here's chapter 9 as promised! it was originally going to be a lot longer than this but i decided to split it into two chapters so it wouldn't be overly long and stretched out. :)
Pam had been walking for a while ahead of him with an almost scary look of determination on her face. Jim had to jog a little down the hall before he finally could match her strides.
"You okay?" He asked her, an uneasy feeling settling in his chest. He hoped Pam wasn't going to stay this way during the evening - angry and defiant and so very un-Pam-like.
"Yep." She didn't look his way.
"Okay."
They walked in silence for a minute or so, and Pam pushed the button for the elevator with a little more force than was entirely necessary. When the elevator finally came and the doors dinged open, Jim (rather pointlessly, since Pam was already stepping in,) politely said: "After you."
He followed her in and stared straight ahead until he could feel her eyes boring into his shoulder, at which point he snuck a glance to her out of the corner of his eye. She was chewing on her bottom lip, and her fists were clenched at her sides.
He knew this wasn't the type of thing he should have been thinking about in that moment, but he couldn't help but notice just how pretty she was. He had never seen her with her hair down before. It looked bigger than when it was just pinned back, framing her face and making her take up slightly more space than she usually did. It looked cute and definitely suited her, although he could see why she had in pinned back during the day.
"I'm sorry." Her small, familiar voice broke the silence. Had she caught him looking? If she had, she didn't seem to mind.
"It's okay." He didn't really know what else to say, because it was just okay. Everything was okay with her.
When he met her eyes, she gave him a yeah, right sort of look. "Just, Roy's been acting terrible recently."
Jim wondered what she meant by "recently." From what he'd seen and heard of Roy (even from old high school anecdotes that Pam had shared) it seemed as though that was just the type of person he was. He couldn't imagine he had changed so drastically since he and Pam graduated.
Instead of telling her that, however, he replied soothingly: "It's probably just stress from school."
"He barely goes to school," Pam scoffed. "He's out drinking practically every night."
"Some people do that at the beginning of college. He'll grow out of it."
Pam sighed and twisted her mouth as if to say, maybe.
"I'd probably be out doing that every night, if I had any friends other than you and Kelly." The joke was pretty lame, but at least it made her laugh.
(To Jim, that was all that really mattered.)
"Don't forget Dwight."
"Yeah, I'm sure Dwight would love to go on a guy's night out with me." He retorted drily. "Especially after class today."
Pam cracked up at the memory, and before long Jim was laughing along, too, and it was like the storm following her around since they left had been lifted.
LINE BREAKKKKKKKKK
"Sorry it's kind of messy." Jim suddenly wondered why he hadn't thought beforehand to clean up his car a little. He hurriedly bent to pick up an empty soda bottle lying on the passengers' seat.
"You should see my car," Pam climbed into the passenger seat, buckling up the seatbelt. "Or Roy's," she added, faking a shudder.
Jim hopped round to the other side of the car, and swung open the door to get into the drivers' seat. Once he had his belt fastened, he started up the old car. It emanated a satisfying rumble, and finally, they were away.
The drive was mostly back roads for a little while, closed in on both sides by huge clumps of forest.
"This is your cousin's party, right?" Pam spoke up.
"Yeah. it's his boyfriend's birthday today."
Pam twisted a lock of hair around her two fingers, shooting glances at Jim out of the corner of her eye probably every 5 seconds. When she had finally worked up the courage, she asked in a timid voice: "Is there going to be, y'know, alcohol there?"
"Yeah," Jim replied slowly. He hoped this wouldn't scare her away. "You don't have to drink if you don't want to. I'll tell the guys to lay off, if you want. It's okay."
"No, that's fine. I was just hoping you weren't joking before, when you said I could get "totally wasted"."
"Is that your plan, Beesly?" He kept up the joking tone, but was actually worried about her. Was this because of her argument with Roy?
"Maybe." She shot him a sly grin, and said nothing more on the matter.
LIIIINNNNEEEE BBBBBRRRREEEEEAAAAKKKK
They arrived at Jim's cousin's house around quarter past. Jim turned the engine off and hurried round to Pam's side of the car to open the door for her. She smiled shyly to him in return, and his heart felt like it was being lifted out of his chest.
Music was already blaring, mostly current songs, and shouts of laughter could be heard all the way to the outside of the house.
Jim knocked on the door 3 times, loudly, and stepped down onto the bottom stair while they waited for someone to come to the door.
After only a short while, the door was flung open. The man on the other side looked like he was in his early twenties, with red scruffy hair and a lopsided-looking face, indicating he was drunk already.
