"So, what you're saying is, you still don't know what you'll pursue?"

It was Saturday afternoon and the trio were spending their day at Central Park, enjoying the mass summer crowd of both tourists and locals that have gathered in the area. They found a little secluded part under a shade of tree and Kurt was sketching away in his sketch book, drawing his designs and getting his inspiration around him. Rachel was leaning on the tree, holding her script, murmuring away her lines for Funny Girl. Just a few days ago, Rachel shared the news that she got the role of Fanny (which was great considering how she was moping around for a few days, saying that she blew her callback and she'll never get a lead role again) and it prompted a drink night at the apartment.

This one, however, was Blaine's idea. Spending the day at Central Park was definitely in the list even if Blaine wasn't voicing it out. Kurt knows that list by heart, he really needed Blaine to understand that. Blaine can't be sneaky with him.

[√] 2. Central Park hangout.

Kurt didn't look up as he replied, "Yeah. I still haven't decided whether I'm going to pursue acting after I get my bachelor's degree or I'm just going to continue working for Vogue." He heaved a sigh, erasing a wrong line on his drawing. "I love doing both, that's why it's hard to choose." Kurt ended, finally looking up.

Blaine stretched beside him, leaning back on the ground and putting all his weight on his forearm. He looked up and closed his eyes, feeling the summer breeze. "You're amazing at both of them too." Blaine pointed out, Kurt hummed in proud agreement. "But I think you enjoy designing clothes a lot more than being on stage."

"How so?" Rachel butted in, suddenly interested. She lay down on her stomach beside Blaine on the picnic mat, finally dropping her script, elbows on the ground and hands under her chin. Blaine completely lie down on his back, looking up at Kurt.

"I don't know. He just seems more...happier and relaxed when he's designing unlike when he's up a stage. Don't get me wrong, you're wonderful—"

Rachel cleared her throat subtlety, a small smile on her face. Kurt shot her a look that shut her up.

"—but you get stressed a lot more when it comes to stage work." Blaine ended, not noticing the exchange between Rachel and Kurt.

"But what about his love for theater?" Rachel continued the conversation. "It's gotta be hard to leave that behind." She said.

Blaine sat up, seeing a person selling caramelized apple. "Then pursue something in between." He distractedly said. It resonated in Kurt's mind, what Blaine said. Kurt glanced at Blaine, the guy doesn't even know the impact of what he said. "Ooh, apples." Blaine smiled, getting up.

Rachel rolled over, sitting up as well. Both of them watched as Blaine went towards the guy who was selling the apples. "You got it bad for him; haven't you?" Rachel quietly said.

Kurt sighed. "It's been 3 weeks since he started tearing through my list and he's been doing more than I imagined how it would be." Kurt said, lying down on their picnic blanket. It was true, Blaine was slowly doing the things on the list a few days at a time. He kept repeating most of them too, Kurt doesn't even know if Blaine notices what he does. "I'm digging my own grave here. Look, he's even treating us these and saying all these nice things." He added, covering his eyes with his arm.

Kurt felt Rachel pat him on the shoulder, probably pitying him for getting himself into this mess. A minute later, he felt Blaine plop down next to him, on the grass, shaking him to life. "Kurt, get up. Apples." Blaine simply said, giving Rachel her share and waving the other one in front of Kurt.

Kurt cracked one eye open and saw Blaine's face hovering above his own, too close for comfort. Startled, Kurt screeched and sat up in a swift motion, forgetting that they were almost inches apart and hitting Blaine with his own forehead. He heard Rachel murmur an "ooh", her face probably scrunching up as if feeling the pain.

"Ow." Kurt said in pain, holding his now reddening forehead. Blaine was actually doing the same but his eyes were closed and he was frowning, clearly in pain as well. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? You startled me!" Kurt accused him.

Blaine gingerly handed Kurt his apple. "No, I didn't! I was shaking you already, you should have expected that I was close." He defended himself, massaging his forehead. Blaine was getting better at that too, Kurt thought, they just argue back and forth sometimes like they've known each other their whole life. Blaine was slowly climbing up the best friend ladder.

