the office oneshot🧚‍♀️ (jim halpert mostly)

if you get strangled (jim and dwight)

***

"mister halpert? are you still here"

he heard the voice get out of his phone, but he was unable to respond. he felt like he was going to throw up- maybe faint.

"hello?"

jim dropped his phone on the floor, he didn't even have the strength to hold it.

he sat down, his brain unable the process the new information. the numbness soon became panic, pain, sadness- he felt the tears fill his eyes before slipping out, glistening on his cheek.

he was gone, pete was gone.

the scranton strangler was back, and it was his brother's life he had taken.

jim felt his heart drop when he heard the cops voice on the phone. pete halpert was found dead, killed by the infamous scranton strangler.

he could still hear a faint noise coming from the phone, but he couldn't comprehend what it was- the only thing he heard was a high pitched noise, ringing through his ears. that and his heart painfully beating against his chest.

his vision was blurred by the tears, but he managed to grab his phone and he hung up.
he quickly dialed a number, hoping she would pick up even if it was a late sunday night.

"jim?" he could barely hear her voice.

"pam...can you come over?"he murmured, his voice breaking into a sob before he could finish his sentence.

"i'll be here in a minute"

***

jim took a deep breath before he walked through the office door. pete halpert's name was all over the news and jim knew for a fact people would talk about it. he hadn't slept much last night, but he couldn't stay alone at home, he would drive himself crazy, so he decided face the workplace.

his eyes were reddened by the tears and the lack of sleep- he hadn't put a lot of effort in how he looked like. he constantly felt like crying, but he had ran out of tears a long time ago, so all that was left was the numbness.

when he walked in, he was instantly stopped by pam hugging him. he held her tightly for a few seconds, but the looks from everybody in the office were unbearable for jim, so he decided to go sit down at his desk.

everybody was painfully aware of what was happening, yet nobody talked about it, they didn't want to hurt jim. the words "scranton strangler" were practically forbidden from the office.

nobody even dared talk to him, they avoided eyes contact and would stop their whispers when he would walk closer to them. only a few people said they were sorry for what happened, but didn't talk to him again for the rest of the day.

***

jim walked up to the casket and tears immediately started to fill his eyes. this wasn't pete, he didn't look like himself. he had lots of makeup, which made his face look different, more dull and weird. this wasn't his brother.

he cried in his mother's arm, regretting not seeing him enough, not telling him he loved him often enough. pete was older than him, but sill young, he wasn't ready to go.

***

the only thing that stopped jim from truly accepting that pete was gone was that the scranton strangler was still alive and free. he had killed 3 other people since pete, and jim was terrified of him. he had already taken jim's brother's life, and he could easily take other people's life. what if he killed his parents? or pam? he could easily take jim's life.

that's the kind of thing that really makes you think, and it made jim think a lot too. what if he died and he never got to do the one thing he really wanted to do, but never did?

what if dwight died and jim never had a chance to tell him about his feelings? jim thought about that a lot, mostly when he tried to fall asleep, convincing himself everything was fine, though he knew it wasn't.

yes, jim had feelings for dwight, but he wasn't planning on telling him.

now he wanted to,

he needed to.

***

today was the day.

jim would drive to schrute farm, and confess to dwight. he was nervous sure, but he didn't care if dwight liked him back, he just needed him to know. of course, he wished that dwight liked him back.

jim wore his fanciest suit; a pearl-white shirt, a black jacket, some black dress pant and some fancy pants. although he rarely complimented himself, jim thought he looked really good.

jim pulled up in schrute farm's driveway, being followed by mose running after him. mose was truly terrifying.

he walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. he waited a couple of seconds before knocking a second time. dwight opened the door.

he was wearing his battlestar galactica sweater and some jeans. it was the first time jim saw him without a suit, and he liked it a lot.

"jim?" dwight asked, he didn't look too happy jim was at his farmhouse.

"hi dwight" jim replied, not really sure how to say what he had to say. "how are you?" jim asked.

"what are you doing here?" dwight asked, convinced it was either a prank, or jim was going to kill him- either way, he wasn't in the mood to answer jim's question, he was more concerned about the fact jim was seeing him in a rather casual outfit. he didn't like sharing his personal life, and the fact jim was there really flustered him.

"i- i have something to tell you" jim said and took a deep breath. dwight looked at him confused, as jim expected he would be.

"what is it?" dwight murmured.

"...will you go out with me?" jim asked, his eyes widening as the word slipped out of his mouth.

"like... on a date?" dwight asked, cocking his head to the side and looking at jim with a weird look.

"y-yeah" jim stuttered, a little bit worried about dwight's reaction.

"why?" dwight asked. he didn't understand why jim would want to go out with someone like him.

"because... i like you" jim admitted, his face flushing as he looked down. "and you know, life is precious and...stuff, and i just... i wanted to go out with you. i know if i wait any longer to ask you i'll regret it-" jim started but was cut by dwight tutting.

"what do you mean "life is precious" what does that have to do with you coming to my house and asking me out?" dwight asked. he wanted to accept, to go out with jim, but he didn't understand.

"what if you die dwight?" jim said and took a deep breath. "what if you get strangled and i never got to tell you how i feel about you?" jim said, looking at dwight in the eyes.

"oh... y-yeah... i- i would like that" dwight murmured.

"what?" jim said, straining to hear what dwight was saying but also not believing dwight wasn't punching him and chasing him away.

"i want to go out with you" dwight said, looking up. "...i guess i... i kinda like you too" he added and blushed heavily.

"oh..." jim whispered, trying to take in the new information- it only took him a second before he looked up and smiled at dwight. "great! are you free tonight?" jim asked, grinning at dwight's soft expression.

"y-yes" dwight said and giggled nervously.

"okay then! it's a date"