"Here." Rick leaned forward, stepping away from the camera to hand her a faded old handkerchief, which she took with a tremulous, grateful smile.

"Thanks." She murmured, dabbing at her eyes; then she laughed, exclaiming, "Oh my god!"

"Yeah." Rick smiled at her, rocking awkwardly on his heels as he tried not to just beam at her like a proud father.

He'd been in charge of filming on Casino Night.

She'd managed to dry her face in spite of her shaking hands, looking up at him with a huge grin, repeating again in a whisper: "Oh my god."

He chuckled fondly at her, muttering good naturedly, "It's about time, you know."

That set her off again, much to his alarm.

"Hey - I'm sorry; I didn't mean - "

"No..." She waved a hand, wiping the tears away again with a slightly hysterical laugh.

"Should I...should I go get Jim?" Rick was beginning to get concerned.

"No! No, I'm fine, really." She nodded emphatically, swiping at her nose with the handkerchief. And then she paused, her eyes fixed on the opposite wall, a faraway look in her eyes as she added, "How could I not be...?"

And then her face crumpled slightly as she ducked her head.

"Pam - "

The door opened again suddenly, and Rick was incredibly relieved to see Jim once again, leaning in the doorway.

"Thank god." Rick brushed past him, murmuring, "She's all yours, man."

Jim knit his brows, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

When he realized Pam was crying, he immediately froze, panicked for a split second. "...Pam?"

"No - I swear, I'm fine!" She exclaimed, waving the ratty old handkerchief at him, prompting him to draw back with a mock-frightened look, which sent her into a giggling fit.

He knelt in front of her, smiling softly as her shoulders shook with laughter. She watched him kneel before her, her eyes scanning his face as if she were drinking in his features, this moment. And she was; she could only imagine what he must be feeling right now -- because she'd only had to live for a year with the reality of never having him.

He'd fought to accept that reality for so much longer, and she understood now the hell that that surely had entailed for him.

When her breath caught suddenly on a sob, he leaned forward and pulled her into his arms, his eyes closing at the way her arms immediately encircled his neck, her head on his chest. He wasn't sure whether she was laughing or crying now, but amazingly enough, he knew it didn't really matter.

Because they were here now.

As if to punctuate his thoughts, she murmured against his chest, "I can't believe it's not too late."

He pulled back to take in her face - tears still streaking her cheeks, which were the same color as her vibrant pink sweater.

"I know...." It was a whisper as he stared at her, awe-struck; so much had changed in the past twenty-four hours, but strangely enough, this all seemed so natural.