title taken from: "At Least It Was Here" by The 88

It seemed that the only thing more draining than spending every second with Karen was spending every second arguing with Karen.

Which, for the past couple days, was literally all they had been doing.

What was most frustrating about the experience was her need to dissect not only the things he did and said, but also the things he didn't do…

"Make a move" being one of them.

And now, as she had accidentally revealed to him during a late-night "discussion", she had been asking for Pam's advice. Pam, who wasn't even involved in their relationship. Pam, who hadn't spoken to him since the beginning of the semester. Pam, who he previously professed his love to…

It was weird, right?

He liked Karen - he was pretty sure of that fact - but lately it was all becoming far too exhausting. Being in a proper, serious relationship was tricky. There were too many expectations, too little clarification.

But, as she had said whilst sympathetically patting his knee, just before she slipped out the room, Karen wanted to make it work. And so did he… Probably.

(Definitely. Maybe? Definitely.)

Pam arrived to History 5 minutes before the start of class, for perhaps the first time since the beginning of the school year.

There was only one other person in the class. Good.

Gripping the strap of her satchel for confidence, she strolled determinedly up to the bench Dwight usually occupied alone.

"Can I sit here?"

Her words seemed to surprise him. Squinting up at her, he asked, "What?"

"I said, can I sit here?"

"Why?" His eyes narrowed, and he protectively pulled his things closer around him. "Is this some kind of joke? Is Jim going to jump up behind me or something? What's going on here? I could go to the dean, you know! I could-"

"Dwight, no." She rolled her eyes in annoyance, but immediately regretted it. After all, the guy kind of had a point. When was the last time she spoke to him without being involved in some kind of dumb prank with Jim? "I mean, it's nothing like that. I was just wondering if I could sit here, today. You can even keep a seat between us, if you want."

"…Fine." Dwight grumbled after a moment of thought. He carefully shoved his books to the side and shifted his chair in to allow her to move past.

"'Here okay?" She asked, just to make sure.

He replied with a jerky, upwards nod.

"Thank you." She responded primly, setting down her satchel and pulling the chair back. She could feel his eyes boring into the side of her head as she set up her laptop, but chose to ignore it - he was already being uncharacteristically kind by allowing her to sit there; she needn't irritate him.

She had just finished booting up her laptop when the other students began to file in. Mr Scott followed soon after, walking with a jaunty skip in his step that totally contrasted to the slow, dead pacing of his students.

For a wild moment, she thought that perhaps Jim had decided to skip class that day. On the other hand, however, she kind of hoped to see his reaction…

When he finally slumped in through the door, she dutifully looked down at her desk, pretending to be completely uninterested in his reception to her new placing.

She watched out the corner of her eye, of course, as he passed. It was hard to tell, but she could have sworn he seemed confused.

Well, good.

That's what he deserved, after everything. The jerk.

He took his seat on the bench behind her without saying a word, merely busied himself by setting up his computer.

The lesson began, and, as per usual, Mr Scott drifted off into an irrelevant tangent within the first 15 minutes of his lecture.

Bored, Pam stared around the class. Dwight typed on beside her, obnoxiously loud, and occasionally knocked his right elbow against her left.

Scott was halfway through a story about his step-father when Pam felt a light tap on her shoulder.

She shifted, feeling (perhaps inappropriately?) excited about what he might say.

"What?"

Jim dropped his pen back to his desk. The clatter of plastic against wood was a little louder than expected, and so a couple students turned round, vaguely affronted. He shot them an apologetic smile before turning back to her. "What's up?"

"What do you mean?"

He gestured, mutely, to her desk.

"Just felt like a change." She shrugged, before straining her ears to check if Mr Scott had resumed the actual lesson. He hadn't.

"A change." He repeated, face blank.

"Yes." She responded, and waited a beat before continuing. "I should probably get back to my notes. Don't want to miss anything."

"But-" He stopped short when he realised Pam had already turned back to her desk.

Pam shucked her bag with a sigh, and flopped heavily down onto her bed. Just as she was kicking off her shoes, she noticed a piece of paper folded on her desk.

.

PAM!
Figured I'd write you a note since you NEVER reply to my texts. Spending the night at Ryan's! Won't be back til tomorrow!
- K

.

She shook her head at her roommate's antics. Tonight was not the first time Kelly had spent the night away from their room, but it was nice of her to let Pam know, for once.

This meant that she would have the rest of the evening entirely to herself. Before Christmas, this time would usually be spent in one of three ways: video-chatting with Roy, calling her mom, or hanging to with Jim.

Now, of course, there was only one option left.

However, no sooner had she found the number for her mom's cell than there came a knock at her door.

It wasn't locked. "Come in?" She called, unsure at who would wish to see her.

The door swung open, and Karen greeted her with a megawatt grin.