With dinner coming to an end, including a trip to the bathroom with Larisa who was very interested in Pam's Christmas plans (to which she simply stated she'd be visiting her family), Pam found herself oddly grateful that she'd been stood up that evening. Right place, right time - one door closes, another opens kind of thing, she figured. She made her rounds saying goodbye to the Halpert family, then to her surprise Jim offered to drive her home when she said she'd be calling for a cab. She had taken a cab there since Roy had said he'd bring the truck. 

Larisa eyed Pam suspiciously before grinning widely. "That's fine, I can just go with Mom and Dad. That okay?" She turned to her parents. 

"Of course! Gosh, the cabs are so expensive around the Christmas season, we'll take Larisa; Jim you take Pam," Betsy waved her hand in the direction of the young trio. 

"Oh, thank you," Pam smiled. She wasn't going to fight off additional time with Jim to end a lovely evening.

"Do you want us to take your bags with us?" Gerald offered Jim. 

"That's okay, I'll just need a hand bringing them in when I get to yours," Jim said. 

"Pff, weak," Tom muttered under his breath to Pete. 

"That's fine, I can still return your gift," Jim shrugged with a smirk. 

"Kids, come on," Betsy rolled her eyes before giving Jim a quick hug. "I'll see you later then. Pam, it was lovely to meet you," Betsy gave Pam a final hug.

Just like that, Pam found herself following Jim to his car, filled with the joy and warmth that comes from an evening with good company. They enjoyed singing along to a few Christmas songs on the radio and admiring the Christmas lights people had put up outside their houses in between Jim trying to redeem himself from the childhood stories his family had shared that evening. Pam felt like she had developed a permanent smile by the time Jim turned into her road. 

"You know, this has all really put me in such a... happy, festive mood," Pam said as Jim pulled into the empty driveway in front of her house, which if she was being honest she was relieved to see.

"I'm glad to hear it," Jim grinned, cutting the engine. "I guess we were just in the right place at the right time."

Glancing over at Jim, Pam smiled at his statement. "Yeah. Thank you for inviting me to join you all. It was really lovely - your family are so much fun." 

"Yeah," Jim pulled an amused face, "'they're something. Sorry they're so... nosy. And crazy."

"Really, it was just what I needed," Pam assured him, "so... thank you, again."

"Any time, Beesly," Jim smiled. 

"And, umm, I don't know how to explain this," Pam chuckled nervously, "so... yeah, I guess just - I really appreciate that you just let me be... me. I loved chatting with your sister. And that, uh, proposal story, I-" 

"Oh, you don't have to explain-"

"No, I..." Pam sighed. "My story isn't really much of a story. I know it makes me sound kinda ungrateful, believe me I've been told plenty of times, but... I don't know. She asked for my dream proposal and... I never get to tell it."

Jim smiled sadly at Pam. "Hey. Not everything happens the way we wish it would. Doesn't mean we can't still have a dream version of things." 

"Yeah," Pam nodded distantly. She thought of how being a receptionist wasn't her dream, this terrace-less house wasn't her dream, this never-ending engagement wasn't her dream, but decided to pocket those thoughts for another time. "Thanks for just... letting me have that story."

For a moment, Jim wondered how he hadn't known before today that that was Pam's dream proposal, before realizing that the Roy-wedding umbrella wasn't a topic they generally shared their thoughts on to each other. He was pleased Pam had felt comfortable enough to share it though. Jim hadn't been sure he'd get an explanation after hearing it at the restaurant. For once, he wasn't sure what to say. Instead, Jim peered out toward the house, and Pam knew he was double checking for the truck and lights inside. "Walk you up?"

"Sure." 

By the time Pam had taken her house keys out in the light of Jim's car, he had come round to open the door for her. They walked in a comfortable quiet up to her front door. 

"Thanks for driving me home," Pam fiddled with her keys. 

"Oh, no problem," Jim shrugged. 

"Is it far out from your parents?" 

"Umm, not too much, it's okay," Jim smiled. He wasn't too fussed with Pam living in the opposite direction to his parents. 

As Pam looked up at Jim, she felt the beginnings of a rumble of word vomit to try explaining how much it had meant to her to simply be Pam for the evening. To ask him if he'd noticed she'd taken off her ring - and if he hadn't, why not? To thank him for not mentioning Roy or the real proposal in front of everyone. She really hoped he knew how much it had meant to her to have an evening where she was so welcomed and so involved; that he had so smoothly turned her mood and entire day around without a second of hesitation. 

