The whole relationship was an adjustment, definately. After all, he was just the guy who made her laugh at work, who shared lunches with her like they were in the third grade, who was a regular customer at the Jellybean container at her reception desk.

Sometimes she would catch him in her house and get a bit of a shock from it-- should Jim really be coming out of her shower at 7 30 in the morning? Should Jim have an arm slung over her waist as they slept, his mouth open and slack against her pillow?

Not that she was complaining. Far from it. Because it was also Jim who made her skin tingle when he came too close, whose eyes made her a bit uncomfortable sometimes because when they looked into hers she felt like he was reading her mind.

"You've got a lot of stuff in here," he called from the bathroom.

And this is a definate adjustment, Pam thought, raising her eyebrow as Jim walked out of her bathroom and into her room, clad only in a t-shirt and boxers. Yeah, that was a change. He was holding a small bottle of product in his hand, his brow furrowed as he stared at it.

"What--"

"For the sleek, shiny, salon look," he read, a grin twisting on his face. "To ge--"

"Jim! That's..." She paused. "A secret."

"A secret," he repeated, raising his eyebrows. "Wow. What sort of stuff do you use?"

She gave him a mock indignant look as she twisted the cap to her moisturizer and set it on her nightstand. Jim flopped into bed next to her, and she got that now familiar, twisting happy feeling in her stomach. It had been a good night. It was a weekday, and they had an early meeting the next morning, so they'd just stayed over at her house. Cooked some dinner, watched a movie. Well, started to watch a movie, before they got distracted and one thing led to another, and... yeah. They lay together on the couch, the rise and fall of Jim's chest the only movement between them. And then Jim had suggested bed, because they had an early day, and they'd moved in here.

Quickly, she reached over and grabbed it from him, smiling. "It's 'anti-curl serum'. Duh."

"What... for you hair?" He reached over absently and twirled a strand around his finger.

She laughed, not really sure why, but she just felt like laughing. "Uh huh."

"Why would you want to do that?" He gave her that soft look that made her stomach do a somersault.

Pam blinked, a flush creeping onto her cheeks. "Um..." Nervously, she laughed again, looking at Jim and meeting his gaze-- he was looking at her seriously, with just a small smile on his lips. He actually expected an answer. "Well... I don't know. My hair can just be, um... really annoying sometimes."

"I love your hair," he responded, without hesitation.

Pam's heart fluttered in her chest. "Thanks," she said, stupidly, reprimanding herself for not being able to look him in the eyes. She toyed nervously with a loose string on her quilt.

"What?"

I don't like getting compliments like that. "Nothing." She kissed him quickly, then leaned over and turned off the light on her nightstand. "You're sweet."

He studied her face for a moment in the dark, that familiar ache gripping him when all that existed in his world at that moment was Pam and he just had to do something. Talk to her, make her laugh, anything. And now... now he could do those things that it'd almost killed him not to do before. He could touch her and get close to her and whisper things in her ear that were entirely inappropriate to whisper in the break room at work but it made her blush and giggle and fuck, he was more in love with her than he'd ever been before. He'd never thought that was possible.

And she was lying right next to him in bed.

"Hey..." He touched her shoulder, shuffling even closer. She turned over to face him, smiling to find how close they were.

"Yeah?"

"It's not just your hair. You know that, right?"

She frowned, as if not understanding. But she did, he could see it with that glimmer of anxiety in her eyes. "What?"

"I love... your eyes." He touched the light creases beside her eyes. "And your nose." He kissed the tip of it.

She laughed. "Jim..."

"And just, well..." He shook his head, his lips twisting into a goofy smile as his hand moved slowly over her stomach. "Just about everything about you--"

"Jim!" She erupted into giggles as his hands gripped her sides and he started planting light kisses everywhere-- her neck, lips, cheeks. "Stop it." She grabbed his wandering hands. "We have the meeting, tomorrow..."

He let her go, grinning brightly at her. "I love you."

He'd been saying that to her, since the first night they'd been together. It was strange and amazing and breathtaking, that first night, and when they were lying together, trying to sleep (definately a bit weird), she'd whispered his name. He'd opened his eyes to look at her in response, staring back at her with a ready expression on his face. Kind of like when she'd beckoned him over to her desk at work, but... very different.

"Yeah?" he asked, finally, smiling a bit at her. His hand was on her hip, his thumb rubbing her skin gently. Everything was so intimate but it felt so right.

