“So Beesly have you started packing yet?” Jim grinned down at Pam.

“No. I’m not leaving for another 10 days and I am only going to be in Chicago for two weeks for that design thing so I’m not really packing much.”

“Yeah but it never hurts to be extra prepared.”

Jim and Pam were sitting the break room enjoying the last remnants of their lunch. They knew that they had to get back to work, but they were enjoying each other’s company too much to really care if Michael or Dwight said anything. Pam and Jim had become closer over the past few months. Jim was Pam’s shoulder to lean on after splitting up with her boyfriend of seven years; little did they know that those roles would soon be reversed.

The rest of the day passed in relative calm. Michael had no snap meetings or thought there would be any disasters that he had to inform the office about. As Pam was packing up Jim approached her desk and asked her to join him for pizza and House. Pam happily agreed to meet him at his house at 7:30 after going home to change and run some errands.

At 7:30 Pam knocked on Jim’s door. He opened it and smiled. He loved spending time away from work with Pam and she felt the same about him. The two of them were always flirty but neither had made a move. Jim really wanted something more, he was beginning to fall in love with Pam. She could feel a connection with him that had never been there with Roy, but she wanted to be on her own for a little while, just to see what it felt like, but she knew that one day she would want to try a relationship with Jim. At 8 the pizza came and the two joked about their day and Dwight over their slices. The talk shifted from that to Jim talking about his niece and nephew.

“Well Jayson James or JJ is nine and his sister Elizabeth Darcy is five.”

“Wait Jon and Lily’s kids are named Jayson James and Elizabeth Darcy?”

“Well my grandfather’s name was Jason, so the two of them decided that if they had a son they would name him after him, but they spell it J-A-Y-S-O-N, just to be different. James because Jon says that I am his favourite brother, even though I am his only brother. Elizabeth Darcy was a little different. When Lily was pregnant she was going through a huge Jane Austen phase and since she was having a girl she decided that she was going to name her after her two favourite characters Elizabeth and Darcy so that’s where you get her name.”

“Aww that is adorable.”

“Yeah I guess. I just love those two and they are Jon’s whole world. I grab at any chance I can to baby-sit them. Oh well it’s five to nine let’s get settled for House.”

The two sat comfortably on the couch, Jim with his legs stretched out in front of him propped up on the coffee table and his arm on the back of the couch. Pam had legs tucked under her and was leaning slightly on Jim, if either noticed they didn’t say anything. It was ten minutes into the show and they were waiting for House to call someone an idiot when there was a knock at the door. Jim lifted himself and went to answer; Pam leaned forward to see who it was. When Jim pulled open the door he was shocked to see two police officers standing on his doorstep.

“Excuse me sir are you James William Halpert?”

“Y-yes.” Jim got out; his face the image of confusion, Pam had stood up and moved closer to the door to figure out why the officers were there.

“Sir we have some terrible news. Your brother and his wife were in a car collision with a drunk driver. I’m sorry sir but there were no survivors.”

Jim was still, it was as if time stopped and then just as quickly sped up and the words hit him. He dropped to his knees. He couldn’t hear or feel anything, he didn’t hear the officers explanation of what happened and he didn’t feel Pam put her arm around him all he could do was picture Jon and how happy he always seemed and how in a flash he wouldn’t see him anymore. He didn’t hear Pam say goodnight to the officers and take down the information that Jim would need to start making funeral arrangements, it wasn’t until he heard the door click that everything came back into focus.

Pam was kneeling in front of him looking in eyes; she had tears in her own. He lowered his head and the tears started to fall. Pam wrapped her arms around his shoulders and brushed her hands through his hair. They stayed like that for neither of them really knew then Jim pulled back.

“I need to call Larissa. She needs to know.” He knew this news would break her heart, after losing their parents five years ago to a car collision due to bad weather; this was going to be even harder to tell her. As Jim grabbed for the phone, Pam stilled his hand.

“Jim I know that your sister has to know, but I think that you should tell her in person. Tomorrow I will drive with you to NYC and you can tell her and then I will bring you both back here so you can…”

Jim looked at Pam and gave her a weak smile, he knew she was right. “Will you stay tonight?”

“Of course.”