Thirty minutes later, Pam was browsing the racks of Boscov's in the SteamTown Mall with two pairs of pyjamas folded over her arm: one was navy blue cotton with little snowmen all over the pants and a larger one on the front of the long sleeve tee, and the other pair was red and green check flannel with tiny silver snowflakes dotted on them. A red and white Fair Isle wool sweater caught her eye, and Pam realised she didn't own anything like it. In all the years of Christmas parties and holiday get-togethers, she'd only ever worn her tiny Christmas earrings or brooch because Roy never seemed to notice them. She grabbed the sweater and folded it over the pyjamas on her arm as she carried on browsing. Soon enough, a black sequin slip dress and some impossibly high heels that Pam knew she'd never really be able to walk in, joined the pile. Maybe she'd have some surprise date for New Year's Eve. Pam didn't want to be under prepared.

New clothes safely in her trunk, Pam pulled into the parking lot of the Christmas tree farm, looking at the trucks already parked up and just wondering what she was thinking trying to get a tree home in her little car. She wandered up to the entrance, pulling her scarf up to her chin to keep the evening chill out and disappeared into the man made forest. Pam slowly meandered around the trees, breathing in the scent of fir, feeling the needles beneath her fingers as she ran her hands over the branches. She was lost in thought, feeling completely serene, when she walked straight into something. Well, someone. 

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Pam gushed into the person's back. 

"No worries," a familiar voice replied as they began to turn around. "Beesly! What are you doing here?" 

Beesly. It didn't throw her so much this time, but it still filled her with that same warmth in the middle of this freezing night.

"Obviously buying a Christmas tree Jim. What are you doing here? Waiting for a train?" she asked with a cocked head, smiling with her tongue poking between her teeth. It had been so long since they'd joked around like this, Pam had missed it so much. It felt like yesterday's CIA prank had ever so slightly lifted the lid on who they used to be.

Jim smiled down at the ground as he shoved his hands into his coat pockets. "So, uh, who are you here with?" he asked a little hesitantly, his slightly pink cheeks hidden under the darkness of the early evening.

"Oh, no one," she shrugged. "How about you?"

"How are you gonna get your tree home?" he laughed, completely ignoring Pam's question. 

"I guess I haven't really thought this all the way through," she smirked with an eye roll. 

"Want some help?"

"Oh no, that's ok," she rushed out. "You should go back and help Karen with picking a tree." 

"Karen?" Jim asked, clearly confused. 

"Yeah, aren't you here with Karen getting a tree?"

"Nah, I'm here with my parents," he said simply. "My dad's back isn't great and there's no way my mom could do anything useful with the tree." 

"Oh," she giggled, part relieved that Karen wasn't there, part wondering why she wasn't there. Have they already bought their trees together? she wondered. Duh, Karen's still in that hotel, of course she doesn't have a tree. Maybe Jim has one and they decorated it together. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, trying not to think about their festive fun. "Huh?" Pam asked, so buried in thought that she hadn't realised Jim was talking.

"I said, I can help you with your tree after I get my parents' one onto their roof rack. So...?"  

"Oh no, that's ok, you don't have to," she rushed out, before really thinning it through. 

"So how are you planning on getting the tree off of your car and into your apartment?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Umm," she giggled with a slight blush. "Thank you, that would be great." 

"Alright, let's choose you a tree," he smiled, holding his hand out for Pam to lead the way. 

Jim and Pam wandered around the farm, making jokes about the trees and whispering about the other customers, lost in their own little world. They weighed up the pros and cons of each tree, rated them on their attractiveness and guessed which tree everyone from the office would pick. Pam couldn't remember the last time she'd had such a fun evening, her face was actually beginning to hurt from all the smiling she'd been doing. It just felt natural. It felt right. They felt right. 

Finally she found the perfect tree, and a sales associate helped her to the cashier, while Jim went to find his parents to help load up their car. The plan was for Jim to ride in Pam's car to her place, help her get the tree inside, and then Pam would drop Jim at his parents house to help them with their tree.

"Alright, let's get this giant tree on your tiny car," Jim laughed as he approached Pam.

"Hey, it's not that tiny," she tried to say with a straight face. They both burst out in laughter, both holding in the words that naturally reverberated around their minds. "Don't," Pam warned."

"Wasn't going to say a word," he said with a laugh, holding his hands up in front of his shoulders as if in surrender.  

Jim easily lifted the tree onto the roof of Pam's car and securely tired it on. Pam just gazed at him as he effortlessly worked, amazed at how strong he was. She managed to stop her staring just as he turned around. "Great work," she smiled.  

