When I work night shift, I always crave bacon when I get home or once I've woken up. It's strange. Regardless, I am currently eating bacon so I can't argue with the system.

My area is due to be hit with some heavy storms over the next few days which is going to make work utterly painful. I have to clean the floors every night at the start of my shift but it will be so pointless because by the end they'll be a mess again. And there's already been hail and going to be more and it's all a little depressing since we're meant to be just about in summer.

From Full-Empty-Spirit and similarly prompted by wynnie the pooh and hermionemallark: Now, I know everyone is gonna request this, but when Blaine confesses!

I'm sorry but this isn't canon, except it still works with the clip, mostly. Obviously it changes near the end ;) but basically they didn't get together during Original Song. I felt like being different.

Admissions

"Oh my god, you should have seen it."

Kurt shook his head, still in disbelief as he laid the story out for Blaine. "We all look at the top ten list for Showcase and we all just went numb. And then Jesse kept going on and on about how Rachel and Finn's kiss is what cost us Nationals -"

"While I understand passion," Blaine interrupted, "I do think that was unprofessional. But sorry, keep going."

Kurt tried very hard not to think about Blaine understanding passion (especially not wondering if there had been anything going on in Blaine's romantic life since Kurt had left) as he continued on with his speel. "Okay, then we get back to the hotel, and Santana loses it. Goes absolutely off her nut and starts screaming at Rachel in Spanish, it took three of them to hold her back!" Blaine shook his head, clearly trying not to laugh. Kurt knew if he hadn't been such a strange mixture of disappointed, slightly afraid and tired at the time, he would have been doing the same thing. "I mean, and the plane ride home was completely silent. Like, no one said a word. We all just sat there with our faces buried in our complementary copies of Sky Mall."

Kurt glanced back up at Blaine, smiling, waiting for his reaction. But Blaine looked more confused than anything. "Wait, I don't get it. You don't seem that sad at all."

Kurt shrugged, trying to find the words. It was something he had thought a lot about himself, considering that on said silent plane ride, Kurt had had so much trouble from keeping the smile off his face even though everybody else looked so upset. But it was very simple to figure out in the end. All he had to do was look at the memories he had when he thought of New York. "It was still amazing. I mean, I flew in a plane for the first time in my life, I had breakfast at Tiffany's, I sang on a Broadway stage…"

Even in the overwhelming excitement, Kurt couldn't miss the way Blaine was staring at him, tilting his head to the side a little as he examined Kurt like he was the most fascinating person he had ever met. Slightly overwhelmed by the scrutiny, Kurt grabbed his coffee cup and took a sip, possibly at the worst moment ever.

"I love you."

Don't choke, was his immediate reaction as Kurt stared at Blaine who was looking supremely unconcerned for what he had just admitted. Only the slight flicker in his eyes and a smile that was slightly less confident than usual gave away the fact that Blaine was probably freaking out internally.

Because it wasn't like they were a couple saying they loved each other for the first time or anything like that. In fact, up until a few seconds ago, Kurt had had no idea that Blaine even thought of him as more than a friend. And now to find out that Blaine loved him…

Of course Kurt had been crazy about Blaine almost since day one and in love with him since Christmas. But after the Valentines Day fiasco, Kurt had given up on Blaine ever returning his feelings and wanted to make it very clear to Blaine that there was no pressure on him to reciprocate. So he had made the decision in the time coming up to Regionals to go to Blaine, sit him down and tell him exactly that. The conversation had been brief - Kurt had said what he needed to say and then left, not wanting to see what Blaine's reaction was. After all, he was expecting relief and he really didn't want to see how happy Blaine was that he didn't have to reciprocate the feelings Kurt had.

And then Regionals had happened and Kurt had been all set for Blaine to dominate the stage until that amazing twist where Blaine had somehow wrangled a duet for himself and Kurt to sing. And god did Kurt want to ask why Blaine had chosen him, but he was still hesitant about putting the pressure on. So he simply let it lie, sang the duet and ignored the way Blaine was looking at him while they sang. Blaine was a performer after all, he knew how to get into character.

