When Jim walked into the office on Monday morning he was a bit surprised to see Kevin, Oscar, Ryan, Creed and Andy all huddled together, listening intently to something Kevin was saying. The only other person in the office was Angela, who was at her desk, arms crossed, looking in the opposite direction making a clear effort to ignore the gossip circle taking place not far from her desk. When Kevin saw Jim walk in he stopped talking, everyone looked over at Jim. He stared back, puzzled...

"What's going on guys?" He questioned. Not sure if he actually wanted to know?

"Why don't you tell us Big Tuna." Replied Andy

"Yeah, what'd you do Halpert" asked Creed with his creepy half smile.

"Don't have any idea what you guys are talking about" said Jim, Feeling very confused now.

Kevin gave him a serious look "we were all out at poor Richards on Friday night." Kevin said "Pam and Roy were sitting at the bar talking, when Roy starts yelling something bout you coming on to Pam... he was real angry!

Then Oscar piped up "He threw his glass across the bar, and he and his brother just started breaking everything they could get their hands on."

Jim felt uncomfortably aware that every single pair of eyes was on him.

"I didn't do anything!" He said defensively. "Not recently at least..." he added sheepishly in a low tone.

They were all still looking at him expectantly.

He sighed, feeling very uneasy. He couldn't see a way out of this conversation that didn't involve revealing much more than he would have liked.

"Ok, look..." He said impatiently "back in May, on casino night, Pam and I kissed. It wasn't a big deal. It didn't mean anything, and it was like 8 month ago!"

"Doesn't sound like Roy cares how long ago it was" Kevin said with a smirk.

Jim was spared having to respond by the sound of the door opening. In walked Micheal.

"Ah!" He said "here are my faithful servants! TO WORK!" He cried as he brandished an imaginary whip.

Everyone dispersed slowly as Micheal walked into his office chuckling. Jim just stood there feeling a little dazed, not knowing exactly what to think.

Was he right in thinking that this meant Pam had told Roy about casino night? If that's what happened, why did she choose to tell him now? Did Roy really get so angry he trashed the whole bar? There was an underlying feeling sneaking it's way up to the front of his mind, making his stomach clench. If he really had been that angry, was Pam alright? Jim knew Roy had a nasty temper, but he'd never imagined he'd do anything as aggressive as what they'd just described.

He heard the sound of the office door opening and he looking around somewhat anxiously... it was just Stanley, followed closely by phyllis. Jim stepped over to his desk and sank down in his chair, his mind still going 100 miles an hour.

Over the next several minutes the rest of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton employee's began to trickled in. Jim's eyes kept flicking to the door. When Karen came in she walked straight to him, smiling.

"Hey, wanna go see a movie tonight?" She asked, Giving him a kiss on the lips.

"Oh, um... maybe." Jim said distractedly.

"You ok?" She asked. concerned with his less than exuberant response.

"Yeah." He said "just have a lot of calls to make today." And he gave her a small smile

She smiled back. "alright, well I'll let you get to work!"

As she walked towards her desk the door opened again and Pam walked in. Jim scanned her face, She looked a bit tired and distracted but otherwise well. He dropped his eyes to his keyboard as Karen walked by Pam and they exchanged a polite good morning greeting.

The hours passed slowly. Jim tried to focus on his work, but it was even harder than usually today. He didn't know if he was imagining it, but he'd swear he could feel Pams gaze on the back of his neck even more intense and frequent than normal, and the awkwardness that had been between them ever since his return from Scranton felt even more pronounced today.

At a few minutes to 5:00pm Karen came over, leaned against his desk and started telling him about the movie she wanted to go see. He listened to her words half heartedly, occasionally giving her an "uh huh" or "oh".

"So, do you want to go see it, or not?" She pushed.

"I don't know..." Jim says "I feel like...Monday night Crowds... you know?"

"Oh my god!" She retorts teasingly "you're like an agoraphobic!"

"Agoraphobic?" He challenged, looking up at her smiling with his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

Jim was sure he could feel Pams eyes on him again.

"You would rather sit on your couch and watch a Phillies game than go out to a movie with your awesome girlfriend." Karen mocks.

"Absolutely correct." He shoots back playfully. Standing up and grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair.

"Ok." She says laughing "Here's what's gonna happen: You're gonna suck it up!"

"Here we go." he says sarcastically.

"And we're gonna go to dinner!"

"Okey" he chuckles as he puts on his jacket.

"And then we're gonna go to the movie!"

"Sounds g-"

"Hey! Halpert!" Suddenly their conversation is cut off by a shout from the front of the office.

Jim turns to see Roy standing by the reception desk looking disheveled, and extremely angry.

"Hey.." Jim says tentatively, taking in Roy's appearance. He glanced at Pam who was looking right at him. Her eyes full of shock and fear. Simultaneously they both looked back to Roy just as he rushed at Jim.

Jim heard Pam shouting "Roy! No!"

He grabbed Karen and pushed her out of the way instinctual. Straitening up to see Roy just feet from him his teeth clenched, eyes angry. His right arm was cocked back, hand fisted... ready to strike.