"Um..." She struggled for the words for a moment. You make me happier than anything else in the world... You're the most adorable and beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life, right now at this moment... "I..." She fiddled with the collar of his T-shirt. "Are you uh, looking forward to work? Mondays, you know..." And then she closed her eyes tightly and hated herself and figured Jim would laugh at her and change his mind and wouldn't come back tomorrow night.

"Uhhh, work." He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, as if contemplating the question, then his eyes flicked back at her, and he smiled. "Doesn't seem so bad anymore."

He kissed her, and she touched his cheek lightly, her eyes fluttering closed. They pulled back after a few moments, and their lips were just milimeteres apart when he whispered it. "I love you."

She nodded and tucked her face into his chest, finding it a bit easier to fall asleep that night.

But now the words were there again, hanging in the air between them, wrapping themselves around her like a safe, suddenly familar blanket. She just grinned.

"Really?" she teased. "Because I thought it was just my hair, my eyes, and uh... probably these," she said, patting her chest.

He nodded. "Well, those are a perk. But I have it on good authority that Micheal feels those are your best asset."

Her face fell. "What?"

"Wow." He cringed at his own words. "That was probably the worst thing to say to you in bed. I..."

"Yes, it was." She tried to bite back her laugh. "You're just... well, you're not getting any now, Halpert. That comment ruined your chances."

"But--"

"Shut it and go to sleep."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Hey." Jim leaned against her desk, looking down at the mail Pam was sorting. "How's it going?"

"Um. Fine." She risked a quick glance up at him, unable to stop that smile from creeping up on her face. "You?"

"Hmm... same as usual." He reached down, onto her desk, picking up an empty envelope and looking at it absently. His fingers crept over her hand, running over it teasingly. "When are you taking your break?"

Pam blushed, trying to act casual as her eyes flickered around the office. "I don't know, I..." She looked over to the side, seeing a camera spying out from behind a wall of blinds. She blinked. "I'm actually-- I already took one. So. I'm just gonna be doing this for a while." She tore open another envelope, looking away deliberately.

Jim didn't say anything for a moment, just stared at her, then scanned the office until he saw the camera lens. He straightened himself up. "Right. Okay." He backed away slowly, back towards his desk. A few moments later, Pam glanced up at him. He was back to work.

"Dating? Uh, well, I am seeing someone. You know, it's been three months since Roy and I split up, and I thought I'd... you know." She pursed her lips for a moment, looking at the floor, wishing they hadn't asked her this question. "But no, definately no one in this office. I don't think many people here would take it that well if one day I was handing them a save the date card, and the next I was going out with-- um... I don't know... Oscar. Y'know, it just doesn't make for a very comfortable, um, work environment. And I'm not just talking about me. I mean, it wouldn't be fair to Oscar at all. I don't want to put him through that."

***

Pam walked out the sidedoors of the building, wrapping her arms around her for warmth. Jim was leaning against the cement wall of the building, his eyes squinted as he stared across the parking lot. She walked towards him cautiously.

"Hey."

He gave her a quick glance. "Hey."

"What're doing out here?"

"Taking my break." He sighed. "What about you? I thought you were gonna skip break today."

She sighed. "Jim..." She reached out to fiddle with his tie, but he flinched. Only slightly, but enough for her to notice. "What?"

"Nothing. Sorry."

"Well, something's bothering you."

He didn't speak for a few moments, just stared intently at the cement ground in front of him, and Pam looked down at it also, trying to find what it was that held his interest so completely. Finally, he spoke. "It's just... I wasn't exactly having the best time here, before."

She didn't understand, but wisely chose to say nothing. Eventually, he continued.

"You know... with you and-- you were engaged. And I thought I'd never be able to--" He pressed his mouth shut, breathing out through his nose for a moment. "Well, anyway. Things are different now, but here? It's like time just stood still. It's all the same. Sometimes I forget that things have changed."

"Oh."

"I don't want to show you off or anything, Pam," he said earnestly, turning to face her for the first time. "You want to keep it private, and I want that for you, too. It's fine, really, I've just gotta get used to it. But this is harder than I thought, you know? Trying to ignore you."

"Yeah," she said. "No, I get it. But um, I've... I've gotta go back, though, okay?"

He just looked at her. "Sure."

And then she turned and walked back into the building, leaving him standing there.

***

Jim flicked off his computer and grabbed his jacket off the coat rack, glancing quickly at reception to see that Pam, too, was putting on her coat. He cleared his throat and looked over at Dwight.

"Doing anything special this weekend, Dwight?"

"Yes," he answered shortly, his eyes glued to his computer screen. "I'm taking my girlfriend to--"

"-- Your girlfriend," he repeated dubiously.

