So this chapter is just a slice of Jim and Pam dialogue in the park. Enjoy.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Friday Afternoon

"I can't believe you convinced me to come outside." Pam looked around the park for familiar faces but they were alone but for an elderly woman walking her dog in the distance. She was certain it would be just their luck to be spotted by some busybody, even at two in the afternoon so deep in the park all they could see were trees.

"In all the years you've worked at Dunder Mifflin, how many times has anyone been sent to the park?"

"None. But would you really put it past Michael not to suddenly decide on an outing?"

"Probably not, but we're a half hour walk from the parking lot and Michael wouldn't walk thirty minutes for free food. He's also on crutches probably making Ryan wait on him hand and foot."

"Ha! That's probably the reason people think I'm not at work."

"I wouldn't be surprised if everyone called in today."

Jim laid out a blanket in the sun and patted the spot next to him. Pam didn't need much convincing and sat down next to him, legs outstretched. Their height difference seemed much more prominent as his feet reached beyond the edge of the blanket and into the lush blades of summer grass. They took off their shoes and socks so they were barefooted.

"Did you get hold of Penny?" Jim asked, Pam liked that he cared about how her sister was, she was yet to meet his troublesome brothers and their families.

"Yeah, she's at work, said it must have been food poisoning, I'll see her later to check on her."

"Did you find out anything about Is and Mark?"

"Just a smile." She said knowingly.

"Me too."

"Mark's not the kind to brag though. I'm not either by the way."

"I wouldn't have gone on a date with you if I thought you were. By the way, I totally am, I've already text Kelly, Is and Pen with your vital statistics and a mark out of ten."

Jim fingers made his wordless reply when he tickled at her ribs, sending her backwards so she was laying down giggling and joyfully yelling for mercy.

"Jim! I gave you a ten! I said you were masterful!" She exclaimed, grateful the old woman was well out of earshot.

"That's ok then." He relented and grinned, laying down beside her.

"You were more than a ten." She said warmly. She wanted to be completely heartfelt. "It was perfect because it was you and it was us. Ok, that probably doesn't make sense but-."

"It makes perfect sense." He kissed her cheek. "It was perfect." They lay in each other's company, listening to the breeze in the trees. "Tell me something I don't know about Pam Beesly."

"Uh... what like?"

"Just a fact or a story, something I don't already know about you."

"Interesting. Will you tell me something in return?"

"Sure."

"Ok. Let me think." She pondered for a moment, trying to think up something that he didn't already know and was marginally interesting at the same time. She also didn't want something that could bring Roy into the conversation. She opted for a childhood story. "Don't think less of me because I was getting her back for something but one Christmas when I was seven and Pen was five I tricked her into thinking... she'd killed Santa."

"That's just plain evil!"

"Oh come on! She destroyed my gingerbread house I'd spent hours on!"

"No excuse Bees, your image is forever tarnished in my eyes."

She swatted him on the chest and settled with her head on his outstretched arm for a pillow. "Not funny, James."

"Oooh, full name, I am in trouble."

"Come on; tell me something I don't know about you."

"Well, when I was a kid I had speech therapy. I had a really bad stutter, it sometimes comes out when I'm nervous or really tired but it's not a problem. I think that's another reason my mom's protective, I wasn't a normal kid."

"Wow."Pam was really shocked, she had no idea. She was always a little surprised with each small revelation Jim shared, like he was only ready to share a little at a time at his own pace. She was prepared not to push but this time she asked the first thing on her mind."How come you never told me that when we were friends?"

"Well it's not really a cool story, like telling a girl you used to have a lazy eye. It might be not be a problem when you're all grown up but it's definitely not sexy."

"So you wanted me to think you were sexy?"

"Yes, obviously, but it was more about you not seeing me as unsexy, it's not like I could walk around the office flexing all day."

"Well I think you're sexy. How old were you when you had the speech therapy?"

"Three and four. It was as much for my parents as it was for me, teach them how to help, give me time to speak. It was twenty years ago so the advice was basic but sound, by the time I was six it wasn't a problem even if it flared up sometimes, I was old enough to stop it from getting too bad." Jim spoke open and at ease. After everything today she felt closer to Jim than ever.

"I feel like I should tell you something big like that too but I'm really, really boring and typical."

"You are far from typical. There's no one like you out there, I checked and double checked."

"Did you do that at the weekends, scouring the world?" She asked sarcastically.

"No." He faux snarked. "I googled you."

"That sounds so dirty."

