Jim Halpert knows he has a pretty charmed existence. He has an incredible family, good friends, an amazing girlfriend, and an okay job that he's good at. Except that the okay job he's good at is really a job he hates sometimes but then he thinks he wouldn't have the amazing girlfriend without the okay job so it evens out. And really, he knows he's lucky, maybe even luckier than he deserves to be, so he doesn't like to complain too much.

He tells himself it's not too bad to settle for one thing when you have so much of the good things. He thinks that he finds himself saying that a lot, like a mantra to get through the day sometimes and it unnerves him a little. He's a pretty mellow guy, never had the flair for the dramatic, and he doesn't like thinking about things he can't control. Except that this IS kind of something he can control and maybe he hates himself a little that he hasn't done anything about it. So while he tries to rationalize it all in his head, he knows that at the end of the day, he really has no one but himself to blame.

"Jim, hey."

Jim snaps out of his thoughts and returns his gaze to Pam, who is sitting across from him at the kitchen table, and he quickly realizes he's been spacing out for who knows long with a barely-touched plate of lasagna in front of him.

"Oh." Jim clears his throat and offers a small smile. "I'm sorry. I was just.. spacing."

"Yeah, I could see that." Pam replies, taking a drink from her wine, her eyes never leaving his. "You okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." Jim says, following her gesture and taking a very big swig of his beer. "Just thinking about how beautiful you are."

"Heh." Pam laughs a little and shakes her head, cutting up a piece of her lasagna. "Nice save, except.. not really."

"Seriously." Jim replies, nodding his head empathically, glad that the subject seems to have changed. He really wasn't in the mood to talk about it. "It astounds me sometimes, your beauty."

"I hope you know those cheesy lines of yours are really, really bad. And I hope you never got laid using one of them."

"Ah, but Beesly. However did I manage you then? Certainly it wasn't my good looks."

"You're right. It wasn't."

Jim leans back in his seat, and finishes his beer in a final gulp and smiles. "So what was it?"

Pam chuckles slightly and looks at him a moment, grabbing the wine bottle in front of her and refilling her glass. She looks at him again, and shakes her head. "If only I knew."

Jim leans into the table, crossing his arms in front of him. He looks at her smiling and feels his heart so wide and full and wonders for what seems like the millionth time what he ever did to deserve her. "Oh, you know."

Pam's eyes are twinkling and dinner is long forgotten and she thinks to herself that this is when she loves him the most, when they have moments like these that are so them and she wonders how they ever went so long without this in their lives. "Really, Jim. It's a mystery of the ages. We'll never know how you managed to snag a gem like me."

"Whaaaat? I think that should be reversed, I am clearly the catch."

Pam giggles. "Hmm, you may be onto something there but let's be honest. What would you ever do without me?"

Jim smiles and pushes the chair from under him and walks to her. He stands in front of her and grabs her hand and pulls him to her. He leans over her and brushes her hair from her eyes and smiles. "Now that," he whispers, as he leans to kiss her. "is the mystery of the ages."

***

Jim lays in bed, the clock next to him telling him it's almost 11:00 and Pam's snoring a little as she sleeps on his bare chest, her arm wrapped tightly around his waist. He's a little sleepy but his mind is racing as he absently plays with her hair.

What a night, he thinks. Dinner clearly was never consumed and was never really thought about again as they spent the next two or so hours in bed. It still seems pretty surreal to him that after almost a year together, they still have such a raw passion and desire for each other but hey, he isn't really complaining.

It was a very, very good night.

Jim turns on his side and pulls Pam closer as she nestles into him and softly sighs against his neck. He smiles and wraps his arms around her a little bit tighter.

He's not really sure if his life is really all that he wants to be and that it ever will be but he also knows that it can't get any better than what he has beside him. Yeah, Pam Beesly is pretty much the best thing that's ever happened to him and that's the one thing he's pretty damn sure about.

