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Danielle, I am so happy you followed up on this idea.  I love this story, and I’m so very happy that you’re going to expand on dinner with the parents <3<3<3  He ignored the fact that the tears in his mother's eyes as they said goodbye reminded him of the tears that lined hers as they hugged, standing on the edge of the water that night. Oh, this is just heartbreaking.  And this:  He ignored the fact that his mother's voice wavered in the same way hers did when she said, "I wish you would."

"Oh, you mean my girlfriend?" he said before he could stop himself. "That… I mean," he stammered. "I'm not…it's…" He covered his face with his hand and rubbed his eye.

"Jim?"

"Huh?"

"Tell me more about your girlfriend," she gave, her voice quivering ever so slightly. That little exchange?  Perfect perfect perfect!!!  The shift between the sadness of the past and the joy of the present (and future) is palpable.

“Jimmy, you were so sad for so long and … now, it’s just such a drastic change. Are you… you’re not doing drugs, are you?” She eyed him with an expression mixed of both sheepishness and pointed accusation.  Ha!  Of course his mom would ask him that lol :D

“Did you bring your camera?” “No, I left it at Pam’s. But I have a camera on my cell.”  Which will eventually be thrown out the window!  Awesome little detail there, missy.

He drifted to thoughts about the future, this time without the punch to his heart that usually accompanied such thoughts. What a relief that must have been for our boy.

“Sounds good. Luh, um, I’ll - I’ll see you.” Squeeeee!

It had been that first occurrence of them huddling together so close, of finally being where he stopped imagining he would ever be, mixed with all the other reasons why her lips would be the only lips he would ever kiss for the rest of his days until the last breath of his life, that led him to the jewelers that first week, giving a large sum of money to a beady eyed clerk in exchange for a solitary diamond that would forever signify the promise he had already made to her in his heart. As I was reading this, sharing in the happiness of this new relationship, I felt like I was in on a secret knowing that Jim already had the ring : )  And knowing that he had the ring already made this so old-Hollywood romantic:  It was the need within him to take things slow that led him to the door each night against his will, leaving her with a lingering kiss and the promise of tomorrow.

For three weeks, he held it in, held back, kept himself from saying it again. Guh.The pacing here is just so wonderful.  It fits that their first time wasn’t perfect and the fact that you didn’t go into details works so well with the tone of this story.Waiting seemed to be a running theme in his life. Images of the wedding toast : )He wouldn’t tell her that she reminded him of his mother until years later, while they doted over their own children--the ultimate compliment from a man with a close relationship with his mother.   Beautiful job, Danielle.  Can’t wait to read your next work of art!

Clever story idea, bx2.  I could envision it all.  The dialog was witty and flowed very nicely!  The LLCoolJ reference made me laugh :D Of course, the idea of Jim chatting with Cece was the sweetest <3  So happy for a new story--thank you!

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On a PC now, so I can make this review official:  I love this so much, Danielle. You'd better finish it! You're a master of details, as I've told you countless times. My favorite here is Pam saying she'll do something embarrassing the next day--like checking out porn at the office perhaps? :D Awesome. ::pulls up a chair and waits::

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Danielle, I enjoyed all five of these ficlets so much, angst and all. You're the best.

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Danielle, you're killing me...so why am I loving this angst? ;)

Hey there, Dedeen!  Welcome back!  Nice job with this--totally plausible.  Pam knows that Jim is a good man but can't stop her true feelings.  I don't know if I would be so cool.  Hoping this writing bug sticks with you!

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I’m baaa-aack =)  You made me happy to get to work on this rainy Monday morning, because I really wanted to expand on my review from yesterday.  I really wanted to pull some of my favorite lines from this story.

It was a heavy responsibility, being the only thing someone cared about. Love this, and this has often crossed my mind about Pam.  And on a related note:  He glimpsed for a moment the abyss of life without her. Perfect S2 Jim.  This also makes me think of the stairwell conversation with Dwight in Money, one of my favorite emotionally-magnificent moments.  This, too:   “I could never…” He shook his head and searched for the words. “I would be completely fucking lost without you. Like I was lost without you before. It would just be…over for me.”  Excellent job at creating their argument.  It rang true for me.  I could envision the two of them and how difficult it must have been to communicate so honestly.

His voice became thin and emotional. “I know how you feel, a little…when you were in New York, sometimes I would wonder if you would find something there that…I thought maybe you would realize you weren’t supposed to be with me. I wondered if maybe you’d never come back.”  Guh.  This gives me chills.  Just beautiful. 

She looked at him, her face soft. He couldn’t face her, though. She saw the strain in his face, the same strain she saw on their third date when they finally talked about their past. She took his hand and started stroking it. This is what makes me think of your lovely May and Everything After.  In fact, I’m going to re-read that one yet again.

Jim had the same hungry, boyishly excited look that he used to get.  This makes me long for bits of info on their early dating days.  Still holding out hope that we will get a little bit of info in that regard before the show wraps up. 

So happy you were inspired to write, brokenloon <3

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Thank you for the wonderful lunch-time reading, Steph.  I was saving this for a time when I could savor it :)  I know I must have said it before--probably more than once--but I love your Toby.  You write him so well and always make me care about what happens to him.  This pairing with Meredith was just great.  I could clearly picture the two of them interacting.  I felt they balanced each other, and the appearance of Jake was awkward and fun.  Thank you for this, my dear :)

Author's Response: Thank you so much for reviewing. After the finale, I could really see the possibility of Toby and Meredith and I felt like I had to write it. And writing Jake was really fun! Maybe I'll write more. Thanks again!

He likes that he can be the one to make the pink come back into her face. That line broke my heart, msteapot.  This little story of yours captures Jim's unrequited love and longing.  Nicely done.

Author's Response:

One of the best compliments I've ever gotten! Thank you NanReg! I love knowing I made somebody actually feel something -- I appreciate your review :) 

~ msteapot