him that he could never grow tired of anything she did. However, her unbreakable Sudoku record (now 16:23, he found out at dinner) was a little irritating. She must have cheated.

They got about five feet from Jim's car, when she stopped walking. Nearly tripping over his own feet from the sudden stop, he turned to look at her.

“You okay?”
“Let's just...walk.”
“I was trying to, but you apparently wanted to stop.”
“No, let's take a walk. I have somewhere I want to take you.”

She started walking backwards, dragging him along with her. Feeling as he had no choice, he joined her at her side.

“Alright, we're walking.”

They walked for about fifteen minutes until they reached some railroad tracks. Pam couldn't remember a time in her life where the tracks had actually been used. She would come here with her friends growing up to talk, play games, or sometimes she would come by herself to sit and think. There were two sets of rusty old tracks that came together at an intersection, and then departed their different ways and continued on for miles. She let go of Jim's hand and walked over to where the tracks met. She sat down, hugged her knees to her chest, and rested her chin on them. Jim stayed where he was, his hands in his pockets, and gazed at the woman he had always loved. He slowly made his way to her, a faint smile on his face. How could this really be happening? If it was a dream, he prayed with everything that he had that he would never wake up.

He reached the spot where she was sitting and silently lowered himself to sit beside her. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer to him. She lowered her head to his sholder. No words were spoken because neither of them wanted to ruin this moment. Jim glanced down at Pam and moved a piece of hair from her eyes. She lifted her head and smiled when their eyes met. Jim put his free hand on the side of her face and brushed his thumb across her cheek once. He moved his head in closer rested his forehead on hers. He quickly opened his eyes to look at her, then delicately put his lips on hers. Her hand raised from her lap and she placed it on the back of his neck, the tips of her fingers laced through his hair. She returned his gesture, and there on the tracks where she had so many memories of her past, they shared what both of them like to think of as their real first kiss.

After they had finally broken apart, Pam slipped back into Jim's arms—her head on his chest. They stayed like that until she fell asleep comfortably in his arms, and all he could do is hold her.

16:23...he thought to himself.

She's full of it.

He laughed quietly and kissed the top of her head like he had earlier that night in the parking lot. Upon hearing his deep laughter in his chest, Pam awoke for a few seconds. She smiled, and closed her eyes again.

She would never get tired of hearing that sound.