They both laughed and Pam's self consciousness fell away, this day was too good to let old worries get to her. Her insecurities crept in so easily sometimes.

They lay peacefully again before another old thought surfaced again. This time, about Jim.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

"Why did you study English at college?"

Jim was quiet for a few moments. The seconds seemed three times as long to Pam who was worrying that she's overstepped an invisible line.

"Because I liked it. My parents wanted me to do something to do with business like my brothers but I had this really cool English teacher, Mr Wilks, who encouraged me to keep going so I did."

"Tell me more, did you write? Do you still write?"

"I used to write as a hobby but most of college was academic study of literary work, everything from Shakespeare to Douglas Adams."

"Douglas Adams?"

"Oh I'm so buying you Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, you'll love it."

"You know Shakespeare?"

"A little, I'm no expert."

"So what did you write? Did you ever try to get published?"

"No!" he laughed like she'd said something ridiculous. "I just wrote for fun, short stories and stuff. When we were fifteen Mark had his appendix out and he was in hospital for a while with
complications so I wrote him a chapter a day of this ridiculous story about this guy trying to lose his virginity, making it more absurd each day." Jim was smiling fondly; he looked so happy and vibrant in a way she hadn't seen before. "It ended up with my character stuck in some parallel universe being chased by two different government agencies, a lady spy who used to be a man and a talking shopping cart who kept humping inanimate objects." Pam snorted a laugh, she could imagine Jim's teenage mind was more than capable of coming up with twisted scenarios. "Mark thought it was hilarious which was the important part."

"Did your hero get laid?"

"Not a hope in hell. The last paragraph he accidently ends the universe the moment he undoes the bra of mysterious woman who just happens to be some sort of god and her bra is the off button for everything. She was hot though. Totally worth it."

"You're too good, you should keep writing." All this time Jim had been encouraging her art while he kept this to himself. No wonder his pranks could get so creative, that was his outlet now.

"It was something I used to do, I don't think about it now." She could feel his walls going up again.

"Well you should, it doesn't have to lead anywhere but I just saw how happy you were talking about your story and I'd love to see that again. No one has to read it but you, just like no one has to see my art but me."

"Yeah, but you're talented, I'm a hack."

"Don't talk about my boyfriend like that."

"Look, I'll think about it."

She saw right through that non committal response. "You're totally blowing me off."

"Maybe a little." He admitted with a sigh of defeat.

"What did you want to do after college?"

Jim sighed again but it wasn't directed at Pam. "Not have to move home and prove my parents right. Ended up getting a job in business so that didn't work out but at least I'm not home to hear about it all the time."

As sad as that was to hear, he'd avoided the question.

"You know what I meant, what's your dream job?"

"I don't know, being your boyfriend is pretty cool."

Pam had enough and turned to face him seriously but with compassion, she usually didn't push, but this time she felt he needed it. "You know that I won't think you're stupid or try and get you to change careers or something, I'm not your parents, I'm not here to tell you what to do I'm here to love and support you, like you do for me."

His face changed in front of her, vulnerable and he didn't particularly look comfortable, like he'd been caught out. She wondered if he was going to close down on her, make a joke and all this would be forgotten and left unsaid when he broke the silence.

"Teach."

"Pardon?"

"I was thinking about teaching. Like Mr Wilks who encouraged me, I thought I could be like him." He spoke like he was confessing to something terrible.

"That's cool." She stuck to a simple compliment, no pressure or further questions though a hundred were running through her mind. He wanted to be a teacher. He'd be great working with kids, he had such a rapport with them, he even bonded with Kevin's step-daughter, Abby, over the book she was reading, it made so much such sense. He'd make an amazing teacher. She decided to back off still, not pressure him.

"Thanks. I'm happy where I am right now though."

"Me too. Especially being here in Our Park." The midday sun was really beating down now and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It would have been a crime to be cooped up in the office on a day like this.

"Peaceful today isn't it?"

"Well I guess most normal folk are at work."

"True." They settled and relaxed, making themselves a little more comfortable. They laid sleepily in the sunshine, listening to the sounds of birds singing and each other's soft breaths. "You'll have to meet Nick properly when he gets home, I'll be conscious this time I promise. His wife is really cool too and they have twin girls. Toddlers."

"God, I could not cope with twins." One scared her enough but that was some ways off for now.

"Yeah, they're already learning how to team up on them."

"Penny and I did that too, we were pretty terrible."

"Yeah, Pete and Tom did, but I was an odd number and a lot younger. Still, they're going to get fat, grey and wrinkly long before me so it evens out."

