Sorry this update is coming a little late. I was a camp counselor all week and AP work for school is calling my name. Also, I changed the title to Can't Be Held Responsible because I never really liked the Sick Day title. I hope everyone is cool with that. If not, well, I apologize.

Oh, and I tried to make this extra long. I wrote this several times and I am still not happy with it. I don't know. Some big things happening in the next few chapters.

--

Jim was lounging on the couch in his pajamas when Pam came shuffling down the stairs. He had a bowl of cereal in his lap and his eyes were glued to the television. She paused and gave him a look.

"Cartoons?"

"Sunday morning classic." He stated stoically. "There's cereal and coffee on the counter for you."

She smiled through a yawn at his antics and walked into the kitchen where, sure enough, a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee were sitting. She grabbed them and moved back into the family room where Jim had moved his legs so she could sit. She tucked her legs underneath her and balanced the bowl in her lap.

"You sleep alright?" He asked it as he shoved another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, so the last word was a little muffled.

"Yeah, yeah. I slept great. Thanks." She tore her eyes away from his face to the television screen where a coyote was attempting to attach himself to an Acme rocket. She laughed as he failed and went tumbling down a cliff.

Jim turned his head slightly at the sound of her laughter and observed her face. It was nice to see that happy glint in her eye, even if it was only for a second.

"I have an idea." He stated quietly as he turned his head back to the screen.

"Hm?"

"Let's not go to work tomorrow."

He felt her gaze on him as he took another bite of cereal. The crunching of the sugar flakes and the sound of a roadrunner were the only noises in the room.

She didn't answer and he continued nervously. "I mean, we can just hang out here and watch old movies all day. Or we could go to the zoo and make fun of those weird birds that look like they have herpes. Or we could go-"

"Jim." She cut him off quietly. "I think we should go to work. I've used more than my allotted sick days and so have you."

"Do you really think that's the best idea?" He turned in the cushions to face her. "I mean, your face-" He gestured towards her with his hands. She blushed. He sighed.

"I just mean-" He softened his voice. "Do you need more time?"

She met his eyes hesitantly and was overwhelmed with the concern mirrored there. She tried to smile but it came out more as a forced grimace. "I would love to have more time, really. This isn't something I am going to just get over. But for right now, I want things to be normal. I just want to go to work and answer the phones for a bit, make fun of Dwight, and forget."

She looked down at her bowl and poked at the lonely bits floating around in the white sea. "I just want to forget."

He watched helplessly as the tears dropped into her bowl. He didn't know how to do this, how to protect her. It seemed to be the only thought running through his head the past three days. How do you handle something like this? He never was the hero. Ever. He was the guy in the background, stumbling over boxes and providing comic relief. He was the guy you fall back on when the hero gets sick or when the hero gets hurt. And even then he didn't know what to do. All he ever did was stand there uselessly, desperately trying to make everyone smile.

And that barely ever worked.

How do you be the hero?

How do you sweep in and save the girl?

Pam sighed and wiped a shaky hand under her eyes. She looked up at Jim and blushed slightly.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help it sometimes."

He raised his eyebrows. "Don't apologize Pam. You don't ever have to apologize for something like that."

She nodded and whispered an okay while he grabbed their bowls and moved them into the kitchen sink. A small pile was building up but that wasn't unusual. He usually went for as long as possible without washing the dishes. Until he didn't have a bowl for his mac and cheese or a spoon for the galloon of cookies and cream in the freezer.

He observed her on the couch, giggling along with the television. He sighed and walked back in. It was going to be a long week.

--

He woke up to the sounds of the shower running. He blinked his eyes up at the ceiling, trying to clear away the sleep. His head felt like a million pounds and every time he opened and closed his eyes, it felt like ten more pounds were added. He never was a morning person.

The shower shut off and he heard the door open to the bathroom. A second later, she was at his door, clad only in a towel. His eyes lingered a little too long on her dripping body. He swallowed hard and turned his head back to the ceiling.

