After two weeks in a foreign country, it was good to be home. Australia was nice, but Jim realized it would've been better if Pam had been with him. Unfortunately, Pam was married now and Jim was moving on. The boxes in his room had been packed before he even left for Australia and in a few days, he was going to be far away from Scranton. Jim really started to realize on his trip how much he was going to miss that office and how much he would miss seeing Pam everyday, but she rejected him. Twice. It was time to go.

He dropped his duffel bags in the living room and started sorting through the mail Mark had left for him on the kitchen counter. Two weeks of credit card offers, bills, and magazines to sort through, and a random box at the bottom. Jim hadn't been expecting anything so he tossed aside the bills to find a return address on the box.

It was from Pam. Pam Beesly, he noted, which meant she had probably sent it before the wedding, before she wasn't Pam Beesly anymore. He went to the kitchen drawer and grabbed a knife to get it open. His hands were shaking as he tried to cut through the tape. He didn't understand why he was nervous about opening a box from Pam. She was his best friend until he finally got a backbone to try and change things. He was just too late and now he was standing in his kitchen trying to control his emotions so he could open a stupid box.

The tape finally gave way and Jim ripped apart the rest. He took out the newspaper Pam had used to keep whatever was inside in place. Then he immediately recognized the pink wrapping paper with wedding bells on it. He had the store gift-wrap Pam's wedding present, figuring it was better than anything he could do.

A few days before he left for his trip, he headed down to the mall thinking he should at least buy Pam something for her wedding. Despite what happened between them, they were friends, they always would be, and he thought a small gift would be a good olive branch for them. He wasn't sorry about what had happened the night he kissed her, but things were different now and he just wanted Pam to know that wasok . Jim had sorted through her registry, not liking any of it, and finally settled on a simple silver frame he had found on his own. Jim thought Roy wouldn't be paying much attention to any of the gifts so he just addressed the card to Pam. He made sure the card and the gift weren't too sentimental, nothing that would remind her of the pain he may have caused her. He wrote the card slowly and deliberately and gave to the woman to attach before she shipped it off with a packing slip to Pam and Roy's apartment.

It was just a nice wedding present and now it was sitting in a box in his kitchen. Unopened. The unopened part is what worried him the most. Did she send it back because she knew it was from him? Did he hurt her by sending her a gift? He thought it would be fine to at least send her something, but he was getting worried he may have played this wrong. He grabbed the gift gingerly and turned it over. His card in a pink envelope was still attached to the paper with Pam's name in his handwriting. There was also a second card taped above that one with his name on it. Inside was a simple printed note.

"We have decided it is in our best interest to cancel our wedding at this time. We appreciate your thoughtful gift and are sorry we can't accept it. We ask for your understanding and support during this difficult time.
Pam and Roy"

*****

Last year, it took a disastrous Yankee Swap to make Michael spring for gallons of vodka. This year, the Christmas party was in full swing by 5 o'clock. Someone had spiked Angela's ginger ale and lime sherbet punch way before that so everyone was feeling pretty good by the time Secret Santa had rolled around. This year, Jim got a tie with a big tuna on it from Andy -- he couldn't decide if this was better or worse than his crappy shirt from Creed. Meanwhile, Pam scored another great gift with a watercolor brush set from Karen. Jim was more than happy to give Karen some ideas since he knew exactly what Pam wanted. It wasn't like last year when he found the perfect teapot for Pam, but it was close enough.

With the gift giving out of the way and the spiked punch down to its last drop, everyone started cleaning up and grabbing their stuff to continue to party at Poor Richards. As they walked out the door, Pam put her hand on Jim's forearm and said "You don't have to go now, do you? Because I kind of got you a little present." Jim looked at her with an eyebrow raised, wondering what all this was about. "Don't move!" Pam said as she scurried behind her desk.

"I'm not moving," Jim promised.

Pam came walking towards him with a gift wrapped in paper she had made for Christmas and a huge puff of curled ribbon on top. "This looks so nice I feel bad opening it. How long did this take you, Beesly?"

She gave Jim a little smirk and said "Oh, you know, just something I whipped up." They sat down on the couch by Pam's desk and Jim carefully took off the bow, making sure to open the present around the tape marks so the paper wouldn't be ruined. From the back, it looked like a DVD case. From the front, Sandra Bullock's smile on the case confirmed it. Pam gave him the 28 Days DVD -- Special Edition. He had no idea what made it a "special edition" but he at least knew it was special because it came from Pam. He laughed at the gift, his voice echoing in the now empty office, and congratulated Pam on figuring out the difference between 28 Days and that spooky 28 Days Later.

"Well, it helped that the place I bought it from had the pictures on the front," Pam confided, which only made Jim laugh louder. "Stop that, I'm serious!" she protested.

"I know you are, Pam, which only makes it funnier," he said. He looked at her, his smile fading a bit, and said "Thanks," in a soft voice. They looked at each other and Pam gave him a warm smile. "You're welcome."

She broke her gaze with him and looked down at her hands. "I just thought it would be a nice thing to maybe watch together at my new apartment some night." She wasn't sure but she thought she had asked him out, which was a big step considering they hadn't even talked to each other for a good part of the past year.

