So far as Pam could see, most of the staff had arrived already. The parking lot was full of familiar cars glinting in the early morning sun as she leaned against her own, absently picking at a bagel, tearing and twisting it with her fingers but not really eating it. It was increasingly warm for so early in the day, and she turned her head to the sky, letting herself feel the mellow breeze awakening her senses. It was going to be a nice day, she could tell.

"Hey." Jim called cheerfully, breaking her reverie. She startled, coming back to focus. She hadn't even realized he'd arrived.

"Hey you." she smiled, leaning up to kiss his cheek as he came closer. She took a moment to feel the warmth of his lips on her skin as he returned her kiss. "Good morning, messy head." she laughed, ruffling his hair. "Here, as you were running late. Got you breakfast."

"Wow. Thank you." he said appreciatively, taking the paper bag from her. "Sorry about this morning, we'll do breakfast tomorrow, if I can – hey, quit messing up my hair." Jim lightheartedly shrugged her hand away from his head, chuckling.

"Like it needs my help." she laughed mischievously, reaching up again.

"Oh you are such a charmer. Hey, get off." he said with good natured exasperation, moving out of her reach.

"I can't help it, it's so cute when it's all messed up like that."

"So you gotta make it messier, Beesly?"

"It doesn't need my help. Call it your trademark."

"You're killing me with compliments, babe." Jim drawled, loosely draping his arm around her shoulder as they turned towards the building.

"Aww come on. You know you're probably the hottest guy in the parking lot." she said teasingly.

"Probably?" Jim said with mock outrage.

"You heard me."

"Besides, I'm the only guy in the parking lot."

"See, you're already a winner. Here." Pam pulled out of his grasp and faced him. Once more she leaned up, the sun streaming down on them, and the shiver that ran through her as their lips met was exhilarating, making her stomach tingle and her head swim as she stepped back from him. Now she knew it was going to be a great day.

"You're in a fantastic mood this morning." Jim happily observed. He slipped his arm through hers and turned her back to the building again. "Come on, you adorable nerd. I want to drop these empty bags off on Dwight's desk before he gets there." He let out a theatrical sigh. "Let's go inside and sell some paper for this wonderful company we work for."

-TO-

Ten minutes later they were both settled at their respective desks. Pam stared at the back of Jims head, drifting away on the wings of a pleasant daydream fuelled by the exhilaration running throughout her body. She almost laughed at herself; her knees were actually shaking. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so alive, undone and almost as though she were high – high on Jim. It was definitely a sensation she could get used to. She floated away, a goofy expression taking her over, until the buzzing phone on her right brought her back.

"Jim?" She whispered after taking in the message on her cell. When he swivelled round on his chair to face her, she waved her hand, motioning him over. "My mom's coming in. She wants to come see the attorney with us this afternoon."

Jim leaned forward, resting his elbows on the reception desk. "That's cool. She can ask about the testifying thing."

"Yeah." Pam frowned.

"You nervous?"

She fidgeted in her chair. "Yeah. A bit."

"Hey, this is a good thing. This is the home stretch now, we're almost done with it for good. You okay?"

Pam held her breath for a few seconds, before letting out a small puff of air. "Yeah, I am. Can't wait to see my mom."

"Yeah." Jim chuckled softly, turning back to his desk. "Oh, Beesly?" He spun around again, a wicked look in his eye.. "Maybe I should go get this messy hair of mine cut at lunch, make myself look presentable for your mom and –"

"Don't you dare." she laughed, throwing a paper clip at him in jest. "What am I going to make fun of if you do?"

"Take your pick." Dwight grumbled as he moved past them. "It's an insult buffet."

"I don't know, I should get a hair cut, rent a tux maybe…. " Jim teased, pointedly ignoring Dwight. Pam shook her head, restraining a smile as she playfully pushed him off her desk.

"Go sell some paper, you slacker." she nodded towards his desk. "And don't you touch a single hair on that handsome head."

Jim tapped on the desk in acknowledgement before he moved away. Pam looked up, noticing the pink flush creeping into his cheeks. She watched him retreat back to his desk, smiling to herself and rubbing her trembling knees, feeling at that moment that she was a very lucky woman.

