Jim put the bags down on Pam's dinette table. "It's August, Pam," he grinned, "it's supposed to be hot. Plus we've been in room full of ovens all day."

Pam hit the switch for the ceiling fan and flopped on the couch. "Next time I have a bright idea like this, tell me to wait until January."

"Sure," he laughed. "Can I get you some ice water?"

"Please," she replied forcefully. "I would love some."

When he came over with her glass, she pushed her purse from the cushion next to her to the floor, causing the contents to spill. Jim handed her the glass, then picked up the small mess she'd created. He sat down next to her holding the flyer from their Italian cooking demonstration. It had been a special "cooking for two" theme, and by the end of the six hour session they'd made four different entrees to bring home.

"That really was fun today, heat notwithstanding," he said, placing the flyer on the coffee table. "Good choice, Beesly."

"Thank you," she said after taking a long drink of her water. She rested her head back against the couch as the light breeze from the fan hit her face. "I appreciate you being so willing to try it out with me."

Jim slouched down next to her, and took a sip from her glass. "Well, I do like to eat," he smiled, nudging his arm against hers. "And I agree that we really shouldn't be spending so much money eating at restaurants or getting takeaway food so often."

Pam nodded. "Plus we really should try to eat a bit healthier. I've put on almost ten pounds since we started dating."

Jim made a dismissive sound. "Where?"

"Trust me, my skirts don't lie."

"Well, I'll agree that eating healthier in general is a good thing. But don't give me any of that weight loss crap. I don't care what you weigh."

Pam laughed. "Yeah, you say that now. I bet you'll be singing another tune if I gained fifty pounds."

Jim shrugged. "Think what you like. As long as you're happy, I'll have no complaints." He slid his hand into hers and brought them to his lips. "You'll always be beautiful to me."

Pam rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh god, there you go again," she laughed, finishing the last of her ice water.

"What?" he asked as she stood up and headed into the kitchen.

"You," she replied. "You're in 'Perfect Boyfriend' mode. Cut it out."

Jim joined her in the kitchen as she began putting the prepared food away into the refrigerator. "I'm being serious," he said.

She looked up at him. "I know you are. That's what so crazy. There has to be something I can do that isn't okay with you."

Jim leaned against the wall, thinking. "I wouldn't be impressed if you left me for someone else."

Pam's laugh sounded nearly like a bark. "I expect you wouldn't. But I was talking about something a little less dramatic."

"It always bugged me how you wouldn't speak up for yourself," he said after a moment of silence. "But you don't seem to have that problem anymore."

Pam folded one of the empty bags. "Well, I guess I learned that lesson the hard way," she said, walking over to Jim. She put her hand on his chest and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm surprised you don't think I'm bossy now."

"I can deal with bossy," he said, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her into another kiss. When he let her go, he gave her a little smirk. "What did surprise me was the fact you were willing to go to a class on Tuscan cooking. I thought you had sworn off everything Italian...."

"I'm not going to abandon a whole cuisine because you decided you needed to put someone in between us the first six months you came back to town," she said sarcastically. "It wasn't her fault you were afraid me."

"I wasn't afraid of you," he corrected her. "It was hard to resist someone who was clearly interested in me while you had shut me out completely. How was I supposed to know how you felt?"

"If you weren't so afraid to talk to me, you would have found that out pretty quickly," Pam replied, turning to focus on putting the rest of the food in the fridge.

"That's not fair," Jim said, sounding slightly irritated. "Even if I did start to hope there was still something between us, you pretty much crushed that when you decided you needed to go back to Roy."

Pam shut the fridge door with more force than necessary. "Don't even start on that," she said crossly. "Had you given me a glimmer of hope I never would have left with him, and you already know that. I mean, you're out there dancing with your girlfriend but looking at me the whole time? Then you didn't even ask me to dance. Nice, Halpert. It was a pretty hard night for me." She walked over to the sink to refill her water glass.

"Yeah, and I pretty much felt like I had the crap kicked out of me when I watched you walk out with Roy, so you weren't the only one who suffered that night." Jim knew this conversation was getting out of hand, but he hated when she threw Karen in his face like that. Especially when she didn't seem to see that mentioning Roy hurt him as much as Karen's memory hurt her.

Pam poured the water out of the glass and set it on the counter. "I need to take a bath," she said as she walked past him, her eyes focused on the floor ahead of her. "I'll be out in a little bit."

He watched her disappear into her bedroom, and shook his head in frustration. Now that was something that did bother him - she still ran away from confrontation. He knew they were both tired and probably hungry for dinner, and that he shouldn't have goaded her like that. They'd been happily together for several months now, but there were still so many demons to put to rest. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat back down on the couch. He ran his hand through his hair as he took a long sip from his beer. He wasn't he really mad. They were too much alike in their reactions to the past to blame her any more than he blamed himself. It was just going to take time for them both to really believe all that pain was behind them.

