---

Kurt woke before Blaine did, being used to waking up this early every week for the fish market. His alarm clock would go in a few minutes, but until then he remained still, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. Blaine was sprawled all over his chest and he felt his steady breathing against the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

A voice in his head was telling him this should feel wrong. It should feel like he caved; sleeping with the enemy and all. But it didn't feel wrong. He banned away the voice, clearing his mind and he felt like he was staring at the world in an entire new perspective.

Blaine stirred a little and smacked his lips. As if automatic, Kurt lifted his hand to dig through the curls and make Blaine calm again. It all felt entirely natural. With a sigh he closed his eyes for a minute until his phone started to blare.

With a jolt Blaine jumped up, straddling Kurt's hips without intending too and looked around the room in confusion of what was making the sudden noise.

"It's my phone," Kurt clarified with a groggy voice, gesturing to the nightstand where he placed it after the shower.

Blaine frowned and lowered himself back down onto Kurt. "Well, turn it off." Before Kurt could even try to reach for it, Blaine jerked his head up, staring at Kurt with his lips parted and some sort of shock in his eyes. Kurt sucked in a breath, unsure what was going on in Blaine's head.

"I -" he tried, and he heard his phone go onto automatic snooze. Blaine kept on staring at him until he broke his gaze to look around the room. Kurt was afraid something was wrong for a second, but then the biggest grin split Blaine's face and he tilted his head back to look at him again.

"Buon giorno," he said with a low voice and Kurt felt his blood starting to boil again. Blaine rolled his hips lazily and there was no doubt he was riding his morning wood against Kurt's hipbone. "Did you sleep well?" Blaine buried his face in Kurt's neck, pressing a few kisses against it and moved a bit so their cocks were aligned.

 Kurt let out a breathy gasp, getting hard in a seconds and grabbed Blaine's sides to make him move faster.

"Can I presume that as a yes?" Blaine muttered close to his ear, nipping the ear lobe.

"Merde, Blaine -" Kurt whined and after calling his name, Blaine moved even faster. They stopped talking, only exchanging moans and gasps until they both came with silent cries. Blaine dropped down, quietly chuckling against Kurt's skin.

"A good morning indeed," he said. The alarm clock started to play again, much to Blaine's apparent dismay. "Why is it going again? It's too early." He tightened his grip on Kurt when he tried to reach for his phone again.

"I - I told you yesterday," he said and managed to turn it off.

"Oh," Blaine said softly, as if he just remembered. Not only the part about going to the fish market, but also the things he said before that. His eyes were big as he stared at Kurt again, trying to form words with his lips that Kurt wanted to fill in. Yes, I stayed. But he didn't say it - all he could do was hope his little nod was enough to break Blaine's thoughts. Blaine seemed to have caught it and sat up, ruffling his own hair and squinting his eyes.

"I guess we should go then."

We. The word swam through Kurt's head. Blaine still wanted to tag along to the smelly and dirty fish market at six in the morning and afterwards Kurt would make him breakfast.

"Y-yes," he stuttered. "Maybe we can go to my place after that? I - I have some things I could make for breakfast, and well - my shirt's kind of dirty -"

Blaine cut him off with a closed lipped kiss. The peck was short  and dry - yet it was doing things with Kurt that he couldn't explain. Again, it all felt natural. Normal.

"I might have a shirt for you lying around for now?" Blaine smiled, and it was different than any kind of smiles he had ever given Kurt. It was sincere, not cocky, but truly joyous. And it was not helping Kurt to try to find the right emotions for this moment - or maybe he had already found them? Either way: he couldn't explain.

They showered again together, and Blaine only stole a kiss once in the progress. His hands, however, never stopped touching him, always grazing an arm or rib and holding a firm grip on his wrist the entire time. Almost as if he was afraid for Kurt would fly away.

Minutes later they left Blaine's apartment, the sun rising low above the city before they couldn't see it anymore as they entered the nearest subway entrance.

xXx

Kurt couldn't recall exactly when it happened, but one moment he was fake laughing at one of fisherman Brad's terrible jokes and the next Blaine was holding his hand. They had kept distance during the subway ride and the walk to the market at Hunts Point.