"Well, it was too close that's what it is." Kurt said, accepting the apple from Blaine. He massaged his forehead as well, eyes shut as he try to will the pain away.

Blaine stared at Kurt for a few seconds, his brain coming up with an idea on the spot. He saw a chance and he took it. A playful smirk appeared on his face as he inched his face closer to a still unsuspecting Kurt. Blaine heard an intake of breath from Rachel who was looking at them excitedly.

"Why? Does my being close make you feel uncomfortable?" Blaine said in a low voice that was almost a flirtatious growl.

Kurt's breath hitched, opening his eyes to see that he was practically nose to nose with Blaine. He couldn't feel his brain—heck—he couldn't feel his heart. All he could register at the moment was Blaine's proximity, his smell and his breath almost touching Kurt's lips. What the fuck was Blaine doing? Kurt didn't have an answer but he lost all control of his limbs as he felt the apple slipping from his grasp, finally falling onto the ground.

Blaine glanced at it a little then back at Kurt, noticing how Kurt was now blushing madly in front of him. "Hey," He said, finally pulling back and giving Kurt his personal space. "You dropped it. Are you okay?" Blaine asked insincerely, trying his best to hold back his laughter. "Kurt? You can breathe now." He reminded him.

Kurt snapped out of it as he let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding in. He could see Rachel out of the corner of his eye, struggling to not let her smile show. When he finally focused on Blaine, he could see that he, too, was starting to giggle and knew that it will end up in a full blown laughter.

He started a countdown in his head.Three.Two.One.

"You're so red!" Blaine started laughing aloud, joined by Rachel who couldn't take it anymore. "But it worked, right? I'm good at flirting. And you're adorable when you blush." He added with a wink, still laughing. That's when it clicked in Kurt's mind. Right.

[√] 10. Flirt.

Kurt knew it, he did, but that didn't change the fact the he was feeling embarrassed, pissed and all around humiliated at that moment. Maybe he was being dramatic or maybe Blaine's just affecting him too much. He stood up, holding his sketchpad and dusted off his pants. Blaine looked up at him, still smiling.

"Please don't kick me." Blaine joked but he noticed the way Rachel bit her lower lip to stop herself from smiling, worry in her eyes. Rachel shot him a warning look and Blaine understood. Kurt was already fixing up his shoes, ready to walk away. Blaine's smile faltered. "Kurt, I was just kidding. Come on. Don't be like this." He tried.

Kurt kept his stoic face as he started to walk away. Blaine gave Rachel a brief look of panic, clearly not knowing how to deal with a pissed off Kurt. Rachel motioned that he should follow wherever Kurt goes. Blaine nodded in silent agreement. "Hey, Kurt! Where are you going? Wait up!" Blaine said, standing up and following Kurt, caramelized apple forgotten on the picnic mat.

"Come on, Kurt. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

The two of them were sitting under a big rock, shading them from the glare of the sun and Kurt still wasn't talking to Blaine. Blaine followed him like a puppy following its owner but to no avail, Kurt still ignored him. Kurt kept drawing on his sketch pad, finally moving to sketch summer clothing for males.

"I'm sorry." Blaine repeated quite a number of times. He did so until it became the thing that annoyed Kurt the most. After the hundredth time of apologizing, Kurt couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his sketchpad close and turned to Blaine. Blaine was immediately silenced by it.

"If I'm going to continue doing this with you, I need some ground rules." Kurt finally said, Blaine sat up properly as if listening to his teacher speaking. Kurt waited for Blaine to nod before he continued. "First, respect personal spaces. No close contact unless it's completely necessary." Kurt stated as Blaine nodded. "Second, limitations. There are a lot of things in that list that's pretty personal and intimate—"

"Yeah, there are." Blaine murmured, knowing what Kurt was talking about. They both knew what those things were; Kurt wrote kisses, cuddles, and making love in that list which Blaine respected by not pondering over it becauseduh.

"—so you can't...just...no." Kurt said, blushing again as it sunk in that Blaine did read his list and it was still pretty personal. "Lastly, you are not allowed to laugh at me when I blush beet red at what you're doing."

