It was an agonizingly long wait for Jim to return home.

Pam shivered under his bedsheets, unmoving. She was desperately worried. All she knew was what Toby had told her, albeit briefly. Jim and Roy. There had been an altercation, Toby's words. Jim had been hurt. Toby of course was maddeningly vague. Pam took small comfort in the knowledge that Roy was now in custody, it seemed the lesser important of the events, all things considered.

This was exactly what she had been fearing, that Jim – someone – would be hurt because of her. That he had been hurt, and it was because of her somehow felt worse than everything, including her own assaults by Roy. And Jim, Jim had done nothing but be there for her, he had let her stay in his home, he had taken on her situation as if it was his own and never once complained. And over the last few weeks Jim had increasingly become the most central person in her world, in feeling if not in fact. He had been witness to some of the worst things in her life. He'd let her cry on his shoulder, stayed up with her during the nights where she'd woken up anxious and distressed, cajoled her into a good mood each morning when she woke up feeling like the darkness would swallow her whole, he'd even listened to her offload on and on for countless hours without a word of complaint.

And the only thanks he'd received was abuse and assault because of her. And herself, she'd also treated him appallingly at times- she'd yelled at him, snapped at him, she'd taken over his entire life.

Truth was though, Pam truly treasured their friendship. She was well aware of how unique it was, and it had even survived Roy's attempts to damage it. And now Jim had been hurt and she was the cause. Waiting was hard. Time ticked away, marking off the minutes as she waited for Jim to arrive home, dark feelings swirling around her like dangerous thunderheads.

-TO-

An excruciating hour later, she heard familiar footsteps scraping along the drive just outside the house. Uncurling herself on the bed, she slid to her feet and nervously tip toed downstairs. Jim came through the door, followed closely by Michael. He presented a much better picture than her imagination had led her to believe he would, not bloody and beaten and consciousness hanging by a sliver. There was a slight bruise around his left eye and an angry looking bump to the left of his chin. Relief flew into her in great waves. He was okay. Jim was okay. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, her heart thumping wildly.

With Jim's safety firmly ascertained, Pam stood back hesitantly, unsure how to react. She watched him apprehensively, looking for any indications of anger or bad temper; the invisible clues of the resentment she was sure he now felt towards her. However, her fear proved groundless almost immediately as his eyes sought her out in the hallway, she was surprised and more than a little relieved to catch the same sparkle of warmth that still shined in his green eyes as they flashed around the hall, his face breaking into a genuine smile on seeing her.

"Hey." he said.

Pam chewed her lip anxiously. "Hey." she mumbled, feeling her face flush. "You okay?"

"Better than." he said firmly.

Pam worriedly eyed him up and down. "Jim," she started to stutter out.

"Don't."

"I just-"

Jim smiled sadly. "I know what, just don't." he said, not leaving any room for argument. "Not your fault."

"But-"

"Not your fault." he repeated. Michael nodded enthusiastically behind him.

Pam hesitated. "But you're…"

"Okay." He assured her earnestly. Michael stood back, looking on at the exchange with bewildered amusement.

"You two are like Elmo and Big Bird, without all the na na na, na na na." he jested.

Jim was unamused. "Big bird?"

Michael looked downwards, shuffling his feet. "It's just nice that we're all best friends here, finishing each others sentences and…." he mumbled, looking at them both expectantly.

The two of them stared back awkwardly, then Jim shrugged before leading off into the living room. Pam fluttered around nervously, wanting to ask questions that she did not want to hear the answers to.

"W-What actually happened?" she finally asked.

With constant interjections and added narrations from Michael, Jim explained from start to finish the whole encounter, noticing how drawn and pale Pam became as he spoke, flinching when she discovered Roy's brother had also been involved; wincing more than once on hearing how they had held and punched Jim.

"So, I gotta get Dwight a thank you gift." he finished, grimacing at the thought.

"I explained to corporate that it wasn't a disgruntled employee, just a personal thing." Michael added. Pam quietly thanked him, her eyes trained on Jim.

"At least we can stop worrying now." Jim tried to reassure Pam. Michael agreed happily.

"Yes we can all stop worrying." he beamed at the two of them. "You know…we…... all the worry…" he added, noting the identical frowns on their faces.

Still worried, Pam folded her arms tightly. "Are they keeping Roy inside or is he going to get bail again?"

Jim shook his head. "No bail." smiling at her obvious relief. "So it seems like they are taking this seriously at last." he said, thinking of all the dismissive missteps the police had made so far.