He shot one glance at Blaine, who was pretending nothing was going on and kept his attention on the surrounding stands. He felt a squeeze once as an assurance that it was okay and even though it was confusing the hell out of Kurt - he kept on holding his hand for the entire time he was placing orders.

"And they better be fresh because you remember last time as well as I do," he said with a threatening voice to another fisherman who visibly flinched a little at the memory. Kurt turned around to tell Blaine he was done, but was met with a kiss instead.

"I love it when you talk business," Blaine murmured, kissing him again. "All bossy and no nonsense, I wish I could witness you during a dinner shift, I bet it's better than reality TV."

Kurt let out a snort - wait, did Blaine Anderson just make him laugh? "Well, uh, breakfast?" he proposed to disguise his confusion.

Blaine beamed a little, flashing his teeth again in a smile. "What's on the menu, chef?"

They started to walk hand in hand.

"You'll see."

"As long as it's the chef's special."

Kurt glanced at him, feeling his breath hitch when Blaine was staring at him with that admiration he had also seen last night at the elevator. First he had filed it off as lust - but now... now it seemed more.

What are we doing? The question was stinging on his tongue, wanting to come out. Yet Kurt didn't let it slip. This moment, today and last night, was more perfect than his life had been in years. Except it started to be more than the sex. He didn't even had the urge to bicker at Blaine anymore, not like he used to - only in a teasing way. What are we doing?

He kept his mouth shut, traveling to his apartment while he kept his mind busy by trying to figure out what he was going to make for breakfast.

After entering he excused himself to change out of Blaine's shirt and his dirty pants into clean clothes. With regret he folded the shirt, which was ridiculous because it didn't even smell like Blaine - it smelled like fabric softener. Still, it was a piece of Blaine - last night's Blaine, this morning's Blaine.

He walked back to his kitchen, rolling up his sleeves when he spotted Blaine going through several cabinets almost frantically.

"What are you doing?" he asked and Blaine jumped up, turning to lean against the counter while catching his breath.

"I was trying to surprise you with coffee," he answered, honest audible in his voice, "but I couldn't find any beans."

Kurt's lips twitched into a smile, walking toward him and opened a lower cabinet to fetch the coffee beans.

"Right," Blaine said and accepted them. There was a blush down his neck and he almost tripped while shuffling to the coffee maker. "Can I - can I share your station?" He looked at the counter and up to Kurt with one mouth corner curling up into a grin.

Kurt didn't even consider not going up to him for a kiss, letting his lips linger for a little longer until his stomach growled in hunger.

"Yes, yes you may," he answered before going back to the other side. He didn't miss Blaine's hushed ‘Finally', and smiled even more. Kurt started to whip out ingredients and thanked God he still had strawberries in his fridge because they came in handy. He was in the middle of making batter when something other than the sound of coffee machine grinding beans filled the kitchen. Looking up he realized that Blaine was singing, soft and Kurt could only make out one sentence.

"I only live for you. Anema e core..." Blaine continued to whistle the song and never in his life did Kurt want to know what song it was and why he was singing it. He got lost in thought while blindly resuming his task and didn't even notice the coffee maker going silent until two firm arms hugged him from behind. Blaine pressed his face against his left shoulder blade and let out a hum.

"Can I do something?" he asked. "Coffee's ready when you are."

Kurt tried to think but failed miserably as Blaine let his hands skim over his clothed chest. "Uhm," he started and ignored the way Blaine's fingers were dipping into the waistband of his pants. "I guess you can start on the cream cheese."

Blaine slumped against his back, pulling his hands back to do the task. "What do you need me to do with it?" He took the pack of cream cheese and looked down at it. His eyes then went up to the strawberries and the batter, making his eyebrows lift and his mouth turn into a ‘o'. "Oh, I see -" he said with his usual cocky voice, "Strawberry cheese... crêpes?" he guessed.

Kurt only pursed his lips as an answer, something Blaine interpreted as a request for a kiss and complied almost immediately.

"So, I kind of realized I still owe you tiramisu," Blaine said while he started to mix the cream cheese with some sugar and cottage cheese.

"You do." Kurt reached for the serving spoon the same time Blaine did and resulted in a tiny playful battle that Kurt won.

"Well, maybe I can make some more today... and then I pick you up tonight and we can go to my apartment again?" Blaine was stammering and blushing, incoherently blending the ingredients together and Kurt found it utterly adoring. Without any kind of hesitation he answered yes and Blaine snapped up.

