Warmth Where There Was Little (The Office; Jim/Pam ; Pam)

[Nebula]

A/N: Hey guys!! I know that I’m like... 10 years? late to The Office bandwagon but I've recently watched the whole series through and became kind of obsessed. With Jim and Pam in particular, tbh. They’re hetero excellence and give me all the lovely soft, domestic, genuine, lovey-dovey (but still somehow grounded in reality) type of romance feels that I adore.

Basically they’re great and I've been super inspired to write something sick!fic-y for them, so here it is!! Hope at least some people may enjoy.

[ Set some time around the middle of s5? just after Pam gets back from NYC; canon if you squint ]

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It’s not long after Pam gets back from New York that the inevitable happens.

She may be safely back in Scranton now, settling (mostly) happily back into the well-trodden path of her old life and routine, but that wasn’t to say that student life wasn’t going to catch up with her. After spending weeks and weeks constantly stressed and flirting with sleep deprivation, whether it be due to class schedules, assignment deadlines, juggling both alongside a part-time job, or trying to get as much as she possibly could out of student life - the house of cards was all bound to come crashing down at some point. Don’t get Jim wrong, he had had absolutely no doubt in his mind and every faith that she could handle it all, but she was only human. College dorm buildings and the kids that tend to inhabit them are, frankly, gross. He knew that from experience. He’d once been one of them. That combined with all the environmental stress factors...

It was a miracle that she hadn’t gotten sick before now. But it also wasn’t surprising that it was only happening now that she finally had a moment to catch her breath.

He thinks he hears it edging her voice, that tired husky heaviness that tends to indicate something being not quite right when she’s greeting him from her desk that morning. She’d been staying at his place nearly every night since she got back, only the night before had insisted that she needed to start packing up her stuff, getting ready to move out when her lease was up in a couple of weeks. The official plan was for her to move into Jim’s place for the time being until they could properly start looking for a place together, and she was drastically behind in getting all of that sorted out. So it was a necessary evil. He knew inwardly that he was being a little pathetic, but even for that one night he missed her and was excited to see her.

He leans his elbows on her desk as he always does and they chat entirely normally. Pleasantly even. She looks tired, but doesn’t bring it up so he drops it, reasoning that he’s just being overly observant to the point of hearing things. That has kind of been happening since she got back; having missed her so much that he’s just that much more aware of her presence now that she is here.

Truth be told he’d gotten so used to Pam living in his pocket over the years, and vice versa, that it was a lot harder than he ever thought it would be for her to be gone. It inevitably made him wonder what it would be like working here without her one day, and he honestly didn’t think he’d be able to do it. The ache of her absence was soothed for him somewhat by the reassuring thought that she was away pursuing her dreams, but that didn’t mean the wound didn’t hurt when prodded. Which didn’t help when he had a compulsive habit of glancing up at her desk throughout the day, each time she wasn’t there to meet his eye another irritating prod.

So yeah, it had been difficult. But she was back now.

After conferring over IM sometime later they decide to take their mid-morning coffee break together and sneak off to the break room, which they apparently time perfectly seeing as the room is empty. These times were the hardest to deal with when she was gone - the times that they always spent close in each other’s company, huddled together at the far table in conversation, pretty much since the day he’d started here. They’d pick each other’s brains, tease, joke, talk about their futures, learn the silly, intimate little details about each other that really bore the hallmark of truly knowing that person. 

Pam’s favourite flavour of yogurt is mixed berry. 

Jim’s first concert he ever went to was a Green Day gig his older girlfriend snuck him into when he was 15. 

God he’d missed this. Despite what it might look like he really wasn’t the clingy, needy type of boyfriend. He wasn’t. Never had been. It was just… Pam. He just genuinely thought his fiance was the coolest person ever, and he would never get sick of just chatting with her.