He heard her shut the bathroom door, and soon afterwards came the sound of running water. As he sat drinking his beer, he couldn't help imagining her slipping out of her clothes, pinning her hair up and sinking into the hot water. He was quite sure she was surrounded by fragrant bubbles, and the image made him smile. Before he had a chance to second guess himself, he finished his beer and went over to the bathroom door. He tapped on the door, and cracked the door open ever so slightly.

"Hey, can I come in?" He asked, unsure of her current mood.

There was the sound of sloshing water and then her voice. "Yes, of course," she replied.

Jim slipped in and shut the door behind him. He leaned against it, taking in the scene of her bare shoulders peeking out from all the bubbles. Just like he had imagined. Their eyes met, and he saw that she was feeling as remorseful as he was about their argument. He knelt down next to the claw foot tub.

"I'm sorry," he said, putting his hand on the edge of the bathtub.

"No, it's my fault," Pam said quickly, covered his hand with one of her wet, bubble-covered ones. "I knew you were just teasing me and I just couldn't let it go."

"Well, it wasn't fair of me to tease you about something that's still a bit of a sore subject between us," Jim admitted.

"But it shouldn't be, should it?" She asked. "I mean, that's all past history. We're together now, and I'm so happy with you."

Jim smiled. "Glad to hear it, Beesly. Because you aren't getting rid of me."

"Never?" Pam feigned concern.

Jim shook his head. "Afraid not."

"I guess that means there's only one thing left to do then," she replied.

"What?"

She splashed him with some bubbles, causing him to draw back in complaint. "It's time for the make up bath," she giggled.

He eyed her warily. "Make up bath?"

She grinned. "It's kinda like make up sex, but you get in the bathtub."

He grinned back. "Is it really?"

Jim didn't need much coaxing to shed his clothes and step into the still hot bath water with Pam. He slipped behind her, putting his arms around her and pulling her gently back onto his chest. A few minutes of quiet relaxation was all it took to make everything right between them again. Soon the atmosphere changed as hands caressed skin, with lips soon following. Pam shifted to face him, and they laughed as bath water splashed noisily around them and onto the floor. By the time the last soap bubble had dissolved, they were both flushed for reasons having nothing to do with the once warm water.

Jim got out of the tub first, wrapping a towel around his waist. He offered his hand to help Pam climb out, then enfolded her into a waiting towel. He gently scrubbed the towel against her skin, randomly placing kisses where he'd dried her off. When he was done he hung her towel over the side of the bath and wrapped her in a new dry one. She grabbed his hand and lead him to her bedroom, which had become as comfortable and familiar to Jim as his own over these past months.

They laid together on the bed, enjoying each other's company, until hunger pains appeared that would not be denied. Pam was slipping into some comfortable clothes when she heard Jim curse.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"I was in such a hurry to get to the cooking class on time this morning I completely forgot to pack my weekend bag," he grumbled.

Pam sat down next to him on the edge of the bed. "I'm sure you must have a few clothes here," she said, trying to be helpful.

"Yeah," he sighed. "but you'd think I'd be so used to packing and unpacking by this point that I wouldn't forget."

Pam snuggled up next to him. "Well, I have an idea I've been tossing over in my mind for a little while now, and it might be a solution to a few difficulties we've been having."

Jim put his arm around her, unable to to stay grumpy when she was pressed so close to him. "Okay," he replied, "let's hear it."

"Well, I was just thinking that maybe we'd better be able to put the past behind us if we had someplace uniquely our own." She paused and looked up at him. "I mean, you know how I always want you to come over here on the weekends?" He nodded. "The truth is that I don't like to sleep in your bed knowing Karen's been there."

"Pam," Jim said, a note of realization in his voice. "You should have said something."

She shrugged. "I know it's stupid, and I wish I could get over it. At least here this bed has only ever been used by you and me."

"So what are you saying?"

Pam took a deep breath. "I'm saying I think we should find a new apartment. Some place we can live together, that we've both chosen and has no memories of the past."

Jim raised his eyebrows in surprise. While it was true that they spent so much time together it seemed like they were already living together, he never expected Pam would be open to broaching the subject of permanent cohabitation so soon. She always talked about how much she loved having her own apartment. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, her eyes guarded as she waited on his answer.

"Well, it certainly resolve the issue of forgetting to pack my things," he said. "Why don't we just live here at your place? Then it's only one move."

"I really don't think it would be big enough for all of our stuff," she replied. "Plus, I've got too many memories of sleepless nights spent alone here. I'm happy to move on."

Jim moved to sit sideways on the bed so he could see her better. He couldn't resist reaching out to stroke the side of her face. "It's a big step," he told her, "I mean, we've been dating what - not quite four months?"

She nodded, her cheek resting against his palm. "I want a big step, Jim," she said. "I mean, if I'm never going to be able to get rid of you, I might as well make the best of it, right?"

He laughed loudly and pulled her into his arms. "You never cease to surprise me, Beesly. Never."