"So you'd want an even number amount of kids?"

"Ten or twelve should do it." He teased, checking her reaction. Pam was smiling. They were talking about kids like it was the most natural thing, it was a little scary but exciting at the same
time.

Jim winced when he adjusted his position. "Neck hurt?"

"Yeah, must have given myself whiplash or something."

"I've had that before, really hurts and rubbing it doesn't help. A hot compress might work when we get back to yours."

"Sounds good. When did you get whiplash?"

"Oh, I was in a car accident when I was seventeen. Had to wear a collar for three weeks, it hurt like hell."

Jim's face was a picture of worry. "What happened?"

"I was stupid, got in a car with someone I knew was drunk, he crashed into a tree on the way home."

"Was it Roy?" He asked coldly.

"Roy's older brother, Kenny. He was picking us up from a birthday party, we were wasted. I should have known better than to get in the car."

"He could have killed you." Jim looked furious; Pam knew she shouldn't have told him anything involving Roy today, even if his anger was mostly aimed at hapless Kenny.

"But he didn't. Kenny learnt his lesson; he knew what could have happened." Pam knew Jim was biting his tongue and not saying what he really felt but it was probably for the best, there wasn't much use getting worked up about it now and unleashing it all on Pam. She could feel the anger teeming through his body. "You ever been in a car accident?"

He fidgeted before replying. "A couple of shunts, nothing major. I wrecked a homemade go-kart once, that was another time I knocked myself out."

"And now you're taking up boxing!" Pam laughed. "How they hell did you make it to adulthood?"

"I really don't know, luck?"

"Then I'm taking you to Vegas baby!"

Jim went to laugh but ended up gritting his teeth in pain.

"Let's go home and get something on your neck and your painkillers, won't matter if you take them a little early if you drink a lot of water with them."

"Yeah, ouch, lets head back."

...*...

Pam had to help Jim up but once he was walking his neck wasn't too bad as long as he didn't move it around too much. She gathered up the blanket but he carried it for them, as a
gentleman should. Jim didn't like being in a weakened state, it didn't sit well.

He and Pam walked hand in hand through the large, almost deserted park. It would be packed tomorrow as it was forecast to be another hot day. For now they had the place to themselves. It had been an enlightening hour, though most of the light felt like it had blazed on him. He'd made the decision on the spot to tell Pam about his stutter, it was something he'd always kept secret so to tell Pam was another sign for him that he was in this for the long haul. It's not like it was a problem, just something he wanted to share. It probably would help Pam work out his parents too, why his mom treated him differently.

He was caught off guard by her question about college. He hadn't given his old dream of becoming a teacher much thought in the last few years. After Mr Wilks died during his final year he lost the drive to apply for his teaching qualification, figuring he'd come back to Scranton and figure out what he wanted to do next but he never did. He met Pam and suddenly Dunder Mifflin was the only place he wanted to be.

There was no way Pam would let this go now she knew. The thought of writing again was a little alluring though, he couldn't remember the last time he'd sat up writing until the early hours through sheer inspiration and let a story unfold at his fingertips. How many times had a potential storyline floated through his mind during a conference meeting but he'd ignored it, telling himself it was a waste of time.

They walked on quietly. Jim noticed Pam was deep in thought and looking troubled but his expression couldn't have been that dissimilar over the last ten minutes.

"Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"What number am I? You know, um, how many women were there before me."

Jim stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face Pam straight on, speaking firmly. "You're not a number to me."

"Oh yeah, I know, I just, I was just thinking about earlier and we haven't really had that discussion yet."

"Ok, no time like the present, let's have it." They were still deep in the park so Jim set the blanket down and got them both settled and comfortable, both of them propped up by the palms of their hands behind their bodies. He was happy that Pam made eye contact with him; it made him feel more secure. He had expected to share these details when Pam was ready and he had nothing to hide. "I've slept with twelve women before you." She kept a neutral expression which was hard for Jim to read. "No guys." He added, to ease the tension in the pit of his belly. It didn't really work.

"Thirteen. Lucky for some." She half smiled, not looking shocked or disgusted but it's not the kind of thing you think is great either. He had no idea what her preconceptions might have been, he'd not talked about his dates to her much, usually because they didn't amount to much. He forced himself to relax.

"Definitely lucky for me." He smiled shyly back. "Are you ok with that? Do you want to know more?"

"I'm not expecting names or anything." She looked a little more at ease now which dissolve some, if not all, of Jim's worry. "It's a little intimidating."