In that moment, Pam remembered Larisa's answer when she'd asked her what her plans were for the holidays. "I'm going to make some good bad decisions and eat a lot of food. Highly recommend it!"

With that in mind, and having already eaten a lot of food, Pam leaned up and kissed Jim. God she had been dying to do that for longer than she'd care to admit and it felt incredible - just a soft, tender kiss that was a step up from her quick, drunken Dundies smooch. She just needed to indulge, for once, in this particular dream. Not just of kissing Jim - but of giving him some sort of a sign. 

Jim didn't respond at first, and Pam almost smiled at the surprise she knew he was feeling, before he did begin to hesitantly, gently kiss her back. Pam thought she could melt right there, and the little sigh that escaped her brought her back to reality. 

"Goodnight, Jim" Pam said quietly, biting her lip as she turned around to unlock her door. 

"Night, Pam," Jim responded, more than a little stunned. 

Pam looked back at Jim quickly before closing her door, heart racing. She dropped her keys to the floor and sat down with her back against the door, grinning widely, arms wrapped around her knees pulled tight against her chest. Was it wrong to kiss the guy you had a crush on when you were engaged? Absolutely. But, just like being free of her engagement ring, it felt incredibly right.  

* 

"Morning," Jim yawned in Larisa's direction as he shuffled toward the coffee machine in his parent's kitchen the following morning. He smiled slightly at the familiarity of his sister cradling her coffee with her Christmas nails sparkling away, dark hair in a messy bun and wrapped in the fluffy pink robe she kept at their parents.  

Larisa had fallen asleep before Jim had reached his parent's house the previous evening, so her question was on the tip of her tongue the second he walked in, bypassing any form of greeting. "Pam is the girl from work you told me about, right?" 

"What?"

"The engaged one?" 

"Oh. Yeah," Jim shrugged as he selected a mug from the cupboard above the coffee machine - a faded blue and white gingham pattern.  

Smiling into her coffee, Larisa pocketed that information for future use. Something told her this would make a good story one day. "She's nice." 

Watching the coffee pour into the mug, Jim said, "she kissed me last night, you know."

"She what?" Larisa clambered off her chair, tripping over her worn once-fluffy purple slippers as she rushed to interrogate her brother and give him a flick to the forehead. "Argh! You little shit! Pam kisses you and you wait this long to tell me?" 

"Ow, ow!" Jim winced, shrugging his sister off in annoyance.

"Oh, shut it," Larisa rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up to sit on the counter beside the coffee machine. "Tell me absolutely everything."

"I dunno, there's not much to tell. I just walked her to her door and out of nowhere she kissed me." 

For a few seconds, Larisa battled with herself whether to tell Jim that she'd seen Pam remove her engagement ring before they sat down at the table, or if it was still worth keeping it to herself. As Jim took his first sip of coffee, Larisa asked "so what are you gonna do about it?" to help make the decision.

"Me? I dunno. Nothing. I'm not the engaged one, am I?" 

"Okay, but she made her move."

Jim pulled a face at Larisa over his mug. "It's not chess."

"Don't give me that face."

"Look, it was just a... spur of the moment kinda thing. I don't think she meant anything with it." Jim wondered if he should tell Larisa that Pam had kissed him before at the Dundies but decided against it. He didn't need to give his sister more fuel for the topic, even if it did prove his point.

"Your stupidity physically hurts me," Larisa grumbled, sliding back off the counter. "She essentially cheated on her fiancé by doing that and you're just going to ignore that? Like sure, he's an absolute turd, but that's what she did. Like, I've only known her a few hours but I don't think Pam would do that if it didn't mean anything." 

"Okay, well I hadn't thought of it like that," Jim admitted. It suddenly dawned on him that he'd effectively also cheated on Katy - were they even that serious for that to matter? Still not serious enough to tell his family about her, he knew that much at least. "But I still don't think it's that big a deal." 

"My God!" Larisa held her hands in fists on either side of her head in annoyance. "Jim, I don't know how it is that you have a girl in your life who thinks it is worth cheating on her - okay, admittedly dumbass - fiancé for you, but you do. Do something about it."