The days went on in a similar fashion: Blaine would go to classes with Kurt and Rachel. He'd glare at Jesse across the courtyard and discussing classical music versus modern music with them. He'd go back to his hotel, say hi to Rory, maybe hang out with him in his suite. Then he'd talk to Artie and get any updates. Occasionally he'd talk to Santana or Brittany and afterwards he'd watch Kurt on his TV until he fell asleep. 

There was still no word on The Sins or the break in at the Hummel house. It made Blaine anxious that they were staying in the shadows but it made him more paranoid when he thought of the idea of Sins agents in New York. After all, that was the reason he was here in the first place. But, so far, no one had tried to lay a finger on Kurt and Blaine was comforted by that.

Blaine walked back to his temporary home feeling light as air one night. He still didn't know if Mercedes was telling him the truth or just working him up, but it still didn't change the fact that the mere thought of Kurt feeling like that about him, made his knees weak. He knew now that maybe his feelings towards Kurt were growing into something more than platonic. He knew that it was bad and if Quinn fund out, she'd have his head.

There where many things that the Task Force had told him when he'd joined but the first thing he'd been told was: never fall for a client. Why? They were targets for a reason. They hired agents for a reason. They were involved in bad things, with bad people. Whether Kurt knew it or not, there was a reason The Sins wanted him and Blaine assumed he must have done something.

It was also bad because Blaine had never had these feelings before. Sure, he'd had the odd crush in high school and a few casual relationships but he'd never smiled from just the mention of someone's name. The rush of emotions was all so foreign and confusing. 

Blaine sighed and stopped in his tracks, rubbing his throbbing temples. A second later, a loud crash! sounded a foot in front of him. Blaine jumped in alarm, startled. His heart hammered in his chest as he saw the shattered remnants of a potted plant scattered around his feet. He panted out a breath of relief as his blood ran cold. Quickly, Blaine whipped his head upwards but only saw the looming building beside him and the dark sky behind it. Blaine narrowed his eyes suspiciously but kept walking, quicker now.

By the time he got back to his hotel, his blood was pumping, flowing like a thrashing river rapids through his veins and swelling in his heart. Fear, paranoia and dread were coursing through him. He opened the front door and stepped into the warm, heated building. Rory looked up from where he was stacking suitcases on a luggage cart and grinned.

"Evenin,' Blaine," he greeted, tipping his hat.

Blaine puffed out a reply and Rory's grin wiped clean off of his face, a frown replacing it.

"Something wrong?"

Blaine looked up at him and masked his currently alarmed state with a charming smile.

"No, no, I'm fine," he assured the bellhop.

Rory seemed to buy it, as he smiled and went back to stacking the bags. Blaine hurried over to the elevator and tapped his foot restlessly as he ascended the floors. With a light ding! the doors opened and Blaine hurried to his room. He burst through the doors and went straight to his bedroom, his feet thudding loudly on the stairs. He reached his room and slammed the door closed, locking it. He rushed over to his window and did the same. Then he kicked his shoes off and crawled on top of the thick blanket. He reached into his bedside drawer with shaking hands and pulled out a shining silver gun. Gripping the leather handle of the weapon, Blaine sat on the bed in a ready position, eyes darting around the room and jumping at the smallest noise.

Blaine stayed like that for hours before sleep finally claimed him. His last thought before drifting off was: If I had taken one more step, I'd be dead right now.

----------

Blaine knew he was being overly paranoid when he punched the door man when he tapped his shoulder. But he was certain that last night wasn't an accident. Someone was trying to kill him. He was sure of it. 

How did they know? How did they find out? Who was there to find out?

The thoughts swirled around in Blaine's head. It didn't make any sense. How did The Sins find out who he was? There must've been a Sin somewhere that had discovered him. He had no idea who or how they could've found out. Blaine supposed they could've listened in to conversations he had with Artie by tracking the ear piece's frequency but quickly dismissed the thought; there was no way Artie could ever let that happen. The only other reasonable explanation was that an agent for The Sins was here in New York. Now they were hot on his and Kurt's trail.

Kurt!

Blaine's blood ran cold as he realised how real the danger for Kurt was now. If someone was trying to take care of him then The Sins must be making another move! Whipping out his tracker, Blaine ran as quickly as he could through the chill Winter air of New York, weaving through the streets and dodging pedestrians. Blaine's heart was thumping in his chest with such force, he wouldn't be surprised if people started looking around for Godzilla.

Crap, crap, crap! Blaine yelled internally as he sprinted through the streets, fear coursing through him like a deadly plague.

Blaine burst through the doors of a Calvin Klein store and was met with the sight of Kurt examining a pair of dark denim skinny jeans. Blaine felt as though the weight of the world fell from his shoulders and tears of relief sprang to his eyes. Without a word, Blaine ran through the store and wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist, effortlessly picking him up and spinning him around.

