A little note: Kurt was in a coma for seven DAYS, not weeks. I'm sorry about that little slip. I meant to correct it. Also, please forgive me for any medical inaccuracies, I'm trying to keep things fairly realistic but I'm also taking some artistic licences. Anyway, enjoy this part!

Chapter 3 :

Burt had left Kurt's room only to grab some food for himself. He ran into Sebastian on the way back and though the boy tried to wipe his face the second he saw Burt, Burt still caught the red in his eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Hey," Sebastian said in a relatively steady voice when they stopped in front of each other. "I just went back to get my jacket and..." he trailed off when he saw that Burt was grinning.

"You don't have to lie to me, kid."

Sebastian sighed and returned Burt's grin with a small one of his own. "I just wanted to see him before I left." he admitted.

"You're going home?"

"Blaine's insisting." Sebastian said with a look that told Burt he wasn't fond of the idea. "I really don't mind spending the night in the waiting room. I could sneak in after he's asleep and sit with him until morning...I'd be gone before he woke up."

Burt's heart ached for him. He stepped forward and clapped Sebastian on the shoulder. "Go home for tonight, buddy." he said. "You'll be back in the morning and then we'll see if Kurt's ready to hear more about you two."

"Speaking of which," Sebastian said, "I may have let a few important details slip." Burt pulled his hand away from Sebastian's shoulder and raised his eyebrows, waiting. "He asked about how we became friends. I tried to keep it brief but he put the pieces together and figured out he wasn't in New York for college."

"That it?" Burt asked.

"Yeah, that's about it."

Burt nodded. "I was going to talk to him right now and I expect he would have found out anyway so it's not a big deal."

"I just thought I'd tell you," Sebastian said. His phone started ringing then and Sebastian hurried to reject the call before the noise of the ringtone caused any complaints. "It's Blaine," he said after glancing at the caller id. "He's probably waiting for me downstairs."

"Go on, don't keep him waiting." Burt said, stepping aside. "And try to get some rest, kid. You look like you need it."

Kurt was staring up at the ceiling when Burt entered his room. "Hey kiddo," he said, drawing up the chair and taking a seat. "This room smells like a fricking flower shop," he said, wrinkling his nose at the overpowering sweet smell.

"Dad," Kurt said, turning his face to look at his father. "When are you going to start telling me things?"

"Right about now, actually." Burt said.

"Really?" Kurt asked, sitting up. The way his face lit up with a smile made Burt's heart feel light and he nodded, giving Kurt a wide smile of his own.

"But we have a few rules."

"Don't tell me I can't ask for details." Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"You can," Burt said. "But I get to decide which ones to give. If I think a question has an answer that's too complicated for you to comprehend right now, I'm gonna say 'next question' and that's going to be that for the moment, we clear?"
Kurt nodded. "Okay."

"Now," Burt said, settling back in his chair and lacing his fingers over his stomach. "Ask away."

Kurt was silent for a second and Burt could see the questions swimming in his brain. It must have been hard to choose one question when you had ten years of catching up to do. Burt waited with patience until Kurt asked what Burt knew he was going to ask the moment Sebastian told him he'd let it slip that Kurt hadn't gone to college in the city.

"Did I get rejected from NYADA?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Burt sighed, "Yes." He tried not to let the way Kurt's face crumpled get to him and swallowed before he continued. "You didn't make the final cut."

"Did Rachel?"

"Let's focus on you here, buddy."

Kurt ignored him and continued to press. "Did she? She mentioned something about rehearsals when she was here." Kurt said, looking over at the flowers she had brought with her. "She was too hysterical for me to really understand anything."

Burt sighed. "Fine. Yes, Rachel got in."

"And I didn't," Kurt said, looking down at where his hands were twined in his lap.

"You dealt with the rejection with so much maturity," Burt said. "I was so proud of you."

"What did I do instead?" Kurt asked. "Am I still performing?"

"Not professionally." Burt said, "There some external fashion design program being offered at OSU that year and they were still looking for applicants around the time you got rejected from NYADA. You got your degree from there and moved to New York after graduation. It wasn't exactly what you'd planned but you were happy and you ended up coming to New York in the end anyway."

Kurt nodded. "So what do I do? Am I a designer?"

"You've been working at some fancy French label for the past couple of years."

The fancy French label was actually Nicole Smythe's, Sebastian's mother. She had opened her boutique in New York four years ago and asked Kurt to help her out with it. The designs were hers but Kurt got the chance to give a lot of his own input and the two of them were already in talks about creating Kurt's own line or making a joint venture.

Burt didn't give Kurt these details, but he did say "You're in the process of starting your own clothing line."

Kurt's eyes grew huge. "Really?"

"Mmmhm. I'm telling ya, NYADA's crying over not accepting you."

Kurt grinned and settled further back against his pillows. "I...I like the sound of that."

Burt felt a mix of confusing emotions twist in his stomach. He loved the smile on Kurt's lips but his son wasn't thinking about the repercussions of the accident at the moment, he was too caught up in his desire to figure out the events of the past. He didn't know just how different his life was from what he had planned. How everything was far from the dream that he was imagining it to be. No less perfect, but not something that he would be able to come to terms with and appreciate immediately once he understood everything.

Maybe it was the drugs that were keeping him from freaking out properly but Burt knew that point would come soon enough. Until it did though, he was going to try his best to warm Kurt up to how his life was at the moment.

"This is going to sound stupid but – do we win Nationals this year? Or...did we win?" Kurt corrected, closing his eyes and shaking his head as if to get rid of a bug.

"You did," Burt said with a grin. "I was there. You were fantastic."

Kurt's face brightened and he clapped his hands. "What did we place?"

"Second," Burt said.

"Who placed first?"

"Some nutheads, I dunno." Burt said. "I just cared about my son."

Kurt grinned. "Where do I live?"

"You'll see when we get there. In the city, needless to say."

"Do I live alone?"

"No."

"Do I live with Blaine?" Kurt asked, a blush creeping up on his face.

"No," Burt said, not missing the way Kurt's face fell.

"Oh. Okay." He said a little sadly. "So I have a flatmate?"

"Yes. Sort of."

"Anyone I know? Well I mean – obviously I know them but do I know them now?"

"Next question," was all Burt said in reply.

Kurt frowned but didn't linger on it too much and moved on to ask other things that were on his mind. Burt patiently answered every question as best as he could from the silly ones, to the more serious ones. Kurt's eyes began to droop half an hour into their little talk and Burt helped him settle into a more comfortable position for sleep.

Even though Kurt insisted that he was awake enough to talk, he drifted off mid sentence while asking about the color scheme he'd used in his apartment. Burt watched him snuffle in his sleep with a fond smile before he leaned over the bed to kiss his forehead and whisper "I'm so glad you're okay, son."

"Mmpfh," was all Burt got in response but it was enough.