Transferring back to McKinley was much easier than Kurt had thought. Yes, he missed Blaine like crazy but at least now he didn't have to see the boy every single day and know that Blaine didn't feel the same. They still met up for coffee frequently, although that had gotten less frequent as Kurt had prepared for Nationals, but the pressure seemed to be off. They could just be friends.

But now Kurt was back from New York, staring across the table at his friend who had just told him he loved him. And there was no way that was just a 'I love you as a friend' kind of statement, especially not with that little smile Blaine had just given him, asking a million questions with his eyes that Kurt now had to answer.

What do I do now?

And there was only one answer.

"I love you too," he said, probably too rushed, too fast, too unsure but true. And yes, this was probably going to change everything but maybe Kurt wanted it to change. Maybe it was time for it to change.

Blaine's expression barely changed, still giving the same old smile, but his eyes flickered with so much emotion that Kurt nearly had to shut his own eyes, overwhelmed by it all. How long has he felt this way?

And then Kurt realized he could just ask all of these questions.

"Why?"

Somehow, Blaine understood all of the meanings behind it. "I wanted to tell you, Kurt. But when you came to me before Regionals and made it clear that I didn't have to reciprocate, I figured coming back to you a few days later and saying I did like you would make it seem like I was just trying to feel the same out of guilt. And at first I thought that might be the case but… Kurt, it was watching you do Blackbird that did it."

"That long?" Kurt whispered. He put the coffee cup back on the table and reached out to grab Blaine's hands, needing something to anchor him to the moment.

Blaine nodded, staring down at their clasped hands for a few seconds before looking back up. "That long. I think I've only just figured out that it's love but I've definitely been feeling something for you all of this time. When you were talking about Prom and saying you didn't have a date and all you wanted was a real date, you have no idea how hard it was for me to not say anything, to not just ask you there and then to be my date. But it was still too early and it's probably still too early now and -"

And Kurt was just a little bit sick of hearing Blaine talk about second guessing himself, so he did the best thing he could for both of them - leaning across the table and softly brushing his lips against Blaine's. And if that was too early, well, screw it. Kurt had spent far too long trying to convince himself that this moment would never come and it was actually here. Like hell he was going to sit back and play it safe. Plus, Blaine was kind of an amazing kisser and Kurt wanted as much of this as he could get.

They finally broke apart, aware of where they were. But somehow in the hustle of the coffee shop, nobody had spared a glance for the two of them. Kurt's theory was that they had started blending into the chairs by the sheer amount of times they came here. "That was…" Blaine trailed off.

"That was," Kurt said, smiling at him. "And no, it wasn't too early. I'm going to say it was just perfect."

There was a cough from behind Blaine and Kurt glanced up, freezing when he saw Sam and Mercedes standing there. Blaine caught his line of sight and turned around to join in with the awkward silence. "Uh, hi?" Kurt finally ventured.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" Mercedes put a hand on her hip and Kurt was slightly thrown by the gesture before realizing what was wrong with it and beginning to smile. "What?"

"When were you going to tell me about this?" Kurt asked in response, gesturing to her hand which was linked with Sam's. "At least my 'this' only happened a few minutes ago, this 'this' looks like it's been going on for some time."

Mercedes sighed. "Since Prom," she admitted. "Okay, how about we forget this ever happened and I'll call you tonight and we'll share our gossip, okay?"

Kurt nodded and the two turned away guiltily. Kurt rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Blaine, realizing they were still holding hands across the table. "Well, I do believe you were going to tell me about your summer plans? Something about Six Flags?" He squeezed Blaine's hands again, trying to get the unspoken message across. We'll talk about this later. Right now, I just want to enjoy being with you.

Blaine got it. "Okay, so here are the nominees for my setlist…"

MusicalEscape:

"Blaine, I think turtles haven gotten together faster than that!"

"Not true!"

*sigh* "Blaine. Look at the tank in the corner. Those turtles are Molly and Fred, some of Brittany's pets. She got them for me when I started here. They've been a couple for going on 2 months."