AN: This is the last chapter of day five. RL is going to be crazy for a while, so I'm putting this story on hiatus until January. Thanks so much for reading! Please feel free to review, good, bad, ugly, always love hearing from you guys. Enjoy!


Michael, Phyllis, Oscar, Angela, Kelly, Ryan and I stood in a circle near the pavilion where the disco party was about to start. I had gathered everyone around to let the know what really went down between us and Charles and to tell them that despite losing a director, twice, we were going to let this party be the best that it could.

"Wow, I can't believe you took him on," Oscar said impressed. "I mean, that guy was a piece of work. I think I might have been next to quit if I had to endure much more of him."

"Well, thankfully, we don't have to anymore," I assured him. "I guess everything is back to normal now. Or, well, normal as things ever get around here."

"Well, I think it's a shame that he left," Angela commented. "I have never known this museum staff to be so…disciplined," she played with the cross around her neck. "But, whatever Pam, I suppose this museum always catered to your wants anyway."

"What?" I asked not sure what she was getting at.

Oscar touched my arm lightly. "Just ignore her."

"It's a shame that there are no more hot guys that work at the museum," Kelly said.

"Hey, what about me?" Ryan said, looking rather offended. "I quit my job so that I could get rid of Charles to show you that I was the better man and this is how you repay me?"

Kelly clung to his arm. "Oh, come on Ryan, you know I'll totally love you more than anyone else as long as I'll live."

Ryan looked sick.

Michael looked almost offended that he hadn't been addressed. "You know, Pam isn't the only one who helped out. I did too."

"Good job, Michael," Oscar complimented.

"Yeah, good job," Kelly agreed.

Michael smiled proudly.

"Hey, Pam," Phyllis started. "Do you think there's enough time to go home and change? It is Friday after all."

"Of course, Phyllis," I said. "Everyone be back in about a half hour, and then we'll get this thing started." The meeting was adjourned and everyone broke off into different directions.

I went to where Jim was waiting for me, sitting at one of the chess tables, playing a casual game of chess with the homeless guy who lived in the park.

"Hey," I said, watching Jim move his rook forward a few spots. "I think I'm done for the evening, with the exception of getting the disco party started."

Jim looked up and grinned before pulling me on to his lap. "Are you telling me you'd like to skip out on tonight's festivities?"

I let out a laugh. "Well, unless you want to stay."

"I want whatever you want," he said pulling my chin down for a kiss.

"Hey, Jimmy boy, you're move," the homeless man snarled.

Jim looked up at me with a grin. "You remember Creed, right?"

I nodded. The last time I had seen Creed, a few days before, he had been completely in the nude. "Some people you can never forget."

Jim laughed as he turned his attention back to the chessboard and without giving it too much thought captured a pawn with his bishop.

"Thank you," I said, caressing his cheek. "For everything, for helping get rid of Charles, for being so patient with my parents, for dealing with me even though this day has been, just, a nightmare."

"You know that's what boyfriends are for, right?" he asked with a smirk.

I nodded before leaning down to kiss him again. This kiss lingered, quickly growing in intensity as we sunk into it.

"You're move, kid," I heard Creed say but I was too busy focusing on Jim's tongue in my mouth. It wasn't until we heard Creed omit an eerie, evil laugh that we broke apart.

I blushed, feeling embarrassed that we had just made out in front of Creed, but I think Creed was too busy looking at the chessboard to even have noticed. Jim took only a quick look at the board before moving a pawn forward then looked back at me as if he wanted to resume where we left off. But before we could do anything, Creed began speaking again.

"So, Jimmy," Creed started, his eyes remaining fixed on the board. "There's this guy down at my soup kitchen, pours me some great pea soup on Wednesdays. He's about your age. I think I should set you guys up."

"Um…what?" Jim asked astounded. I let out a laugh.

Creed continued to babble. "He's got blue hair. I hope that's okay. And a tongue ring. You know what they say about guys with tongue rings."

Jim's jaw dropped a little. "I have a girlfriend. And I am not gay."

"Oh," Creed said with a shrug. "I thought you were."

"Um, nope."

"Didn't you used to be Hispanic?" Creed asked.

