“Good Morning, Dwight,” Pam smiled as he walked in.

“Pamela,” he nodded.

“Hey, Dwight,” Pam called, “Can I talk to you when you get a chance?” She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “There's something I need to tell you.”

Dwight placed his briefcase on his desk. “Certainly. Meet me in the conference room.” He didn't notice the glance she gave to Jim, nor saw how their hands brushed together as she passed. Pam shut the door behind her, and closed the blinds.

“Even though you are no longer Regional Manager, I still feel like I should keep you informed of things I notice,” Pam said, her tone solemn.

“Thank you, Pam,” Dwight nodded. “I appreciate your loyalty. What is it?”

“I don't know if it means anything or not, but I thought you should know that I've noticed Andy Bernard taking an interest in your bobbleheads.”

“Interest how?”

“Well, the last couple of days I caught him staring at your desk whenever he was at the copier. Maybe I'm wrong, but it really looked like he was staring at your bobbleheads. Really focusing on them, if you get what I mean.”

“Damn him. What could he be up to?”

“I don't know. Is there anything you want me to do?”

Dwight thought a moment. “No, not yet. Just keep an eye on Andy Bernard.”

“Got it.” Pam opened the conference room door, and was about to walk back to her desk when she felt Dwight's hand on her shoulder. She turned around.

“You did the right thing coming to me with this, Pam.”

Pam nodded and held her smile in check as she headed into the kitchen, only to finally let out a giggle when Jim walked in moments later. “Step one complete,” she told him as she reached into the cabinet for a mug.

“Awesome. Though I am still a bit weirded out with how much he seems to trust you these days.”

Pam shrugged. “He's really not that bad, and you know it. I'm kinda glad we have a new target.”

“I don't know,” Jim replied. “I never thought I'd see the day I'd hear you say that. I hope you aren't going soft on me.”

“Never,” she grinned. “It's just that, well - he's actually been there over the past year. Been a friend to me. And don't think I don't know how strange that sounds.”

“Been there how?”

Pam paused. “I'll tell you some other time,” she finally said. “But let's face it, Andy deserves our attention more.”

Jim held the door as they walked out of the kitchen. “Yeah, let's see if we can get him thrown back into anger management.”

The morning passed almost painfully slow as they waited for Dwight to leave for his eleven o'clock appointment. Once gone, Jim put step two into action.

“Hey,” Jim said as he walked over to Andy's desk. “You up for hand delivering a paper order?”

Andy was soon dispatched from the office, and Pam made her way over to Dwight's desk, carefully plucking all four bobbleheads from his desk, and then hiding them carefully in the back of different drawers in Andy's desk. No one even looked up to see what she was doing, and she thought that sometimes the rampant apathy of their office was a good thing. Prank completed, she joined Jim in the break room for lunch.

“All set for the showdown?” Jim asked as he pushed her lunch toward her.

Pam's coke fizzed as she popped the ring. “Let the fireworks begin,” she smiled.

“Are they well hidden?”

“Hidden enough. I'm kind of hoping Dwight gets back first so he can stew on things for a while before Andy appears.”

“You are so good at this,” Jim laughed. “You don't even need my help anymore.”

“Not true. The payoff is in being able to enjoy the joke with someone.”

“Yes, I agree,” Jim nodded, nudging her hand with his. “And I now I've got my partner in crime back. I've never had a better one.”

Pam grinned, her cheeks tinged with pleasure from his compliment. “Well, I learned from the best.”

“Eh,” Jim shrugged, “You've always been good with the details. That's what sets apart a good prank from a great one.”

Pam put her hand over his. “Well, now we've got two people to drive crazy.” she mused. They continued eating in silence for a while, simply enjoying how good it felt to be together. Pam looked up and found Jim just staring at her.

“What?”

“So tell me, Beesly,” Jim said slowly, “How has Dwight been such a good friend?”

Her eyes dipped down to her remaining chips, and she chewed one carefully before replying. She should have known he wasn't going to give up on an answer. “Well, he helped me plan the bird funeral for a start.”

“The bird funeral? So Creed isn't completely out of his mind.”