That’s when Jim starts to realise that perhaps he’d been a bit hasty in casting off his concerns. They’re in the midst of a heated discussion on last night’s episode of ‘The Apprentice’ and as she’s talking he can’t help but notice that she just looks… run down. Dark circles sit prominently under her eyes, she’s definitely paler than usual, and she just looks like she needs a nap more than anything. Also he doesn’t know if she’s fully aware she’s doing it but even as they’re talking she keeps snuffling and rubbing the edge of her nose with the side of her finger tip like its irritating her.

He’s joking about his fantasy football league and something characteristically dumb Kevin said at their last meeting when her eyes go glassy. Her expression slackens as she turns away from him quickly, bringing her forearm up to cover her mouth.

“huH’ESSSCH’uh… hh-?...hH’RESSSHuh”

Jim winces a little in sympathy, they sounded kind of harsh.

“Bless you…” he says, his hand finding its way to her back as she straightens up again, sniffling a lot more prominently now.

“Ugh, sorry”

“No, no, you're good…” His eyebrows furrow slightly in concern. He’s going to let it go, but something instinctively makes him change courses at the last moment. “Hey, are you feeling okay?”

Pam mirrors his expression. “Yeah, of course. I’m fine” she assures with a dismissive hand wave. “Over two sneezes? Really?”

As a dismissal it would have a lot more substance if her nose wasn’t already twitching and her eyes weren’t starting to water. This time she cups her hands in front of her nose and mouth as she turns away. This one takes a little longer, teases a little bit more and causes her eyebrows to crease in annoyance as her eyes flutter closed, full of moisture.

“Hhuh… hihhh-? hh-hH’ekssstchuh”

She jerks under his hand and he rubs her back in response, looking skeptical. She’s blushing a little and is full of sniffles, using the edge of her thumb to dab at the corner of her nostril.

“Are you sure? Because you definitely sound like you’re coming down with something”

Suddenly, Pam’s hackles appear to rise and she her whole body stiffens under his touch.

“I said I’m fine, Jim, okay?” she snaps defensively, like he’s just accused her of something. For a split second he’s a little offended, but whilst he guesses she’s aiming for ‘resolute’, her voice just sounds exhausted. Which makes it a lot easier not to take the slight personally. Nonetheless, her tone does retain that certain edge he’d come to recognise in her over the years. The one spelled out to him the need to simply back off, let her have her space, and that she’d come back to him when the mood passed. One thing about Pam is that she can be very stubborn when she wants to be, and there’s absolutely no forcing her to do anything when she’s set her mind a certain way. It can be both endearing and incredibly frustrating, but it’s part of who she is.

So reluctantly he bottles up his concern and decides to give her space.

The rest of the day is tough to say the least. They sit not even ten feet away from each other and are pretty much directly in each other’s line of sight; he can’t just simply not notice her even on the most routine of days. But when she’s clearly sick with a cold that’s steadily getting worse throughout the course of the day, he finds himself habitually glancing up towards reception every… 45 seconds? It’s truly a wonder he manages to get any work done at all.

By the time the afternoon rolls around she’s upgraded from sounding ‘tired’ to straight up ‘miserable’ - he can practically feel it radiating across the room. She’s now sneezing every few minutes, sniffling constantly, and a little ball of tissues have become what looks like a permanent accessory in her hand. Also… ‘Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam’ is not a fun sentence to say when you’re all stuffed up. He wasn’t the only one to notice either; others in the office were clearly giving her judging looks and a wide berth.

With all of Jim’s ‘protective boyfriend’ instincts being suitably tested and his feet itching to just walk up to her desk and check up on her, around 3ish he ultimately decides instead to take a break (for fear that she still wasn’t in the mood to be bothered). He doesn’t see but as soon as he stands up her eyes rise from her computer, heavy-lidded, rheumy gaze following him as he leaves.

He’s standing in front of the vending machine, contemplating the many pros and cons of grape soda vs plain old coke, when suddenly a pair of arms encircle his waist from behind. 

