Jim had a long list of pet names he liked to call Pam. 

Beesly or sometimes simply Bees since before they were together. Baby and sometimes babe as soon as they started officially dating, a nickname they shared between them. Sometimes when he felt particularly sappy he called her angel, sometimes he called her honey or sweetheart (She called him those a lot, and wasn’t shy about how she loved when they were turned back on her). Sometimes he called her love, he even called her treasure once (She certainly loved that one, she pounced on him the second they got through the door of his apartment).

The list of nicknames he had for her was seemingly endless, and she loved everyone he gave her (As long as he never called her ‘Pammy’, which he promised to never call her). She loved the affection pet names held, she was always a total sucker for them (The best she ever got with Roy was babe, which in his context, meant nothing). 

Their nicknames meant so much to her, and to Jim as well. To him, nicknames were a little bit like saying ‘I love you’ in a subtle, almost secret to others, kind of way. His nicknames for her were a way for him to express how much he loved her without repeating the exact words every minute of the day, though he’d do that too if he had the chance.

And every time she called him honey, sweetie, babe, baby or ‘teddy bear’ (That one was a long story, but it was quite possibly his favourite. He got so flustered when she called him that, that she only called him that when they were home and alone), he could feel the same love radiating off her.

Sometimes some random new nicknames slipped out. Usually, they ignored it, unless it was something cute or something they liked a lot, and sometimes they didn’t.

Jim pulled into the parking lot, smiling as Pam sang along to the morning radio while playing with his fingers on the hand that rested on her knee. Even if they’d been together almost a whole year, Jim still couldn’t really believe they got to drive to work together. They’d spent the night together, again, and drove to work together because they could do that now. 

Wow, he felt lucky.

He pulled into his normal parking spot, surprising her as he danced his upturned fingers across her palm, using his other hand to tickle her side. Pam pulled away in an instant, pressing herself into the car door.

“Hey!” She cried airily, a wide smile on her face, “That tickled!”

“That was sorta the point, I had to get your attention somehow, now didn’t I?” Jim shrugged, trying to hold back laughter

Pam rolled her eyes affectionately, a plan popping into her mind. “Yeah, okay, whatever. I’m so getting you back for that later,” Her voice dropped a fraction lower, knowing how much he loved it and that what she was about to say would start a game they’d be playing all day, “I know all your secret spots.”

Jim’s eyes widened, a shiver running its course up and down his spine. “Wow Bees…” He trailed off, taking a deep breath before his mind could wander too far, “Must you torture your poor, innocent boyfriend this early in the morning?” Jim pouted dramatically and Pam laughed, leaning over to kiss him quickly.

“Innocent my ass,” She said as she pulled back, though just hardly moving away from his face, “And don’t worry, maybe my revenge won’t be as bad as you think. That’s up for you to decide…”

She smirked at the way he bit his lip as he thought of the implications, butterflies in her stomach. She loved this game they played, loved riling him up. It always proved to be a fun day and subsequent night when they teased each other in the mornings. It was their favourite game, the “Let’s see how much we can tease each other in the office and not do anything about it” game. It was played more than they liked to admit.

“Are we doing this?” Jim asked thickly, his eyes stuck on her lips. Pam nodded.

“Oh yeah, we’re doing this. I like to call it revenge.”

Jim groaned quietly, leaning in to kiss her again, but she pulled back at the last minute, unbuckling her seatbelt. 

“Well come on then, sweetheart. Another fun day of work awaits us!” The voice she held was dropped, returning to her normal tone. Jim was frozen, staring at her, but quickly snapped out of his trance when he saw her reach for the door handle. 

He made quick work of his seatbelt and jumped out of the car, jogging around the passenger side. It was almost like a tradition for Jim to open and close Pam’s door for her, something he did because he wanted to show her how much her care, another thing to subtly say ‘I love you’. She couldn’t help but practically swoon every time.

He opened the door, gesturing to the almost empty parking lot. “Here you go little mouse,” He said with a smile. Pam paused, quipping her eyebrow. Inside, her heart was doing somersaults, the previous butterflies in her stomach turning to large moths, though she fought to keep her face stoic. 

That was certainly a new nickname, and boy did she love it. 

Jim, on the other hand, was freaking out. Spinning her stunned silence into her being insulted by his slip up, he chided himself. No one wanted to be called a mouse! What was he thinking?

Choosing to ignore it, and hoping she would too, he grabbed her hands and pulled her out of the car, not saying anything about it.

Pam didn’t ignore it.

