Work Text:
"You're the best, Pam!" Kelly shrieked, before she turned and giddily ran from reception to the kitchen door.
Sitting at his desk, Jim followed Kelly's path until she disappeared into the kitchen and then turned to look at Pam, who looked pretty disheartened. He paused for a moment, then pushed back his chair and walked over to reception. He rooted around in the jellybean dispenser for a moment as he waited for Pam to pull her gaze up to him. "So why are you the best?" he asked when she finally looked at him.
"Oh," Pam replied with a roll of her eyes. "So she wanted to do this whole ‘Galentine's Day' thing," she said with air quotes.
"I'm sorry, what?" he snorted with laughter.
"Galentines. It's like spending time with your girlfriends the day before Valentine's Day."
"Oh. Right," he replied, tossing another couple of jellybeans into his mouth.
"She made this huge deal about wanting some girly night tonight, and, ugh, I agreed," Pam moaned, covering her face with her hands.
"Why'd you do that?" Jim laughed.
"She wouldn't stop!" she shrieked, straining up at him with wide eyes and making him chuckle. "She just kept on and on and on. It was the only way to get her to stop asking me."
"So you spending your evening with Kelly then?"
"No! She just bailed to go and hang out with Ryan and his friends at some bar." She rolled her eyes again and shook her head.
"Ok, so what's the problem? You're sad you don't get to hang out with Kelly?"
"No, it's not that," she sighed. "She made me buy all this stuff. Like cookies, and facemasks, and nail polish, and cupcakes to decorate. It's just everywhere, and it's so pink. I don't know what I'm gonna do with all of it. I guess throw it all out." She shook her head slightly. "What a waste of money," she mumbled to herself crossly.
"Can your sister come over instead?" Jim suggested.
"Too far to drive on a school night," she shrugged.
"Um, your friend Isobel?"
Pam shook her head. "Out of town."
"Meredith? Angela?" Jim tried to laugh, but Pam just raised her eyebrow at him. "How about, um," he cleared his throat, "Roy?"
"Yeah right," she said, her face falling. "He made it very clear he wanted ‘all that girly shit gone when I'm back from the bar'," she said in a mocking gruff voice.
"Oh," he said quietly, looking down at the paper clip he was fiddling with. "Uh, what about if I maybe came over?"
"What?" she asked with a small surprised laugh.
"I mean, I have a sister. It wouldn't be the first time I'd have had a face mask and done my nails."
"You'd really want to have a girls night in?" she asked skeptically.
"Why not?" he shrugged. Pam was silent while she tried to think of a reason. "I've even got Bring it On on DVD I can bring over."
"Ok," she smiled. "Girly night at my place."
--
"Happy Galentine's Day," Jim smiled as Pam opened the door to her place that evening. "Is that the right greeting? Or is it Happy Galentine's Evening? Happy Gal's Day? You gotta help me out here Beesly."
"Um, how about, ‘come in'," she laughed, gesturing for Jim to come inside.
He grinned and stepped inside, turning sideways to squeeze past her and into the hallway. As he walked through to the living room, Jim suddenly felt very aware that he was in Pam, and more to the point, Roy's space. A wave of nervousness hit him. He let out a slow breath through puffed cheeks, before pulling himself together and forcing a smile on his face. "So where shall I put this?" he asked, holding up a beat up Dream Phone box.
"Oh my god," Pam laughed, a smile beaming from her face as she took the box from Jim and examined it. "Where did you even get this from?"
"I swung by my parents place after work. It was my sister's, and I was pretty sure it was still in her old room. Might need some new batteries though."
"I'm sure I have some in the kitchen. Wanna put it over there?" she asked, pointing to the coffee table. "Do you want a drink? Roy's got some beer in the fridge."
"Uhmm..."
"Or I was gonna open the bottle of rosé that Kelly had forced me to buy."
"Rosé sounds great," he grinned, much more comfortable with that drink.
Pam headed to the kitchen and Jim was left alone in the room. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around, feeling so incredibly uncomfortable. The first thing he noticed as he tried not to be too nosey, was that there wasn't any of Pam's artwork on display. Or come to think of it, anything that really showed Pam even lived there. The room was mainly taken up by an obnoxiously large TV and speaker set up, but there was a small bookshelf in one corner. The top shelf held a couple of plastic trophies and a football, with the lower shelves filled with DVDs. The middle shelf had a very young looking photo of Pam and Roy keeping the DVDs upright, while the bottom shelf had Pam's Dundie doing the same. And that was pretty much it. No throw cushions, no scented candles, no art supplies. Nothing at all that Jim had assumed would fill Pam's home. The fact that he was so clearly in Roy's space washed over him like a feeling of impending doom.