-TO-

How far they'd come. Jim watched his girlfriend with a gleam of pride in his eye. Had had expected nerves, shaking, probably tears, but as he watched she held herself together pretty well. Still, he thought that it helped a lot that Helene was there too. The attorney was very thorough, albeit brutally honest.

"It's going to be very hard for everyone." he was saying in a clear, confident voice. "There are things you must be prepared for, things that will not be pleasant and will seem unfair. The defense will pull every tactic they can to discredit you, Miss Beesly. They will most likely put forward the narrative that Mr Anderson acted in defense or temporary loss of control – including trying to manipulate you to say on the stand that you were the instigator of the physical fights between you and Mr Anderson. I understand you two are now a couple?" he asked, his eyes ricocheting between Jim and Pam.

"That's right." Jim said, nodding. Pam, feeling sick inside her stomach, looked down at the table and said nothing.

"That doesn't help our case." the attorney said bluntly.

"What do you mean, Mr… uh?" Jim responded, momentarily thrown by the mans answer.

"Please, just call me Murphy. Everyone does." Murphy said. "The defense will almost certainly try to claim that your relationship predates the abuse – that Mr Anderson was a spurned, betrayed partner who simply snapped at his girlfriends infidelity with a man he considered to be a friend."

"But that's not true!" Pam said hotly. Jim squeezed her hand under the table.

"We actually only started dating a short while ago." Jim added.

"It's not about what's true and what isn't – all the defense has to do is create reasonable doubt on your character, and portray Mr Anderson as a sympathetic and betrayed man, someone the jury can understand and identify with. Do you think you can handle that?"

Pam looked at her mom, before looking at Jim on the other side of her. "If I have to, I will." she said softly.

"It will be tough. I'm not going to mince words on that. There will be questions that relate to your past behavior. They will try to catch you out, they will look for inconsistencies in your statements, a way to impeach you as a witness. The defense will use everything they can get their hands on against you."

"She went through this at the first hearing. For the restraining order." Helene clarified, looking at her daughter.

"This is criminal court." Murphy reiterated. "They'll pull no punches – there's a lot more at stake in this case than a restraining order. The jury is going to be faced with two people they have never seen and know nothing about. We're asking them to put one of them away. The defense will take your daughters statements apart, they will try to paint her as weak and disloyal, as emotionally unstable."

"How can they do that - what about all the evidence?" Jim said with obvious frustration.

"The defense rarely brings up the evidence that is likely to convict the defendant – it's their job to disregard the facts, to show that Ms Beesly is untrustworthy and a was lousy girlfriend. The evidence is the prosecutors job, and I will certainly introduce the evidence and strongly drive it home to the jury and the judge that there is no question that Mr Anderson was responsible."

Pam slumped back in her chair, eyes downcast. Jim could see the little indicators of angst, her growing anxiety as it all became real to her again – he could almost see her eyes folding backwards, recalling years at the hands of Roy, years he knew she would bear some scars of for the rest of her life. He knew what she was thinking, saw it in her rigid posture, the tight grip of her icy cold fingers clenched around his; that she was holding herself together extremely well – on the surface. Underneath it all, in the shivering hand he held, in the paleness of her skin, in the slow, subtle hitches of breath she was taking; he knew it, she was absolutely terrified.

"I'm more than willing to give evidence." Helene spoke up, surprising both Pam and Jim, who turned to look at her. "Roy betrayed us all." she said softly. "I want to say that. I want to tell them what a liar he is and what he's done her her, to us."

"I don't want you to." Pam spoke, barely above a whisper.

Helene patted her arm kindly. "I know. If you can do it, I can too." She faced the attorney. "Roy has two sides. He can be very charming, vulnerable. I didn't see it until the hearing before. He switched from one person, the person we knew and loved like a son to this… this monster who accused my daughter of dreadful things. Who sat up in front of us all and acted like he was completely without blame for all the hurt and pain she has gone through."

"We have the psychiatric reports on both Mr Anderson, and yourself, Miss Beesly that we will introduce as evidence. Character witnesses we will be allowed to cross examine. Eyewitnesses - Mr Halpert witnessed a violent act against your daughter. I believe we have a strong case, but it's not a done deal yet."

"What are character witnesses?" Helene asked.