She spent the rest of the morning caught up thinking about the newfound pet name. The implications of it, what he meant by it, and the way his voice sounded when he said it, his voice so smooth and sweet it was practically dripping with affection for her. But then he seized up, went quiet and weird, and for once, she couldn’t work out why. She stared at him longingly from the reception desk, blushing but never looking away when his eyes caught hers.

 She got so caught up in her thoughts that for most of the morning she completely forget about the game they, or rather she, started. Luckily, or unluckily, for her, Jim ever so gracefully reminded her as they sat together eating lunch, his hands trailing the outsides of her thighs under the table.

From that moment onwards, the game was on. They spent the rest of the afternoon not getting any work done, too busy trying to distract and tease each other while trying to remain a facade of normality to the rest of the office. They couldn’t wait to get home.

Finally, five o’clock arrived, and Jim and Pam made quick work of leaving. The car ride home was torture, stolen kisses at spotlights, hands teasing on thighs, Pam’s hands and lips anywhere she could reach that was distracting but not distracting enough that it could possibly get them in trouble. The twenty-minute drive back to Jim’s apartment felt like an hour.

Pam had almost managed to wipe the morning’s ordeal from her mind, there was far too much to be distracted by to think about it any more, until she leaned over the center console to kiss his shoulder over his shirt and at his neck. He started to moan it out, not getting based “Little” before changing his mind, going for her name instead.

That seemed to make Pam’s mind up, she needed to ask him about it. Not now though, later. Much later. There were much more pressing, urgent matters at hand.

No less than an hour later they were laying cuddled on top of his messed up sheets, and Pam lifted her head from Jim’s shoulder to look up at him. “Hey, can I ask you something?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jim nodded, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Of course you can.”

“The name you called me this morning, why did you go all weird afterwards?” 

Jim sighed. “I don’t know, I guess because it’s probably a bit insulting, I thought you’d be mad.” He cringed inwardly at the memory of his near slip up in the car but tried to hide it.

Pam sent him a confused glance. “Insulted? Mad? Why would I be either?” She asked, her voice light almost as if she was laughing. 

“I don’t know! I just assumed you wouldn’t want to be called a mouse!” He exclaimed. 

Pam softened, nuzzling his cheek with her nose. “Well, I did like it. I liked it a lot. It was sweet, made me feel cute,” She admitted. Jim pulled back slightly, staring at her dumbfounded.

“Wait, really? You liked that?”

“Yes!” She giggled, “If you’re going to keep it, which by the way I totally think you should, it may have to be an at-home only thing though because I felt stupidly emotional when you said it this morning. Seriously, who would’ve thought something like that would nearly make me cry,” She laughed at herself.

Jim pulled her back into him, though squeezing her tighter. “I knew I saw you get teary! I thought I was just imagining it, either that or I actually insulted you and you were mad crying. Was that what it was about?” He asked.

Pam nodded, running her hand through his hair comfortingly. “Yep, and I promise, I don’t find it insulting in the slightest, I promise, teddy bear,” She couldn’t ignore the way he blushed at the nickname, she could never ignore when he blushed at something she did, and he smiled brightly down at her. She could tell her wanted to hide his face, flustered and shy, but her hands stayed in his hair, preventing it. She liked it better when she could see his elated smiles anyway.

“I love it. Can I ask where it came from though? How did you come up with it?”

Jim blushed harder but managed to keep eye contact with her. “Well, I guess, if you really want to know,” Pam giggled at the way he stumbled over his words, and kissed his cheek to calm his nerves, “It’s just a thing I associate with you I guess. I think the way you look can be described as ‘mousey’, please stop me if I make you mad, I can never really tell if mousey is supposed to be a good or bad thing, but I think it’s a good thing. Like, wow, you’re so gorgeous, and if that’s mousey then I love it,”

It was Pam’s turn to blush as he rambled, and she smiled for him to continue. “Mice are cute, and you’re damn adorable, so that’s where the mouse bit comes from. And the little bit because you’re so little, at least compared to me, which just adds even more to the cuteness. I love that you're little. So, yeah, I guess that’s where it’s come from.” He finished his ramble with a sheepish smile.

Tears of pure happiness and love welled in Pam’s eyes. “I love you,” She whispered simply, unable to say much else. She felt so loved, he was so affectionate with her. Jim made her feel like the only girl in the world, and she could only hope he knew just how much she loved him too.

He did, of course. He was so thankful for the love and affection she gave him constantly, especially so after years of pining and just being her best friend. He loved her more than anything in the world, and she was so worth the painful wait. She felt the exact same about him.

“I love you too my little mouse,” He whispered back, stroking her face and kissing her gently, “So damn much.”