Jim looked down at the tiny blue teapot in his hands. So small, so unassuming. It was hard to believe that it carried the fate of his love. Because, hidden away at the bottom of the box, is a card, detailing how he loved Pam.

Oh, did he mention? He loved Pam.

This wasn't some stupid crush, like he was back in elementary school playing on the swing set. He was in love with Pam. 

The only thing keeping him from asking her out, leading her back to his apartment, and ravaging her body on top of his bed was the band wrapped around her fourth finger.

It wasn't Roy's fault. Sure, he had proposed to her, but it wasn't his fault that she was taken. She just... happened to be taken. But sometimes, he saw the way she looked at him, and how well they got along, and how she smiled (god, her smile), and it made him wonder.

Did she feel the same way?

Then he immediately dismissed it as completely ridiculous, because she was engaged and still wearing that ring and she loved Roy.

 He thought about at the Dundies, when Roy grabbed her arm and tried to force her to get in the car. Neither of them, nor the camera crew, saw him watching from the window, ready to storm out if she was injured in any way. They didn't see him thinking, I would treat her so much better than this. And later, when for a small moment, her sleeve slipped up and Jim got a glimpse of two small red marks from Roy's meaty fingers, he thought How Dare He. Fueled by rage and anger, when he sat stewing in his car as he thought of those bruises.

He thought about after the fire, while they were all waiting outside, how Roy chose Angela over his own fiance at Who Would You Do? How Pam's face, confused, fell as she blushed in embarrassment. How later, her face lit up when they were walking back from Dwight's car. How he could treat her so much better.

But for the time, there was still Roy.

And Roy was a huge factor.

 When the camera crew pulled him in for the interview later, he was ready to field any possible questions about the teapot.

 "So this year, for the first time ever, I got Pam in Secret Santa. And I got her this teapot, which I know she really wants, so she can make tea at her desk. But I’m also going to stuff it with some inside jokes. Like, this is my high school yearbook photo. She saw it at the party, and it really makes her laugh. Not sure why. What else .. ooh. This is a hot sauce packet. She put this on a hot dog a couple years ago because she thought it was ketchup. And it was really funny, so I kept the other two. [holds up a miniature pencil] This would take a little too long to explain, so I won’t. And this is the card. Because Christmas is the time to tell people how you feel." 

Why did he say that Oh my god Why Why Why.

How he felt couldn't have been more clear if he had How I Feel tattooed up on his forehead.

Oh god.