Jim settles into the couch and groans softly. He can't remember the last time he used that many muscles in such a short time. He considers himself a pretty well-fit guy so he's not sure how he can feel this sore. Maybe he's getting old. Which is a slightly depressing thought but he IS almost 30 years old.

Jim shakes his head and pops the top to his Sam Adams. That's a thought process he doesn't want to get into because then he's reminded that he's really done absolutely nothing with this life by the age of 30, so.. yeah.

So he thinks about how he had helped Mark move some stuff into his new place. Mark had finally decided to get it together and move in with his long-time girlfriend Marla, and he's not quite sure how that girl managed to stick by Mark's sometimes incredible immaturity and lack of desire to settle down but she did and was being rewarded with Mark's seemingly sudden devotion. Jim really hoped it worked out because he knows there's really no one else that could ever put with Marky Mark but Marla.

And he's not sure he could face depressed and emo Mark if it didn't. So there's that.

ESPN Classic is showing the epic come-behind-victory of the Indianapolis Colts versus the New England Patriots in the 2006 AFC title game and he decides to watch because hey, it was one hell of a game. It's about twenty minutes later when the door slams and he wants to up and help Pam with the groceries he know she's bought but the Joseph-Addai-winning-touchdown-drive is about to begin and really that's the best part.

"Hey babe." He calls out instead, his eyes never leaving the TV. "Just leave 'em in the car and I'll get it."

"Uh, huh." He hears Pam reply. "You're fine, I didn't get much."

Pam shakes her head as she sets the bag on the counter. She shakes off her bag and throws it into the chair. She has all the food in the fridge and a few cans of vegetables in the pantry when she feels him come up behind her, placing a soft kiss on her neck. He lets it linger a moment and hugs her tightly and she smiles.

"How was class?" He asks, grabbing one of the paper bags to fold and put in the recycling box.

"Um, good. Really good, actually." Pam opens a Kit Kat bar and breaks it in half, handing the other two bars to Jim. "I got a really interesting offer."

Jim nods slowly, chewing his candy before replying. "You're running off with another art student, aren't you? To Paris, right?"

"Hmm. You figured me out." Pam sits in one of the kitchen chairs and unties her shoes. "Actually, you know my teacher Ben, right? Well, he told me that he's really impressed with my drawings and I had told him about the logo thing I did for work and he mentioned how cool that was and that he was going to begin teaching a graphic design class but that it was pretty packed, and he would probably need an assistant, especially with him already having tonight's class and anyway. He offered me the job, said it didn't pay but that I could use it as internship credits towards my degree and it'd give me lots of experience and I could probably do the projects the actual students have if I wanted to. It'd just be a a couple nights a week and I don't think it'd be too bad and-"

"Pam." Jim interjects softly, smiling. "You're rambling."

Pam laughs slightly and takes a deep breath. "I know, sorry. Um, but yeah. So. What do you think?"

She gets up from her seat and walks towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Pretty cool, right?" She whispers.

Jim sighs and rests his chin on top of her head. "Um." He says, pretending to think. "I think I'd have to concur. It is indeed pretty cool."

"So should I do it?"

"Do you want to?"

Pam bites her lip and smiles widely. "Yeah, I think so. It sounds like a great opportunity."

"It is." Jim agrees. "And you should definitely do it."

Pam squeals softly and happily kisses him. "I know, I know. I just needed to hear you say it." She pauses slightly and looks up at him. "You sure about this, though? It'd take up a little more of my time and it starts next week."

Jim pulls her a little closer and clicks his tongue. "What, Beesly? Think I can't make it a couple more nights without you? I think you underestimate me."

Pam doesn't say anything but just smiles and kisses him again before grabbing her bag and walking out of the kitchen. She stops suddenly and turns back to him. "You're the best, Jim."

"Naturally." Jim replies, watching her walk to the stairs.

He sighs to himself and runs his hand through his hair and wonders how he can feel so happy and scared at the same time.

Huh. Interesting.