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Disclaimer: The author has no association with the producers, writers, and owners.  The characters and settings are the property of their rightful owners.  No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is my very first fan fiction ever.  I hope you enjoy it!

He managed to keep it together the rest of the day.  It was easy enough for him to distract himself with sales calls, planning pranks, and cleaning out his desk drawers.  The hard parts of the day were dealing with sympathetic looks from coworkers and Michael wallowing away for attention.

It always has to be about him. Jim thought. He couldn't even let us say goodbye alone. Of course Michael would miss Pam too, but Michael often had trouble seeing past his own issues.

Now, as Jim unlocked his door and walked into his apartment, it finally started to sink in.  Pam was gone.  His girlfriend was now settling into the dorm room that she'd live in for the next three months.  For the better part of the next three months, Jim would sleep alone.  Pam had already moved her stuff in weeks ago.  After deciding to put off getting engaged until she returned from New York, Pam agreed that it didn't make sense to pay rent on an apartment that she wasn't living in and broke her own rule.  "Close enough" she said when Jim asked if she was sure.  As Jim looked around and inhaled Pam's scent, he felt a dull pain in his chest.  He missed her already and he no longer had anything to distract him from that fact.  They'd do a video chat later and he'd visit her next weekend, but it wasn't the same.  He wouldn't get to kiss her goodnight, hold her tight as they slept, and Jim wouldn't wake up with Pam turning to smile at him.

Jim set his old messenger bag down in its usual spot by the door.  Simply going through the motions, he set his keys and the mail on the kitchen counter. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, popped off the cap, and took a long soothing swig.

"Just three months." He assured himself.  "Three months and she'll be home." Those first three words became a mantra.  Just three months.

Just three months until she's home.

Just three months until we're engaged.

Just three months until I show her OUR house.

Just three months until...forever.

He made his way to their bedroom.  If he was going to soldier through his first night without Pam, he figured he'd be more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.

Standing in front of his dresser in only his boxers, he searched his drawers twice, failing to find his favorite Philadelphia Eagles t-shirt.  Assuming it was still in the laundry, he dragged a plain gray t-shirt over his head.  As he turned to the closet, Jim noticed something on his side of the bed that he hadn't seen before.  A small flat gift box wrapped in green paper lay on the bed below his pillow.  Jim sat down on the bed, picked up the box and read the small white card taped to the top.

"To keep you company..."

Jim's trademark lopsided grin spread across his face as he ran his finger over Pam's handwriting. He had been so preoccupied this morning making sure Pam had everything she needed in her car and trying not to think about how lonely and empty their apartment would feel tonight.  There's no way he would have noticed Pam leaving him a present.

 Curiosity getting the better of him, Jim tore the wrapping paper off and opened the gift box to reveal a small photo album.  The album itself wasn't anything special.  Shiny black plastic and only big enough for twenty 4"x6" photos.  Jim opened the cover and smiled wide at the first picture.  He recognized it instantly.  Jim and Pam curled up on the couch in her old apartment.  Her arms stretched out holding the camera away.  It was the first weekend after they started dating.  Jim and Pam had spent that first weekend in Pam's apartment watching movies, eating takeout, and talking about the past among other things.  This picture was taken on Sunday after the proverbial air had been cleared.  Jim wrapped his arms around Pam's waist and pulled her back tight to his chest. Both of them smiled at the camera looking deliriously happy.

Jim chuckled as he turned the page to see the picture taken immediately after where Pam turned her head to kiss Jim on the cheek.  Jim felt his heart skip a beat just as it had when she had taken that picture.  He also felt his face flush when he thought about what that kiss on his cheek lead to afterward.

The next eight pictures were similar sweet moments from the past year.  Pictures of them having a picnic, goofing around at the outlet mall, standing in front of a Christmas tree, and even at a Philly's game.  Pam knew Jim wouldn't leave her behind.  The tenth photo was one that Jim took of Pam at the botanical gardens.  As Jim caressed the outline of her beautiful smiling face, the lonely ache from earlier came back in full force.  More than anything, Jim wanted her there with him.  He could feel his eyes start to tear up.  Pull yourself together, Halpert! He thought. She needs to do this and she will come back.

Jim forced his loneliness aside and turned the tenth page.  The moment he saw the next picture, his eyes bugged out, his mouth went dry, and he could practically feel his heart pound out of his chest. "Holy shit" he managed to croak out.

There was Pam on the bed of what Jim recognized to be her old, dimly lit bedroom wearing nothing but her top bed sheet wrapped around her.  Quickly flipping through the rest of the album, he saw the rest were all pictures of Pam in various poses naked with the light sheet strategically placed over her.  Some pictures showed her bare back, some the sides of her breasts, some the curves of her hips.  She was sometimes looking down giggling, but most of them she was staring straight at the camera with a look she only saved for Jim in the bedroom.

Jim couldn't believe his eyes.  The love of his life took erotic photos for him.  The way they were done perfectly represented Pam in his eyes.  They were tasteful, beautiful, and beyond sexy.  They reminded him of a very memorable evening a few months ago.

