Jim and Pam! My one true OTP! This was so much fun.
This little oneshot takes place in season 2, basically an AU of the Dundies episode and how it could have gone a little differently! Pretty much just me playing around with drunk Pam who I have go through my usual drunk stages of excited, emotional, and sleepy. Cuteness ensues! AU because I kind of incorporate some stuff from Email Surveillance, Casino Night, and a few quotes from other episodes in there. So it messes with the timeline and stuff a bit!
Regular text is "real time" and italics are the flashback! The story is mostly from Jim's POV.
It has been a LONG time since I've done this, but I just couldn't control the urge to write! No beta, so all mistakes are mine! Enjoy and leave reviews!
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It was just past 2:00PM on a Monday, and the already slow work day was beginning to drag more than usual for Jim Halpert. He hadn't quite been able to focus on the menial tasks of the day – not that that was unusual for him.
He glanced up at reception. No Pam. He sighed and continued to bite on the end of the pen he had been chewing for the past half an hour. A little while ago, a pissed off looking Roy had come in, stared at Pam wordlessly until she got up and walked out to the hallway with him, seemingly avoiding Jim's gaze the entire way. She hasn't been back since. The cameras went to the window, hoping to get some footage of the couple outside, but Jim stayed seated, not wanting to intrude on her privacy.
"There are literally millions of germs on that pen," Dwight blurted, snapping Jim out of his daze. He didn't even have the focus to respond with something clever as his mind wandered back to the events of the weekend that had endlessly been plaguing his thoughts.
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Jim was walking Pam through the parking lot of the Chili's she had just been banned from. "Can I ask you something?" a swaying, very drunk Pam sputtered out. "Shoot," Jim replied much more coolly than he actually felt. He paused, giving her a moment to gather her thoughts. "I don't wanna go home."
Jim hesitated, but managed to joke, "Not really a question," an uncomfortable laugh accompanying the tension that was building between them. He put a hand on the small of her back to steer her towards the car waiting for her, with an impatient Angela at the wheel. "Okay, let's get you home, you're drunk—"
"No!" Pam insisted. But before Jim could counter, she continued, "If I get in that car, I have to go home, and," tears sprung into her eyes as she stuttered, "a-and…Roy, and…I just don't want to." By the end, she was mostly mumbling, but the emotion behind it was unmistakable. Jim reached out to gently grasp her forearm. "Pam…no Pam, it's okay. What can I do?" He tried to look into her eyes, but she cast them downwards. "I don't know…" she responded.
Jim sighed. He had never seen her like this. As drunkenness can sometimes go, the perky, overly excited Pam who had been yelling about "the best Dundies ever," had emotionally flip-flopped. Jim had occasionally witnessed Roy not treat Pam in the kindest way, and something told him Roy leaving without her at the beginning of the night probably wasn't a good sign for what would come later that night, especially if he had been drinking as well.
"Well, it's only 11:00. Do you want to go somewhere with me, sober up a bit, and then I'll take you home?" Before she could respond, Angela honked her horn, causing an already anxious Pam to jump. Jim reacted instantly catching her by the forearms and steadying her. "Damnit Angela..." he muttered under his breath. Pam looked up at him, eyes wide, and for a moment, he got lost in them. "Please…don't send me with Angela."
Jim knew that Pam had been drinking…a lot. He was reminded of that fact by the tingle he still felt on his lips where hers had touched them in a moment of drunken excitement. But that didn't stop him from leaning down to say into the car window, "Thanks Angela, but I think she needs some time. I'll make sure she gets home okay." Angela rolled her eyes disapprovingly, and drove away without a word.
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Jim's head snapped up at the squeak of the office door opening. Pam walked in the door and around to her desk chair, still avoiding Jim's eyes as they followed her the whole way. He couldn't hide the confusion or curiosity from his face.
As Pam lifted her eyes from her keyboard they met Jim's. At the sight of his serious expression, her gaze softened into a small smile of reassurance. Jim wasn't sure yet what this meant, but it put him at ease enough to stop staring at her. He noticed the cameras focused on him, and tried to busy himself with something else. He looked at the clock – it was nearly 3:30. Had he really been zoned out for that long? What had she been doing with Roy all that time? Choosing to ignore the questions rising in his mind, Jim tried to focus on finishing up some of the expense reports sitting in front of him.
