Jim sat at his kitchen table the next morning sipping his coffee and feeling morose. He had a headache, no doubt a product of the blow Roy had bestowed upon him yesterday. He hadn't slept well. His mind hadn't seemed able to turn off and he had been plagued by the image of Pam standing in front of him, her face bruised and swollen, and the look she had had on her face as he'd walked out of the break room. Then there was the constant twinges if guilt and irritation he felt at himself. How could he be back here again? Obsessing over every detail of Pam and their interactions. He had sworn to himself he wouldn't let that happen if he came back. He was with Karen, who was funny and smart and beautiful! What the he'll was wrong with him?

He pressed his forehead against his palms, trying futilely to clear his mind. Just then his phone vibrated on the table next to him. He flipped it open to see a text from Karen, asking if he wanted her to pick him up a breakfast sandwich. He felt another wave of guilt wash over him.

He replied to the text and began to gather his things for work. He drove himself to the office, using mainly his left hand to steer as his right wrist was still twinged painfully when he moved it even though it was wrapped securely in the Ace bandage Karen had given him the previous day. As he drove the familiar path he barely even saw the road in front of him, his mind still buzzing. Before getting out of the car he glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror. The bruise on his cheek had become significantly worse. It was now a very deep amethyst color in the middle, with lighter shades of purple radiating out every direction, covering most of the skin on his cheek. but there was nothing he could do about it, so he grabbed his bag and headed up.

He walked into the office and at the sound of the door Pam looked up from her desk. There she was, as beautiful and perfect as ever, her curls gently resting on her shoulders, and a warm smile lighting up her face. Though he saw concern fill her eyes as she focused on the deep bruise across his face.

"Hi." She greeted him in a kind voice.

She appeared to be in a very good mood. "Hey." Jim replied, smiling back, but his brow was pulled together, conveying his confusion. He couldn't help but immediately notice the absence of the black eye that had been so prominent just the day before. Now it was barley visible.

Noticing his confusion Pam tilted her head, giving him a questioning look as he walked towards the reception desk.

"Is there some kind of magic potion I'm unaware of that heels things over night?" He said jokingly "what happened to your black eye? I'm still over here looking like I got hit by a train."

Pams smile grew wide at his joking tone. "Yes, actually!" She teased back "it just so happens there is, It's this wonderful little thing called concealer."

"You managed to cover that up almost completely just with makeup?" Said Jim with genuine shock. A seed of unease had settled in the pit of his stomach at the realization. He quickly recovered himself, hitching a smile back on his face "Wow! that impressive. So are you ladies just basically always in disguise then? Like secret agents? what do you really look like under there Beesley?" He said with mock suspicion.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know." She said mysteriously.

He let out a gentle chuckle and walked over to his desk to sit down, the uneasy feeling still heavy in his stomach. As he settled in, the uncomfortable thoughts that had sprung to his mind when she answers him were swirling around. Of course he knew that Pam wore makeup, and what concealer was, but he had been ludicrously oblivious to just how much they could cover up. And how adept Pam seemed to be at it caused an uncomfortable niggle in the back of his brain.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and turned to see Karen smiling down at him.

"Hey. This is for you." She said. handing him a sandwich wrapped in paper.

"You're the best!" He replied, smiling back at her.

She leaned down and gave him a kiss before heading to her own desk.

Jim felt Pams eyes on him again and he glanced over at her. He was right, she was looking straight at him. She gave a small smile and looked away hastily. He kept his eyes on her for another second, examining the spot under her eye that he knew her tender purple tissue hid under all the makeup. He sighed softly and turned back to his desk, mulling things over.

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Pam felt her stomach rumble and looked up from her doodle to check the time. It was 12:47pm. She set the reception phone to message and headed to the kitchen to grab her lunch out of the fridge. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Jim look up as she passed. When she reached the kitchen she began bustling around, putting on hot water for tea, and reflecting on how happy she felt in spite of recent events. A slight smile crossed her lips. She was feeling relieved. She and Roy were over. completely over. The interactions between her and Jim had been a lot less strained today. He had even joked around with her earlier. She remembered the way he'd smiled at her this morning. That alone was enough to bolster her mood. She had missed his smile so much. Plus she had mixed berry yogurt waiting for her in the fridge. All in all, it was shaping up to be a pretty descent day!

She pulled her sandwich and yogurt out of the fridge, grabbed her tea, and walked into the break room.

The room was empty, she had just settled herself down at the table when the door opened. It was Jim. She flinch slightly as she again notice just how deep the bruise on his face was.

"Hey Beesley!" He said with vibrato.

Pam was a little taken aback by his exuberance. She was glad he was still being friendly with her, but she could sense that something about that moment wasn't quite genuine. He seemed nervous.

"Hi." She said back, a little cautiously.

He walked over to the vending machine and bought a bag of chips while she unwrapped her sandwich.

"May I join you? He asked casually.

Her heart skipped a beat... he hadn't sat with her in the break room since before he'd left. "Of course!" She said grinning at him.

He smiled back and sat across from her. They ate in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes, before she heard him take what sounded like a deep steadying breath. She glanced up from her sandwich to see him looking right at her.

"Can I ask you something?" He said tentatively.

"Yeah, absolutely!" She replied nervously.

"So, that thing you did with the makeup, covering your black eye..." he started.