Blaine blinked. "What?" He thought the last one would be something gravely serious. Kurt bit his lip, embarrassed by his last rule but what can he say? He was making this up on the spot.

"It's a natural thing for me. I'm pale so I blush easily. And considering that it's the first time this list is being done to me, I can't control my reactions." Kurt ranted out all in one breath. Blaine had to hold his hands up at Kurt to stop him from talking.

Blaine reached out to touch Kurt's shoulder but retracted his hands in the last minute because rule number one. He just hang his hand in between them, making gestures with it. "I'm not laughing at that. I think it's adorable. I thinkyou'readorable." Blaine said with a sincere smile.

Kurt stared at him, blushing again, damn it. With Blaine looking like that and being so honest and sincere, how can he stay angry long enough to make him suffer?

Blaine dropped his hands to his sides, shuffling on his feet. "Look, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have done that because you're sharing this part of you that I know is very important and private and I'm thankful for it. Promise, I'll follow all your rules. " Blaine finally said, raising his right hand.

Kurt stared at him still, silence dancing around them. Blaine squirmed a little under Kurt's gaze which pleased Kurt immensely knowing that he now has the upper hand. It's about time the game is played fairly. "Okay. Glad that we understand each other." Kurt said.

Blaine grinned at him, back to his old self. "Great! Now that we're done fighting, let's get back to Rachel. Goodness knows what that woman's up to." Blaine turned around and started to walk away.

"Since when were you the Rachel expert?" Kurt asked, intrigued.

"Since I started living with you guys for 2 whole months." Blaine winked, walking beside Kurt. "So, I've started working at Callbacks, right? You still haven't watched me play over there." He pointed out, easily steering them away to a different topic.

Kurt shrugged. "You see how busy I am. One of these days, I will." He smiled. Blaine nodded, grinning like there was no tomorrow. Kurt shook his head in amazement, Blaine really was something else entirely.

They went back to where Rachel was and they weren't surprised to see that she was still there, holding her script but was now joined by someone else. Kurt recognized him immediately and a big grin crept up to his face. Blaine didn't fail to notice this and he unconsciously frowned.

Kurt skipped towards the pair, "Adam?" He greeted uncertainly before he could get there. Adam whipped his head around, smiling as he saw Kurt approaching him. Kurt waved at him to which Adam waved back.

"Kurt! How's it going?" Adam stood up, striding over to Kurt and enclosing him in a big bear hug. Kurt hugged him back as well. Blaine was taken aback at the contact but he tried to think nothing of it. "You never show your face anymore. The rest of the Apples misses you." Adam said.

Kurt laughed sheepishly. "Yeah? I'm just really busy these days. What's up?" Kurt started. Adam was about to reply when he noticed Blaine behind Kurt, all quiet and staring. Kurt followed Adam's gaze and realized he didn't know Blaine. "Oh right. Adam, this is Blaine. He's a friend of mine. Blaine, Adam." Kurt introduced them.

Adam raised an eyebrow but held his hand out to shake Blaine's. "Good to meet you."

Blaine noticed the thick British accent. He shook Adam's hand firmly, smiling as he said "You too, man."

Blaine watched as Kurt and Adam caught up with each other's lives, thinking how they may have so much to catch up on even if they go to the same university. Huh. He shrugged it off and went to sit with Rachel who now stopped caring about her surroundings, focusing on her script.

"So, what's the deal with Doctor Who?" Blaine asked. Rachel looked up from her script, surprised.

"How do you know that show? Seriously, are you sure you're fictional?" Rachel asked, impressed. Blaine shrugged, not explaining himself, the show was famous enough anyway. "Well, they dated last year. They look good together, see?" Rachel cocked her head towards Kurt and Adam. Blaine had to admit, they do look good together.

"Why'd they split up?" Blaine asked curiously. He saw Kurt laugh at something Adam said but the happiness doesn't quite reach his eyes. Blaine saw Kurt smile often enough to know when it was sincere or not.