He scanned the rest of the office. Everyone seemed fairly quiet. Michael took a half day. The Dundies weekend took so much planning and effort, it left him too mentally exhausted for a full day of work. Normally he would be thankful for a quiet day like this, but today Jim was desperate for a distraction. The one thing he couldn't push away was the fact that he knew needed to talk to Pam. They had a lot to talk about.
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Jim wasn't exactly sure where they were going, but Pam seemed to calm down now that she wasn't heading to her and Roy's apartment. After a solid ten minutes of silence, Jim glanced over at Pam in the passenger seat. She seemed to be sobering up, at least a little bit, and her eyelids looked like they were getting heavy. "Alright Beesly, where exactly are we going here?" Jim asked lightheartedly, but when he got no response, he glanced over again. Her eyes had closed, and it didn't seem like she had heard him.
"Shit," muttered Jim, silently wondering what he was going to do next. Not having another plan of action, Jim made a left turn at the next light and headed in the direction of his apartment. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened between Pam and Roy earlier in the night to make him leave. He knew they had had fights before, but as far as he knew, Pam had always gone home to him. He rationalized that it was probably just because she was drunk. And why had she kissed him? It's possible that she won't remember that tomorrow, but he knows he'll never be able to forget it.
After he pulled into his usual parking spot, he let out a breath, and looked at Pam. This was not exactly a situation he planned on being in tonight. He reached over and gently shook her arm…no response. "Pam…hey Pam," he whispered. She stirred and looked over at him with sleepy eyes. He couldn't help but smile at her - she looked so cute. "How about we go inside, I'll make you something to eat or some tea and we can just hang out for a bit?" Pam nodded her head in approval and moved to open her door.
Jim got out quickly so he could meet her on the other side of the car in case she needed help walking, but she seemed fairly steady on her own, the effects of the alcohol fading away. He desperately wanted to make small talk, but his mind was racing. A part of him was worried. He knew there was a fair chance Roy would kill him for this, despite his entirely innocent intentions. Another part of him didn't care at all.
They made their way to the door, but as Jim reached for the doorknob, Pam stopped him, speaking for the first time since before they had gotten in the car. "You don't have to do all of this. I've taken away enough of your night." Sleepy!Pam was gone, and Sad!Pam was back.
"Pam, listen, if you want me to take you home, of course I'll do that, but I promise you, you're not interrupting any sort of exciting plans or anything. I've got a hot date with my couch and my TV, but that's about it." She smiled. Jim beamed. He loved it when she smiled, and loved it even more when he was the one who put it there.
"Maybe I could hang out here for a while?" She asked, still timid. It was a bit of an awkward situation after all. Plenty of normal co-worker boundaries had already been crossed tonight. Jim knew this. He was pretty sure Pam knew this too. But she was still here, and that was all that mattered to him right now.
He grinned in response. "Pick a movie, Beesly. "
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*Bing Bing* Jim's computer dinged as an instant message popped up on the screen.
"Can u meet me in the break room in a few minutes?" It read.
He looked up at reception and was met with Pam's eyes, waiting for his response. "Sure. Everything ok?" He replied. Jim wanted to know what had just happened with Roy, but wasn't sure if it was really in his place to ask.
"Yeah, just wanted ur opinion on something!"
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He didn't look up, but he knew when she passed him to make her way towards the break room. He waited a moment, took a deep breath, and then got up to follow her.
A half hour or so had passed when Pam paused the movie and asked where the bathroom was. Jim directed her upstairs, to the left, and just past his bedroom. About twenty minutes passed before Jim started to get a little nervous and thought he should go check on her, hoping she hadn't gotten sick.
When he got up the stairs he could see the light on in his bedroom. He looked in and found Pam, who for a second looked a bit embarrassed that she was caught snooping, but then laughed, "I got side-tracked on my way back."
"I see that," he laughed with her. "Find anything interesting?"
"…This is your desk."
"This is my desk."
"Your home office?"
"My home office, this is it." Their banter came easily, and Jim was grinning.
"Down. You have to sit down so I can get the full effect," she mock ordered him.
"Okay, sure. Will do," he complied.
"Okay, wait, so that would make me," she walked across the room and sat down, "like right here."
"Yeah, that... Yep, that feels about right." Jim couldn't help but think all of this felt a little too right. Her being here, in his room, laughing and joking around – it was too perfect.
"And Dwight would be like –"
But Jim stopped her. "You know what? Let's just leave that image out of it, because this is a happy place. Happy thoughts, Pam. Happy thoughts."
"Umm," Pam started, until she spotted something and gasped, "yearbook!" She ran towards the book shelf to grab it.
