Jim pressed his hands down on the desk, concealing a mounting frustration with the situation as he saw it. "You're just being stubborn." he said, making a considerable effort to keep his voice even.

She stared at him, slightly shocked; her eyes widening with barely concealed hurt. The silence between them was an odd fusion of both the familiar and new territory. They had definitely been there before, he knew, but he still felt like he had no idea, no foothold on rocky ground. Inch by painful inch he sensed the walls building up around her again. He watched her pointedly moving papers and cups and post its around her desk, her hand coming to rest on a stack of copying sitting on the edge, between the receptionist sign and the tray of hard candy she always left out.

Looking at her, Jim felt a sudden rush of sympathy towards her overtaking his frustration. The last thing that he wanted to do was upset her more – nor did he wish to case a scene in the office, in front of their co-workers, and he certainly did not want to bring forward their first argument. Especially not an argument that had the serious potential to blow everything up.

"I just worry about you." he said softly, uttering the words so carefully and quietly that he wasn't sure she heard him.

The look Pam gave him could almost be considered striking in its defiance but as quickly as the expression formed, her shoulders sagged and her neck dropped and a blank face with a slight helplessness replaced any anger she may have been harboring.

"Thank you." she finally responded, her tone as gentle as his had been.

Jim was silent a long moment, before moving around to her side of the desk. "Hey. We're still having lunch today, right?

Pam smiled, brightening up at the suggestion. "Yeah."

"Great. It's a date." he said, touching the back of her neck lightly. The soft, smooth warmth of her skin sent a little shiver through him and he found himself thinking again of how special she was in so many small ways she didn't even realize. He loved touching her, the feel of her skin, her face, her neck, her shoulders. Not sexually touching, not in an intrusive manner, other than delicately running his fingers down the warmth of her slender neck, always hot under her curls, cupping her face in his hands before he kissed her; those were little touches of heaven that he treasured, warm and electrifying. Jim his fingers linger a moment before stepping away.

"Woah!" she heard him say as he halted and turned back to her. Dropping down to the floor beside her he squinted, looking around under the desk. "I think I dropped my….down here somewhere." he muttered.

"What did you drop?" Pam said, amused. She leaned down, scanning the floor by her feet, a little puzzled. "Can't see anything." she remarked, pulling on the little lever that lowered her chair so she could get a better look. "There's nothing down there." repeated Pam.

Jim's head popped up from the floor, his green eyes meeting hers. "Yes there is." he said, smiling devilishly. Quickly, carefully he cupped her face with his hands, urging her towards him. He brought himself close, brushing his lips against hers, just long enough to be betrayed by another shiver, just long enough to feel her hot breath and the loving warmth of her lips reacting against his.

"Found it." he said, pulling back and getting up off the floor. "See you for lunch, Beesly."

Pam watched him, feeling her heart race, warm sweat standing out on her arms and forehead. She caught herself wishing that the moment had lasted a little longer, the corners of her mouth turning upwards slightly. She was feeling better already.

Picking up the purchase orders off her desk, she stood up to go hector Michael into signing them, a headache she faced every month. That was when she saw the large bag of chips laying beside the candy. French onion, of course. Shaking her head, she smiled gratefully at the back of Jims messy hair and wondered for the millionth time what she ever did to deserve a man like him.

-TO-

They ate at one of the little outdoor seats, by the shade of the awning hanging over the restaurant, the earlier discussion swirling between them like a windstorm they both wanted to avoid stepping into.

Jim had been worried since she had told him about the lawyer's phone call the previous evening. She understood that. He had implored her, cautiously pressed on her to stay at his place with him for a little while until they were sure that Kenny wasn't hanging around. He even went as far as offering to stay with her, even he would sleep on her couch, he'd said, remembering she only had the one bedroom. He could understand her refusal in a way but he couldn't deny the small sting he felt at it, as though she had retreated away from him in some way, as though she wasn't concerned that he was worried for her. He had meant it when he offered to sleep on her couch. He suddenly didn't like at all the idea of her being alone in that apartment, especially at night. He didn't think he was overreacting. After all, he'd seen what Kenny was capable of, the lengths Kenny would go through for Roy. Who could say that he wouldn't feel some kind of axe to grind with Pam over both of them landing in prison? Or feel he needed to settle a score on behalf of Roy if he found out that Jim and Pam were in fact now dating? Yet again, Kenny would have likely escaped any jail time at all if he hadn't reacted so violently when the police arrived, that was his own fault, not Pam's. It was all so frustrating. However he thought he had a more neutral suggestion he hoped that she would agree to.

"This is really good." Pam pointed to her plate with her fork. "How's yours?"

"It's good." his plate was three quarters empty already, while she had only managed less than half. He suspected she would end up leaving the rest of it. She still didn't seem to really have an appetite, he had noticed. She looked up, catching him watching her. "So, uh, you totally won my mom over. She really liked you."