Rachel highlighted a line on her script, saying "Adam called him a silly romantic." She said. "Pretty shallow, right? But no, you know Kurt, he values romance. It wasn't the reason they split but it was the thing that started the rift between them." She explained. "But they parted ways in good terms, look at them, they're still friends. People are even betting that they're going to get back together." Rachel shrugged.

Blaine listened intently, suddenly very curious about the situation. He was feeling protective of Kurt at that moment, like not wanting to share him. ""Do you think they will?"

"Who knows? It's their call." Rachel nonchalantly replied. She dropped her script and stared at Blaine, an eyebrow raised. "You seem awfully interested." She stated, a small smile on her face.

"Well, yeah, I'm curious. I mean, if you were dating Kurt, would you let him go? Someone like that is a keeper." Blaine told Rachel, not taking his eyes off of Kurt. "If it was me, I'd make him smile every day. Have you seen your friend smile? Wonderful, I tell you." He added distractedly. "Not like that." He murmured, still seeing Kurt's smile not reaching his eyes.

Rachel was just nodding and humming at everything Blaine was saying, her face resting on her hand. Being a side observer was amazing for her. If only she had someone to bet with, she'd bet that by the end of the month, these two will be all over each other like prairie voles.

"Tell me more about Kurt being wonderful." Rachel said to fill the quiet air.

Blaine blinked, only realizing what he was saying. "What? Yeah, he is. But I don't...it's not that I like him like that. You know I have Stefan." He explained suddenly as he saw the malicious grin Rachel was sporting.

"Uhuh, okay." Rachel said, unconvinced. She waved her hand to dismiss Blaine and stood up. "Kurt, we've been here long enough. I'm sure you have all you needed as inspiration. Let's go?" She asked Kurt. Kurt glanced back at them.

"Okay!" Kurt replied. "Hey, sorry, we need to go. It's nice bumping to you." He smiled politely. Adam nodded, going in for a hug again.

"Great to see you, Kurt. Let's go out for coffee sometime, yeah?" Adam asked. Kurt saw Rachel and Blaine approaching and before he could think about it he said yes. "Awesome. See you around." Adam said, waving goodbye to Kurt and the others.

Blaine heard it all and as they walked away with him standing next to Kurt, he heard the other man sigh. "You okay?" Blaine asked.

Kurt looked at him and his shoulders sagged. "That was horrible. I just said yes to meeting over coffee." Kurt admitted. "I assume this woman already told you." He added. Rachel looked back at them and gave Kurt a big smile, confirming his statement. "Adam. Never changes at all." He commented.

"Yeah?" Blaine filled in, wanting to know more but not wanting to pry. Kurt just shrugged and left it at that so Blaine didn't push it.

They walked towards the subway, about to go home, Rachel borrowed Kurt's sketchpad to do her usual checking of the new designs. She loves looking at Kurt's designs. Blaine made a small detour and bought them coffee. Before they reached the subway, Blaine rushed to them.

"Hey, I've got to play tonight so I'll see you later at home." Blaine announced. He held out his hand to Rachel, giving her coffee. "For you, madam." He smiled. Rachel said his thanks just as Blaine turned to Kurt. "And a nonfat mocha for Mr. Hummel." He said. "Stop thinking." Blaine added, flicking Kurt lightly on the forehead.

But Kurt was staring at the cup of mocha on his hand. "You know my coffee order?" He asked, surprised.

Blaine looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course I do." He said. "Get that smile back on your face. You look better with it." Blaine pointed out. He was slowly walking backwards. "Bye! See you later!" He said, waving before walking away.

Kurt watched as Blaine left and once he's gone, he let himself smile, holding the coffee closer to him. Unbeknownst to them both, Blaine just did something in the list unconsciously.

[√] 15. Know how to make me smile.

Rachel just shook her head at her friend, glad that Kurt was being the happiest she's ever seen him. "Let's go." She said, dragging Kurt to the subway, making their way home. "Also, just so you know, your male sketches looks a lot like Blaine." Rachel added, winking and smiling to herself. She was enjoying this as much as she knew Kurt does. Rachel couldn't wait to see more.