She was about to get into the car, just next to where Jim was standing, but he stopped her. "Here, let me," he said, pulling the handle to open the car door for Pam. 

"Thanks," she blushed as she got into the car.

The twenty five minute drive back to Pam's apartment seemed to rush by in seconds. By the time she pulled up outside her place, she had tears streaming down her face recounting to Jim the results he'd been unable to see for the gaydar and future fax pranks, as well as filling him in on making Dwight run laps of the building the morning Jim had returned to Scranton. 

"Oh man," Jim laughed, wiping his own eyes. He paused slightly to compose himself. "It really is good to be back. I mean, I know I was trying to be the super serious Assistant Regional Manager and everything, but I just don't think that's who I really am, you know?" Pam nodded silently. "And, I'm sorry about yesterday. I read the whole file when I got home. Beesly, it was amazing! His hopes and dreams? Why he makes a great best friend? Who he'd replace in The A Team? Honestly, it was genius." 

"Thanks," Pam giggled. "And I'm glad too, you know, that you're back," she said more seriously. "Tonight's been really fun, feel's kinda like old times."

Jim nodded. "Yeah," he said, a smile on his face, but a hint of sadness in his voice, "it does."

After parking the car, Jim got the tree off of the roof as Pam grabbed her shopping bags from the trunk and they made their way to Pam's apartment. "This is me here," she said, pointing to a blue door, "least there's no stairs," she laughed.

"Thank god for that," Jim groaned as Pam opened the door, "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold this for." 

"Oh my god," Pam shrieked, "let me help you." She grabbed the small front end of the tree and guided Jim towards the living room. He complimented her place as they walked through the apartment, and she laughed louder than she should have at his joke about only one kitchen, but it was more that it had caught her off guard that he'd remembered their conversation from months before. They set the tree down in the far corner by Pam's bookshelf and Jim pulled the ties off of it so that its branches unfurled and filled the small nook. 

"You picked a great tree, Beesly," he smiled. "It's gonna look great when it's all decorated." 

"Well, I'll actually need to buy some ornaments for that to happen. Man, I really haven't thought this whole tree thing through," she laughed.

"Wait. You don't have any decorations?" he asked, taken aback.

"No, we never used to, um, I haven't really had, uh," she tried to say, not really wanting to talk about Roy. "This is my first proper tree." 

"Wow," he replied, his eyebrows shooting up underneath his hair. "Guess you've got some shopping to do this weekend huh?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "Uh, I guess I should probably get you back to your parents' place right?" 

"Oh yeah, my tree duties are far from over," he grinned. 

--

An hour later, Pam had slipped on the red and green check pyjamas and was about to get into bed when she heard a knock at the door. She thought about ignoring it, particularly as it was pretty late, but she heard her name being called. 

"Jim?" she said in surprise as she opened the door to find him standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I realised I hadn't given you your Christmas present yet. Sorry I didn't wrap it," he smirked, mimicking her apology from the day before, as he held out a small white bird on a red ribbon. Pam took it tentatively and gazed at it, examining all the details of the feathers. "It's um, a turtle dove," Jim said, a touch of nervousness in his voice. "For, uh, your tree, because you know, you don't have any decorations and all." He dug his hands into his pockets and stared at her looking at the ornament. 

"It's beautiful," she finally breathed, looking up at him. "But aren't there meant to be two turtle doves?"

"Beesly, come on," he smirked, cocking his head to the side. "I know you've seen Home Alone 2. You're meant to keep one of the doves, and give the other to a special friend. I've had these guys for a pretty long time, and it just felt like maybe this one could hang out on your tree." 

"Thank you," Pam gushed, stepping forward to throw her arms around Jim's neck, much like she did the first time he returned to the office. His arms wrapped around her pyjama clad body and held her tight for just a moment, before they both released each other and took a step back. 

"You're welcome," he smiled. 

"I love it. I'm going to put it on the tree right now."

"Well, don't let me stop you. I'll see you on Monday ok?" he said before turning to leave with a wave. 

"Looking forward to it," Pam whispered to his back as she watched him walk away.

She closed her front door and leaned against it, gazing at the turtle dove again. She ran her fingers over the matte white surface of the bird, feeling the bumps of the feathers, before holding it close to her chest. Pam made her way over to the tree and carefully hung the ornament right at the front where she'd be able to see it and took a step backwards. She stood with her arms wrapped around herself, staring at the empty tree, bathed only in moonlight from her window and thought about the symbol of love and friendship she'd just been given. All of a sudden she couldn't wait for the weekend to be over and to get into the office.