Apologies for the lateness… Okay people, I am sorry about my idiot mistakes. Seriously, at the time, I thought they were correct. It was too early in the morning, but I mean COME ON I spelt Jim's last name wrong, his last goddamn name. Anyway, I know I should change the mistakes, but…well, I am a total lazy ass (I shall when I get away from everyone, but for now…no, just no). Thank you all for reading. Hope you like what I've got so far. Anyway, on with the story…

That morning Ryan woke up late, as he was too far away from his alarm clock to hear it. He changes his clothes and has a shower before leaving for work. The temptation to stay home is overwhelming; he isn't up for seeing Jim all day again; but at the same time he wants to go in for that exact reason too. Upon his late arrival, he is called into Michael's office. Walking in, he was slightly nervous: had someone told Michael about the kiss? Ryan shudders at the thought of confronting Michael about it. It's not even as if it were a mistake, or he could deny it, otherwise somehow Kelly would find out.

Michael indicates for the ex-temp to sit down. "I'm sorry I'm late-" Ryan begins, but is cut short by a wave of his employer's hand. "Ryan, I have decided that you have learnt your lesson already and-"

"You're sending me back to my desk?!" Ryan asks with a sense of disbelief. This means the one thing he could not stand would be right next to him: Jim. Michael looks slightly put down at not being able to finish his sentence, and so decides to dismiss him bluntly. "Yes, Ryan. You may go now." It is quite shocking that Michael has not yet made a big spectacle of Ryan. Ryan leaves the room and goes to his desk in the corner of the office. He then packs up his few things and takes them over to his original desk. Sitting down, he breathes a sigh of a mixture of relief and irritation. Of course he had to come back now, when his childish crush had just begun. Of course. It then occurred to him that Michael may have moved him back there after hearing about the kiss, and felt bad about keeping the 'lovers' apart.

Glancing over to Jim, he finds the other staring at him. After a few moments, Ryan asks, "What? Have I got something on my face?" Jim suddenly blinks and looks at Ryan innocently. "What was I doing?" He asks, completely unaware of his actions.

"You were… staring at me." Jim remains silent for a moment before laughing awkwardly. "So… uh… yeah… lots of work to do." Ryan mumbles, turning to his computer.

"Yeah, me too." Jim says. The tension between the two is clearly visible. "So… have you two had sex yet?" Dwight asks, mildly interested. Ryan swears his life could not get any more awkward. He couldn't quite define what was worse, the question, or the fact that it was Dwight that asked it. He turns to Dwight with a stoic expression. "No Dwight we have not had sex. Never. Will never. Okay?"

"Actually, there was that one time you came back to my place after some office party and we got pretty drunk. Don't you remember you saying you wouldn't be able to walk the next day?" Jim interjects with a grin, much to Ryan's dismay.

"What?! No! Nothing happened!" Ryan exclaims.

"I clearly remember you were begging me to ride you like a pony-"

"Shut the hell up!" Ryan yells, standing abruptly, so the notes on his lap fall to the floor. "It's not funny any more!" He then storms to the bathroom where he proceeds to pull his hair for a while, in a childishly angsty way. Meanwhile, Jim is more than slightly concerned by his colleague's reactions to things and turns to look at Pam, who shrugs her shoulders. She had decided that she couldn't show how terrible the whole thing made her feel so as not to expose her true feelings for Jim. "Do you two have fights like this often?" Dwight asks, writing something down in a notebook, before looking up at Jim attentively. "No, Dwight, we don't. Why do you care?" Jim asks in exasperation.

"I am compiling a set of notes on your relationship so I can show my findings to Michael." Jim stares at Dwight in disbelief. "You're not serious, right? Please tell me you're kidding.?"

"Oh Jim, you couldn't possibly think I would let something like this slip past the office romance net. Michael must be informed so that he can decide what to do with you two."

"No, you cannot do that. I repeat you cannot to that." Jim realises the strain on Ryan would be too much. Of all the idiots in the office, it had to be Dwight sitting there. "Oh yeah? And what will you do about it?" Dwight asks smugly. Jim thinks for a moment. Then, for no reason other than to make time for him to think he says, "I know your secret." He sees Dwight turn rigid, before saying stiffly. "I have no secrets." However he knew, that his brief display of shock at the remark, had given him away. Jim, of course, knew next to nothing of Dwight's secret, apart from slight speculation. Dwight didn't know this. It was now his turn to pause and think. He couldn't risk exposure, he simply couldn't.

"Fine. What are the terms?" he asks with pursed lips. Jim runs his fingers through his hair and sighs in relief, thank god it worked. "I wont tell if you wont." He mutters softly. Dwight nods before spitting into his hand and holding it to Jim. The other however, merely stares at it in horror and disgust. Dwight waves his hand in the air and hisses through gritted teeth, "This makes the deal binding. Hurry up." Jim feels a small shudder pass through him and instead says the words, "This is for Ryan" in his head like a mantra. He then spits on his hand and presses it to Dwight's own. The slick sensation of both their wet palms rubbing against one another turned Jim's stomach for some reason. Maybe because it was just because he hated spit, or that it was Dwight.

As soon as the handshake was broken, Jim stood and went to the bathroom to wash off the remnants of the agreement. Pushing open the door roughly with his clean hand, Jim makes his way instantly to the tap where he begins to clean his hands with some foul smelling hand-wash.

Ryan heard someone entering, and didn't know who it was, but he sure as hell knew who he didn't want it to be. He prayed with every fibre in his body not to be him. Ah, but of course, some otherworldly god decided that Ryan needed punishment for everything he had ever done, and that his punishment wasn't about to stop. The tap turned off, and Ryan could hear the steady thump of footsteps on tiling. With each footfall he shrank further away from the cubicle door. "Ryan?" Someone asks. If he hadn't an ounce of self-pride (which was now almost completely exhausted) he would have cried out in shock at the closeness of the voice. The temptation to feign non-existence however, was completely extinguished when Jim says, "Ryan, I know you're in there, the other cubicles are empty, and I know this is the only place you would go." How the heck did he even know that?

This whole ordeal had been constructed out of his own cowardice, and even now he was too much of a coward to confront Jim. "I'm alright, go back to work. I'll be out in a second." Jim remained still. "I'm not going till you come out." Ryan rolls his eyes and presses his back into the wall of the tiny cubicle. After taking a gulp, Jim mumbles, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know it was that bad." After a brief pause, Jim continues, "Oh, and by the way, Dwight wants to tell Michael that we're in a 'relationship'." Ryan chokes on the small breath he had just inhaled. "He… what?!" Ryan opens the door without a second's notice and walks straight into Jim. He grabs the older man's shoulders and begins to shake them slightly. "This is all going wrong! Why the hell did you have to suggest it in the first place?!" Ryan exhales deeply, letting go of his colleague's shoulders. "Fine, whatever. I just don't care now. I have to do some work. Is it to much to ask not to be disturbed, I would like to do something productive today. Jim nods with a concerned expression still stuck on his face. Ryan thanks him quietly and walks out. Jim leans against the sink counter with his face in his hands. Why the hell was this getting so difficult?

And now it is time for me to announce that I have NO inspiration. And thus you know I suck. I am so sorry that this chapter is so late, and that it's so totally angsty and emo… I don't really think this is particularly to anyone's tastes… and so I apologise. Yup, I am all too aware that the characters are OOC right now and that the storyline is going to hell. Sorry if this disappoints. (sorry for the apologies.) OO'