"Yes?"

"Yes," he repeated, checking if the pan was hot enough before lowering batter into it. He looked up at the clock decorating his wall, seeing it was close to eleven. "Don't you have a lunch shift?"

Blaine also eyed at the clock, sucking in his cheeks before answering: "Wes can handle it."

Kurt wasn't sure how to reply to that and flipped his first crêpe. Together they continued to complete their breakfast and Kurt realized they actually were pretty in sync during the entire progress. Kurt placed the crêpe, Blaine spread the cream cheese mixture with strawberries and together they folded it until there were two perfect plates of strawberry cheese crêpes.

Usually Kurt ate at the table while writing down notes about it but Blaine had already ushered him to the couch, pushing him down before sitting close next to him. Before he had even separated his first piece, a fork with a little bit of everything was presented to him. He looked at Blaine who smiled encouraging. With a soft blush on his cheeks he opened his mouth and let Blaine feed him.

He dropped his head back to take in the flavors before turning back to find Blaine even closer than he was before. Blaine's eyes downcast to his lips as he licked his own eagerly.

"More strawberries?" he asked.

"More strawberries," Kurt answered before leaning forward to kiss him.

xXx

"No, I have to go inside," Kurt said giggling, trying to escape from the embrace he was currently in. They were standing in front of the backdoors of La Vedette and he really needed to get to inside before Santana arrivedive on her bike.

"One more minute," Blaine said, breaking his task of sucking on a particular spot on Kurt's neck for a second.

"No," Kurt said again, pushing more firmer this time but still gentle. "You need to go too."

Blaine sighed overdramatically and stepped away, sending him a pout. "I'll see you here when you're done?"

"Yes," Kurt answered breathless. He watched Blaine walk away, who was looking over his shoulder occasionally to see if he was still there and he was. He waited until he was completely gone out of his sight and then swiftly turned around to go back into the kitchen where he had completely new memories of since yesterday.

Inside he found Quinn writing down a few things, probably about tonight's menu and slightly too cheerily Kurt greeted her.

"Hey, chef," Quinn said with a mischievous tone in her voice.

"Any news of the others?" He hung up his coat, checking his hair in the mirror close by the changing rooms.

"Puck's already here, I think he's waiting for you."

Kurt straightened his back. In all the events of yesterday, last night and this morning he completely forgot he was still in cahoots with Puck about truffles. "Oh, he probably has questions about his paycheck - I'll just -" He wanted to walk straight to the restaurant but Quinn was blocking his way with her arms crossed. "Yes?" he asked with the most commanding voice he could manage - something that never worked on Quinn somehow.

"So I arrived at the kitchen earlier today, thinking I might find you already, but apparently not." She started to come closer and Kurt resisted the urge to walk back. "And when I came in... I found a whole bunch of things... on the floor."

Kurt tried to be as surprised as possible when he asked:  "What?"

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. Leek, carrots... two chopping boards... two knives..."

He swallowed loudly, remembering the cook off and the way Blaine threw everything on the floor to place him on the counter.

"Something tells me you were not alone last night," Quinn ended and gave him the most bitchy look he had ever gotten from her.

The backdoors swung open, making them both turn to look and Santana stepped inside in her motor suit as usual. "Hey," she greeted awkwardly, picking up the strange vibe that lingered in the air. "What's going on?"

"Kurt's not telling something," Quinn filled in.

Santana joined her as quickly as possible, her motor jacket still halfway down her arms. "Oh?"

"Yes, and I was just trying to get it out of him."

"Interesting."

"Girls," Kurt said, "We have little time before the rest of staff comes and -"

"Well, there's a solution for that. You, us, drinks tonight." Quinn placed her arms in her sides.

"I - I can't," he murmured, knowing he was turning red.

‘Why not - ?"

"Chef?" someone at the doors to the restaurant called and Puck was standing there nervously. "Can I speak with you?"

"Yes!" Kurt squeaked, blessing whatever brought up to Puck to disturb them and he launched himself through Santana and Quinn.

"This ain't over Kurt!" Santana yelled behind him with a few other words that got muffled by the doors he went through.