Dwight looked over at him. "Why are you so interested in my girlfriend, Jim?"

He sighed. "See you on Monday."

Grabbing his bag, he headed for the door, stopping, as usual, at reception. "Ready to go?" he asked, drumming his fingers on the desk.

She nodded, staring at the floor as she stood up and moved in front of the desk, and walked straight up to him. And then, almost without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. And he just stood there, shocked, and all he could do was slide his hands around her waist and pull her closer.

There was a clattering behind them; someone had dropped something in surprise. Pam was sure the whole office was staring at them, but surprisingly, she found she didn't care. Not with the feeling of Jim's kiss still burning on her lips. So she grabbed his hand, grinned at him, and pulled him from the office, that blank look of shock still plastered on his face.

At her desk, Meredith grudgingly pulled a 20 dollar bill from her wallet and handed it to a smug Phyllis, who pocketed it with a smile.

The door slammed harshly against the bedroom wall as they stumbled inside, but she barely heard it over the sound of her blood thumping in her ears and Jim's shorts gasps of breath in between kisses. Hands ran over fabric, pulling frantically at buttons and sleeves until both their shirts lay discarded on the floor.

He kicked the door shut with his foot and pushed her against the wall, pressing his hips tightly against hers. She whimpered against the kiss and lifted a leg to wrap around his hip, because he had his hand on her thigh and was lifting her against him, and she needed more friction, more more more...

She sank her teeth into his bottom lip and pulled, and he growled in response-- a low, primal sound from the back of his throat. It made her skin buzz with desire, and she tugged on his beltloops, pulling him even closer to her, if that was possible. His hands were gripping and squeezing and caressing her skin everywhere.

They made their way blindly towards the bed, bumping into Jim's desk along the way. She hit her knee sharply and stumbled for a moment.

"Ow."

"Are you--" He kissed her, not bothering to finish his own question.

"Uh huh." She buried her fingers in his hair and they fell back onto the bed, Pam crawling on top of him and kissing his chin, nose, lips, jaw...

His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, trying to breathe, then he grabbed her wrists and turned them over so he was on top of her. Slowly, he planted kisses down her chest and stomach, towards the waistline of her skirt. Her back arched.

"Jim..."

Their lips met again as he pulled Pam's skirt off slowly, letting it fall to the ground. She reached for his jeans and met some trouble undoing his belt buckle, too distracted by the way he was biting and licking at her neck.

"Um."

"Hang on."

He pulled away for a moment to assist her, as they both pushed his jeans off, Jim kicking them to the floor. Pam laughed at him and he smiled at her and suddenly there wasn't any air anymore, just the space between the two of them.

And then they were there, one of his arms tucked under hers, his hand gripping her shoulder, the other arm balancing himself up. And Pam's eyes were closed. He kissed her jaw lightly.

"Pam."

"Yeah?"

"Look at me." She opened her eyes, and they stared at each other. One push, and everything turned completely upside down. It did every time. The muscles in his stomach clenched and he let out a staggering breath. He swallowed and whispered to her, his voice low and husky. "That's... keep your eyes on me."

"Jim." Her voice was a breathless whisper. She moved her body in sync with his.

"What?" He wasn't thinking clearly anymore. His vision was... he blinked. But he needed her. "Tell me what you want."

She hummed something indistinct, her fingernails digging into his shoulders.

"Say it. Pam." He swallowed again, moistened his lips. "I need to hear it."

"You. Please. I need, I want..."

"Yes." There was sweat on his forehead. He picked up his speed, staring down at her. Their eyes were locked together.

"Please, Jim. That's-- there. Perfect."

And then they didn't talk anymore, or maybe they did but he wasn't really sure, just felt everything build and build and he kissed her and her skin felt soft on his fingertips and for a few moments all he knew was her.

He fell down beside her on the bed and there was a new silence for a while, a sated, content silence. Pam stared at the ceiling of Jim's bedroom, breathing in slowly, trying to bring her world all back together because it had scattered all around her in those past few moments. She felt calm and deep. Jim moved his hand to rest on her hip.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

His fingers were gliding lazily over her bare stomach. She chewed the inside of her lip for a while.

"I love you."

He didn't say anything, but his hand stopped moving on her skin and he just stared into space for a minute, then blinked and turned to look at her. "Well... who wouldn't, after that?"

She shook her head. "Forget it, I take it back."

"Um... nope, can't do that."

She laughed and hit his chest lightly. He just grabbed her hand and held it.