"Yes, in my previous life," Jim replied sarcastically. "But in this one I've stayed mostly white."

"Damn, the drugs are wearing off again," Creed said as he moved a pawn forward. "And that's checkmate." Creed finally looked up. "Oh, hey Ms. Beesly, when did you get here?"

Jim and I looked at each other before we burst out laughing.


Jim and I approached the pavilion hand in hand. The disco party had started, Michael's disco ball hanging from the ceiling of the pavilion, twirling brightly as the music started to play. After everything that happened that day, I couldn't believe the turnout we were having. I squeezed Jim's hand excitedly.

"So, what would you like to do?" he asked as we came to the edge of the cement flooring. "Stay or go?"

"I think we can stay for a couple of songs," I said watching how much fun everyone was having. Jim looked at me lovingly and I got the sense that whatever my decision, he'd be happy to follow. "But the night's still young," I added sweetly. "Plenty of time for us to have alone time."

"I'd definitely like some alone time," Jim whispered into my ear before giving me a gentle kiss on the cheek.

I blushed slightly and contemplated on leaving right then but I knew that I had to make my rounds. I pulled Jim into the crowd and onto the dance floor, the two of us laughing as we became surrounded by the community dancing away to disco music.

"Hey, isn't that your photographer?" I asked, pointing to the front of the stage where the DJ booth was set up.

"Darryl, yeah," he replied. "And I think he's hanging with the drummer from that band a couple of nights ago. What were they called? Scrantonicity?"

I laughed. "Yeah, Kevin I think. Thank god they aren't actually playing."

"It's not like they couldn't have played tonight," Jim joked. "I mean they were fluent with their Police repertoire."

I've always been self-conscious about my dancing, but the fact that Jim was just as dorky of a dancer made me feel less so.

After one song, Jim stopped dancing, his eyes fixated on something behind me. "What is it?" I asked.

"Uh, I need to take care of something," he responded. I turned around to see that he was looking at Karen and her new boyfriend. Unsure of what Jim felt he needed to take care of, I followed him to greet Karen.

Karen seemed a little shocked that Jim had come to her and even more so when he asked to talk to her privately. Jim took her out to the edge of the pavilion, leaving me to stand alone with Karen's boyfriend.

"So," I started trying to negate the awkwardness. "Dan, right?"

He nodded, though he was clearly watching Karen and Jim. "Yeah…"

"I'm Pam," I said. "So, Karen tells me you guys met at a bar." Dan made no response. "And that you're a dermatologist," I continued.

He nodded and finally turned his attention towards me. "Yeah, wait, how do you know Karen?"

"Oh, I-" I'm dating your girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, I thought. "Oh, just a friend," I muttered as I realized sometimes it's better to say nothing at all.

We both watched as Jim talked with Karen. Karen was nodding her head with little expression on her face. Jim's back was turned to me, so I couldn't tell what he was saying. Finally, they gave each other a hug and when returned to us, they were both smiling.

Karen went back to Dan and Jim took my hand, leading me off the pavilion and next to one of the pillars.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

Jim grinned and bent down to pick one of the dandelions that grew next to the pillar. He gently put it in my hair, tucking it next to my ear. "You look beautiful," he said.

"Thank you," I replied.

Jim let out a heavy breath. "I needed to apologize to Karen," he admitted. He grabbed on to my hands. "Because in order to move forward with you and believe me I want to, I needed to be done with some of that baggage, you know?"

I nodded, my hands trembling in his a little at the thought of what his definition of moving forward was.

"Oh, Jim," I pulled him in for a kiss.

When we pulled a part, I tugged at his hand, signifying that we may be done with the festival for the night. But before we could go anywhere, we were stopped Oscar approached us, another man at his side..

"Hey, Pam," he said, absolutely giddy.

"Hey, Oscar," I replied. "Who's this?"

"This is Matt," Oscar said, positively glowing. Matt gave us a friendly wave. "He works for one of the galleries downtown, the one we just got the new exhibit from. We met a few days ago and, yeah, just hit it off. Right?"

"Yeah," Matt agreed looking just as glowing. "Nice to meet you guys."

