Jim and Pam attend a fourth of July picnic at Pam's parents' house. Jim enjoys getting to know Pam's family, enjoys the food, the long conversation he has with her cousin, Brad, about football and music. But after a few hours, he's itching to explore the expansive back yard, which is lush green and slopes away from the house. The grass is dotted with old trees, and eventually disappears into the woods. He can't wait to be alone with Pam for the first time since the morning, and to hear all about her childhood growing up in this house.

So after dessert, Jim comes up behind Pam, who is chatting with her mom over the dessert table. He slips his fingers between Pam's, and then addresses her mom. "Excuse me Mrs. Beesley. Mind if I steal Pam for a little while?"

"Oh no, go ahead," she answers with a smile.

As Jim and Pam head down the back yard, the noise of the party fades away slowly, replaced with the sounds of birds and crickets chirping in the trees. The sweet smell of grass surrounds them, and the coolness of shade cast by huge trees kisses their warm skin.

"So... What's up?" she asks, swinging their hands between them.

"Just wanted to be with you for a little while. Missed you," he says simply.

Pam smiles. "Me too."

They walk silently, hand-in-hand past giant Maples and Weeping Willows, past the long-unused bonfire pit, until they come up to an old swing tied to an enormous Oak tree near the woods.

"Oh Jim, push me in the swing!" She sits herself down on the wooden seat of the almost-forgotten swing, and pushes herself off with her feet. Jim pushes her from behind when she swings back to him, higher and higher, and she glows as she tells him of her history with this swing. Of all the times growing up that she came out here to think, the times she swung to get her mind off of something, the times she and her sister would take turns pushing each other and talking for hours.

On her next back-swing, Jim catches the swing by the ropes long enough to lean in and kiss the side of her neck. He lets her go again, and repeats each time she swings back to him. She's smiling and laughing, and by the seventh or eighth time, she finally twists around fast enough to catch his mouth with hers. He teases her by only giving her a peck before letting her go. This continues through a few more passes of the swing until finally, he holds her there, kissing her long and slow while walking the swing back to it's stationary position. She stands to meet him as he walks around the swing to face her, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek on his chest.

Sighing, he lets his fingers wander up the hem of her tank top to lightly stroke the skin of her lower back.

"We should get back before the mosquitoes come out in full force," she says dreamily into his shirt.

He reluctantly loosens his grip on her, and they walk back to the now-glowing house on the hill in the purple dusk of a summer night.