“I thidk I’b getting a cold” She muffles the words into his back, laden with softly-spoken resignation.

Jim could gloat about being right or say ‘I told you so’, but honestly she sounded miserable enough that even the thought of doing so made him feel bad. It’s the first time she’s spoken to him in hours, and his resolve melts.

“I think so too” he replies instead, turning around in her hold and pulling her against his chest. Her arms tighten around him and she sags against him, snuggling her head into his shoulder. “Though, no offence, I think at this stage we’re kind of past that point, Bees”

As if destined to only prove his point further that far-away look crosses her face again as one of her sniffles appears to spark something, and he can feel her breath hitch in her chest against his body. She dislodges herself and leans away as much as his hold will allow, raising her forearm to helplessly twitchy, red-tinged nostrils.

“Ugh, S-S..hh….Sorry- hhiH’tssscch’uhh”

Before he can even bless her, or say anything at all, she’s tucked herself back into her spot and he hears a muffled ‘I kdnow’ mumbled into the fabric of his shirt. It sounds conclusive. Defeat considered admitted, however reluctantly. The sense of it hangs in the air as they remain like that in comfortable silence for around a minute. Pam relaxes further by the second into his embrace, letting out a tired hum when he leans down to kiss the crown of her head, then rests his cheek on it. God, she’d forgotten just how much could be put right by one of Jim’s hugs. His arms were long so they completely encompassed her. He held her so tight, large palms calming pressures against her back or clutching her sides, and made her feel so warm and secure. Of course New York was an overall positive experience and she’s glad she went and took that chance - but to tell the truth she never felt truly at home or safe there. With growth and self-discovery came a lot of anxiety and uncertainty, and she wasn’t sure she handled the stress in the best way (no shit, given her current circumstances). Maybe it was the hug withdrawal.

She clings to him tightly, whether it be for warmth, support or comfort, which is why Jim feels it when harsh shiver rakes down her spine. He lifts his head to look down at her in concern, eyebrows drawn.

“Hey, you okay?”

She shrugs, fingers bunching in the back of his shirt. “Yeah, I, uh… I just cad’t seeb to get warmb today”

The statement (coming from her in this condition) hits him like whiplash, from somewhere primal or deeply instinctive. He’d very happily spend the rest of his life taking care of Pam Beesly, and would do absolutely anything to make sure she was okay. At all times. All of this, compounded with the fact that he hadn’t been able to do such whilst she’s been away.

He’s so happy and so proud that she did it. But he’s also so happy she’s back.

Overcome with sudden affection, Jim’s expression softens and he cups her cheek and presses a soft kiss to her lips.

“You’ll regret that whed you get this frob mbe, I probise…” she scolds lightly. Despite herself though, she can’t quite tame the smile tugging at the corners of her lips, eyes shining with the love mirrored in Jim’s own.

Jim wordlessly brushes just off the half-hearted warning with a lazy shrug.

When they eventually make their way back to the office, Pam is confused when Jim doesn’t return to his desk, but instead just… leaves. She quickly checks that she didn’t miss any calls during her impromptu break, which she hadn’t (it’s been an interminably slow day, which notably hasn’t helped keep her mind off her cold in any sort of way), so gets up again to go brew a mug of tea.

When she returns she finds a very familiar ‘University of Scranton’ hoodie folded up neatly on her chair. She knows its his, and that it was from his old college basketball team, name on the back and all. Pam’s seen it on him a million times; it’s one of his softest, and therefore most comfy. She’s lost count of how many times she’s stolen it on him. She picks it up discreetly and sits down, smiling behind the desk as she reflexively brings it to her nose to smell it. She immediately feels silly because she’s so blocked up at this point she hasn’t a hope in hell of smelling anything - but nonetheless she knows it smells like him, and that’s enough.

Pam slips it on over the top of her cardigan with a stuffy but content sigh, and predictably sleeves entirely too long for her and it hangs down somewhere near her mid-thigh. Jim doesn’t look up from his computer, but he must catch the sight in his peripheral vision because he looks entirely too pleased with himself than he ever does looking at client lists.

