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Story Notes:

Written for the Nothing Hip LJ community based on the song "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls. This is without a doubt cutesy fluff.

I don't own any of The Office peeps. I don't own the Goo Goo Dolls either, but I did once get kicked in the head by a crowd surfer at a Goo Goo Dolls concert. 

Ever since Jim came back, there were good days between the two of them and bad days. Lately, it was just bad. After successfully completing one of the best pranks they had ever pulled on Dwight, Jim showed up the next day icy cold -- and every day after that. She couldn't figure it out. She thought they had a great time working as partners in crime together, so she didn't know what was wrong. Did they have too much fun? Did Karen get pissed off about?

Pam figured it was probably The Girlfriend when she walked into the break room to find Jim and Karen talking.

"Hey," Pam said, trying to keep the mood light.

"Hey, Pam," Karen replied as Jim sat there quietly.

An awkward silence fell among them and Pam could hear her quarters clink as they went in the coin slot of the candy machine. "So..." she said, trying to break the silence. "What's up with Michael's sugar high today?"

She watched Jim look up at Karen, as if he had to get permission to speak, before spitting out a pithy "Yeah, pretty crazy," and staring at his coffee again.

Pam quickly grabbed the M&Ms from the vending machine. "See ya back in there," she said before walking out as fast as she could. She sat down at her desk and tried to calm herself, leaving the bag of candy untouched. She didn't feel like eating anything after all.

The day ended up dragging on and on and on. Usually, she welcomed Michael's sugar comas, but without Jim to keep her company in the quiet of the office, it was just too boring.

Of course, Michael woke up and pushed all the work he needed to get done on his receptionist, which made the day even longer. She sent some of his faxes and tied up a few loose ends. Somehow, she finally realized it was just two of them -- together -- in the office, which is not what she wanted. It's not like it mattered considering he hadn't talked to her anyway, but the silence was almost worse than what she wanted to say to him.

She saw Jim's neck muscles flinch as she slammed her desk drawer closed a little too hard after getting her purse out. She saw his hands go still as she grabbed her cell phone and MP3 player off her desk and threw them in a little too loudly. She quickly zipped the whole thing up and snatched it forcefully off her desk. Just because he was giving her the silent treatment didn't mean she had to be quiet.

Pam walked as fast as she could to the door, thinking about how gratifying it would be to slam it behind her as she left for the day. She got as far as putting her hand on the door handle.

"Pam?" His voice was quiet and shaky, which she wasn't expecting.

"Are you sure you're allowed to talk to me?" she said, trying to control the anger in her voice.

"It's not like that, Pam."

"It's not like what?" she said, turning to face him. "The only time you talked to me today, you had to look over at your girlfriend to get permission from her. So tell me where I'm getting this wrong, Jim, because I think it seems pretty obvious that your girlfriend has you on a leash."

"That's not what's going on, Pam!" She was a little startled by his loud reply and by the look on his face, he was too. "I kept...I kept looking at her because..." He took a deep breath and leaned back against Pam's desk. "Look, Karen and I have been having some problems lately and frankly, part of it is because of you."

"What part is because of me?" Pam asked incredulously.

"The part that I can't get over. I'm with Karen now, you know?" he said, his voice getting quieter. "But she's just not you and she never was and it's driving me crazy."

She could feel a lump in her throat growing and looked down at her feet to try and control it. "I don't mean to do that to you," she said, staring down at her fidgeting fingers.

"I know you don't, but you do. I mean, Karen is nice and pretty and all that, but you're just....You're beautiful, Pam"

"I'm beautiful?" she said, looking up at him.

She saw that flash in his eyes that she had missed for so long. "You're everything."

She didn't know what made her do what she did next. All she remembered is letting her tears fall and her feet move. The gulf between them seemed to close so quickly and she threw her hands around his neck to hold on as long as she could.

She could feel Jim's arms wrap themselves around her waist, his back bending to be get closer to her, his cheek on her neck just below her ear. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For so many things."

"It's OK," he replied, his lips curling into a smile against her skin, his arms pulling her even closer to him. "It's going to be OK."

They stood there for several minutes, wound together so warmly that Pam didn't feel the pain in her arms from hugging someone so tight and so much taller than her.

Jim's hands began to slide down her back, resting on her hips. Without moving her hands from around his neck, she pulled him close to her, kissing him gently. It wasn't as intense as the kiss they shared the night Jim told her how he felt, but it was just as powerful.

He slowly pulled away, but the feeling of his chapped lips on hers lingered. "Hi," he said, his eyes becoming warm and soft as he gazed down on her.

She couldn't help but smile back up at him. "Hi."


sharky is the author of 26 other stories.
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