"I would like that," Jim told her, putting his hand on top of hers. She grasped his fingers and gave them a bit of squeeze.

Jim stood up, letting his fingers slip from hers, saying, "You're not the only one with gifts up their sleeves." He walked over to desk and pulled a box out of his bottom drawer.

Pam recognized the pink paper immediately. After all, she was the one who had packed it up to send back to him. That was one of the hardest wedding gifts to return. She had agonized over whether she should write a note to go along with the slip of paper she had sent to try and explain things to him. She even picked up the phone to leave him a voice mail and let him know what happened, knowing he wouldn't be able to answer it in Australia, but hung up on the second ring. Pam just felt drained of energy and emotion at that point and in the end, put it in the mail, hoping she could explain to Jim one day why she had to do it that way. It was one of the last gifts she sent back, it was one of the few she was really curious about, and it was in Jim's hand.

"I know it's not Christmas paper, but I wouldn't be able to do a better job than this," he said, sitting down next to her. "And I know this is a wedding present and you didn't have the wedding, but I have to admit, I bought this only with you in mind so I figure it's still your gift." He gently put it in Pam's hand and looked up to see her reaction. She looked a bit shocked, but it seemed a good shocked to Jim.

"Jim, I...I don't know where to begin with all of this. There's so much I need to explain," she said, staring at the box, trying to find a way to keep herself from crying.

"It's ok, just open it," he said. "And don't forget the card."

Pam grabbed the white envelope taped to the paper. "You switched cards."

He laughed a little bit. "Yea, I switched card. I didn't think a 'Congratulations on your wedding' card would be a good idea considering you didn't get married and it's Christmas. Um...how did you know I switched cards?"

"It was one of the last gifts I returned. There was definitely a few nights there when I had to restrain myself from opening that pink envelope, but I'm at least opening the present this time, Halpert. You don't get it back again."

He smiled at her and said ok as she took the card off and read it. It was a Christmas card signed by Jim and his words were so beautiful, so loving that she once again found herself trying to choke back that lump in her throat. She closed the card and ripped open the box, finding a silver frame inside. It was simple and elegant and perfect.

"I figured you could put some of your artwork in it," Jim said, trying to explain why he was still giving this to her six months after her canceled wedding.

"I promise I'll find something perfect for it," she told him.

They sat there on the couch for a few moments in a comfortable silence before Jim asked if Pam was ready to go meet up with the office crew at Poor Richards. "Definitely! I wonder how many unprofessional things Michael has said already." The thought made both of them laugh as they got up from the couch to collect their stuff from their desks.

"By the way, not to be a grammar nazi or anything, but you dated the card '2005' and this is clearly a year later." She was worried when she didn't hear him answer and looked up from her desk to see Jim staring down at his, an expression on his face that she couldn't read. "Jim?"

"I wrote that card for you last year. It was in the box with your teapot and when you were going through all the things I put in the pot, I slid it into my pocket." He was startled to hear himself admitting to it. It was such a small little slip -- he had totally forgotten that he had dated the card -- but he promised himself he would be honest with Pam now that he was back.

"Jim, I...um..."

This time, the silence wasn't so comfortable and they both knew they needed to talk about what happened between them sooner or later. "Let's talk about this another night, ok?" Jim asked her. "There isn't enough time to cover it all tonight."

Pam nodded. "I know."

Jim looked up at Pam and gave her a little nod. "You ready to go?"

She nodded and walked around her desk as Jim got his coat off the rack.As he opened the door for Pam, she stopped and looked at the door frame. "Did Michael hang up mistletoe?" she asked Jim. She looked from the mistletoe down to Jim and the two of them stood there looking at each other, wondering what to do next. Then Pam stood up on her tip toes and gave Jim a kiss on his cheek, lingering to feel the warmth of his skin on her lips. She pulled away, slipped her fingers through his and walked out.

*****

As usual, Dunder Mifflin was pretty quiet between Christmas and New Year's, which was fine with Jim because he wasn't going to the office for work. He just needed to swing by and make sure he got his trades in for fantasy football before the games started and with his Internet connection down after a storm two nights ago, his only option with the Scranton office. Plus, Michael had promised to send out his party pictures and as usual, they did not disappoint. Michael even got a great one of Pam and Jim by the tree early that night.

Jim turned off his computer and went through his mental checklist again. He was wearing a sweater and button down shirt with jeans -- casual but still nice. He had microwave popcorn and Cokes in his car along with the DVD Pam gave him for Christmas. That was the one thing he couldn't forget considering he was on his way over to her place to watch it. It wasn't a date -- just two friends getting together to watch a movie and clear the air between them.

Jim looked down at his desk, at the spot where Pam had used his phone the night he kissed her. He smiled and went to grab his coat from the rack. As he turned to make sure everything was in place in the office before he left, his eye caught a glimmer of something on Pam's desk. He leaned over, noticing the ceiling lights reflecting off the silver frame he gave to Pam. It was sitting on her desk with the picture of the two of them by the tree. He smiled, turned off the lights, and headed to her place as fast as he could.