“You okay?” Pam asked Jim as they lay in bed, limbs tangled in each other, the covers barely draped over them. Her head rested on Jim’s shoulder and his hand lazily played with the curls in her hair.
“I’m great,” Jim sighed, leaning his head down so his chin rested on her head. When they left the parking lot at work, they drove straight home. They spent the next few hours, barely speaking, making up for the last 12 weeks.
“You just seem a little quiet tonight,” Pam said, pulling away a little so she could look at him.
Jim shrugged and gave her a sad smile. “You scared me,” he said honestly. He knew that she would know something was up but he was hoping that she’d be too tired to ask tonight. But he wasn’t going to lie to her and he’d talk about it as long as she wanted to.
Pam smiled slightly, unsure of what he was talking about. “What do you mean?”
Jim just shook his head and took a deep breath. He pulled her closer and tightened his grip, both of his arms around her. “I was scared you weren’t going to come back.”
“Jim,” Pam said softly. “I….”
“Pam, I want nothing more for than for you to realize your dreams. And I will do whatever I can to make sure that happens for you. I meant it when I said that you should come back the right way,” Jim said, obviously needing to get some things off of his chest.
“Jim,” Pam started but was interrupted again. She propped herself up on one elbow so she could look at him, her other hand still on his bare chest.
“But I don’t think I can handle it,” Jim said, almost choking on the words. “I won’t be able to go another 3 months without you. And I don’t mean that as a threat. But I can’t be away from you anymore. So, if you need to go back to New York, then let’s do it together. I can try and get a job at corporate. Or I can get a job serving at a restaurant. I don’t care, as long as you come home to me every night.”
Pam rested her hand on his face and leaned down to kiss him. “Jim, I love you more than anything in this world. And that means more than art school.”
Jim started to protest but Pam put her finger to his lips and continued. “I also meant it when I said that I wasn’t coming home because of you. I just realized that none of it mattered if you weren’t there to share it with me. Yeah, I learned a lot and yeah, it was a great experience. But I kinda wish that I was just back here with you.”
“Please just don’t ever let me hold you back,” Jim said, his hand now on her cheek, stroking softly with his thumb.
Pam laughed. “I don’t think anyone who knows you could ever accuse you of holding me back. God Jim, I have you to thank for all this.”
“Hardly,” Jim said, rolling his eyes.
“I’m serious,” Pam said, swatting at him. She turned on her side so she was facing Jim and he did the same.
“No one,” Pam said, emphasizing the word although they both knew she meant Roy. “No one has ever encouraged me like you have. And I am obviously not great at everything but you’re still here. And you still love me. And you don’t care that I failed out of Graphic Design.”
“Of course, I don’t care,” Jim said. He was so glad to be getting this off of his chest. His heart was crushed when she told him she was going to have to stay for another semester.
“Why didn’t you just ask me to come back?” Pam asked, matter of factly.
Jim chuckled. “Do you really think I’m that selfish, Beesly? When are you going to realize that I’m not Roy?”
Pam flinched a little at her ex-fiancé’s name. It wasn’t that they never talked about him, but she was still shocked sometimes when Jim brought him up.
“I don’t think you’re selfish at all,” Pam said, quietly, turning her face away from him. He gently grabbed her chin and brought her back so their eyes could meet.
“You need to quit waiting for the other shoe to drop,” he told her. “Because it’s not going to.”
“Then you need to quit waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she countered. “Because I’m not going anywhere. At least not without you.”
Jim took her face in both of her hands and kissed her passionately. Pam smiled when their lips parted. “So I guess that neither one of us have anything to worry about.”
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Sarah Kiacomesin is the author of 6 other stories.
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