He entered her apartment eagerly, his eyes immediately trying to take it all in. She followed behind, bouncing on her toes impatiently as he silently examined her photos, her drawings, the knickknacks on the shelf over her desk.

She couldn't get over the fact that he was standing here in her living room when only a couple of hours ago, she'd mentally let him go. She knew he'd be the one to get the job at corporate and she'd resigned herself to the fact that he would be out of her life, probably for good. But everything had changed in that instant he'd burst into the conference room. Not since the day she'd found out he was coming back to Scranton in the fall had she allowed herself to feel so much hope and possibility.

As he finished examining the contents of the room he turned to find her grinning at him, still nervously bouncing on her feet.

"What?" he asked, bemused.

"I'm just having a hard time believing you're actually here!"

"Yeah, well, if you'd told me this morning that this is how my day would end up..." he trailed off, eyes dropping to the floor.

"Jim," she asked reluctantly, "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the way things are going but why are you here? What happened today, exactly?"

He sighed and sat down on the couch. She sank down next to him.

"I had the job, Pam. I was ready for the interview - I was on. David Wallace as good as told me the job was mine if I wanted it and I did. Does that even sound like me?" he asked incredulously.

Pam shook her head although he wasn't looking for a response. She knew it was important for him to get this all out and she really needed to hear it.

"Anyway, I was looking through my folder for the sales figures and there it was."

"What?"

"Your note. The medal."

"Oh..."

"I got a little - I don't know - but it was like everything had been fuzzy and then it just started to come into focus. Then he asked me where I saw myself in ten years. It seemed like a really long time, like, hugely long. And I couldn't picture myself in that job for ten years and I couldn't picture myself in the city for ten years and I couldn't see myself with... Well, anyway, Pam, the point is the only thing - the only person who seemed to be there when I looked that far ahead was you. If I could have had anything in the world at that one moment, it would be for you to still be in my life in ten years."

"Oh," she said quietly.

"I didn't even really think after that. I just got out of the interview and it's kind of a blur. It was like the only thing I could do was get back here to you."

"Oh."

"Hey. Earth to Pam! Are you still with me?"

She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "Yeah...no...yeah, I'm here. It's just so..." she trailed off, unable to find the words to describe what felt like the miracle of his return.

"I know. Look, I'm not proud of some of the things I've done over the past year..." he shook his head. "I never thought it would be so easy to lie to myself."

"Tell me about it. Who do you think you're talking to here? I told myself a million times - many times today, in fact - that I'd get over you and move on."

He took her hand in his, idly circling his thumb over her fingers. "Yeah, I tried that too. Doesn't work very well, does it?"

"Not especially. Not when you don't believe it." Her voice shook a little, distracted by his touch.

"Everything okay, Pam?" There was genuine concern in his voice.

She laughed nervously. "Yeah, I just - I don't know. I feel kinda like I did in 6th grade when Bobby Fenton held my hand at the school dance."

"I know what you mean."

She raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"What can I say? That Bobby Fenton was dreamy. And he really got around."

"Jim!" she giggled.

He reached for her other hand, and pulled her closer. She regarded him for a moment, watching his smile fade and his face grow serious. The space between them grew smaller and smaller. Pam took a deep breath.

This is it.

"Welcome back," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Glad to be here," he murmured, and pressed his lips eagerly to hers.

And although they had kissed before, it wasn't nearly the same.

She'd kissed him first, almost by accident, fueled by alcohol and her lingering anger towards Roy and the way he'd disregarded her feelings. She allowed herself to be swept up in a momentary wave of her unnamed, unacknowledged feelings for Jim and caught him completely off guard.

Nearly eight months later, it was his turn to take her by surprise. First, by confessing his love for her and then by kissing her and turning her entire world upside down. That kiss had been insistent, tender, but marred by the desperation of him trying to change her mind and also say goodbye - to impress her into his memory before he walked out the door for what he feared would be the last time.

This kiss, nothing like the first two, would henceforth be known as the "first time we really kissed". And whenever it came up, Pam would always describe the progression as, "I kissed him once, then he kissed me, then, thank god, we finally got around to kissing each other." 

This time they both wanted it and needed it. It was soft and unhurried, lingering and heady. It held the promise of what was to come and not the regret of what might have been.

"Perfect..." Pam breathed as they parted.

"So I shouldn't even try to top that?" he teased, distracting her further with a trail of kisses across her cheek.

"I didn't mean it like that," she smiled.

"What did you mean?" he whispered, pressing another kiss to her temple.

She threaded her fingers into his hair and pulled him back in. "I meant 'more please'!"

"I didn't want to presume."

"Less talking."

And with that, conversation came to a grinding halt.