Disclaimer: I don't own The Office or its characters.

AN: So I just got back from outta town and wanted to give yall a little present! It's a little longer chapter too. This chapter begins the final climax of the story, so things will be getting exciting.....now without further ado....

Ch. 9

"Pam? Paaaam? Are you still in bed sleepyhead?" Cindy's voice carried through the closed door, stirring Jim from his pleasant slumber. He tried to sit up only to be stopped by a warm body. Forgetting where he was for a moment, he was relieved to see a mess of brown curls splayed across his chest and a dainty arm thrown across his waist.

Remembering the events of last night brought a bright smile to his face. Kissing Pam. Over and over and over. Definitely the best night of his life.

He was tenderly running his hand through her hair, being careful not to wake her, when he was startled by someone knocking on the bedroom door. He had completely forgotten about Cindy.

Oh man, if she sees us like this, we'll never hear the end of it.

Jim tried to move again, only to be once again prevented by Pam. He knew it was only a matter of time before Cindy just came into the room anyways.

"Pam," Jim whispered, giving her a gentle prod on the shoulder. "Pam, wake up."

Pam slowly lifted her head, looking around with sleepy eyes.

When her gaze landed on Jim, and her present position on his chest, she blushed endearingly.

"Good morning beautiful."

Pam smiled back, before blushing even more, probably recalling last night's makeout session.

"Pam, I hate to rush you, but Cindy's right outside the door and if we don't—"

"Oh my gosh!"

Jim and Pam both looked over toward the door, only to see a red-faced Cindy frozen in the doorway, one hand clapped over her mouth.

"Uhh, morning Cindy," Jim said sheepishly, knowing exactly what this looked like.

Pam groaned before hiding her face in his chest.

No one said a word for a moment, before Cindy suddenly got her wits about her and pivoted to dash from the room, flinging the door shut behind her while shouting her apologies all the way down the hall.

"Is she gone?" Pam asked, her voice muffled from Jim's chest.

Jim couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, she's gone."

Pam rolled off of him so she was lying beside him on her back.

"I'm so embarrassed."

"We have nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, I'm the one she's going to give hell to later on anyways," Jim grimaced, recalling Cindy's wrath from past holidays and visits.

Pam shot up quickly and turned to him, shocked. "Why would she do that?"

Jim shifted so he was sitting up against the headboard. "Well, since Cindy's deemed you her new best friend, she'll give me the 'big brother' talk." When Pam's expression still did not show that she got his meaning, he continued. "You know, the whole 'what are your intentions, if you ever hurt her I'll hurt you,' that whole thing. She's quite protective of her friends and family."

Pam couldn't help but giggle at the thought of petite Cindy threatening anyone, much less Jim.

"You don't believe me? Trust me, she can be terrifying when she wants to be. I know from experience."

Before Pam could reply, they were once again interrupted by Cindy's voice through the door.

"Jim, I want to talk to you."

Jim rolled his eyes before throwing the covers off his body and getting up from the bed.

"She did sound serious," Pam said, sounding surprised.

"I told ya." Leaning over he gave her a quick kiss. "Why don't you go ahead and shower while I go be lectured. Then, I'm sure Cindy's going to hoard you all day."

"Well if that's the case, I should send you off with a parting gift." Rising to her knees on the bed, she threw her arms around Jim's neck, pulling him towards her before sharing a fierce kiss that rivaled those of last nights.

"That should keep you going for awhile," Pam whispered.

Jim's arms slid around Pam's waist. "I dunno, I might need one more just to get me through Cindy's speech alone."

"That could be arranged," Pam purred as she tilted her head toward Jim.

"Jim! Get your hands off Pam and come out here this instant! Don't make me come in there and get you!" Cindy's voice interrupted once again,

Jim sighed. "She really will come in here again."

"Oh. Well in that case, good luck!" Pam tossed him a saucy grin over her shoulder as she headed for the bathroom.

"Not fair at all," Jim grumbled as he dragged his feet towards his over-the-top sister-in-law.

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"How bad was it?" Pam asked as Jim returned to the room just as she stepped from the bathroom, ready to go.

"I've been banished from the house for a while."

"What?" Pam could barely get the word out through her laughter.

"You heard me. She's kicking me out. She gave me a list of errands, and a grocery list a mile long and ordered—that's right ordered—me to not return until it's completed."

By this point Pam was propped against the wall, trying to hold herself up while she giggled.

"Laugh it up chuckles. But if you really want to know, I'm pretty sure she's kicking me out so she can get the juicy bits out of you." Jim finished with a grin.

Pam's laughter stopped instantly, replaced with a look of horror.

"That's what I thought." Jim looked smug as he pulled on his shoes.

"You can't leave me here Jim!"

"Uh-huh, Sergeant Cindy's orders," he chuckled as he moved across the room to place a kiss on Pam's forehead before heading out the door.

"Good luck!"

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Pam peeked into the living room and glanced around. No Cindy in sight. After the embarrassing scene this morning, Pam was more than happy to put off the conversation she knew was coming for as long as possible.

Quietly entering the room, she settled down in the tall, wingback chair on the far side.

Perfect. She won't even be able to see me sitting here if she comes from the kitchen or the hallway.

Picking up the random book laying on the table, she silently began thumbing through it, vaguely wondering where Cindy could be. The house had been oddly quiet since she had shooed Jim out the door 15 minutes ago, a feat Pam realized must be difficult for Cindy, who was the kind of person that never seemed to slow down. Ever.