"Character witnesses who will testify to Mr Andersons ethics, moral qualities. To testify under oath to the court about the positive sides of his character. Then we have the eyewitnesses, such as Mr Halpert here, and a psychologist expert witness. We've got people we've called to give evidence on your daughters behalf." Murphy shuffled through the paperwork in front of him. "We've got a good line up for the witness stand. Miss Beesly's human resources representative, who was also Mr Andersons representative and the man who dismissed him from the job. Co-workers of both are testifying and also a former neighbor of theirs."

"How's Roy going to plead?" Jim bit his lip, side-eyeing Pam.

The attorney took a long drink from his water glass. "Often defendants hold out on their decision in hopes that the victim does not turn up, making a not guilty plea much easier to secure through lack of evidence due to witnesses. It is very important for the conviction that Ms Beesly attends court. He may plead guilty simply because she is there."

"Not likely." Pam mumbled under her breath. Who were they kidding – she was the one who knew Roy the best. She knew Roy would go up in court in his best saint-just-short-of-a-halo act, but she knew, knew he would never plead guilty.

"When we reconvene tomorrow," Murphy carried on. "I'll take you through the questions likely to be asked of you and ways to answer them. I would like to show you the courtroom layout, and the witness box where you'll give evidence from, so it doesn't all feel so alien to you."

Jim felt a cold squeeze of his hand. "What should we do in the meantime?"

"You want my opinion," Murphy said, looking straight at Pam. "Go home, get as much rest as possible, plenty of sleep. Do things that are distracting, things you both enjoy. Don't overthink it. Take care of each other. It's going to be a difficult ride for all of you."

Jim nodded, unconsciously slipping his arm around Pam's shoulders. Looking at the frail woman beside him – the woman who had been so happy just hours earlier, a burning fury fired up inside of him. He closed his eyes, repeating the words he had given to her earlier back to himself.

It's almost over.

-TO-

Pam was exhausted. Despite protestations, Helene had insisted on making dinner for the three of them. And Jim found out, the woman was an excellent cook. Pam barely picked at her meal while Helene struck up small talk, asking Jim how his father was feeling, how his brothers and sisters were and where they were and moving on to who the Eagles had signed. Jim was astounded at the wealth of knowledge the woman apparently had about him. A slightly smug, slightly awkward smile crept on to his face as he thought about the depth of conversations Pam must have had with her mother about him.

"You look tired, Pammy." Helene said sympathetically.

Pam nodded slowly. "Yeah. All this… it's exhausting."

Helene stood up. "I'm going to do the dishes and then I'll head home and hope that you will get an early night." She gently patted her daughters shoulder.

"I'll dry." Jim offered getting up and lifting his plate.

"No need. You two go in the other room and have a rest. This won't take ten minutes." Helene headed towards the kitchen without waiting for any disagreement, plates in hand.

"Mom, you can stay here tonight if you want. It'll be dark, and late by the time you get home."

Helene smiled at her, pushing the door to the kitchen open with her elbow. "Can't leave the old man at home alone for too long, can I? I might return to a pile of ashes instead of a house if I find he's tried to make his own dinner."

"True." Pam managed a small smile.

Helene disappeared into the kitchen. Pam slumped wearily onto the couch, feeling heavy with exhaustion and emotional fatigue. Jim dropped down next to her. He attempted to engage her in some small talk, but her mind was clouding over, the words running together. Her heavy head eventually fell onto his shoulder, and she reached out for his hand.

"You always smell so good." she murmured sleepily. Jim turned his head, laughing softly.

"Okay, Beesly." he said, amused.

"That's why I did it." she added inexplicably. Jim waited for her to continue, feeling her head grow heavier on his shoulder as she relaxed more.

"Uh, Beesly?"

She shifted slightly. She spoke sleepily, slurring her words together. "It's why I…. sleep in your bed. When you weren't there." Jim watched her struggle to lift her eyelids to look at him. "I'd go into your room and lie down and you were everywhere.. it felt so safe. I felt safe. Like when you're there. Safe like that. It felt really good."

Jim listened in silence, surprised and feeling quite touched by her revelation. He fumbled for the words to respond to her but came up short, nothing was going to come out right. He settled for pressing a long kiss against the top of her head.

"Jim…" she mumbled again, with her last seconds of consciousness before she dropped into complete sleep. "Stay..."

He smiled at her, catching the multiple meaning in her request. Softly brushing her hair away from her face, he paused, cupping her cheek. "Always." he said, and meant it.