"Yeah, you don't have to, ummm. Alright, yes, that's not gonna be awkward at all. " Jim only lightly protested, because really he was having too much fun.
"Oooohhh no!" she giggled when she found his high school photo.
"Oh yeah." There was no stopping it now, but he didn't mind her teasing, it was obviously light hearted.
"You were so dorky!" she continued to giggle.
"Thank you," he replied frankly, feigning slight offense.
The giggles subsided, but both people in the room were still smiling like fools. Jim loved moments like this, but this whole night was starting to turn into a blur, and before he could stop himself, the words came tumbling out. "Pam, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot," she mimicked from their earlier conversation.
He hadn't exactly thought this through, and was unsure of how direct he should be. "It just seemed like there was something more you were gonna say to me earlier when we were waiting for Angela…"
"Not really a question," Pam joked, again mimicking his response and trying to keep the tone light, but Jim's eyes were big and full of sincerity, so she continued, "I just stopped before I burdened you with any more of my problems."
"Pam, talking to you, no matter what it's about, is never a burden on me." There was so much more Jim wanted to say, but this was already getting too far too fast.
"But Jim, this isn't just like coming to your desk to complain about Michael…it's different." She trailed off and before she could continue, Jim cut in –
"It's not that different. I care about you Pam. And I know you well enough to know that something happened tonight that upset you, and I'd be willing to bet that something had to do with Roy." His voice was rising and he knew he needed to calm down when Pam looked away from him. He softened his tone before he continued, "I just…I can't stand watching him take for granted what he has."
When Pam finally looked back up at him, she had tears in her eyes, and the guilt hit Jim hard and fast. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her further when it was clear she was already having a rough time.
"Roy can be a real jerk when he drinks. And he left there pretty mad at me, so I'm sure he drank a lot…I just didn't want to deal with that tonight." She paused to gather her herself. She stood up and started pacing while she continued, "There have always been plenty of reasons for me to not marry Roy, but the truth is, I didn't care about any of those reasons until I met you."
Jim froze, and when he didn't respond, Pam stopped pacing to look at him. His eyes were big and full of questions, but nothing came out. Instead he stood up, and in two strides they were face to face. Without his usual hesitation, he kissed her. His hands settled on her hips, and he was surprised when he felt her hands on his shoulders, then moving to grab his face and hair, kissing him back. This was his shot, his only chance to really let her know how he feels. He did his best to pour every emotion into the kiss, silently praying that she would understand his silent communication.
When he finally pulled away, he couldn't help but smile. "You have no idea how long," he let out a breath, "I have wanted to do that."
"Me too." She replied. The response almost killed him. No matter what happens now, at least he knew he wasn't alone in feeling at least some kind of connection with Pam.
Their faces had separated, but Jim slid his hands from her hips, down her arms, and held onto her hands. "Pam, you are my best friend. I'm in love with you. And I'm really sorry if that's weird for you to hear but I needed you to…hear it."
The words had come tumbling out of Jim's mouth before he could stop himself. The relatively short silence that followed was painfully long. But Pam's eyes never left his.
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There was palpable tension in the room. Jim had to consciously control his eyes to keep them from fixating on her lips. He had hardly stopped thinking about kissing her since she left his place early Saturday morning. To keep himself occupied, Jim walked to the soda machine, taking his time to make a selection.
Pam started out with an apology for not calling him yesterday, which, Jim reassured her, was unnecessary. But the ball was in her court. Jim had laid everything on the line that night, and he was grateful she was even speaking to him at all.
"I broke up with Roy." The news came hard and fast. Jim choked a little in an effort to not spit soda all over Pam. She went into a deeper explanation of calling her mom to talk it out, telling Roy Saturday night, and her parents coming to help her move out on Sunday, but Jim was only half listening. His heart was pounding so hard he could hardly hear or comprehend anything else. Pam had left Roy. Jim told Pam he loved her, and she left Roy. Could this actually be happening?
A few minutes after Jim returned to his desk, the cameraman asked him to step into the conference room for a few quick questions. He sat down in the chair and clipped the mic onto the front of his shirt.
"Do I know what happened with Pam and Roy?" He repeated the question asked to him. "Uhh, we talked a little bit today. I think we'll go a little more in depth at dinner tonight." The grin plastered on his face was more telling than the words he spoke.
A few weeks later, when the cameramen shot Jim and Pam coming into work together, they smiled knowingly at one another. It was going to be a busy day for them when Michael finds out about this.
FIN.
thanks for reading!