This was inspired by the picture Last To Know by ~airagorncharda on deviantart. Check it out.
To any other student at McKinley High, it was a normal day. Get up, eat breakfast, get on the bus, school, go home, do homework, watch TV/go on computer, shower, go to bed. Not for one student.
Kurt Hummel thought of October 11, 2010 as his own personal holiday. It seemed fitting that National Coming Out Day be the holiday for the only kid brave enough to come out in conservative Ohio. Not that it had been easy. Kurt had faced more than any teen should. After pretending for so long, Kurt had finally told his best friend and his father. He felt so insanely proud of himself. Every day he woke up and told himself "I am Kurt Hummel, and I am not afraid to admit that I am gay." He used that as his source of confidence. It worked every day…until he got to school.
Kurt was the favorite target of one Dave Karofsky. He would bask in his confidence glow until he was rammed into the lockers every day between classes. It was becoming too much. When the other guys in Glee suggested that he go and spy on the Dalton Academy Warblers, he discovered more than their set list. He found a safe haven and new friends. Thanks to Blaine, his new mantra was something new. Courage. Courage, courage, courage.
One day he couldn't take it and chased after Karofsky into the locker room. He was anticipating a fist, but not a kiss. To think, Kurt's bully was really just a scared kid so deep in the closet he was in Narnia. He didn't tell anyone except Blaine. His response after another confrontation? "He's not coming out anytime soon."
That was one of the reasons Kurt was so happy today. He knew that, no matter what, he would always have one leg up on Dave Karofsky. He was confident in himself and no closeted bully would take that away from him. Kurt smiled at this thought as he unlocked his locker. He wasn't afraid of Karofsky's constant bullying. He was still "expelled." (His expulsion would be later rejected by the school board. By then, Kurt would be long gone….but that's another story.) Mercedes noticed her best friend's happiness as she approached his locker.
"Why so cheery today?" she inquired, Kurt smiled at her,
"I'm just happy that I have the confidence to be who I am." Kurt pointed to the calendar below his picture of Blaine and "courage." October 11 was circled with the label "National Coming Out Day." Kurt closed his locker and they began to walk to class together.
"Ah," Mercedes said smiling, "But why? You have come out to everyone. We all have accepted you."
"And I am so thankful for that," Kurt responded, "But I have a feeling that there is someone who I haven't told…but I can't put my finger on it."
"There's some lost spacewoman on Mars," Mercedes joked, "She doesn't know yet." Kurt laughed with her, but it was forced. He felt insulted, but why? He told everyone he loved—
Kurt stopped dead in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Mercedes asked, looking over her shoulder at his friend. Kurt looked dazed, but he broke out of it and looked to her,
"N—nothing," he stammered, "I just thought of something,"
"What is it?" she asked,
"Can you tell Mr. Schue that I have to skip glee practice today?"
"Sure but—why?" Kurt never answered her question, he strode into homeroom.
After school, Kurt skipped glee as he said he would and went to the florist. He picked out a white rose and paid for it. When he reached his car, he placed the rose on the passenger seat gingerly and drove to a familiar location. He went there when he was feeling depressed, or when he wanted to look back and smile.
When he reached his destination, he parked and walked on the soft grass to the spot that he knew so well. He knelt in the same spot where he always did and placed the flower at the base of the grey stone. He ran his fingers over the portrait of a woman on it and the name on it. His hand hovered on the word "Hummel" before he put his hands into his lap.
"Hi mom," he began, staring into the eyes of the stone portrait, "There is something I have to tell you…"