It was hard to miss her face light up at his words. "I like her too." she said in a soft voice. "She's a really nice lady."

"It was great of you to help her out yesterday. She was very grateful."

Pam felt her cheeks grow warm as she bent her head, poking her fork at the plate in front of her. "I didn't know who she was at first. When she said she had come to see her son, and gave me your name, it was a bit of a surprise."

"Hey. That's what makes you you." he said warmly. "You always want to help everyone, to take care of other people. It's one of the things I love about you."

Her face turned into a bashful rosy pink color, and she looked down, distracting herself in playing with the meal left on her plate.

"What are you thinking about?" Jim asked, studying her curiously. She lifted her head slowly, the fork twirling idly between her fingers.

A small, lopsided grin broke over her face. "Just… Remember the week you started at dunder mifflin… when Dwight brought all those chickens into the office and Toby argued with him about it for like an hour?"

A chuckle emerged from Jim, recalling the memory. "You lost your necklace that day. You were so sure one of the chickens ate it."

"Yeah." Pam laughed quietly. "Do you remember though. You told me to retrace my steps and asked where I'd been that day. Then you quietly went away and went to all the places I said I'd been and somehow came back after hours and you had found it."

"That's right, I did." Jim tilted his water glass towards him, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I was really upset that day. I was worried about Roy being angry that I'd lost it. He gave it to me on our first year anniversary. Then you went out and you brought it back to me. Roy never knew what happened."

"You were so relieved you hugged me." Jim remembered fondly.

Pam crossed her legs under the table. "I was. You went out on a limb, for about four hours and everyone chewed you out for disappearing and all you cared about was that I got my necklace back."

"It seemed pretty important to you at the time."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry." Pam turned her head, idly watching a large cat pawing at a ball of red paper in the corner.

"Huh?" Jim said, sitting up straight. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

Pam swallowed nervously. "It took me too long to see both you and Roy for who you really are. You've always been there no matter what. You've been so good to me – you've put up with me, you sheltered me, you've stuck around, you've cared about me even when your own safety was at risk. I'm so lucky to have you – I could never repay you for everything you've done, and I definitely don't know how I could possibly deserve to have you in my life, let alone as my partner. I guess," she paused, subconsciously lifting her hand and pressing it to her throat. "I'm trying to say… I'm happy, with you." She turned her face away, breathing hard.

Jim blew out his cheeks, exhaling smoothly. "You don't have anything to repay, Pam. How could you think for a second you don't deserve to be happy? And," he watched her carefully. "I'm very happy with you."

The only reply she could give was a small nod of her head as her face twisted with emotion. Jim immediately stood and pulled up his chair to sit next to her. "Hey. Why the tears?"

"You're a good man. Too good." She sniffled.

Jim caught hold of her hand, leaning forward in his chair, speaking softly and up close. "Hey…. You are so special. You are so pretty," he told her, taking her hand. "I'm the one who's lucky, Pam. You're the kindest, most caring person I know. Being with you every day is everything I want. You bring out the best in me. How could I ever match that?"

She looked at him with a little disbelief, but managed a watery smile. She squeezed his hand back, not trusting herself to speak.

"Oh…." Jim said, remembering. "I was...thinking… some time alone together would probably do us both some good. Would you consider coming away with me this weekend?"

"Like a… " she said, confused.

Jim nodded. "Yeah… just the weekend, leave Friday, back Sunday. We could check in a hotel. Just some uninterrupted time together away from everybody and everything. We'll get two rooms." he added quickly, misreading her expression.

His heart sank heavily. She was going to refuse. He was moving too fast, he could see that, as she wrapped her arms around herself, dropping his hand.

"Pam, if-"

"Yes." she said, taking hold of his tie, running it through her fingers. "Yes."

"Yes?"

She nodded again, pressing her lips tightly together. Then the back of his fingers were gently stroking her cheek. "It'll be just us." he told her.

"Just us." she repeated in a whisper, and then she kissed him.

-TO-

"Yeah, I think so too." she said, legs curled up beneath her on her couch. She switched to speaker phone and placed her cell on the arm of the chair, laying her head down against a cushion. "I think I am."

"You'll have a great time, it will be good for you." her mom's kind voice floated out of the phone like mist. "You trust Jim."

Pam nodded against the cushion, forgetting that Helene couldn't see her. "Yeah… I'm just nervous about it."

"Oh, darling." Helene replied. "I don't think you have anything to worry about with Jim. You'll be fine."

"It's not him, mom, it's me. I'm the one who will mess it all up."

Helene sighed loudly. "Pammy, don't talk about yourself that way. You're a great person and that's why he cares so much about you. You'll be fine, you won't mess anything up, now or in the future."

"I hope so mom, I really do." Pam said, praying for it to be true.