Suddenly she’s not quite so cold anymore

Edited December 11, 2019 by Nebula

[Heather]

So so so good 😍

[Oolia]

Oh my goodness this was SO lovely and so well written! It's never too late for a pam/jim caretaking fic imo 🥰

Thank you so much for sharing!

[Spoo]

I’ve got a serious case of warm fuzzies after reading this.  So soft!! I love these two and reading a well-written, beautifully in-character fic is just *chefs kiss*.   

[Nas]

OOOOO

I didn't know that I needed this, but I did need this fic. I love your writing style and sneeze spelling how you captured their relationship & personalities. lol plus they did have their proposal in the rain....   Thank you so much for writing and sharing this. ❤️ 

[Zwee]

This is completely lovely and so well written! I will always carry the torch for Jim and Pam, and this felt like it could easily have been a secondary storyline in an episode right after Pam gets back. 

Also this part is so sweet, and so them:

On 12/10/2019 at 9:43 PM, Nebula said:

"I thidk I’b getting a cold” She muffles the words into his back, laden with softly-spoken resignation.

Jim could gloat about being right or say ‘I told you so’, but honestly she sounded miserable enough that even the thought of doing so made him feel bad. It’s the first time she’s spoken to him in hours, and his resolve melts.

“I think so too” he replies instead, turning around in her hold and pulling her against his chest. Her arms tighten around him and she sags against him, snuggling her head into his shoulder. “Though, no offence, I think at this stage we’re kind of past that point, Bees”

Love how she completely gives up on denying what he knew from the start, and he's just like, "I think so too."

I really enjoyed this!

[Nebula]

On 12/11/2019 at 8:49 AM, Heather said:

So so so good 😍

Thank-you so so much!

 

On 12/11/2019 at 10:57 AM, Oolia said:

Oh my goodness this was SO lovely and so well written! It's never too late for a pam/jim caretaking fic imo 🥰

Thank you so much for sharing!

Oh thank God! Because it's something I've dedicated a lot of my time to thinking about, haha. You're so welcome! Glad you enjoyed.

 

On 12/11/2019 at 6:20 PM, Spoo said:

I’ve got a serious case of warm fuzzies after reading this.  So soft!! I love these two and reading a well-written, beautifully in-character fic is just *chefs kiss*.   

Awww, yay! I know we've chatted about this on other platforms already but, like, thank you again for being so mega sweet and supportive 💕 

 

On 12/12/2019 at 3:17 PM, Cecilia said:

OOOOO

I didn't know that I needed this, but I did need this fic. I love your writing style and sneeze spelling how you captured their relationship & personalities. lol plus they did have their proposal in the rain....   Thank you so much for writing and sharing this. ❤️ 

Ahhhh, you have no idea how much that all means for me to hear! I so so appreciate it, and you taking the time to comment, thank you!

Speaking of that proposal in the rain tho, and the following scene of Jim coming back soaking wet... huh. Now there's a thought 😏

 

On 12/13/2019 at 6:05 AM, Zwee said:

This is completely lovely and so well written! I will always carry the torch for Jim and Pam, and this felt like it could easily have been a secondary storyline in an episode right after Pam gets back. 

Also this part is so sweet, and so them:

Love how she completely gives up on denying what he knew from the start, and he's just like, "I think so too."

I really enjoyed this!

Okay, so, this comment from you kind of made my day. Legit. I love their on-screen relationship/chemistry/banter so much, and I'm such a stickler for characterisation - making sure they sound realistic and IC is so paramount for me and it's something I'm super conscious of in the writing process. So it means a lot to hear it was 'there' for you!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

(also can I just say your 'Bluetooth' fic for them is one of my absolute favourites. I've read it countless times at this point, and never get bored of it. So so good! You nail their voices + cute dynamic and it's just lovely).