A/N: Hello! Chapter Ten of "Finding Courage" is here! We finally get to find out when Kurt leaves the ER! I've made a decision to update ALL my stories on Mondays. I don't know what day it is where you are reading this from now, but if it's not Monday…check back a week from today for you! Enjoy! (:

Finding Courage

Chapter Ten: A New Chapter (Literally)

A month. Wow. I can't believe it's been an entire month since Kurt has been in this over-night E.R. room. And today? He's coming home! I set up a "Welcome Home" party and I can't wait for Kurt to see it! I ordered all of his favorite 'hors d'oeuvres, some cake, cheesecake, and I invited all of his New Directions friends and some of the Warblers.

I was sitting in my chair while Kurt sat in his hospital bed, ecstatic he was out of that 'damn atrocious gown', as he so put it, and into some clothes of his choosing. Burt, Carole, and Finn were at his house getting the party ready so it was just me with Kurt while Dr. Villa gave me a list of bewares and make sures to give to Burt.

We still have to come back once a week for Kurt's cut cleansing and anal tests, but he has to wear a bandage around his stomach. At first, Dr. Villa didn't want Kurt to go home until his cut and internal bruises completely healed, but Kurt begged and promised he wouldn't do anything to harm himself and he would come back once a week.

He's slowly healing still so he has lots of medication to take at home to help with his internal bruises, stomach cut, legs and panic attacks. This means, his emotions will be the equivalent of a pregnant woman, again.

After Dr. Villa repeated a lot of rules for Kurt over again, he gave me Kurt's crutches and I placed them beside the bed for him. Kurt took a deep breath, staring at the crutches. He hesitated but eventually gripped the handles and slowly stood up. I continued to hold the crutches in place, unsure if he would be able to walk since he hasn't walked for an entire month.

"You steady?" I asked nervously. He nodded. I slowly let go of the crutches and stood a couple inches back, ready to catch him if he fell. Dr. Villa stood on the other side of the bed; also cautiously watching Kurt.

He took a step with his right foot and moved his right crutch along with it. He gasped from excitement and I saw a small smile on his face as he focused on his left leg.

"I'm doing it! Ah, it still hurts though…" His face tensed up in pain.

"Just take your time, alright? Don't want anything to hurt." I inched closer to him and rubbed his shoulders, comfortingly.

"How is your depression, Kurt? Do you still need to see Meghan?" Dr. Villa asked and glanced at his clipboard in his hands.

"No, I'm fine," Kurt replied immediately, slowly stepping with the crutches.

"We'll see how it goes," said Dr. Villa and wrote something on the paper for me to give to Burt while Kurt ignored him.

"Ow! Ow!" Kurt whimpered after he took a few more steps. He lowered his head and stopped moving, trying to rest his weight on the crutches.

"Just slow down, maybe you're going a little too fast." It came out more of a question since I had no idea what I was doing. I gripped his shoulders, making sure he wouldn't fall.

"I am! If I slowed down anymore I wouldn't be moving!" Kurt snapped at me. I swallowed thickly and slowed down the movement of my hands.

"Are you sure you want to leave Kurt?" Dr. Villa asked.

"Yes! Can I…what about a wheelchair? I can work my way up to crutches." Kurt bit his lip. He told me before he didn't want to leave this hospital in a wheel chair; he wanted to walk out. So he could have a remainder of his dignity.

Dr. Villa nodded at once. "Sure! Sure. Let me just go get one! As soon as you're on your crutches bring it back, alright? Hospital property." Dr. Villa pointed at him and left the room hurriedly.

"Here, let me help you sit down." I grabbed Kurt's arm and let him lean his weight against me instead of the crutches as I carefully walked him back to the bed.

He sighed defeated and sat down. I sat down beside him and comfortingly rubbed his knee when I saw his head lowered and he was wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I asked softly.