"Least they didn't finger the wrong guy this time." Pam murmured wryly.

Michael positively beamed. "That's what she said!"

-to-

Finally Michael left. Jim was relieved. Michael seemed to think the three of them were in on some big secret now, that he was involved personally in the Pam-Roy saga and made a point to repeatedly refer to friends, specifically Jim as his friend. Jim was busy thinking of how he would have to find a way to make it clear to Michael in the office tomorrow that he needed to keep said 'secrets' just that; secret. Not an easy task, he knew.

And there was Pam, wearing nervous holes in the floor, looking like she was about to be hanged. Abruptly she stopped the anxious jiggling up and down of her feet and turned to him.

"Want some hot chocolate?" she asked. Jim nodded, thinking perhaps she wanted a moment or two alone. He didn't like the tension between them any more than she did, tension that had been mounting since he had come home. He knew she was upset, scared. But for him, he truly thought this was the start of the end of the ordeal for her. Unquestionably now Roy could no longer come near her, nor could his brother. She had a long way to go but he really believed she could start moving in the right direction from that point on.

Out in the kitchen, Pam quietly set about making the drinks, purposely taking her time. Distractedly she filled two mugs full and lifted them into the living room, smiling at the sight in front her.

Jim had stretched out on the carpet, half sitting, half lying with his head and shoulders nestled on a large cushion he had placed against the front of the couch. Pam walked around him and carefully put down the steaming cup beside him. Stepping over his legs, she stood her own mug down and lowered herself next to him on the carpet, leaning back comfortably, resting her head next to his. Jim grinned impishly and bent forward to turn the cushion around, allowing her to lay her head on it too. Together they sat quietly, shoulder to shoulder, each thinking over the events of that day.

"Halpert." Pam spoke nervously after a minute or two.

Jim sighed. "If you're going to apologize-"

"I need to. It's all my fault. Roy came after you because of me. You could have been really hurt!" she burst out.

Jim shushed her. "Okay, first off, Roy didn't come after me because of you. Roy came after me because of Roy, because that's what he does. It wasn't your fault he that hit you, and it's not your fault he hit me either. It happened because a man who likes to punch people punched us. Nothing else to it." He said calmly, side eyeing her. "And – this is not the end of the world, Beesly, what happened today. It's a good thing even, you can start to relax now that he's away."

"I wish you didn't have to get hurt for it to happen." she frowned.

Jim nudged her light heartedly. "I'd let it happen over again to keep you safe." he said honestly, then stopping himself quickly. He worried that he was saying too much. He loved moments like this with her – she was so trusting with him, so comfortable and yet so vulnerable. It was in her trembling hands, her limbs, the damage that Roy had inflicted was nowhere near healed, yet the way she often sought him out like this for little moments of reassurance, of comfort meant more to him than anything. Once again he was lost in the world of what could have been when he heard a small sigh from beside him and felt her light head drop gently onto his shoulder. Smiling warmly at her, he wordlessly lifted his arm around her, letting her fall against his chest. She buried her head into his shirt, drained and miserable. Jim patted her shoulder kindly, feeling her small body shaking under his arm. She was so fragile, thinner than ever. He rolled his neck downwards, stealing the moment to breathe in the fresh smell of her hair that was so unmistakably hers. She was warm and comfortable against him, with a quivering arm pressed against his chest. Pam shivered, causing Jim to lift his head and look over her. Without any real surprise, he saw that she was crying, silent fat tears sliding slowly down her cheeks.

"Hey." he said gently, rubbing her shoulder. "You know everything is going to get better now, right?"

He felt her nod silently against his chest.

"He didn't have to hurt you." she mumbled. "I hate him."

"I know." he said softly. She shivered again. Jim looked at her sadly and wrapped his other arm around her. He felt her relax into the hug, and he gratefully held her tighter. Neither spoke. Soon Jim noticed her breathing evening out into a nice gentle rhythm. She had fallen asleep. He smiled fondly at her, brushing her hair away from her face.

He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, or the next day. He didn't know where they would be next year or the year after that. Anything could happen. In one second everything could be gone, him, Pam, the house, their world, who knew what the future held. All he knew was they were right there and then, safe together, even if not really together, but it was enough for him for that night, he could survive with little moments like these with her.

Jim looked down again at the sleeping woman in his arms and smiled. She was so special and she didn't even know it. She thought she was nothing, yet, she didn't know it but she was everything. He pressed his face into her hair lightly and closed his eyes.

"I love you." he whispered.