"You can take a seat you know," Pam giggled as she walked back into the living room holding two glasses of pink wine and found Jim just standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
"Oh. Yeah, right," Jim said with a small blush. He went to sit down on the couch but Pam stopped him.
"No, we have to sit on the floor. It feels more appropriate."
"Whatever you say, Beesly." He crouched down on the floor, knees cracking, and then sat cross legged next to the coffee table. "So what's the plan for tonight?"
"Well," she said as she joined Jim on the floor, putting the glasses of wine on the coffee table in front of them, "we've got facemasks, a dozen cupcakes to decorate-".
"A dozen?" he guffawed.
"Kelly was meant to be bringing her sisters too," she replied with an eyeroll. "Cupcakes. Or I guess you can decorate a cookie if you want. Um, I said the facemasks. Dream Phone. Could watch a movie. Oh and of course, truth or dare."
"What, no ‘seven minutes in heaven'?" he asked, but immediately regretted it and felt his face slightly reddening at the insinuation.
"You've clearly never been to a girl's slumber party. You don't play that there," she grinned, poking her tongue between her teeth.
"Right," he lightly chuckled, relieved that Pam had deflected that awkward moment so smoothly. He picked up his glass and took a long slug, hoping the wine would help him relax.
"So, what's it gonna be?" she asked after taking a smaller sip of wine.
"Uh, I guess let's put the facemasks on now? Let them have some time to sit. And marinate. Or like bake us? That's how they work, right?"
"Something like that," Pam giggled. "Come on, let's go to the bathroom." She led him down the hallways, and they squeezed into the small bathroom together. "Take a seat," she laughed, gesturing to the toilet.
He closed the lid and perched on top of it, looking up expectantly at Pam. "So what do I need to do?"
"Just sit there," she said, turning around to grab the tube of face mask. "Oh, and put this on." She grabbed a pink head band from the counter and held it out to him.
"What?" he laughed, not taking it from her. "Why?"
"It'll keep the hair off your forehead. Here." She bent forward, slipped the band over his ears and pushed it up and backwards so that his bangs were swept away from his skin. Jim gazed up at her as she gently fussed over him. Their eyes locked momentarily as she carefully pushed away a loose strand of hair that was poking out of the head band, but she quickly pulled her hand away and turned around, slightly flustered. "Do you, uh, do you want me," she tried. "Should I put the mask on, or do you want to?"
Jim cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah I have no idea what I'm doing. Might be better if you do it," he said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck.
She gave him a soft smile and then picked up the tube again, squeezing a big blob of face mask onto her fingers. With fierce concentration, Pam studied his face, wiping the thick cream across his cheek. She moved downwards, covering his five o'clock shadow and getting into all his creases. Using her thumb and forefinger to tilt his chin up, Pam tried to avoid Jim's gaze, but it was inevitable that she met his eyeline. She wanted to make a joke to make this tension that seemed to have settled between them disappear, but she couldn't think of anything to save her life. And with the way she was holding his chin up, Jim wasn't able to speak to jump in and rescue her like he normally would. Instead, she opted for looking down to squeeze more of the face mask out on her fingers. She worked quickly, doing her best to avoid further eye contact. "I think you're done," she said, turning around to rinse her fingers off in the sink.
"How'd I look?" he grinned.
"Great," she laughed as she turned around. She pulled out her barrette, shook her hair loose and then pushed a head band on. "What?" she asked, looking from side to side with her face slightly flushed as she caught Jim staring at her.
"Oh, um. Nothing. Um," he stuttered. "I, um. I don't think I've seen you in a head band before. It suits you."
"Oh." She blushed harder. "Thanks."
"Do you want me to do you?" he asked, trying to break the tension, but cringed as soon as he said it.
"What?" she snapped.
"I mean, do you want me to put your mask on?"
"Oh, um, you know, that's ok. I'm used to doing it in the mirror myself." She turned her back to Jim and bent forward to apply her own face mask.
Jim kept the that's what she said to himself for fear of making the situation even worse. He looked upwards to the ceiling once he realised that if he looked straight ahead, he'd just be staring at Pam's ass. He wondered how this evening was going to get any less awkward than it seemed to be. "So um," he cleared his throat, "what do you wanna do first?" He realised that his choice of Dream Phone probably wasn't the best game to have brought, even if it was pretty funny. He really didn't need to reveal to Pam that he was actually her secret admirer. Truth or dare also wasn't sounding like a good idea. Do you really not know that I'm in love with you? Do you have feelings for me? I dare you to kiss me. Yeah that game would be a terrible idea. He prayed that she wanted to paint his nails instead.
They locked eyes through the mirror. "Cupcake decorating," she said decisively.