Pam flipped the book over to the back flap to read about the author. She was halfway through the paragraph when she had the eerie feeling of being watched. She looked towards the large window on the front wall of the house. Setting the book down, she rose and crossed to it, pulling the lace curtains all the way aside to peer out both directions.

There wasn't a soul in sight.

Sighing in relief, she shook her head at her silliness. There was no way he would be able to find her here. She was just being paranoid.

Spinning around to head back to her seat, she jumped back at seeing the figure standing in the middle of the room.

"Hi Pam!" Cindy chirped, holding a tray in her hands with tea and cookies.

"Gosh Cindy, you scared me! You sure are sneaky!"

Cindy shrugged before grinning. "When I want to be."

She set the tray on the coffee table, before plopping down on the sofa.

"Have a seat Pam," she said, patting the space next to her.

Pam hesitated before sitting down where she had indicated. There was no getting out of this now.

Cindy got the tea ready, and when they both had cups and cookies in hand, she simple sat, smiling at Pam.

Is she waiting for me to start this conversation?

"Um…delicious cookies Cindy. I really need to get this recipe from you."

Silence.

"And the tea! What flavor is it?"

More silence.

Sighing loudly, Pam set everything on the table. "Okay fine. Jim and me—"

"Oh thank goodness! I thought I was going to die waiting for you to say something! I was going to try really hard to let you only talk about it if you wanted to, but then I couldn't think of anything but that! There I go again, prattling off. Okay, so tell me everything!" She ended with a squeal.

"Well you know we've been best friends for a long time. He's always been there for me, no matter what. I don't know how much he told you about…well, about Roy, my ex…." She trailed off, looking to see how much Cindy knew of her circumstances.

Cindy leaned over to cover Pam's hand in comfort. "He just told us it was a bad situation and that you needed a place to stay for a while."

Taking a deep breath, Pam decided it was only fair to tell her the whole truth. Looking at her lap, Pam softly spoke of her relationship with Roy, the abuse, Jim finding out about it, the police not being able to locate Roy—the entire story up until they had arrived at Cindy's house.

When Pam finished, her vision blurry with tears, she slowly raised her gaze to see Cindy's reaction.

Tears spilled down Cindy's cheeks as she covered her mouth with a hand in shock. She reached out and cupped Pam's cheek, before pulling her into a fiercely tight hug. Pam let the tears fall then, and both women cried, offering and seeking comfort from one other.

No one spoke for several minutes.

Finally, Cindy pulled away, wiping the last of the tears from her cheeks.

"Thank you so telling me," she whispered. "You are the strongest person I know. To live through that and still come out smiling," she paused, before continuing in a surprisingly steely voice. "And when they catch that bastard, they better let me have a go at him because I have a thing or two to show him about hurting my best friend."

Pam smiled her thanks, before drying her tears and continuing.

"And I think, even though I was with him, I realize now that a part of me always loved Jim. And as things grew worse with Roy, that part continued to grow. And now, now I know with all my heart that I love him, and that he's the one I want to share my life with, and to grow old with. He's everything to me."

Cindy's smile was brilliant. "Oh Pam, I'm so happy for you two! And I know that boy loves you more than anything in the world. He'd do anything for you. I'm so happy you finally found each other."

"Me too." Pam shared a smile with Cindy, before a knock at the door interrupted the moment.

Cindy frowned, wondering who could be at the door seeing as she wasn't expecting anyone. And it was far too early for Jim to be back yet.

"Excuse me for a second," she said, standing and crossing the room. "It's probably some sales person."

Pam nodded, before picking up her cup of tea, taking a long sip and sighing in relief. It felt good to get everything out in the open with Cindy.

Cindy swung the door open to reveal a dark-haired man in his thirties on the other side. He had a red baseball cap pulled down low, casting a shadow over his face. Something about this man made Cindy feel uncomfortable, although she wasn't sure what it was.

"Can I help you?" She asked, noticing that unlike most salesmen, he wasn't holding a clipboard or anything. There wasn't even a company logo printed anywhere on his clothing.

"Yes, is Mr. Halpert in?" He asked in a low, rough voice.

"Um, no he's not. I'm his wife though, if I can help or if you need to leave a message or something."

The man flashed a sinister grin before stepping even closer to the door. Cindy was able to pick up the stench of alcohol on his breath and leaned back in disgust.

His gaze turned to look at something over Cindy's shoulder, and she glanced back to see Pam standing behind her, probably curious as to who was at the door. But what made her do a double take was Pam's reaction. She was completely frozen in place, the teacup gripped tightly in her right hand. But it was her eyes that shocked Cindy. They were wide with fear and horror.

And in those few seconds, Cindy knew exactly who this man was.

She spun around and tried to shut the door, pushing all of her weight against it.

But it wasn't enough.

The man pushed his way inside, forcing Cindy to stumble back, before he slammed it shut behind him and slid the bolts in place.

The two women could only watch him in horror, neither moving.

"Yes, I believe there is something you can help me with," he said as he shifted his gaze to Pam. "You have something that belongs to me."

The teacup slipped from Pam's hands and shattered to the floor.

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Thanks so much for reading! I hope yall liked it--I enjoyed writing it! And I hate it when authors beg for reviews, but I didn't get even one comment for the last chapter and that really is the only way to get feedback from yall on what we write, so if you have a chance, it'd be great if you could leave just a little something about what you think. Thanks so much, and have a wonderful day!

Until next time,

Western