"It's probably just my emotions but I didn't think it would ever hurt that bad to walk I just…I can't believe I have to use a wheelchair." his body tensed at my affectionate touch and he scooted away from me. I frowned, I should have known that would make him uncomfortable and hyperventilate. I'm glad he moved away though to stop the hyperventilating.

"Now you know how Artie feels…but it's only temporary Kurt. You'll have physical therapy after you can walk on your crutches well for a while. It's all part of the process right? You'll be fine." I smiled and kissed his cheek.

He shrugged and still seemed unsure. I opened my mouth to say something comforting but the door opened, revealing Dr. Villa and a wheel chair. He wheeled it beside the bed. I watched Kurt as he stood up and stumbled his way into the chair.

After receiving Burt's note and saying good-bye to Dr. Villa, and Mindy and Kelly on my way out, I proudly drove Kurt home.

I pulled up in his driveway fifteen minutes later and smiled to myself when I saw everyone parked around back, as I suggested, so Kurt couldn't see. He sighed happily at the sight of his house.

"Ready to go in?" I smiled. He smiled back and nodded eagerly. I brought his wheelchair to the passenger door side and he lowered himself in. I was locking my car door when Kurt began to wheel himself to the porch.

"Hey! Hey, where are you going?" I asked him and hurriedly chased him to the porch.

"Inside?" He laughed.

"Well, wait for me at least." I breathed out and gripped the back of his wheelchair.

"Aw, were you wanting to wheel me inside?" he smiled.

"A little." I shrugged and gave him a peck on the lips.

The Hummel's didn't have a ramp on their porch so I had to muster up some muscles and push Kurt's wheelchair up the steps. I breathed heavily and wiped my forehead after we reached the top of the porch. Which were only four steps.

"Out of shape?" he winked.

"Shut up. You try pushing your boyfriend in a wheelchair up these steps…" I panted.

"I could since you're so tiny." He shrugged and smiled.

"God, you're mean." I placed my hand over my chest, acting offended and he laughed loudly.

"Can we please go inside? I probably can't push my way up into the house." Kurt stared at the front door and I nodded instantly and gripped the back of his wheelchair. The Hummel's porch had a step from the front door to the porch so it isn't level into their home.

I turned the knob and it opened gently. Excitement bubbled in my stomach as I heaved Kurt into the den and pushed him all the way in.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Kurt wondered out loud. I closed the door behind me and I heard Kurt gasp when I turned the lights on.

There was a large banner that said "WELCOME HOME, KURT!", balloons everywhere, and a million other decorations scattered across the den. Well not a million, but it seemed that way when I purchased them all.

Instantly everyone jumped out of random places shouting "Surprise!"

I stood beside Kurt and saw he was shocked, covering his mouth with both his hands. His eyes started to gleam as one of his friends shouted, "Welcome home, Kurt!"

Everyone smiled brightly at Kurt but I could see the sadness in their faces that they tried to hide by seeing him in a wheelchair, even Artie.

He shook his head and finally was able to speak after his surprise. "I can't believe this…Who did this?" he asked.

"Blaine did!" said Burt and I blushed a little.

Kurt glared at me. "Why would you do this?" he turned his wheelchair abruptly from me and wheeled down the hallway and into a bathroom. Everyone's mouths seemed to gape open at Kurt's reaction. People usually don't react this way at their own surprise parties. Well, this is kind of embarrassing.

"Something wrong?" Carole asked.

I shook my head in reply. "Everyone stay. I need to talk to him. He has a lot of medicine going through his body, messing with his hormones; his emotions are everywhere just…try to stay in one place, guys." I walked in Kurt's direction and knocked on the door to the bathroom he had just entered.

"Who is it?" he sobbed.

"It's me, Blaine." I sighed.

"Leave me alone! Can't you tell I'm upset?" he cried out. Yes, Kurt I can tell you're upset. And other than your hormones, I have no idea why you are.

"Kurt, come on. Why are you so upset?" I asked softly.

"Why would you do this to me?" he sobbed quietly.

