Title: The Advice.

Continuity: 'Back from Vacation.' (Season Three's 11th episode.)

Song: -

Feedback: Of course, reviews are highly appreciated.

Warning/Comments: Jim's POV. Slightly A/U. This chapter, and the following will be a little gloomy, or depressing (use the word you like the most, haha) because all the Jim – Pam interactions of this episode make me really sad. The Advice narrates the scene when Jim tells Pam about his 'little fight' with Karen, and for some reason that I'll never understand, Pam decides to help him with this situation. I always feel puzzled whenever I watch this scene, I get this What is she doing? kind of feeling, and I think Jim does too, and we see that when he says 'Really?' and looks at the camera, as if looking for some sort of answers. Um, okay, I'm rambling. But I hope you like this.

"Hey."

"Hey." I couldn't help by following her with my eyes as she entered the room and poured herself some coffee. When she turned around to face me I panicked slightly and looked away.

"You OK?"

Oh, you have no idea.

"Yeah." I stared at my coffee cup as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. My answer sounded so weary and weak, that I wasn't surprised of the fact that she didn't believe me.

"You sure?"She asked, raising her eyebrows slightly. I could feel the skepticism in the tone of her voice.

"Yeah. Yes." I replied, as reassuringly as I could, while I took a sip of my coffee in an attempt to act normal.

She looked down, as if realizing that I wouldn't talk to her and that all her efforts to make our relationship the same as it was before I left were completely vain. Then she looked up and our gazes met: the look on her face showed the way she felt inside – guilty, humiliated, stupid, tired, disappointed – and that, along with the awkward silence, made me feel like being stabbed in the heart. I spoke again. "Um, I'm just in this, like, stupid fight with Karen. "

"Oh."She paused, and then timidly offered."You… want to talk about it?"

"Really?" I frowned, unsure of whether or not I had heard right.

She wants to help me with my problems with Karen? Oh, so that means she doesn't care about me. Great. Just great.

She only nodded, and sat next to me, ready to listen and give advice, the best smile she could utter given the circumstances plastered on her face.

And I, in fact, needed to vent, so I started telling her about it.

"So, I don't know, I just feel like we've been dating a month, right? Same street. I think that might be a little close. A little much." I finished talking, and looked down at my coffee cup.

Pam nodded a few times. "Hmmm."She uttered, seeming pensive.

"Hmmm, what?" I looked at her for a second and I chuckled slightly before resuming staring at my coffee cup.

"How far away does she live now, like ten minutes?"

I considered it for a second and sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"Honestly, I think you should go easy on her."

I quickly glanced at her once again, completely in awe.

Seriously, Pam? Oh, so you really don't give a damn whether Karen lives ten minutes or two blocks away from me. It's good to know that, really.

"Hey, thanks a lot." I said, trying not to let the sarcasm flow in my voice.

"Oh, don't worry about it."Our gazes met, she smiled.

"I mean, it's better than listening to Michael play a conch shell... "

She paused for a second, and I chuckled.

"… which is what I was doing. Oh, also, Michael went to Jamaica with Jan!" She exclaimed, excited.

"Yeah, how have we not talked about this already?" I shook my head in disbelief and she did the same. "I mean what happened there? Kidnapping?"

She leaned her head forward as she laughed. In the slightest bit of a second I forgot about my problems with Karen. Honestly, the world always seems to fade away a little when I'm with Pam. It didn't matter that our relationship had been damaged. It didn't matter that we had hurt each other. I guess it's complicated to change the way someone functions, and this is part of the way I function: when I'm with her, nothing else seems to be really important.

Even when I know there are things that require my attention – my job, my girlfriend, among others – I still can't stop my world from revolving around Pam.

Something that really doesn't help much with the process of getting over her.