He looked around the restaurant once to make sure there was no one else there and turned to Puck.

"What is it?"

"He can meet us," Puck whispered and Kurt's eyes grew wide.

"When?"

"Day after tomorrow, in the morning."

"Good," Kurt muttered back, eyes lingering to the window and to the restaurant across the street. He inhaled deeply, seeing Blaine march through the restaurant area of Cannareccione and suddenly wondered if illegally importing truffles wasn't such a good idea after all.

xXx

Kurt hummed in delight, letting Blaine feed him again - only this time his own made tiramisu. They forwent the rug this time and lounged on Blaine's bed instead. Blaine had already lost his shirt because he spilt sauce on it after, and he quoted Wes, ‘Dancing like an idiot'.

Not that Kurt minded. He absolutely loved his view of half naked Blaine on his side, resting his head on his hand while he went down to scoop up some more dessert from the tray.

"Don't you want some yourself?" he asked after he realized Blaine fed him already a quarter of the amount of tiramisu.

"I have had enough tiramisu in my life to feed the entirety of New York," he said. "You, on the other hand, have some catching up to do."

Kurt chuckled and accepted another bite. "You're just overdosing me so you can kill off the competition." It slipped by accident, but it made Blaine freeze and drop the fork into the tray.

"Kurt," he whispered, looking back up to him. "I -" Before he could finish the sentence, Kurt kissed him vividly. He didn't want to know, not yet - not now. He was scared, so scared it would break the moment forever.

"Blaine," he said against his lips, grabbing his hands and placed them above his head while rolling half onto him. The tray of tiramisu wobbled dangerously between them and Kurt didn't care as he straddled him. He let his eyes wander over the tanned skin that was wrapped around the gorgeous torso. Slowly he lowered, kissing down his jaw and neck, giving out a lick from time to time.

Blaine let out a choking noise when he teasingly bit his nipple. "Kurt!"

"Hmm?"

"Kiss me," he whispered with a whine and Kurt surged up immediately to kiss him hard and needy. Blaine opened up his mouth quickly to let in his tongue and hummed approvingly when their tastes collided. Blaine tasted faintly like cream and sugar, and it was absolutely addictive.

Blaine's fingers started to undo his shirt, demanding him to join him into his half nakedness and Kurt complied by helping. Both their pants disappeared shortly after. Kurt was already going down even though Blaine's briefs were still dangling around his ankles. With a grin he looked up at Blaine who was panting and sweating before taking his hardness into his hand and giving tiny licks to the head.

Blaine hit his head hard on the head board while swearing loudly in both English and Italian, and Kurt continued to lick him until he took him in as far as he could.

Somehow Blaine managed to kick off his briefs and threw his legs around Kurt's back to keep him captivated. Kurt felt fingers dig through his hair, pushing down gently to set the pace and continued to suck him faster. He hallowed his cheeks, humming low, resulting into Blaine whining and moaning deliciously.

"Shit Kurt, if you don't stop - ah!"

Kurt knew Blaine was getting close, before they even made it into bed they had been making out the entire way to it. He didn't want to stop - he wanted to make Blaine come just by his mouth and hummed again. With his hand he started to stroke at the base of his cock, his grip tight and with one look up to Blaine's face, he knew Blaine figured out he didn't want to stop.

"You'll be the death of me," he murmured.

Kurt's mouth corners wanted to twitch up into a smile but he was a little too busy for that. It took merely minutes before Blaine's legs tightened around him and he threw his head back as far as he could. It was the only warning Kurt got before he felt warm come fill his mouth. He stroked him through it, taking in every drop before Blaine fell back completely spent.

Kurt sat up between his legs, wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Ugh," was all that Blaine said, watching him.

All he could do was smile, crawling up to lie on top of him and he felt his own cock asking for some kind of friction, but deciding to ignore it.

"Let's sleep," Kurt said, hiding his face in the crook of Blaine's neck, "I didn't get much last night."

"But -"

"Sleep."

"Okay?" Blaine sounded confused and hugged him close. "Anything you want."

Kurt froze for a second before relaxing again. He wasn't even sure what he wanted anymore.

xXx

The next couple of days continued in the same fashion. Kurt worked, and afterwards he went home with Blaine or the other way around. Friday morning he met up with the truffles dealer, who was more of a boy than a man. It even turned out to be Puck's younger half-brother, something that made Kurt's concern about the entire situation grow even more. The truffles he offered, however, were of excellent quality and Kurt knew he'd be a fool to not buy them for that price.