Kurt squeaked in surprise and batted at Blaine's hands but he just squeezed him tighter, burying his face in the fabric covering Kurt's chest. Blaine knew he'd be embarrassed afterwards but right now utter joy was clouding his judgement.

"Blaine!" Kurt squealed, giggling and playfully whacking his shoulders. "Put me down! You're going to wrinkle my shirt!"

Blaine set him down on his feet but didn't extract his arms from where they were resting on Kurt's waist. Blaine sniffed and his heart swelled with happiness just seeing Kurt's eyes staring at him, although they were confused and slightly concerned.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked worriedly, taking in his tear stained cheeks, "are you okay?"

Blaine laughed, wiping his eyes on his sleeve and nodded.

"Yeah," he choked, "I'm fine. I just-"

He was cut off by Kurt suddenly wrapping his arms around him in a comforting embrace. Blaine melted into his warm body and buried his face in Kurt's shoulder, breathing in his sweet scent. Kurt stood there and held him while Blaine's heart beat returned to normal. Well, as normal as was considered when he was around Kurt. Now that he had the other man in his arms, Blaine never wanted to let him go. Not after he felt what it was like for the mere possibility of losing him.

After a few minutes, they separated and Kurt wordlessly took his hand and led him out of the store. People were starting to stare after all. Blaine followed him and didn't stop until they were entering a building and making their way up a fleet of stairs. Kurt unlocked a door and led him inside. Blaine immediately recognised the place as Kurt's apartment. He'd spent many hours staring at the space he was now standing in. 

The couches and carpet were all colour coordinated and there were famed photos of stunning outfits walking down runways hanging on the walls. 

Blaine saw touches of Rachel to. There was a pink karaoke machine with a bedazzled microphone resting on top of it, a framed picture of the girl sitting on the kitchen counter and some kind of sticker chart with gold stars spread across it. He'd seen the image of Kurt's home many times through his TV screen but it was another thing entirely to be standing there and seeing Kurt staining there. It was all quite overwhelming.

"Where are Mercedes and Rachel?" Blaine asked.

"Having lunch," Kurt called from the kitchen. "I had to finish an essay but ended up going shopping instead. It's a really unhealthy stress-relief."

Kurt placed his hands firmly on Blaine's shoulders and guided him to a sofa, sitting him down in it. He then passed Blaine a glass of water and waited for him to take a sip before he began talking.

"Is the work load getting to you?" he asked, sitting down on the sofa next to him.

"Oh yeah," Blaine nodded. Little did Kurt know it wasn't from his school work. Blaine had been getting Artie to do all his work for him. He supposed he was living the dream. What guy didn't wish for a super nerd to do all their work for them?

Kurt nodded his head knowingly.

"It happens to everyone," he told him, folding his legs. "You might think you've got the knowledge from Streisand to Snoop Dogg, but everybody cracks eventually." Kurt scoffed, "but then, what did you expect?"

"Not this," Blaine muttered, thinking how he'd thought this mission was going to be simple.

Kurt smiled sympathetically and patted his knee, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually."

Blaine looked up at his kind eyes and smiled. It was impossible not to when Kurt was looking at him like that. His feelings from this morning were still fresh. He didn't want to let Kurt out of his sight for a second.

Kurt stood up and waved for Blaine to follow him, his eyes shining. Blaine didn't need to be told twice. He was out of his seat and following Kurt into another room. Blaine immediately identified to the space as Kurt's room, no sign of any Rachel Berry possessions were anywhere in sight. Everything was perfectly placed and coloured precisely. It was definitely Kurt Hummel's room.

Kurt sat on his bed and patted the spot next to him expectantly. Blaine sat down and watched as Kurt opened his bedside drawer and pulled out a delicate, pale blue music box. It was small and lined with silver, the lid engraved with cursive letters reading: To my Kurtie, may you be safe forever. Love, Mom. Kurt stared down at the little blue box with a sad smile.

Blaine's heart wrenched as he remembered what Artie had first told him. Kurt's mother was dead. She must have given him this music box before she died.

"It was my mom's," Kurt whispered softly, running his finger along the silver lining. "It's all I really have to remember her."

Blaine place a comforting hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," he said earnestly.

Kurt just nodded and turned to look at Blaine, "She always used to play this for me, whenever I got sad or stressed about something. It always used to calm me down. Still does."

Blaine watched Kurt's pale fingers twist the tiny gold knob three times before opening the lid. Two small ceramic bodies of a cat and a mouse appeared and began turning around in a slow circle as clear, soothing notes chimed softly. Kurt smiled and pointed to the twirling animals.

"I asked my mom what the cat was doing and she told me it was chasing the mouse. I asked her if the cat would ever catch the mouse and she told me, 'Just because he's chasing the mouse, doesn't mean he wants to catch it.' I didn't know what she meant. I still don't, actually."

"It's beautiful," Blaine murmured, looking at Kurt.