I was happy for Oscar as the two of them made their way onto the dance floor. Oscar didn't seem like he had many good things go his way, so it was nice to see him with good company and enjoying himself.

"Oh, my god," Jim said suddenly. He was staring out into the crowd, but at what I couldn't tell. "It's Stanley."

"Who's Stanley?" I asked. He pointed to a middle-aged black man dancing in the middle of the crowd.

"That would be Stanley, one of our reporters," Jim explained. "But that is not his wife," he said referring to the lady with wild hair.

"Wow, that's crazy," I replied.

"Yeah, crazy night," he repeated.

Just as we were headed out again I noticed three men coming down the path. One was an odd looking man with glasses; the other was a strange looking man with a distinct chin beard, the third I recognized immediately as Jim's coworker Dwight. Jim's jaw dropped a little.

"Dwight, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked as the men approached us. "You're supposed to be in Canada."

Dwight gave Jim a disgusted look. "The game got rained out, dumb ass," he snarled. "So, Josh said I didn't have to go."

"That still doesn't explain what you're doing here," Jim said, clearly annoyed by Dwight's presence.

"What?" Dwight said mockingly. "Can't I just come and enjoy an art festival with my best friend Rolf and my cousin Mose?"

"I'm cousin Mose," Mose said abruptly.

"Mose, quiet," Dwight snapped. "I let you out one night a year, if you talk again we will not go paintballing."

"But-" Mose started.

"I said quiet!"

As Dwight yelled at a whimpering Mose, Angela came up, red faced and angry. "Pam? Who picked this music? It's the music of the devil. Why am I forced to stay and listen to it?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on Angela. Can't you get over it for one night?"

I was prepared for a snarky remark from Angela but instead she had caught Dwight's eye and the two of them were intensely staring at each other. "Oh, Dwight," Angela cooed.

"Hello, Angela," Dwight said, picking up her hand to kiss it. "So lovely to see you again."

"And you," Angela replied politely. "I expected you earlier today but was disappointed that you didn't show up."

"I wanted to be here," Dwight said. "But I was caught up at work."

"Well, you're here now," a smile twitched at Angela's lips.

"Would you like to join us for paintball this evening?" Dwight asked.

"I've never paintballed," Angela replied.

"Well, I can teach you," Dwight said with a twisted grin. "I'll let you have my gun."

Angela looked more excited than I had thought she would. "I would very much like to hold your gun."

"Oh, god," I shuddered. Jim looked as though he were going to be ill. "Let's just be glad Andy isn't still here and we don't have to be a part of a duel," I told him.

Jim scanned the crowd. "Actually, Andy is here, but I don't believe we have to worry much about him."

A circle had formed on the dance floor around Andy, who was now break dancing. Jim and I watched for a minute or so, both amused at what we were seeing. As soon as Andy's solo had finished, Kelly came into the circle, looking competitive, and began to dance sensually with a chair. Andy, taking it as a challenge, jumped in again and began to break dance around her. Ryan, who was standing just to the side, egged them both on and after about a minute, Kelly pulled him into the circle, where she began to dance around him like a stripper would around a pole. The crowd clapped to the beat, encouraging all three of them to dance even more.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the ridiculous sight. "This is so cheesy," I commented.

"It is very cheesy," he commented, placing an arm around my shoulders. "But you know, cheesy isn't so bad."

I wrapped my arms around his waist. "No, not bad at all."

"So, you going to go out there and join them?" He nodded towards the circle.

"No."

"Come on, Pam, it'd be fun."

"For you, maybe."

Jim chuckled.

The next person in the circle, surprisingly, was Phyllis. She seemed to be having a lot of fun as she stood in one spot, swinging her arms up and down and bopping her head. She must have swung too hard at one point because she let out a yelp and then began crying about her back. Jim and I jumped in to help her off the pavilion and took her over to the bar so she could get some ice on her back while we waited for Bob Vance to return from the bathroom.

"It's an old back injury," Phyllis explained as she leaned against the chair, trapping the icepack between her and the back of the chair. "Bob will just give me a massage when we get home and all should be fine."