There was a hollow feeling in his stomach for the rest of the day as he went through his usual errands. He couldn't wait for Blaine to pick him up and go to his apartment.

That night they had sex again, except instead of the fast pace Blaine liked so much, he went slow, dragging out the entire moment and Kurt was loving it. He kept on kissing him passionately, wishing the hollow feeling would fade for good and he was grateful Blaine's thrusts were helping in that.

But in the morning - the hollow feeling was even worse.

"You're already dressed," Blaine observed when he exited the bedroom. Kurt had already been up for a good half an hour and was staring down at the poached eggs he was making. He glanced over his shoulder to see Blaine in briefs and couldn't blame him for being surprised that Kurt was already in a full outfit - including shoes.

Kurt didn't answer and turned back. The water in the pan was over boiling but he couldn't get his hands to work on it. He was leaning with his hands on the counter, arms wide apart and simply staring at the eggs getting ruined.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked and he was closer now.

"What are we doing?" The question was finally out. The hollow feeling in his stomach faded a little, as if part of the heaviness was released by telling what had been on his chest for a while.

"I - Kurt?" Blaine appeared next to him, looking small and vulnerable without his clothes but also because of the look on his face. It was as if he was holding on to something small and it was slowly breaking.

"What are we doing? We - we hate each other, why - how?"

"Kurt," Blaine said and took his hand, "I - I told you there's a fine line between love and hate, I just -"

"No! No!" Kurt broke free from his grip and stepped away, seeing the pan boil over from the corner of his eye but neither of them seemed to care. "You - you were the most annoying thing on earth during school and even now also! And suddenly we kiss and you turn into an entirely different person! What gives, Blaine?" He was shouting, still creating distance between him and Blaine and his chest was heaving with the heavy way he was breathing. "I don't understand."

Blaine slumped in defeat of trying to get him close again, staring down with his face scrunched into the saddest expression he had ever seen on him.

"Kurt, the truth is" he said, looking up with watery eyes, "I love you."

A silence fell. All that was heard, muffled in the background, was the still prattling pan, but Kurt was more concerned about the fact he could  hear his heartbeat.

"You - what?"

Blaine nervously fidgeted with his fingers, trying to look everywhere and nowhere.

"I - I love you," he said again, "I've been trying to find the right moment to tell you that for a couple of days now but... somehow there was no right moment.

"But if you -" Kurt spluttered. "And during school -"

"Oh Kurt, I saw you before we met." Blaine took a tentative step forward. "That first week of school, you stood out so much and you never noticed me, but you were the most beautiful man I had ever seen and I needed a way to talk to you. We had all these classes together but you were somehow so... unreachable. So I got to class earlier because you always seemed to already be there, and I - I took a chance."

"You annoyed me and humiliated me in front of the teacher," Kurt spat.

"I never meant that to happen!" Blaine said loud. "I was just trying to impress you. And then I figured out that the only way you would notice me was if I were arrogant and annoying. Just until you would agree to go out with me so you could get to know me for real, like what happened this week!" He smiled hesitantly. "The way you looked at me this week, I had only dreamed about that." He swallowed.

"What about France?" Kurt shot back.

"I never, never, wanted that internship!" Blaine's eyes were wide, clasping his hands together and held them against his heart. "I knew how much it meant to you, and even though it killed me to know I only had a few weeks to try to turn things around, I never wanted it. Chef Johnson - he, he thought I forgot to sign myself up so he did it for me."

Kurt felt lightheaded and remembered to breathe. "You -"

"I denied it as fast as I could, Kurt, but the news was already out. I never wanted to hurt you like that."

"But you did," Kurt whispered, "Not only then but the entirety of school, and last week when you suddenly showed up - I, I just -"

"I came as fast as I could after reading your raving reviews," Blaine smiled and there was a hint of guilt in it, "I was almost jealous that people got to taste your food before I could. Actually, I was pretty jealous."

