She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror before leaving for work. A lot had happened in the last year. She started her first year teaching, which she loved more than she imagined she ever would. She got to do so much of what she had always loved, painting, drawing, and creating. She had never felt more comfortable in her own skin than she did now.
But Jim. He was far and away the greatest part of her year. He’s the one that helped her feel comfortable in her own skin and who always relit the fire for teaching whenever it started to dim. He was encouraging without being pushy and through every facet of her life, he had remained constant, steady. Every time she imagined a future with him in it, warmth washed over her.
After arriving at school and sitting down at her desk, she noticed the drying rose laying next to her computer that Jim had given her while she was painting the set for Beauty and the Beast. It was no secret she was sentimental and Jim definitely gave her reason to be.
He had been peppering in fake proposals over the last week, all which made her laugh, of course, but if she was being honest, every time it happened she felt a twinge of sadness that it wasn’t “it”. She had known, probably since Christmas, that she didn’t want anyone else, ever. Every box was checked. Every question answered. It was Jim.
She picked up her phone and sent a message to him.
Don’t forget to send me a picture of you smiling with half your face numb. I need the laugh. Love you!
Jim had a dentist appointment that morning and said he’d probably be out until at least until his afternoon classes. Something about not wanting to teach classes full of ruthless teenagers when he couldn’t feel his tongue. She was sure she would still instinctively look across the hallway while he was gone, even though she knew she would just see Ryan there, the school’s resident substitute teacher.
The bell sounded to signal the beginning of the school day and she stood up to welcome her students who would begin filing in shortly.
First to come in was one of her favorite students, Sasha.
“Here, Miss Beesly,” she said with a massive grin, and handed her a white rose.
Pam smiled, taken aback. “Thank you, Sasha! How sweet!”
She smelled the rose and and when she looked up, two more girls, Melissa and Abby, both came over to her. They handed her two more roses and walked to their seats, giggling to each other.
“Guys…” Pam questioned. “What’s going on…?”
One by one, students came with roses, handing them to her with smiles on their faces. Pam felt her heart beginning to beat faster, suspecting Jim might not have been at the dentist after all.
The second bell rang to begin the class period and she looked at her students at their desks. They were giddy and staring at her with anticipation.
“Seriously! I’m going to dock your grade if someone doesn’t tell me what you’re up to,” she joked. Suddenly all of their heads turned to the doorway, the girls gasping quietly amongst each other.
Pam turned and immediately she felt her throat tighten in that way it did right before she knew she was going to start crying. There was Jim, standing in the doorway of her classroom, wearing her favorite suit and a skinny black tie, looking at her with a smirk and eyebrows raised. He was holding a large poster in his hands that she couldn’t quite read.
“Pam…” he said walking to her slowly. “I have a question.”
Her breath caught and she brought a hand up to her lips as she watched Jim drop to one knee. He help up the sign that read:
Pam—
Will you go to prom with me?
-Jim
Oh.
It wasn’t what she was expecting but she hoped he didn’t see the flash of disappointment on her face. She really did love these elaborate gestures he did and they had been joking for weeks about all these ridiculous “promposals” their students had been doing. It was endearing and kind of hilarious, even though it wasn’t what she thought was happening initially. So she smiled at him, ready to answer, when he looked down at the sign, concerned.
“Wait…” he said. “This is the wrong sign…”
He flipped it around.
Beesly—
Will you marry me?
—Halpert
She watched him reach into the inside pocket of his suit coat and pull out a small velvet box. Now tears really were forming and not just in her eyes. She could see the rims of Jim’s eyes begin to glisten and he stood up, opening the box. She covered her mouth with her hands and began smiling and laughing into them, unable to speak. He dropped the sign and grabbed her left hand in his.
“So?” he asked with a grin, his breath catching.
She nodded wildly and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Absolutely I will,” she whispered in his ear excitedly.
He laughed and pulled back, grabbing her face to kiss her, neither of them unable to stop smiling. There were whoops and hollers all around them from the students but Pam didn’t even notice them. All she could focus on was Jim’s lips on hers and the euphoric feeling of knowing he was really hers forever. He pulled her into another tight embrace.
“Well, give her the ring, Halpert!”
“Oh!” he exclaimed, fumbling with the box. He carefully pulled out the ring and slid it on the finger on her left hand. She lifted it up to her eyes to look at it closer. It was absolutely perfect—exactly what she would have picked out herself but she wasn’t surprised. Jim knew her better than anyone.
“I love it,” she said softly to him.
“I love you.”
She kissed him again until the students in her class began making exaggerated gagging sounds and Jim laughed, saying he should let her get back to teaching even though she had no idea how she would be able to focus on anything now. She told her kids to begin their warm-up sketching while she said goodbye to him.