I leaned against the bar as we waited, facing Jim, who was trying to help Phyllis adjust her ice pack. Behind me two men, who were obviously drunk, were talking with the redheaded bartender named Meredith.

"Come on honey, just give us one more drink," the tall one, with slicked back black hair cooed. "We ain't that drunk."

Meredith looked unfazed by them. "Technically, ten is my limit. But if you've got something you can give me, I'd be willing to bargain with you."

The short one with a goatee took this as an opportunity. "That depends on what you have to offer."

"Okay," Meredith said with a shrug, and without another thought, she lifted her shirt to flash the two guys. They stared at her in awe for a moment.

"Ew," I cried. Jim gave me a wide-eyed stare as Meredith continued to leave her shirt up for the guys to examine her.

"Fine," Meredith finally said, thankfully becoming clothed again. "You don't like what you see, then no more drinks."

The two guys began to argue with each other, each one goading the other to take Meredith so they could get another drink. Pretty quickly, they began to shove each other, each taking a turn stating 'you do it'. After a minute, the guy with the goatee shoved the tall guy into my back, causing me to stumble forward into Jim. Jim instantly tried to help me balance myself, though his hand landed squarely, and unexpectedly, on my breast. Before he realized what he was doing, he pushed on it so I could straighten up.

"Dude, check this out," the tall guy said to his friend. "This guy's getting to second base over here."

"No way," the guy with the goatee said, peering around to get a look.

Jim immediately dropped his hands, looking embarrassed. "Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm good," I replied. I wasn't embarrassed that Jim had accidentally grabbed my breast and if we weren't in public I would have encouraged him to do it again. I think it was a sign that it might have been time for us to go but just then Michael came running up.

"Pam, Pam, I don't think she's coming," Michael was overly upset.

"Who, Michael?" I asked, not really following his cries.

"Holly," he whined. "Holly said she'd come and—"

"Michael, we talked about this," I said a little tired of babysitting Michael for one day. "Holly said she needed her space."

"Yes, but she said she'd come," Michael continued. But before he could continue, I noticed a group of board members, David Wallace leading them, coming down the path. And following them, just a few steps behind was Holly. The minute she spotted Michael her whole face lit up. "She came," Michael said, tears in his eyes.

"Go to her," I said, nudging him forward. Seeing Michael look so happy warmed my heart.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice squeaking. I nodded. "Okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to talk to her."

I watched as he approached her and unlike the last time I saw the two of them interact, they both looked happy and were soon laughing with each other. I smiled, watching the scene fondly.

"I think it's time for us to go," Jim whispered in my ear.

My attention was now back on Jim. Solely on Jim. I was ready to leave this party behind and willingly to let him take my hand and guide me out into the darkness towards the parking lot. The lights and the laughter were becoming faint and I was grateful that it was the end of the day, no longer about parties or parents or festivals or work. It was now just about the two of us. And I was ready to follow Jim to wherever he wanted to take me.


For the first time that night, the sky was clear, the stars twinkled, and the moon glowed above us. My day might have been crappy but I didn't think I could have asked for a more perfect night. Jim was taking me back to his place. He didn't ask but he didn't have to. Truth was, it didn't matter where we ended up as long as we were together.

The car ride was quiet but unhurried. I watched Jim as he drove, his face contemplative, his eyes fixated on the road. For a moment, I wondered what he was thinking about but I didn't ask, lost in my own thoughts. I couldn't believe how lucky I felt to have found such an amazing man. And for the first time since we had met, I felt secure in his being there. If you had asked me about it this morning, I would have told you it felt surreal, that any moment I would wake up and be in the same boring life I had always been. But tonight, it felt real. Very real.

The conversation with Karen echoed in my mind. My relationship with Roy may have made me jaded for a long time but anything having to do with Roy felt so distant now, faded. The failure of my parent's marriage was still raw but that was my parents and I wasn't them. I was me. And Karen was right, I shouldn't set this relationship up to fail, I should set it up to succeed. As I watched Jim, I couldn't help but feel that this was it. This is where I was supposed to be and this was the man I was supposed to be with.