"Lead the way, Beesly," he smiled, mentally breathing a sigh of relief.
They made a quick stop in the living room to collect their wine glasses, and then headed to the kitchen. As Jim took a seat at the kitchen table, Pam brought from the counter a tray of pre-made cupcakes, plus tubs of white and pink frosting and various pots of sprinkles. They worked seamlessly together, passing cakes and exchanging tubs, as they decorated the small cakes and chatted comfortably. "You having your card game tomorrow?" Pam asked as she passed Jim another cupcake.
"Yeah," Jim grinned. "Pizza, beer, taking my friends' money. It's gonna be great. I'd, um, I'd invite you guys, but I'm sure you've got better things going on." He took a gulp of his wine.
"Oh yeah," she replied, immediately flustered, "I, um, I'm sure Roy, you know has, um, has something planned." She nodded her head and then took a large sip of her own wine. She went to reach for the tub of sprinkles, but accidentally knocked it all over Jim. "Crap," she whispered as she rushed to clear the mess up.
"I got it," Jim smiled as he swept the sprinkles into his hand. He walked over to the trash can and rubbed his hands together above it. "When do we need to wash this stuff off?" he asked as he headed back to the table.
"Yeah, about now," she laughed, looking down at her watch with a slight grimace and then stood up. "Should be fine."
"Oh god, is this gonna peel all my skin off?" he asked as he trailed behind her on the way to the bathroom.
"No you dork. It'll just make you even more handsome," she called over her shoulder.
"Phew," he chuckled, but his heart beat rapidly at what she'd said.
Once again, Jim took a seat on the closed toilet lid as Pam busied herself at the sink. "Close your eyes," she said as she turned around, wet cotton pads in her hands. He did as she said, and Pam wiped the dried face mask off of him, making sure her movements were gentle but firm. He stayed completely still with his heart beating rapidly, paralysed by how close she was standing over him, yet unable to see anything. She patted his face dry with a towel once it was all removed, and then finally told Jim to open his eyes. "You're all set."
"Thanks," he smiled as he looked up at her.
"Oh wait, you need some moisturiser," she quickly added, reaching for a tube from the counter. "Hold out your hand."
Jim put his hand out, and Pam put her underneath to steady it. She squeezed a large blob into his hand. "Thanks," he smiled, and then started to rub it over his face. Once it was all applied, he started to take his head band off.
"No leave it until the cream is all dried or your hair is gonna stick to it, and that's gonna be all kinds of gross," she laughed.
"Whatever you say. You're the boss," he replied with a mock salute.
"Wanna go pick a movie while I was this off?" Pam asked as she turned around and faced the mirror.
"Sure. Any requests?" he asked her reflection.
"Dealers choice," she said, with a glint in her eye. "Surprise me."
"Alright," he grinned, and then headed out of the bathroom.
Once again, Jim found himself alone and self conscious in the living room. He looked through Pam and Roy's DVD collection. Die Hard. Mission Impossible. The Matrix. The Terminator. He rolled his eyes at the movies, all clearly Roy's, and imagined the evenings that Pam and that oaf would spend together watching them, with Pam bored out of her mind. Top Gun. Armageddon. The Princess Bride. He pulled that DVD out and smiled to himself, imagining Pam watching it alone while Roy was out getting wasted at a bar. Or you know, just not there. He kept rolling his eyes at all the ‘manly' movies, but pulled each one out that was clearly Pam's. Fargo. Dazed and Confused. Edward Scissorhands.
"Find anything good?" Pam asked, causing Jim to turn around in surprise.
He held up the DVDs he'd pulled from the bookshelf in a fan. "I know you said dealer's choice, but I figured I'd let you have the final say," he grinned.
"Jim, Jim, Jim," she sighed with a shake of her head. "It's Galentine's Day. We need something way more girly." She walked over to the TV stand, opened one of the drawers and pulled out a small stack of DVDs. She was about to hand them over to Jim, but paused. "No judgement ok? These are my guilty pleasures. And yes, I keep them hidden."
He grinned like the cat that got the cream as he took the cases from her and looked through them. She's All That. Clueless. Father of the Bride. You've Got Mail. Legally Blonde. He smirked at the last one, and was about to make a joke about it and Katy, but thought better of it. "You've Got Mail?" he suggested, holding it up.
"Hmm. No. You're wrong. Cute Valentine's Day movie, but it's not right for today," Pam replied, walking over and plucking a DVD out of his hand. "We're watching Clueless. It's about friends and nineties' fashion and having too much money. And it's perfect for Galentine's Day. There's clearly no other choice."
"Like as if," he grinned, making Pam laugh.