"Then why were you telling me all of the things that were wrong about the dish! Why step back into your old -"

"It was a habit!" Blaine looked broken now. "I couldn't resist getting one more mean look of you before trying to fix it all together. I just couldn't resist. It was stupid, I know, but me - the real me, the one you've seen the past couple of days. That's me, Kurt." He stepped forward, dropping his hand in defeat when Kurt stepped back. "All I want is a chance."

"A chance for what?" Kurt felt a lump in his throat that he somehow couldn't swallow away.

"A chance to start over. You and me, as friends, lovers - more. I love you, Kurt. I always did. And I never stopped."

Kurt was drowning. There were tears pooling in his eyes and he didn't even get to try to stop them. His heart was contracting and the possibilities of everything Blaine said were racing through his mind. He felt hurt, and somehow betrayed, but also touched - Blaine wanted him to have the internship to France. The thing he really wanted. But what does he want now?

"I need -" he said, close to hyperventilating. "Space. I need space."

"Please, please -" Blaine held out his hand, begging Kurt to take it and sit down with him, but Kurt was backing out, ready to flee out of the door. "Please stay."

"I can't," he whispered, and grabbed his jacket before leaving as fast as he could, leaving an almost naked and broken Blaine behind.

xXx

Kurt didn't go to his own apartment after leaving. Instead he went straight to La Vedette, unlocking the front door because he wanted to get inside as quick as possible. The door slammed behind him and he was on his way to the kitchen when he heard the door slam shut again.

"We're not open -" he said, turning around to expect a lost customer that came inside, but instead finding Sebastian Smythe strolling inside, taking in the restaurant with an arrogant smirk.

"Chef Hummel," he acknowledged him. "Nice to find you here."

"Get out," Kurt simply said.

Sebastian chuckled low, stepping only further into the restaurant. "Not until we have a little chat."

"I have nothing to discuss with you, get the hell out of my restaurant."

"Then I'll do the talking," he said and crossed his arms. "Your restaurant, you say? Not for long."

Kurt felt the hollow feeling in his stomach return. "What are you talking about?"

Sebastian smiled like he knew something Kurt did not, and it was eating Kurt.

"Well, I'm actually here with an offer. Soon I have a new restaurant opening in Columbus, Ohio. I'm still in desperate need of a chef and manager, and I wondered if I could tempt you with this position. You'll be closer to home too."

"I have no interest in leaving New York, thank you." Kurt said resolutely, wondering why the hell Sebastian was offering him this.

Sebastian pursed his lips. "That was the only good part of this chat, I must confess, I suggest you accept it."

"Or what else?"

"I want this restaurant, chef Hummel." He stepped closer and Kurt didn't move. "I want it bad, and the main reason it's still running, is because of you. So the simple solution? Sell you out."

"I can't be bought."

"Then I'll need to take more drastic measure then." Sebastian's eyes were shimmering with mischief. "I mean, the media would love to know La Vedette buys illegal truffles."

Kurt didn't bat an eye, but inside he was a mess. His heart was beating loud and fast, and the hollow feeling in his stomach was about to explode.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he answered with a poker face.

"Oh please, I know everything about your little deal." Sebastian shook his head. "It'll be a quick end, but I prefer to see La Vedette die slower without you."

"We can handle a little rumor. I'm not going anywhere." Kurt straightened his back. Still Sebastian didn't look defeated. Instead he glanced out the window to his own restaurant.

"And what if I report Blaine instead?" he said softer, almost whispering.

Kurt raised an eyebrow to keep it cool, but even the mention of Blaine - Blaine that loved him, Blaine that gave up France as soon as he could - made him nervous. "I doubt Blaine deals in truffles, not to mention he works in your restaurant."

Sebastian waved it away. "I never wanted that cavern, I just agreed so I could approach the death of La Vedette easier. I don't give one crap about Blaine and his cooking techniques, please. And no, not truffles - but maybe... I mean, someone mentioned some hygienic issues earlier." Kurt felt his heart drop. "A health inspector would love such drama, don't you think? Blaine wouldn't get a job afterwards anywhere, I hope the person that mentioned it can live with that..." Sebastian smiled devilish when Kurt started to tremble.

"You wouldn't dare -"

"I would. Immediately if necessary, so the choice is with you, chef Hummel. Quit your job and take my offer - or Blaine never gets to see the inside of any restaurant ever again."

xXx