“I wouldn't go that far,” she laughed. She then went on to describe the day Michael found out Ed Truck had died and how he vented it all through demanding a proper burial for a bird who died when he flew into one of the office windows.

“He blamed Toby for the bird's death, obviously.”

“Well, obviously,” he grinned. “But that's all it took for Dwight to move from the dark side?”

Pam really didn't want to tell him. They hadn't talked much about their experiences since his move to Stamford and back, and while she knew they would eventually, knew they should eventually, she didn't want to start right this moment. And she really didn't want to start that conversation by throwing out what was essentially one the lowest points for her while they were apart. But she had also promised herself that she wasn't going to jeopardize their new relationship by hiding her feelings or not being honest. She owed him that much.

“Did you know that Dwight carries an honest-to-goodness handkerchief in his pocket? Not tissues, a real handkerchief. Who does that anymore?”

“Dwight, apparently,” Jim replied. “He's your friend because he has a handkerchief?”

“He let me borrow it once,” she said, trying to think of a way to explain that wasn't going to involve making Jim feel badly. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for further details. “He found me crying one day, and he sat with me and tried to make me feel better. In his own twisted, Dwight way, of course.”

Jim ignored her attempts to lighten the story. “When was this?” She could hear the tension in his voice.

“Um, last inventory day.” She said. She saw something in his eyes change, a recognition of a memory, perhaps.

His eyes did not leave hers. “Why were you crying?”

She knew he at least had an inkling of why she'd been crying. “I was overwhelmed,” she sighed. “Earlier in the day I'd just advised the guy I loved to let his girlfriend move closer to him, when that was the last thing in the world I really wanted to happen. I was so tired of having to pretend it didn't matter to me.”

His hand tightened around hers. “Pam,” he said softly.

“It's okay,” she said, shaking her head. “You didn't know. It was my own fault for being afraid.”

“I should have known,” he said regretfully. “Did Dwight know why you were crying?”

Pam gave a short laugh. “No, not really. He thought I was PMSing.” This caused Jim to share in her laughter, until they heard a commotion in the main office.

“Sounds like Dwight's back,” Jim said as they stood up. As Pam headed for the door, Jim caught her arm and pulled her into a hug. “I'm sorry it was Dwight who found you like that,” he said, cupping her chin with his hand. “Actually what I'm really sorry for is that I've ever given you a reason to cry.”

“You keep talking like that and I'll start crying right now,” she chided him, hugging him back. “It's the past now. It's nothing you need to worry about.”

“I'm not convinced,” he replied. “There are some things I think we really need to talk about.”

Pam smiled slightly. “Are you sure you want another relationship where you have to do a lot of talking about it?”

“This is different. I want to talk to you. I like talking to you. Talking to you isn't a chore. Talking to you has never been hard.”

“Never?” Pam looked at him dubiously.

“Well, maybe about some things,” he admitted. “But not anymore. Not ever again.”

“I'm going to hold you to that.”

“Pam, the real reason things didn't work out until now is because we never really talked. Not about the important things.”

She nodded. “I know. I just want to be sure we're in a good place before we start dredging up painful memories.”

“I want to know what happened when we are apart. There are things I've wanted to tell you. And I think we are already in a good place. Don't you?”

“It's been less than a week, Jim,” she replied. “We haven't even -”

Jim couldn't help but grin. “Is that the line in the sand that puts us in a good place?”

“No,” she replied emphatically, “I'm just saying-”

“Because we could arrange for both tonight, if it will make you feel better.”

“Shut up,” she laughed, feeling herself blush.

“I'm just trying to be helpful.” He kissed her forehead. “Come over tonight.”

“Tonight?” She looked at surprised as she sounded.

“To talk,” he said, his fingers brushing through her hair. He raised his eyebrows. “Anything else is completely optional.”

“We're going to miss the results of our prank.” She started to pull him towards the door. “Let's see Dwight and Andy face off first.”

He dragged his feet. “Pam?”

She stopped. He was smiling, but she had no doubt he was serious in his request. “Yes, of course. Tonight.” She embraced him again, and pulled him down into a kiss. “And I'd definitely like to keep the options open.”