"Matt!" Jim greeted, reaching out to shake his hand.
Matt squinted at him for a second, then apparently realised who he was. "Jimbo!" He cried, pulling Jim in by his outstretched hand for a bone-crushing hug.
"Hey, man." Jim struggled to get out of his grasp. He shot a look to Pam, standing next to him, over his shoulder. She only mouthed the word "Jimbo?" to him, shaking her head with a bemused expression.
Matt finally let him go, giving Jim the chance to with him a happy birthday. Pam followed suit, admittedly a little timidly.
Matt thanked them both and ushered them into a cramped hallway. There was a couple of people milling about, but it seemed that most of them would be in the living room and kitchen.
"Rick!" Matt called into the throng of people in the living room. "Jimmy's here!"
"James Halpert!" Rick pushed his way through the crowd until he was standing directly in front of Jim and Pam. He was a little shorter than his boyfriend, with a mess of dark, curly hair and deep brown eyes. "How're you doing?"
"Good, thanks." He had to shout over the loud, pulsing music. "You?"
"Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic!" His voice sounded hoarse, as if he'd been screaming a lot. He nodded to Pam, who presently was wearing a nervous smile. "This your girlfriend? Dawn or something like that, right?"
"Pam." She introduced herself. Rick returned her smile with a huge grin of his own.
"You did well, bro." He shoved Jim lightly in the shoulder. "I mean, even I can see that, and I'm gay as Hell."
Jim quickly cut in, shaking his head hard. "She's not my girlfriend. We're just good friends."
"Really?" Rick looked confused, but rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man. Wait here just a minute, I'll get you guys some drinks."
Rick disappeared back into the crowd, and Matt soon followed, leaving Jim and Pam alone.
"Uh, sorry about all that." Jim began, instinctively running a hand through his hair. "He's really out of it right now. He's not usually that… Rude."
"It's okay." Pam grinned. "You didn't have to be so defensive, though."
Is Pam Beesly flirting with me? Jim opened his mouth to speak but didn't even know what he was going to say, so he quickly clamped it shut again, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"I have drinks! Nectar!" Bellowed Rick before he was even visible to Jim and Pam. He appeared moments later, carrying 2 disposable red paper cups full of some sort of drink. He handed the first to Jim, and the second, a slightly lighter-coloured concoction, to Pam. "Only the best for the non-girlfriend," he explained, winking indiscreetly at Jim.
"Thanks." They replied in unison.
Rick, finally satisfied, nodded firmly before rushing back into the crowd of people standing in the kitchen.
Jim sipped from his cup cautiously. It was definitely mixed, but he wasn't certain what type or even how many drinks had been added to it.
"You don't have to drink that." He addressed Pam, who had been staring into her cup for the past few seconds. "It's a mix, and I'm not even sure what's in it, so-"
"Great." Pam lifted the cup to her lips. She chugged at least half of the contents in one go, wincing when she finished.
Jim was at a total loss of what to say. His jaw felt slack, and he quickly reached to set his drink down on a nearby table - there was no way he could drink tonight, if Pam was going to keep this up. Roy's words swam back to the front of his mind: "take care of Pammie", and knew that if they both were to survive this night, he had to stay completely sober.
"It's kinda sour." Pam mused, breaking Jim from his reverie. "Strong, though." She took another long drink, until it was just dregs left over in the bottom of the cup. "Nice."
Her words hadn't began to slur together yet. Jim hoped that maybe she wouldn't got through with whatever plan she had hatched, and instead just relax a little.
LLLLIIINNE BREAKKKKKKA
"This girl - This girl right he-herrre-" Slurred Matt, slinging an arm around Pam, who was nodding very seriously to his speech despite her drunken state. "This girl… She's just, she's just the queen bitch, man. Just inc… Incredibllllllee."
Pam let out a whoop of excitement, the expression on her face a mixture of pure delight at her new title and irrational anger at whatever was going on in her mind.
"I name thee…" Matt began, swaying and almost falling off the makeshift stage (two couches, pushed together). "I give thou the award -" he paused for a moment to belch loudly. Pam was pretty unfazed about it, bursting into a fit of giggles. "Oh, shit, man! Your shoes are suuuuper white. I change your - thee's - award. I grant thee the award of…" He stopped, presumably for dramatic effect. "Whitest tennis shoes!"