“I’ll see you tonight?” he said before leaving.
“Not lunch?” she frowned.
He walked backwards and shrugged at her with a wink. “Dentist appointment.”
———————
She was right. It was incredibly difficult to focus on anything with the ring on her finger. Every time it caught her eye, her stomach flipped and she couldn’t help but smile. Somehow she made it to the end of the day but she still had faculty meetings until early evening. After they had finally finished, she packed up and drove home, trying to call Jim but catching his voicemail. He hadn’t returned for his afternoon classes either, so she was hoping he was feeling alright because she definitely needed to see him.
As she pulled up to her house, she saw his car parked on the street out front and a giant smile spread on her face. She quickly parked and ran inside to find that Jim was standing in the doorway as she entered. He flashed her his famous half-smile.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
She jumped into his arms and he hugged her tightly, one hand grasping at the back of her hair as he turned his head against hers and whispered, “I can’t wait to marry you, Beesly”. Then he took her hand, moving the ring around with his thumb, and led her into her living room.
She audibly gasped as she saw what he had done. Seemingly every blanket and pillow in her house had been strategically piled on the floor and there were candles and a bottle of champagne. Her gas fireplace was burning bright and faintly in the background she could hear “The Luckiest” playing.
He slid down to the floor with his back against the couch and pulled her down to sit in front of him with her back against his chest. She leaned back, sighing happily as his hands ran down the length of her arms and he placed a delicate kiss on top of her shoulder.
“I thought we could celebrate a little,” he said softly.
She closed her eyes as his lips moved to the side of her neck. “Mmm...celebrate what?”
“No cavities,” he hummed against her skin.
She chuckled and reached up behind her to run a hand through his hair. Then Jim leaned over and grabbed the champagne and flutes next to them, handing one to Pam. He popped the top and poured a glass for both of them and then raised his slightly.
“To no cavities.”
“To no cavities,” she smiled.
He shifted so he could see her eyes. “And to making me the absolute happiest idiot this world has ever seen. I love you so much, Pam.”
She kissed him gently with a smile. “I love you too.”
They clinked their glasses and took a sip simultaneously and Pam leaned back against him, watching the fire give the room a soft glow that mimicked how she had been feeling inside all day. The rest of the night was spent in their own little word, sharing their very favorite parts of their relationship with one another, whether they included clothing or not.
But soon morning came. And unfortunately for them, it was still a school day. Jim stirred as Pam’s alarm clock chimed and he pulled her closer to him. He kissed her between her shoulder blades and she could feel his smile against her skin.
“Good morning, my beautiful fiancée.”
She closed her eyes and beamed. She wouldn’t have been surprised if she had a stupid grin on her face the entire night, even in her sleep. Somehow it all felt surreal but also like this is how it was always meant to be, written in gold ink in the books of time.
Life had to continue that day as normal, as much as she would have loved to stay suspended in the clouds of engagement bliss. There were projects to grade and lessons to plan, as always. But now she did those things with a ring in her finger.
She would catch herself staring at the ring as she typed or sketched, marveling at how it perfectly caught the sunlight streaming through her classroom window and cascaded tiny spots all over her desk. It was a reminder of the man across the hall who, all those months ago, had welcomed her to this little school of theirs. Who pranked her and gave her books. Who danced with her and stuck up for her. Who made her realize her ability and gave her confidence.
This particular time as she caught sight of her ring, she glanced across the hallway where she saw him standing in the back of his classroom, book in his hand, intently discussing it with his students. He must have felt her gaze because he looked up at her briefly and smiled mid-sentence, her knees going weak.
The thing about Jim is that he had a habit of spewing off random quotes from his favorite authors when they were together or when he came across them the book he was reading. For the most part, they never stayed with her. But one quote in particular had seemed to stick and it ran through her brain on a loop every time she saw his green eyes meet hers.
“To get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” Mark Twain
In her life, she had always assumed she was happy. That was, until a tall, handsome English teacher walked out of the faculty lounge and into her life and she now realized she had never known true joy until she had found him. And she wanted nothing more than to divide that joy with him forever.
Author's Chapter Notes:
It makes me a little sad to begin wrapping this one up. But I hope you enjoy this second-to-last installment of fluff and rainbows. Switching things up this time and having this one be Pam’s POV.
Chapter End Notes:
One more to go. *sniff*
Thank you ALL so, so much for reading and reviewing and sticking with me as I play on the playground that is writing English Jim. I’ve been blown away by the kind words and encouragement and you are all amazing. Thank you.
Thank you ALL so, so much for reading and reviewing and sticking with me as I play on the playground that is writing English Jim. I’ve been blown away by the kind words and encouragement and you are all amazing. Thank you.