It was the day that Michael and Dwight tricked Jim into go to Utica to get revenge on Karen.  The experience had been utterly humiliating and Jim was furious.  But Pam made him forget all about it.  After retrieving a bag she'd left in the car, Jim came back to his apartment to find Pam naked on his bed with only a sheet covering her.

Seeing those pictures and remembering how easy it was to get lost in her turned Jim's surprise into arousal.  With his erection straining against his boxers, Jim understood the meaning of Pam's note. "To keep you company..."  He began flipping through the second half of the album.  He might now be able to have the real thing tonight, but it was a more than suitable alternative.

****

An hour later, Jim sat in his living room eating Chinese takeout and watching his laptop screen.  Any minute now Pam would be calling via Skype.  While Jim was significantly less tense than before, he was anxious to see Pam's face and hear her voice.

Finally, Jim got the notification that Pam was calling.  He set down his lo mein, accepted the call, and there she was.  Pam's beautiful face smiling back at him.

"Hey!" Pam brightly said as she bounced in her seat a bit.

"Hey, Beesly!" Jim chuckled back.  She was so cute when she was visibly excited.  "How's you dorm?  Get into any hijinks yet?"

"Just two panty raids, a food fight, and a water war." Pam couldn't finish her sentence without giggling.  "So how was the rest of your day?  No one gave you a hard time, did they?"

"Eh, they were a little over sympathetic and Michael was Michael, but nothing I couldn't handle.  When I got home, however," Jim grabbed the small photo album and held it up for Pam to see. "my day got a lot more interesting."

Pam blushed at the sight of her gift.  "So you did find it!  Surprised?"

"Surprised would be an understatement." Jim answered.  "When did you do this? How..." Jim was still in such awe and disbelief that he couldn't finish his last question.

"About two weeks ago, before I moved in, remember when I decided to spend my last night of packing with Isabel?" Pam slowed at the last part of her question trying to gauge Jim's reaction.

"Isabel helped you?" Jim's eyebrows shot straight up.

"Yep.  I told her I wanted to surprise you and thank you for encouraging me to do the design program and she was happy to help." As Pam explained, she found herself becoming increasingly shy.  "Is that okay? You do like it, don't you?"

Marry me! Now!  It took everything Jim had to not grab the ring and propose that instant.  Instead, he just smiled at her.  "Pam, I love it.  It might be a while before I can look Isabel in the eye again, but I love it.  And you don't need to thank me.  You've been talking about trying graphic design for years and I'm glad you're finally doing it."  Jim's smile faded as he heard Pam sniffle and wipe tears from her cheek. "Hey."  Jim said gently.  "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Pam answered.  "It's just... I spent years letting... someone else talk me out of this and you... you're so amazing.  I love you so much!"

"I will never get tired of hearing you say that.  I love you too, Pam."  Jim traced the side of her face on the computer screen and decided to change the subject before he'd start getting emotional and held up the black photo album.  "So, any chance I can get a live show?  Perhaps without the sheet?"

Pam giggled and blushed in a way that always drove Jim crazy.  "Maybe next weekend when you visit."

"Next Friday cannot come soon enough."  His declaration made them both laugh.  Though Jim stopped laughing when he finally noticed that Pam was wearing the Philadelphia Eagles t-shirt he was looking for earlier in the evening. "What are you doing with my shirt?"

"It smells like you." Pam stated matter-of-factly as she shrugged.  Her answer brought a face-splitting grin to Jim's lips.

"What am I going to do with you, Beesly?"  He breathed.

"Use your imagination, Halpert. So, West Wing season one?"

"Let's do it." With that, Jim turned the laptop towards the already set up TV and pushed play.

****

As Jim climbed into bed, he pulled Pam's pillow to his face and inhaled deeply.  Propping it  up behind him, he sat up and started looking at the first half of the photo album again.  He closely examined the picture of them in front of a pool table at Sid and Dexter's.  Pam stood in front with Jim's arms holding her body flush to his.  She's looking right at the camera smiling while Jim has his face mostly buried in her neck with only his an eye, his nose, and half a smile visible.

The picture had been taken the Saturday after they told everyone at work about their relationship.  Looking at it, Jim knew exactly what he was thinking in that moment.  He couldn't believe he finally had her!  After years of loving Pam in secret, after imagining over and over what it would be like to hold, kiss, and make love to her, and after thinking far too many times it would never happen, they were finally together.

Jim still had those moments from time to time and they affirmed what he has known since the day he met her.  Pam was the one!

As he looked at the picture again, three months suddenly didn't feel so long.  Just three months.  While Jim already missed her like crazy, he couldn't help but feel excited and happy and as he noticed the tent forming under his blanket, he flipped to the second half of Pam's pictures. 

Chapter End Notes:
Again, this is the very first fan fiction I've ever written.  I hope whoever reads this enjoys it.


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