Jim managed to bring his arm up just in time to block the blow. Roy's fist met his forearm and he felt pain radiate through it as he stumbled backward a bit. He wasn't able to recover fast enough. Roy immediately swung at him with his left fist instead this time, landing it square on Jim's cheek. The force of it knocked him back on his desk as he felt a searing pain shoot through his jaw and cheek bone, blurring his vision.

He blinked frantically, trying to steady himself, bracing for another impacted. He heard Pam still shouting, pleading furiously.

"No! Roy! Stop!"

As Jim turned his face back to Roy, attempting to get his bearings, he saw Pam had run out from behind the reception desk, and as Roy swung his right arm back to strike again Pam grabbed hold of his arm and tried to pull him back. Roy spun around in anger and hit her right across the face with the back of his hand, sending her tumbling backwards into the reception desk.

Jim felt white hot fury surge through every molecule of his body. He grabbed Roy by the shoulder, yanking him around to face him again while pulling back his own fist and he landed a punch on Roy's cheek with as much power as he could manage. Anger like he had never felt was coursing through his veins, and he was completely overcome with the desire to cause Roy as much pain as possible for what he had just done to Pam.

However, Roy was dazed for only a second. He lunged at Jim, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket with both hands. Their faces just inches apart. Roy's teeth bared, his eyes flashing in anger, and Jim could smell the overpowering scent of alcohol on his breath.

Out of nowhere Jim was blinded by a terrible stinging sensation in his eyes. He felt Roy release him as tears flooded his eyes, blurring his vision completely. He heard Dwight yell "Don't move! Stay on the ground!" He blinked, trying to clear his vision, his eyes still stinging. After a few long moments he was able to make out blurry figures around him, and he realized that Dwight must have used pepper spray on Roy.

"Pam, are you ok?" Jim called out, unable to make out which blurry figure was hers.

He heard a soft "yes." In reply and he breathed a small sigh of relief.

0000000000000000000000000000000

Pam stood at the sink in the woman's bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror where the beginnings of a nasty black eye had already started to developed. She clutched the counter, trying to convince her hands to stop shaking.

How could she have let this happen? It's completely her fault. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her thoughts, but she couldn't rid herself of the vision of Roy bringing his fist down so viciously across Jims face... her stomach clenched again, and tears burned in her eyes. She was sure she was going to be sick.

This is all her fault. What was she thinking telling Roy about the kiss?! He's always had a temper. She knows that! She should have known something like this would happen. And now Jim was hurt, and if she thought he was distant and detached from her before she was sure this incident would do her no favors in mending their friendship.

She felt like the walls were closing in around her, and she willed herself to take deep breaths.

Eventually her mind and body began to calm a little. She took a few more deep breaths and stepped out of the bathroom. She wanted to check on Jim and make sure he was alright, even though he had already insisted to the whole office that he was fine.

Pam walked into the break room to see Jim sitting in a chair, Karen examining His wrist. Neither of them noticed her as she stood in the doorway.

"I think it looks pretty swollen." Karen was saying "you might have sprained it when you punch him."

"Yeah, maybe." Jim replied in what Pam thought was a rather flat tone.

"I have a wrap in my car." Karen said "I'll go grab it for you, just in case."

As she turned to leave she saw Pam standing there. Karen nodded at her as Pam stepped in the break room so that Karen could go through the doorway.

"Beesley." Jim greeted her as she walked into the room. He didn't say it with the same warmth and enthusiasm he used to, (back before he'd gone to Scranton) but she was surprised that it felt less forced and more friendly than their interaction had been of late.

"Hey." She said softly.

"How ya doin'?" He asked. And she could hear the note if genuine concern in his voice.

"I'm... I'm alright." She said, and then She smiled at him. "How are you?"

She could see a deep purple bruise forming under his eye, and the wrist on his right hand definitely did look rather swollen.

"Oh, I'm fine!" He said casually.

She raised her eyebrows and gave him a disbelieving look. Her eyes still locked on the bruise that seemed to be getting darker by the second.

"Really Beasley, I'm totally ok." He insisted, with just a touch of his old warmth.

"Listen..." she began shakily "I'm really sor-"

"Don't worry about it Pam!" He interrupted "I'm seriously good."

"I really am sorry though." She said earnestly.

"Thanks." he said after a small pause "what made you decide to tell him now?" He added, looking her right in the eyes.

Pam immediately dropped her gaze to the floor "I thought maybe we could have a fresh start..." she mumbled at her shoes. "You know, there's so much history between us..." Then she let out something between a scoff and a sigh, Looking back up to meet his gaze "It was just so stupid, getting back together with him. What was I thinking?"

This time it was Jim who looked away. "No, I mean, you guys really seem to have a strong connection"

"Not anymore." She said firmly "it's completely over now."

He stood up from his chair as a small smile crossed his lips, clearly unconvinced. "We'll see" he said as he walk to the door "I'm sure you guys will find your way back to each other some day."

The slight sarcasm in his voice stung her. "Jim." She said just before he walked through the door. He turned. "I really am sorry!" She said, pushing back the tears that were stinging her eyes.

"Don't worry about it Beesley." He said, but all the warmth had gone from his voice. Then he turned and walked out. Leaving her there in miserable silence. She felt the tears start to fall as the walls started closing in again.