I reached out to grab Jim's hand. He squeezed it, then turned his head giving me a big, goofy grin. I laughed, comforted in the fact that my hand was securely in his and that I knew he was fully with me in this.

To be honest, I was still scared about my future. The amount of changes that had happened in the past few days, even the past twenty-four hours, was overwhelming. But I felt more confident known that someone was cheering for me, ready to catch me if I fell. If I did go to New York, everything would be fine and if I really did quit my job and had to find another one, everything would be fine. I could become an utter failure and Jim would look past that. The thought that he had my back, no matter what, was incredibly encouraging. It eased my nerves, feeling that I could really trust him. And I hoped that I could give back to him what he had given to me those past few days.

We finally arrived at Jim's house and briefly wondered if I should have asked him to swing by my place first, knowing that there was the possibility that I wouldn't be going home that night. But I chided myself at being presumptuous and decided to let the night take me where it wanted to. Jim led me up the path, my hand in his. On the porch, Jim bent down to give me a sweet kiss before searching for his keys to unlock the door. Once inside, a strange sense of familiarity swept over me, as if I knew that this house would one day be a home. As I set my purse down and slipped off my shoes, I knew that I would not be returning to my apartment that night.

Once settled in, Jim and I sat in his kitchen, listening to a light rock CD that played on the stereo in his living room, and splitting the last of the Tiramisu that he had bought a few days earlier. We chatted about life, swapping funny stories from our past. Jim was able to crack me up on more than one occasion with just his impressions alone. We stayed away from the heavy subjects, the future, work, parents, exes… Tonight wasn't about the loaded questions or introspective conversation. It was about living in the moment, about enjoying each other's company, about putting the troubles of the world aside for one night, so that we could just be us. And the more we laughed and talked with each other, the more relaxed I felt, all the issues I had dealt with in that one day seeming far away.

When dessert was finished, Jim took my plate from me, placing both empty plates in the sink. Then, smoothly, he took my hand and led me out into the living room to where the music was playing. Time for talk was over as the atmosphere switched to something else, something more intimate, something that words were not needed for.

We swayed to the soft beat of the music, Jim's hand lightly on my hip, my hand resting on his shoulder. Our free hands entwined, my palm was sweaty but I noticed his was as well. As the music continued, I placed my head on his chest, taking in his sweet scent, listening to the beat of his heart. Soon, he wrapped his arm around my waist and placed his head against mine. I felt the warmth of his body spread over me and I felt safe, comfortable, cared for. Loved. I nuzzled against him, letting my body flow with his, completely in tune with the rhythm of the music. There was nothing in the universe but the two of us, connected in the tiny bubble we had created for each other.

The CD stopped and we both stood there for a moment, clinging to each other, as if each of us were afraid to let the other go. Jim finally relaxed his grip but in doing so, brought one hand up to my chin and pulled me in for a kiss. It was a little awkward at first, my nerves getting the best of me, my heart racing as I realized that this kiss was leading somewhere. I could tell that he was nervous, too, his shaky hands running through my hair. I pulled back for a moment, gazing deeply into his eyes, to let him know that it was alright, that even though I was as unsure as he was, this was what I wanted. We began to kiss again, the more we sunk into the kiss, the more the fear melted away. Jim took my hand and never breaking apart, he began to lead me down the hall and slowly up the stairs. He was still hesitant, ready for me to reject his advances, but I pushed on, assuring him that I knew where this was headed and I was alright with that.

We reached the doorway of his bedroom, pausing only a moment to catch our breath. I looked up at him then and saw the desire in his eyes; the unquenchable, passionate lust that I knew was in me as well. But beyond that, I saw love. Pure, sweet, tender love. Love that I had never felt before. Love so overpowering that all I wanted to do was share it with him, let him know how strongly I felt. I wrapped my arms around his neck again, pulling him in for another deep, sensual kiss. I held on to him tightly, pressing myself against him, showing him how much I loved him with every fiber in my body. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me harder, letting me know that he knew how I felt and that he felt the same way. I melted into him like snow on warm grass and yet I still didn't feel close enough. His strong arms picked me up and my legs curled around him. He took me inside the bedroom and with one quick flick of his foot, closed the door.