Pam put the DVD into the player and they settled in next to each other on the living room floor. As she bobbed her head to ‘Kids in America', Jim smiled while he opened the next bottle of rosé, unable to take his eyes off of her. "I was always desperate for this closet," she sighed as she held up her glass for Jim to refill.
"Oh, yeah. Same," he grinned as he topped her up.
"Dork," she laughed, rolling her eyes.
"Pam, it's not easy working out which t-shirt goes with which pair of jeans," he protested with a mocking tone. "And don't even get me started on how to choose the perfect tie and shirt combination."
"Don't worry, I won't," she laughed. "Now shhh."
"Yes ma'am," he whispered, before turning his attention to the TV.
They sat mostly in silence as they watched the movie, sipping their wine and munching on the cookies and cupcakes, apart from when Pam would talk along with the more iconic lines. "Sorry," she added after talking along with the Monet quote. "I just love this movie."
"Don't be sorry. It's very cute," he shrugged.
Pam gave him a shy smile and took another sip of wine, feeling herself relaxing more into the evening, and more into Jim who she was practically pressed up against on the floor. So relaxed in fact, that she didn't notice when her eyes started to droop.
But Jim did. He noticed her breathing slow, and felt her head ever so softly drop onto his shoulder like it had in the conference room last year. He tilted his head slightly to gaze at her face, with her eyelids closed and the contented look that had washed over her. He completely abandoned the movie, not caring the slightest about the rich teenagers when he had his whole world snuggled against him. For the first time that night, and in a long time really, he finally felt right. They felt right. This is how he wanted to spend every night with Pam. Best friends hanging out together. Best friends who were also in love with each other.
He started to close his eyes, fully relaxing into the fantasy that he had lulled himself into, when suddenly he heard keys jangling and then the front door opening. He jolted upright and felt his body tense up as if every muscle was on high alert. "Beesly, wake up," he whispered.
"Hmm?" she sleepily asked, just about opening one eye.
"Roy's home."
"Shit," she muttered to herself as she practically jumped ten feet in the air away from Jim and settled herself on the couch.
"You ok?" he asked, looking up at her from his position still on the floor.
"Um, yeah. No, I'm all good. Just wasn't expecting him home so early," she explained, looking both embarrassed and crestfallen at the same time.
"Pammy, you make anything for dinner?" Roy yelled from the hallway.
"No, I wasn't expecting you home so early. I figured you'd get food out," Pam called back. She turned her attention to Jim. "Sorry," she whispered to him.
"It's cool, I should probably head home anyway. It's getting kinda late," he shrugged.
"Oh, yeah," she replied, looking visibly sad.
"Wanna make me a sandw-," Roy said as he walked into the living room, but stopped himself when he saw Jim and Pam sitting there. "Halpert. What you doing here?" He looked at the chick flick on the large TV, the pink cupcakes and the glasses of rosé and frowned.
"Uh, Kelly bailed on me, so Jim came over for that Galentine's thing I was planning," Pam said, her face a little pink.
"Sounds pretty gay," Roy laughed. "Nice head band man," he mocked with a nod of his head towards Jim.
Jim touched the pink head band that was still holding his hair back. "Oh. Right," he tried to laugh as he slid the band off and put it on the coffee table. "I'll, um, get out of your way."
"I'll walk you out," Pam replied, taking off her own head band and putting it down on the table so that it overlapped Jim's.
"See ya Halpert. Don't forget to reattach your balls where you left them at the front door," Roy called as he left the living room, laughing to himself.
"I'm so sorry," Pam said to Jim when they were alone again.
"Don't sweat it. You'd fallen asleep, I was about to. It's probably a good thing I go home now anyway," he said as he got up and walked out into the hallway.
She watched him slip his shoes on and handed him his jacket. "Yeah, I guess," she sighed. "Was a fun night though," she said, almost as a question, her voice full of hope.
"It really was," he smiled back at her. "And my skin has never felt softer," he grinned.
"You make a great girl friend," she smiled, her tongue poking between her teeth and her hands clenched in front of her. "My best girl friend."
"Thanks." He tried to laugh, but felt slightly like he'd been punched in the stomach. He pulled his jacket on and turned to open the door. "See you tomorrow?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Definitely."
"Alright Beesly. Thanks for tonight." He tugged the door open and stepped into the cold night air. As he reached his car, he turned back to wave at Pam who was still standing at the door. But before she could wave back, Roy put his arm around her waist and pulled her backwards. Her giggle was the last thing he heard before the front door slammed shut.
As Jim pulled open his car door and climbed in, he made a mental note to leave the little Valentine's candygram he'd bought for Pam tomorrow at home. Valentine's Day is for lovers after all. Not a day for best friends. But at least he'd always have Galentine's Day.