Kurt slowly faced him and Blaine could see tears shining in his bright cerulean eyes. Kurt smiled and his lips parted slightly as he breathed out. Blaine's eyes darted down to Kurt's perfect pink lips, looking soft and full as ever. He looked back up to see Kurt staring at him with a peculiar expression. He was looking at Blaine with knitted eyebrows and was staring intently in his eyes. His gaze flickered down to Blaine's mouth for a second before he looked back up with big eyes.

Blaine found himself leaning forward, his heart thumping painfully in his chest. His eyes couldn't seem to able to choose between looking at Kurt's lips or his eyes. When Kurt began to lean towards Blaine as well, his eyes fluttered shut tightly. Blaine could feel Kurt's warm breath against his lips, their breaths mingling together. Kurt was so close, so close Blaine could smell his minty breath. Blaine leaned in, his lips an inch from Kurt's-

"BLAINE!"

Blaine jumped back from the bombarding yell that sounded from his ear. He slipped against the silky material of Kurt's sheets and fell to the floor in a jumbled heap. His head was spinning as he looked up and saw Kurt staring down at him, lips parted and eyes shining with shock and hurt. Blaine's eyes widened at how that must have looked.

"Kurt, I-"

"I think you should leave," Kurt interrupted him, wrapping his arms around himself and staring at the ground intently.

Blaine's heart sunk in his chest as he tried to explain himself.

"Kurt, please! I didn't mean to! I just-"

Blaine cut himself off, because he couldn't tell Kurt that his ear piece had yelled at him, as questions Blaine couldn't explain would be raised.

"You just what, Blaine!?" Kurt snapped, facing him, tears starting to pool in his eyes. 

When Blaine didn't answer Kurt set his jaw and stood up, ushering Blaine out of the room.

"Kurt!" Blaine cried desperately, stumbling back from Kurt's shoving, "I'm sorry! I-"

"Just leave, okay!" Kurt shouted, his voice breaking on the last word.

With one final shove, Kurt pushed Blaine out the front door and said coldly, "I'll see you at school," and slammed the door in Blaine's face.

Blaine stood there, frozen to the spot for what seemed like an eternity, all warmth drained from his body. He stared at Kurt's door, his limbs felt like blocks of lead, nailed to the floor. Blaine finally growled in frustration and punched the wall next to the door. Pain shot through his arm and Blaine ripped his hand back, his knuckles red and raw. He felt like screaming and banging on Kurt's door, begging him to let him explain, let him back in and let him kiss all of his confusion away. Blaine knew none of that was possible so instead he ran down the stairs and onto the street. He ran all the way back to his hotel and up to his room before finally exploding.

"What the hell was that!?" Blaine shouted, viciously kicking the coffee table.

"I'm pretty sure I should be asking that question!" Quinn snapped in his ear.

"You ruined everything!" Blaine shrieked, boiling hot anger flowing through him from the core. 

"Me!?" Quinn yelled incredulously. "Blaine, what is the first thing I taught you?"

Blaine gritted his teeth, in no mood for an argument. He had been this close. This close to sealing his lips against Kurt's and kissing him for all he was worth. But, of course, Quinn of all people had to ruin it.

"Blaine," Quinn said sternly, "your job is to protect Kurt Hummel. Not have a fling with him!"

"It's not like that!" Blaine yelled insistently.

"What? Don't tell me you've fallen in love with him!" Quinn yelled back.

Silence.

"Blaine?"

Blaine bit his lip and scratched the back of his neck.

"Blaine!"

"I don't know, okay!?" Blaine cried, falling to his knees and burying his face in his hands, the onslaught of emotions hitting him like a battering ram. Kurt probably hated him now.

"I don't know," he sobbed helplessly.

The other end was quiet for a while and Blaine started to wonder if Quinn had left before he heard her voice, soft and gentle.

"I'm sorry," she said slowly, "but I just…I don't you to go there to."

"To?" Blaine questioned, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah," Quinn replied, "I've been exactly where you are."

Blaine sat up, intrigued.

"Back," Quinn began, her voice sad, "when I was a filed agent, I was on a mission in Paris. I met the most…amazing guy. I knew I wasn't supposed to but, I fell in love with him. I thought I could make it work but…it didn't."

"What happened?" Blaine asked breathlessly.

"He died."

The air was knocked out of Blaine's lungs. Died? How could he have died? This was insane! Quinn wasn't the kind of person to fall in love and be…well…happy!

"The french bitch I was chasing killed him to get to me," Quinn clarified, her voice going from soft to stony.

"I…I had no idea," Blaine whispered in shock.

"Of course you didn't," Quinn snapped, her usual viciousness returned. "Look Blaine, I know what it's like. Trust me. But if you really care about him than you'll keep this strictly professional. Got it?"

Quinn didn't give him a chance to answer before the line went dead.

Blaine stared at his hands then slowly rose to his feet. The idea of staying away from Kurt made his heart cry out in protest but the idea of him dying made him want 

to roll into a ball and die himself. Blaine ran a hand through his hair and groaned. 

Being an agent was never supposed to be this complicated.