I scoffed, "It's a celebration! You're out of the hospital, all your friends wanted to see you, we're all happy that you're out, so why not?"

I heard him groan loudly in the room and then he shouted, "Just get in here, Blaine!"

I sighed and pushed the door open. I peered inside to look for him; he had his wheelchair pushed against the sink and his arms crossed over his stomach, like he was trying to hug himself.

I stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind me. I dropped to my knees in-front of his wheelchair and took one of his hands.

"Please talk to me, baby. Why are you so upset?" I murmured to him.

He shook his head and hiccupped, more tears escaping his eyes. I reached up and cupped his face with my hands and wiped his tears away as he began speaking.

"It's just…they all saw me like this all…in a wheel chair and you should've seen their faces when they saw the chair and…their all going to ask me about what happened and I was so happy to get away from that and…"

"Hey they are not going to ask you about it, alright? I even gave them restrictions on touching you, okay? If they do anything that makes you uncomfortable you let me know. And as for the wheelchair, they had to see it sometime. Look, they all went out of their way to make this special for you. You don't want to let them down, right?"

Kurt shrugged, while trying to look away from me.

"They all love you. That's why they're here. We have to face the music," I added and rubbed his wet cheeks with my thumbs. He breathed in a shaky breathe and nodded, agreeing with me.

I smiled and kissed his forehead, then grabbed a tissue box by the sink and handed it to him.

"I am happy that you did this for me though, Blaine. It's really sweet and…thoughtful," he said while grabbing a pile of tissues and wiping his face and underneath his eyes.

I smiled broadly and put this tissue box back in its place. Kurt gets mad when I don't put things where they go.

"Well your welcome I just…I love seeing you happy. I didn't think it would result like this though."

We both laughed and he reached his arms out. I leant forward and gave him a gentle hug. I felt his chest move slowly and his breath in my ear. "Okay I—I'll go out there. There's food right?" Kurt mumbled into my hair.

I nodded. "And presents," I said, moving back. His face lit up.

"Come on, you want me to wheel you out or do you want to do it?"

Kurt smiled, "It's a pretty tight squeeze in here. Could you wheel me to the den?"

"Of course," I replied, smiling back.

I wheeled him back into the den and soon everyone crowded around Kurt and was talking to him. I've never seen a bigger smile on his face. Artie tried to show him some moves on the wheelchair and Finn gave him a giant card we all signed. His tears started to fall but he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve.

Throughout the party Kurt didn't have any outbursts which relieved me. Sure he cried some when he talked to his friends but I expected that anyway. Kurt's an emotional person.

An hour passed and everyone stood in groups talking and eating Kurt's cake. I was sitting beside Kurt but he left to go to the bathroom so I rotated to the other side of the room and stood around some of the Warblers I invited.

"He looks great," David told me when I walked up.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Was that sarcastic?"

"Yeah because if it was, Blaine will go all protective bitch on you." Wes said, attacking his slice of cake with a fork.

"Yeah he stayed with him every day for a month, spent the night a few times." Nick added, and sipped on some strawberry punch that Carole made. David looked between Wes and Nick, and then looked at me a little taken back and frightened to say the least.

"No! I swear man. He really does. He's been through…" he moved his face closer and lowered his voice "An attack and rape and now he's just…it looks like nothing's bothering him. It's amazing." He leaned against the wall again.

I looked around to make sure none of the New Directions gossips were around like Mercedes, Tina, Rachel…basically all the girls and Finn. They weren't though.

"Well he's pretty strong. He's had to go to a psychiatrist for depression problems though. I think that's helped him a lot. I haven't seen any depression signs in a while," I said to the group of Warblers I was standing around.

They all smiled at me happily and continued to eat their cake while Wes continued to stab at his cake.

"Can you not eat cake like a person?" David rolled his eyes.

"I'm not eating cake like a person?" Wes almost laughed and I did.

"You never eat cake like a person," I said.