"Oh Halpert, are you gonna ask me to give you a makeover?!" She said playfully "because I can totally do that! I bet we probably even wear the same shade." she teased "and a little mascara would really make your eyes pop!" She finished giggling.

He smiled broadly, waiting for her to finish, but refusing to lose his resolve.

"Not exactly." He said and then the smile drifted off his face "I was actually wondering if you'd ever had to, you know... do that before?..."

The grin that had been on her face faltered, her body stiffened, and her eyes dropped to her sandwich. She felt her heart jump into her throat, and her hands began trembling.

A few moments passed. "Pam?" He asked softly.

She swallowed hard. "Once or twice." She said shakily, still staring down.

The moments passed painfully slow. Pam inhaled deeply and willed herself to be brave.

"Six" she said firmly as she looked up into his eyes "six times..."

As she met his gaze she saw that his eyes were red around the edges and he was fighting tears.

At her words the pained look that was in his eyes intensified so much she could barley stand it.

He didn't break their eye contact, staring at her as though he'd never really seen her before. Seeing the pain he was feeling on her behalf caused her own eyes to sting with tears.

"I know it's pathetic." She finally whispered.

"What's pathetic?" His brow furrowed and his voice was gruff.

She dropped her eyes back to the table.

"Me..."

"You are not pathetic!" He said firmly.

She looked back at him. His eyes were bright and fierce.

"What would make you think that?"

He whispered.

"I stayed." She said in a defeated voice. "I went back."

His eyes softened. "No." He said looking her right in the eye like he was looking into her soul. "Actually, you left. You were brave enough to leave. Twice... I can't think of anything less pathetic."

Her eyes burned and tears began to spill over. The pained expression returned to his face as he watched her.

"How could he?" He breathed.

At that moment the door to the break room opened and Ryan walked in. Pam instantly dropped her eyes back to her sandwich, she hastily wrapped it up and fled from the room, abandoning her tea and yogurt on the table. She put her mostly untouched sandwich back in the fridge and retreated to the bathroom.

When she got back to her desk 10 minutes later she found her mixed berry yogurt and a spoon sitting by her keyboard. She glance over at Jim who was standing by the water cooler talking with Karen. She caught his eyes and he gave her a small smile. She returned it and sat down.

Eventually 5:00pm rolled around and everyone began collecting their things and bustling out the door. Before long it was just Pam, Jim and Karen left at their desks.

Pam watched Karen get up and make her way over to Jim who was apparently very absorbed with highlighting numbers on some form.

"You ready?" Karen asked.

He looked up at her and smiled. "I'm just gonna finish this real fast. You go ahead, I'll meet you at the restaurant."

"Ok." She said sweetly, but she couldn't quite cover the disappointment in her voice. "I'll order you a beer." She added.

"Thanks." he replied, winking at her.

They exchanged a quick kiss and as Karen turned to leave Pam dropped her gaze, pretending she hadn't been eavesdropping.

When Karen was gone Pam stood up and walked to the back of the office. She went through the kitchen, break room, annex and bathrooms, shutting everything down for the night. When she re-entered the main office Jim was leaning against her desk, with his jacket on and his bag slung over his shoulder.

"Wanna walk out together?" He asked.

"Sure." She answered, a bit surprised.

She finished turning off all the lights and followed him towards the door. He held the door open for her and they rode down the elevator in silence, but as they walked out the front doors of the building Jim paused.

"Pam." He said softly, and she stopped too, turning to look at him.

As she met his gaze, which was kind and welcoming, she noticed that even with the dark purple swollen mess that was his cheek, his eyes were still the most captivating part of his appearance.

"It's come to my attention that I owe you some major apologies." He said seriously.

She frowned slightly. "What are you talking about?" She asked, truly perplexed.

"Firstly, for the way I spoke to you in the break room yesterday when you told me you and Roy were over for good. It was patronizing and unkind, and I am truly sorry."

"You don't have t-" she began.

"Secondly, for being less than a decent friend since I returned from Stanford. You certainly didn't deserve it."

"Jim,-"

"Thirdly, for my actions on Casino Night."

"Come on Jim, don't." She begged him. But he pressed on.

"I was obviously completely oblivious to what an uncomfortable and potentially scary position I was putting you in. I didn't look past my own emotions, and for that I hope you can forgive me."

"Jim, please don't apologize for that night." She begged.

"It was very inconsiderate of me." He said gently.

"What makes you say that?" She demanded.

"I kissed an engaged woman and then let her go home to a man who gets violent when he's jealous!" He said more seriously.

"You had no way of knowing Jim!" She argued.

"Which brings me to my last apology." He said, his voice still calm, but the terrible pain she had seen in his eyes earlier was back.

"I'm so sorry for not seeing it... for not noticing."

She could see moisture in his eyes again. And her own voice shook as she spoke. "You can't take responsibility for that Jim. You couldn't possibly have known."

"Pam, I was your best friend, I should have seen!"

They both froze. Pam could tell the word had slipped out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying, and it hung over both them like a heavy cloud.

"I'm sorry." He said in a whisper.

She didn't know if he was still apologizing for not having known about Roy's violent tendency, or for his use of the word "was" but it didn't matter. She didn't feel most of his apologies were warranted, but she knew it wasn't worth arguing.

"You're a very good man Jim, but you can't take responsibility for what happened between Roy and I." She said gently. "Go be with Karen."

She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

With that she turned and walked to her car.