"I'm done. You can get in."

He kept his eyes trained on the cracking plaster. "Okay. Thanks."

She stood for another second before shuffling into her room and shutting the door. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and stood up from the bed, stretching above his head and listening to his body let out creaks of exasperation.

He shut the bathroom door behind him and slipped into the shower, turning the nozzle to the right. The cold water cascaded over his body, shocking him awake. He sighed and turned the nozzle to the left so that the ice cold water was replaced by the comfort of warmth.

He noticed the small bottle of shampoo placed in the right hand corner next to his larger bottle. It was a visual representation of the way Pam was edging into his life. He didn't mind, definitely not. That wasn't the case at all. He was more than happy to help her out when she needed him. He was perfectly fine with being her support for a while.

He could keep a level head about this. He could keep his mind on her well being and not, well, other things. The fact that she was sleeping one bedroom away every night and taking showers in her bathroom every morning was nothing. They were friends. That was all.

He repeated this mantra in his head several times as he washed his hair and shut off the water. He climbed out of the shower and grabbed the nearest towel, wrapping it around his waste.

He realized groggily that he left his clothes in his bedroom. He never was a morning person.

Expecting to quickly dart in his room, he swung open the door. He did not expect to see Pam there, dressed and ready to go. She jumped slightly at his sudden appearance and her eyes widened when she saw he was only wearing a towel.

"Oh!" She turned and covered her eyes like a small child playing hide and seek. Jim felt his face go red and he muttered a quick apology before shuffling into his room and leaving Pam in the hallway, hands still over her eyes.

When she heard the door close, she let her hands slip away from her face and sighed. She looked at his door with an eyebrow raised and smiled slightly. There was a feeling stirring around in her stomach that she vaguely recognized. She shut her eyes tightly.

She was just leaning on him for support for a while, until she was better, until she got back on her feet. They were friends. That was all.

She repeated this mantra in her head as she walked down the steps, letting her hand skim the top of the banister. She gathered her purse and took a seat next to the door. A few minutes later she heard Jim thundering down the steps. She watched with amusement glinting in her eyes as he stumbled down the last few, trying to get his tie on.

"We're late." She said smiling.

He gave her a mock glare as he gave up on his tie and attempted to put on his shoes. "I know."

He hopped on one shoed foot and tried to put on the other. He looked up at Pam. "Can you grab the keys? They are on the counter there."

She nodded and let out another smile as he almost fell into the wall, unbalanced. She took the keys off the counter top and walked over to the door where he was shrugging on his coat.

"You good now?" She couldn't hold back the smile that escaped her lips.

He rolled his eyes and smiled at her. "Yeah. Just the tie." He held the maroon tie in front of her face and swung it back and forth. "But I can get that later."

"Later when?"

He opened the front door for her and followed her out to his car.

"When I'm driving. I'll have you know that I am a very good one handed driver and tie putter on-er." He finished awkwardly. She laughed as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Come here." He turned in his seat to face her as she wrapped the fabric around his neck and began to tie. She had to stretch to reach all the way around. Their faces were close. So close that he could smell the shampoo she had used earlier and she could feel his breath on her neck.

His heart began to beat faster and he was pretty sure it was so loud she could hear it. She tightened the knot and smoothed it down with the palm of her hand. She let it linger on his chest. He let his eyes close at her touch.

His heart was beating fast; she could feel it through his shirt, through his skin. She was pretty sure hers was beating just as fast. When she realized her hand was still on his chest, she removed it quickly and turned back in her seat, looking out the front window.

Jim opened his eyes, feeling his face radiating heat and turned back in his seat. "You should see my driving without the tie putting on. I am amazing."

The awkwardness passed and she felt herself smile again. She flipped down the visor and looked at her reflection in the mirror, turning her head to the side to see the bruise. She had avoided looking at it the entire weekend. Every time she did, she got the queasy feeling in her stomach and the tears would build up. But this time, she took a deep breath before she opened her eyes.

