"Agent Gel, Agent Gel, he's here!" came the muffled cry through the walkie-talkie. Blaine dropped the tray and ducked under the counter.
"Safe. I repeat, I'm safe. Over," Blaine whispered back. He released the button and after a second pressed back down. "Oh, you forgot to say 'over', John. Geez, how many times do I have to remind you? Over."
"Sorry, Blaine, won't happen again." The sound disconnected. Then went back on. "Oops, sorry again. Over."
Blaine sat in the tiny space, his arms wrapped around his knees, and waited for John to announce the area was clear when a face popped down beneath him.
"What in God's name are you doing, young man?"
Blaine looked up. "Erm, sorry boss. Be just a minute."
"Get up," the old man said.
"But-" Blaine began to protest but Old Tim grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out.
"We've got way too many orders and not nearly enough people today. Get your ass back to work. I'm going out on a whim here but the way I know you I'm guessing John's part of this silly… thing as well. If you see him tell him he's lucky I couldn't find him." Tim turned around and went back to his office.
"Old T caught me," Blaine said into the walkie-talkie. "I'm going undercover mode. Over."
"Alright, over," John replied.
Blaine went to the back of the kitchen and put on his sweatshirt. He shoved his apron up into his shirt and slowly went over to the desk.
"Table three is waiting," Martha told him, pointing, unfortunately, at the exact table Blaine wanted to avoid.
Keeping his head down, Blaine sauntered over to the corner table where a bunch of teens were sitting.
"Hey guys."
At the sound of his greeting, the great-haired boy who had been sitting with his back to Blaine turned around with surprise.
"Blaine!" Kurt cried happily. "What are you doing here?"
"Eh, nothing much," Blaine mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. He smiled at his friends sitting round the table.
Just then Old Tim appeared. Again.
"Blaine?" he said angrily. "What did I tell you about wearing non-work related clothing during shifts?! Take that off."
Blaine slowly unzipped his sweatshirt. He watched as his friends' mouths slowly opened with surprise and horror as his Lima Diner apron fell out and the diner's logo was revealed, printed in big flashy colors on his work shirt.
"The-the diner?" Santana said slowly. "You work here?"
"Traitor!" Artie cried, pointing at Blaine. "You've betrayed us!"
"Anything is better than this!" Sam said. "Even Breadstix!"
Blaine frowned. "I'm sorry," he said.
"Turning your back on the Lima Bean means turning your back on us," Rachel said coldly.
Blaine turned to Kurt. "I'm sorry."
There was silence as everyone waited to see the boy's reaction.
Finally, Kurt stood up.
"He made a mistake," he said simply. "Everybody makes mistakes." He turned to Blaine. "I'll admit, this is bad, but I love you anyway. We can get through this."
"Together," Blaine replied, grasping Kurt's shoulders and kissing him quickly.
"I dunno", Sam said. "I mean…"
"Please, guys," Blaine said.
"He's our friend," Kurt added.
The four looked at Kurt and Blaine and then, after a moment's hesitation, nodded.
Just then they heard a yell and turned to see Quinn prancing through the door.
This time the entire group's face turned into a mask of horror at the four words printed across Quinn's shirt.
"Oh, hell no!" Sam yelled, pointing at the big block letters spelling "Lima Sea Food Delights" and just like that Blaine's crimes were forgotten.