"Yeah you just…go at it like a cave man while we all eat ours elegantly," said Nick and we all laughed. Except for Wes.

"Excuse me? It's a surprise party; I don't need to eat elegantly. It's not like we're meeting the president and dressed up to nine's." said Wes. David spit his punch back into the little plastic cup from laughter.

"If we were, you'd be in trouble." I winked at him.

Wes opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but his gaze darted off of me and he cleared his throat. I looked behind me and saw Kurt wheeling his way towards us. I smiled; this is the only time where I'm taller than him.

"So..." Kurt said slowly, grinning. I looked at him waiting for him to finish but he never did. He just stared at me, smiling shyly.

"What is it? Oh, do you need help with something?" I asked and nudged Wes to get him and the others away from us so we could speak privately. His head jerked up and his mouth formed and 'O', and started grabbing the other Warbler's sleeves.

"No! I'm good!" Kurt replied, mainly to the Warblers. They shrugged and stayed where they were. "I just—you mentioned earlier about…" he trailed off again.

I just had an embarrassing light bulb moment and smiled at his adorableness."Oh yeah! I didn't forget! You want to open them now?" I asked him.

"Kind of." Kurt shrugged with a smile.

I chuckled and finished up my food, then threw it away in the nearest garbage can.

Kurt had a ton of presents.

Some were gift cards and I could tell Kurt was a little disappointed he couldn't use them yet. Well, he could go into a store in a wheelchair, he just doesn't want to. Others were movies or tickets to plays, lots of things that he absolutely adored.

I noticed Rachel didn't seem to be herself during the party. She wasn't the cheerful, loud, never-stop-speaking person she usually is. Finn seemed to be a little more cheerful than Rachel, but throughout the party I could tell something was bothering them, and I knew exactly what it was.

I never told Kurt about it, or asked Kurt the questions dad wanted me to. But we'll have time to do that later, right? I just want to focus on celebrating Kurt right now, he deserves this.

ooOOoo

"Baby I've got to go; my mom and dad will kill me if I stay out later than promised."

Kurt and I were on the den's couch watching T.V. by ourselves. It was pretty late and the rest of the Hummel's and Finn were already in bed, trusting that I wouldn't take advantage of Kurt right now.

"I know I just really don't want you to go," Kurt said from my shoulder.

I sighed and ran my fingers through her hair. He hummed softly and I kissed him on-top of his head. "I don't want to go either…do you need help getting into bed?"

"I can get myself into bed, Blaine."

I checked the time on my watch one more time. A minute passed over the time I told mom and dad that I would already be on the road. I bit my lip anxiously.

"Okay…well I better leave right now. If I don't they'll—"

"It's okay. I get it. Just call me when you get into bed, okay?" Kurt gripped my hand.

I smiled at him and nodded. "Okay. One last kiss?"

"Of course." Kurt smirked and leaned forward. Our foreheads touched and he sighed contently, his eyes barely open, from fatigue probably and for the both of us finally getting some alone time at his house after the huge party.

I captured his soft lips in a slow, lingering kiss. I cupped his cheek and stroked it with my thumb, his fell into my touch and almost fell asleep on the spot.

"Well I'll be going now. Are you sure you don't need any help?" I asked him.

"I'm sure. My room's right down the hall and my wheelchair's two feet away from me." Kurt shrugged.

I nodded, "Okay. I'll call you right when I get home and you better be in bed, mister." I pointed at him. He laughed and raised his eyebrows.

"I promise." He grinned.

I put on my blazer and pecked him on the lips one last time. "Okay, I swear I'm leaving now. Love you."

"Love you too." I heard Kurt say before I closed the front door behind me.

It took over an hour to get home in Westerville and when I pulled up in my driveway, I was surprised the lights were still on. I guess I won't have to use my key…I checked the time on my radio one last time. 11:00? Why the hell are they still up? I sighed and shook my head.

When I walked through the front door, I saw my father sitting on the couch with a bunch of papers spread out over the coffee table. Probably preparing work for his next case.