The skin was healing but it was still obvious and ugly. It was purple and blue around the edges while the inner area was turning a sickly shade of yellow. The swelling had gone down enough so that she could blink her eye again but it was still abnormally raised. She heaved a sigh and touched it gently.

Jim observed her out of the corner of his eye. "It looks fine."

She stopped touching her face and flipped up the visor again. She slouched back in the seat.

"It does not."

He let out a small humorless chuckle. "Well, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

They pulled into the parking lot in Jim's usual spot. Pam glanced nervously at Roy's truck parked on the far side. Jim noticed and put a comforting hand on her back on the way into the building.

The first day was always the hardest, that's what they always said. Just get past today, and everything else would run smooth. Everything would be okay if she just made it past today.

She sat down behind reception, grateful that no one seemed to notice that her and Jim came in together. She didn't feel like dragging Jim into the rumor mill with her today.

"Ouch, Pammy, what happened there?"

Pam looked up from the phone to see Michael staring at her. She had prepared for this moment, but even so, her face revealed a bright shade of red.

"Oh, it's nothing." She could feel Jim's gaze on her as well. "Me and Roy were at my Aunts house and one of my nephews threw the baseball with a little too much gumption."

She forced a fake smile and immediately looked back down at her papers. Michael didn't leave.

"Gotta watch out for those little buggers. You have to admit, when a child one third your age can put a whammy on you, you must be in horrible shape."

Pam ignored the comment and when Michael discovered he wasn't going to get any laughs from her today, he shuffled into his office. Pam looked up to give Jim an exasperated sigh but he was already looking away. She felt a small tinge of disappointment but continued about her work.

The entire day passed in a blur. Every time the door opened and someone stepped into the office, a feeling of pure fear would rush through her and then complete relief when it wasn't Roy.

She didn't know what she feared. Was it her hurting her again? No, she got over that fear a long time ago. It was no longer a surprise and therefore expected. Was it him hurting Jim? That was part of it. She hated that she had brought Jim into this at all. He was her best friend and she couldn't help but feel she was taken advantage of him and she would just be heartbroken if he suffered because of her.

But there was something else in her that was causing her to be afraid. It was unnamable and anonymous. She couldn't figure it out and it was killing her.

Jim walked over to her desk at the end of the day and popped a jellybean in his mouth. "You ready to go?"

She looked up, shaking herself out of her thoughts. "Yeah." She gave him a small smile. "Let's go."

They walked out to the parking lot and climbed into his car once again, this time Pam resting her head against the coolness of the window. Jim didn't look over at her once. She turned her head to face him and could barely make out his outline with the aid of the light from the radio.

"Are you mad at me?"

He glanced over at her quickly before turning back to the road.

"No, why would you say that?"

She faced the road as well, wrapping her arms around her body and squirming further down in her chair. "I don't know. It's just, you hardly came over to my desk at all today."

"I'm not mad." He stated simply. She nodded, believing there was more to the statement than he was saying.

"I'm just-" He let his sentence dangle in the air as he searched for a word. "Confused. Why did you make up that excuse?"

"I'm not going to tell Michael that Roy abuses me."

"I understand that but why do you defend him?"

"Who, Roy? I am not defending Roy." She could feel anger and defiance coursing through her body. She shouldn't be mad at Jim, she knew that. But she wanted to be mad at someone and it was only the two of them in the car right now.

"I just-" She paused, taking a deep breath. "I just want things to go back to normal. I make up an excuse. Michael goes away. He forgets about my eye. My eye heals. Everything is normal."

"But Pam-"

"Jim." She closed her eyes again and rested her head against the cold window. "Can we please just do this later? Please?"

Her voice was tired and he heaved a sigh, tightening his hands on the steering wheel. He wasn't trying to press the issue, really, he wasn't. But he figured once it was all out, she would be able to heal. Once everything had been said, maybe she could start to get better. This keeping stuff locked away inside wasn't doing anyone any good.
"Yeah, later."