"YES!" Pam screamed at the top of her lungs, making Jim laugh despite himself. He had been watching the tire scene play out from his spot against the wall. At some point during the night, Matt had decided to give everyone at the party "awards" for trivial things. (Jim had been granted the award of "best grey sweatshirt".) Jim knew hardly anyone would remember any of this tomorrow, but it would be a good thing to bring up the next time he saw him.
Pam struggled out from Matt's celebratory hug and made a feeling to Jim. He grinned at her, but the look on her face was one of sheer determination.
"Well done, Beesly, that's qui-" He was unable to finish his sentence. Pam had launched herself at him, and with her arms around his neck the words simply wouldn't come anymore.
And suddenly Pam's mouth was crashing against his.
Jim's heart went into overdrive. It felt like it was hammering against his ribcage at a speed that definitely was not healthy. He wondered if she could hear it, even over the music (he wouldn't have been surprised, honestly), and then he stopped wondering things because holy shit, her hands had found his hair and she was practically pulling his head down to be closer to her.
The kiss was sloppy and warm, and she tasted strongly of all different kinds of alcohol, and just as the thought came into his head that she wouldn't even remember this in the morning, and he really shouldn't be kissing a girl like this when she was that drunk, her lips were gone.
It really couldn't have lasted more than 5 seconds at a stretch, but to Jim it had been centuries. Pam pulled back, grinning. Her triumphant-looking face swam into focus as Jim recovered from the dizzy spell he'd been suffering under ever since she had first came over to him.
"Whitest tennis shoes!"
"I know!" He feigned happiness for her. When he saw her, really saw her, she had fuzzy eyes and a slack-looking jaw, and Jim realised that she was completely out of it. He felt like he'd failed her or something. She'd had way too much to drink. The kiss - if you could even call it that; if Pam was even fully conscious of what she had done - should never have happened.
She has a boyfriend, Halpert.
Pam skipped over to the mini-bar, where one of Rick's college friends was making drinks. Jim couldn't even hear what she had ordered, but she was handed a bright red liquid with ice floating on top. She thanked the bartender before closing in on Jim again.
"Maybe we should get out of here." Jim suggested meekly. It was past midnight, after all.
"Whaaaaat?"
Jim didn't even know whether her confusion was a result of not hearing him over the music or not understanding what he meant.
"I think we should go," he tried again, jerking his head towards the direction of the front door.
"Wait 'til I finish this driiink." Without waiting for him to reply, she downed the entire glass, and spat out a couple of ice cubes afterwards.
"Can we go now?"
"No, no, no, no, no, 'cause then ice cubes melt and then it's like, it's like, it's a second drink!"
"Second drink?" Jim asked bemusedly, grinning once again.
Pam nodded and carefully chewed on a smaller ice cube she'd picked out of the glass with her fingers. After a moment of solemn crunching, she asked feebly: "Are you mad at me?"
When he looked into her eyes, she didn't seem half as drunk as she had before. Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted, but none of that had anything to do with the drinking.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because I got really drunk, because my boyfriend was super mean to you, because I kissed you, because I'm not leaving right now…" She listed them off with her fingers.
He decided to address the most important thing first. "I don't care that you kissed me," he replied, honestly. "I mean, I'd have appreciated some warning first, but…" He laughed, too awkwardly, and scrubbed a hand over his hair.
Pam didn't laugh with him, instead, she shook her head. "I didn't mean to…" She scrunched up her face as if thinking hard, until a sheepish expression came over her. "I did mean to," she admitted, as if only just having found that out, herself.
Jim's heart was beating fast again. She meant to kiss me? Why is she saying that? It's not true. She has a boyfriend.
"I think we'd better get you home." The words came out a little strangled, although Pam didn't seem to mind that, nor the fact that he hadn't addressed her previous statement.
She nodded with her head to the floor, and followed Jim on his path through the small crowds of people to the front door. He called out to Rick and Matt that they were leaving, but was out the door before they could shout their goodbyes back. Pam stepped out, ducking her head to get under his arm, and Jim stood down after her, letting the door slam shut.
The noise from inside suddenly became muted, like they had just plunged underwater.
Pam reached out her hand, with pleading eyes.
Jim held her hand in his, and she walked behind him to the car. She didn't let go until she was sat in her seat, but even then watched Jim dolefully through the windscreen until he had gotten into the seat next to her.
The car rumbled into life. Jim pulled out of the narrow parking space and started onto the motorway. He stared straight ahead for the most part, but could feel Pam's eyes boring into the side of his neck for the rest of the drive.
title taken from: "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver
this was meant to be sort of like "The Dundies" in S2. also, kudos to anyone who gets the UK Office reference! ;)