"You know you've probably had sex a thousand times more than me even if my number is higher." He didn't want to think about Pam's past with Roy, but he couldn't just block it out. It was a part of who she was. "You already know I don't have a good track record when it comes to long term relationships."

"You just hadn't met the right girl." She said sincerely. "You know that you're my second." She said quietly but still looking at him, not shying away. "Who was your first, you know mine."

"Remember Ilka?"

"You were in college?"

"Don't look so shocked, Bees!"

"I'm not, I'm just... surprised. I just thought girls would have been all over the basketball star."

"Well it wasn't like I hadn't touched a girl; I just hadn't gotten to the sex part. It was a couple of weeks before I turned nineteen. How, uh, old were you?" He hesitantly asked, he didn't like the fact that he knew the face responsible but part of him wanted to know. The masochistic part.

"My sixteenth birthday."

"Wow, you did get a head start on me!"

"Hey!" She protested with a grin.

"It's ok, I already knew you were more experienced than me."

"But I've only been with one guy."

"That's not the point; you seemed to uh... know your way around my body quite well, especially in the shower." He could feel himself blushing furiously.

"Oh, most of that was new to me too."

"What? You've never done that before?" There was no stopping the shock and the couple of octave higher his voice had raised.

"Oh no, that's not what I meant, just that I, uh, picked up some advice and some tricks in the last month or so. Some of the stuff was my own that I just thought to do in the moment."

"The stuff with the sponge?" He whispered gravelly, leaning in as he said it so the ants didn't hear.

"Came up with that on the fly." The sexual smile on her face as they both remembered their morning was making Jim's blood rush south again.

"Wow." It was all Jim could say. He was elated. The thought that he'd been the sole person she'd done that to; that she hadn't used some well practiced routine she'd used on Roy filled him with light. It shouldn't matter but it did. It was so much more special now; he'd be the only person she ever did that to if he had anything to do with it.

Although Jim was feeling happy again, Pam's face had darkened.

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Pam began.

"Uh... ok." He agreed, wandering if she was going to ask if he had caught any diseases or something. He'd always been diligent though.

"Did you sleep with Katy? The purse girl."

Jim paused but stuck to his 'honesty is the best policy' philosophy, he'd seen too many relationships destroyed by lies. "Yeah, only a couple of times. She was... a distraction. It wasn't really fair to her considering I was in love with someone else. I was a bit of a dick to be honest." That was the least of the story. It was not his proudest time.

Pam nodded, taking in the information. "I'd seen you date before, but that was the first time I was jealous."

"Really?" A smile crept to his lips.

"Yeah. Michael and Kevin were talking about her being a hotter version of me and she was trying to get your attention, I didn't know why but I hated her, it was like I had some claim on you or something."

"Well you kinda did, but you didn't know it. That's so cool you were jealous."

"Cool?" She asked sardonically.

"Yeah, just goes to show I wasn't losing my mind, you liked me."

"Should have just scared her off there and then and made you mine."

"I like this possessive side; you're not going to make me get a tattoo of your name are you?"

"I'm not into tattoos, maybe a nipple piercing."

"Eyes off the nipples." He covered his chest protectively before her gaze headed lower and settled at his crotch. "Don't even think about that!"

"What? I wasn't thinking about anything." She said sickly sweetly, eyelashes a flutter.

"Is there anything else you want to ask me? I'm an open book."

"I think I'm good. Sorry if this was weird."

"It wasn't, I don't want us to have secrets. It's ok to keep personal stuff personal but if you want to know something about me, that's ok with me."

"Is there anything I should know?"

"There won't be a fourteen."

"Good. There won't be a third." Pam climbed to her feet and helped Jim up again. "Sorry I stopped us from getting you to your meds, are you still in pain."

"It just aches, I've felt worse."

"Then come on, the pain pills will help when you get your piercing done too, I know this sweet little place..." Jim wrapped his arms around her and silenced her teasing with a long, wet
kiss.

The reveal about Jim's stutter I've planned since I started this story. Very, very rarely he's stuttered around Pam and it was totally intentional on my part.

I hope you found Jim's aspiration to be a teacher believable too.

I need to have a good look at my story plan now, I have several things I want to achieve and resolve but I don't want to drag things out, it's been a really long Friday in Jim and Pam's world and we haven't seen Penny, Kelly and Isobel in ages. We need to get the girls together for dancing or something.

Once again, super thanks to my reviewers, you push me to do better work and use this tired old brain of mine.