He looked up to glance at me with a short nod and then looked down again. "Hey Blaine."

"Hey dad…do you know it's eleven?" I walked over to where he was seated.

He nodded in reply.

"How was Kurt's party?" he asked and began to type some kind of legal stuff into his lap top.

"Oh it was great! Really fun too! He loved it," I replied and bit my lip to try to keep my excitement down.

"Kurt like your gift?"

I nodded but then realized he couldn't see me. "Oh yeah he loves fashion shows. He was so ecstatic he was practically jumping in his wheelchair. You know…if his legs weren't…broken." I swallowed thickly.

Dad grimaced, not knowing how to reply. Although it looked like he wanted to say something.

"Well I—I better go to bed. I promised Kurt I'd call him when I got home. I want to see if he's settled in his bed." I gave him a short nod and turned on my heel towards the stairs.

"Wait! Blaine! I need to….to tell you something." Dad walked over to me, pushing his laptop aside.

I raised my eyebrows in interest, "Yeah?"

"I just...I want to tell you what a great son you are. There are not a lot of teenagers out there I know who would spend every day with someone in the hospital and sacrifice their own time and sleep to make sure that said person is comfortable. That's real love." Dad grinned at me.

My heart leaped at his words. All my life I tried to compete with Cooper so dad could notice me, say congratulations to me once, and when I came out that I was gay and even announced I had a boyfriend I knew dad would never appreciate me.

Now he does, and accepts me.

"Thanks dad I—that means a lot to me that you think I'm a good son." I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth to stop the tears.

"You're an amazing son. Come here." He opened his arms for me to hug him. My mouth gaped open and the tears started steaming down my face.

Dad never hugs anyone. I don't think I've ever even see him hug mom. Now he wants to hug…me?

I almost attacked him and cried into his chest. After a moment or so, when my crying settled down he pulled away and offered me a smile I knew he was uncomfortable making, he doesn't really smile that much.

"You better go call Kurt," said dad. I nodded and walked away. "Good night, Blaine!" I heard him call out to me from the living room.

"Night, dad!" I called back from the stairs.

When I reached my bedroom and stripped down to my pajamas, I threw my sheets back and dialed Kurt. It rang a couple times before I heard Kurt's soft voice that made me smile instantly.

"Hey Blaine."

"Hey baby, I'm home. You in bed yet?" I asked him, pulling the covers over my head and putting him on speakerphone.

"Yup. Just got in bed actually. Thank you so much for the party today it was so thoughtful and it just…made me fall in love with you all over again. You're like the best boyfriend ever." I swore I could hear him smile through the phone.

"Aw, when I'm not being a dick right?" I chuckled.

"Blaine! Why did you have to ruin it?" I heard his laugh I love so much.

I laughed with him, "I'm not! But thanks Kurt; I just love seeing you happy."

"Oh! Hey I got some great news!"

"What is it?" I smiled.

"Dad is going to let me go to school tomorrow! Isn't that great?"

I took in a deep breath. Oh god, Kurt, the only out and proud gay student at McKinley, pushing a wheelchair into the halls of McKinley, having ranges of emotions? Here we go.

ooOOoo

Chapter Reviews from Chapter Nine:

Sarahamanda: Thanks! Here's the next update! Enjoy! (:

Nbjd: Thank you! And yes Kurt and Blaine are the cutest things alive! (: ha-ha but here's the next chapter! Enjoy! (:

Candy Criss: Thank you! This chapter includes two increasing plot points: We will hear from Rachel's dads and what happened to them quite soon. Also, Blaine's dad accepting him? You hear more from that in this chapter and obviously he didn't accept him right away but now he's starting to accept him! (:

A/N: Don't forget to check out my other stories: "Getting To Know You" and "Take A Bite Of My Heart Tonight" Which all three of my stories are updated on Mondays! So check back next week! And don't forget to review! Love and Klainebows to all! (: