Whenever anyone asked when Jim fell in love with Pam, he always said the second he saw her, or maybe the first time she spoke. And although everyone knew Jim had watched (and shamelessly enjoyed) a few too many romantic comedies growing up, they also knew Jim was completely head over heels for Pam, making the whole concept of “love at first sight'' for him a bit more probable than it was in the movies. 

The truth was, Jim did not fall in love with Pam the second he saw her, or the minute he heard her voice. 

He had spent about a year working  at Dunder Mifflin by the time he did, but that November was the first time he had really been sick. He spent five days at home being fed soup by his roommate or sister, whichever one had the patience to watch him throw up  an hour later.

He returned to work with little fanfare. Dwight rolled his eyes, but said very little, Phyllis said she was glad he was feeling better, but everyone else seemed to have forgotten Jim worked at the corner of that desk clump. 

Jim hadn’t been expecting much--it was Dunder Mifflin after all. He walked through the break room to get himself a bag of chips, just to celebrate being able to eat solid food again, when something barrelled into him.

He wheezed out a harsh breath and started to squirm away, before he looked down and saw tight brown curls, and Pam’s face buried into his chest.

“Oh my god, you’re back,” she mumbled, pulling away from him, her cheeks a light pink, and a small smile on her lips. “I can’t believe I made it so long without you working here. You’re the only thing keeping me sane nowadays.”

It was that. Pam would say many things like that over the years, but that first time, that first acknowledgement of how he had caused a catalyst in the trajectory of her life; it sparked something in him.

 He didn’t just try and look good around Pam anymore because he thought she was cute, he craved attention from her, and every little glance made his heart sour around the room, orbiting her.

After Pam said that, she and Jim didn’t even try to hide that they were each other’s lifelines in the office. It was the only part of their relationship that didn’t feel like a fine line, the only way Jim could explain why Pam meant so much to him. They hid their feelings in “if you left here, I would blow my brains out”s and it was just enough for Jim to think that maybe, maybe, Pam wanted him around and as much as he did her.