AN: I forget which one it was, but I've got a drabble posted where Karofsky and his goons stripped and tied Kurt to the shower head in the locker room. This one would follow it.

Prompt: Jonathan Archer - "We're going to stumble, make mistakes, I'm sure more than a few before we find our footing. But we're going to learn from those mistakes, that's what being human is all about. I'm sorry you can't see that." - 'Enterprise'

"Kurt, we're home, Bud," Burt said from the driver's seat, reaching over to shake Kurt awake.

Although Burt had offered to drop me off at home on the way home from the hospital, I had asked to come to their house instead. Part of the reason was that I didn't want to go home to an empty house. The other reason was I just simply wasn't ready to let Kurt out of my sight yet. Though his lips were no longer tinged blue, Kurt still remained paler than usual and he looked so exhausted. Despite the doctor's assurance that other than some bruises Kurt was physically okay after his ordeal in the locker room, I was still worried. Holding his cold, shivering body close to me after untying him from the shower head, the thought of him dying their in my arms had crossed my mind more than once.

"Already," Kurt mumbled, lifting his head from the window where it had rested.

Getting out of the back of the vehicle, I was standing next to Kurt when he pushed the door open. As he had already undid his seatbelt, I scooped him up in my arms.

"Finn, I can walk," Kurt protested halfheartedly as I headed for the house.

"Tough," I replied simply.

Kurt gave up any pretense at protest with that simple answer and leaned his head against my shoulder. With Burt holding the door open for me, I carried Kurt into the house and down to his bedroom. After some fussing by Burt, Kurt was soon tucked into bed with Burt going to start a late dinner. Left alone with Kurt, I sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling a bit nervous. It was Kurt who finally broke the silence between us.

"Thanks for your help today, Finn."

I looked down at the floor, feeling guilty. "I'm not sure why you're thanking me. If I had stood up for you to begin with none of this would have happened. Instead I just ignored what Karofsky was doing. I'm the last person you should be thanking."

"You stayed with me though, Finn. I can't describe how it felt to know someone was finally there for me. Everyone makes mistakes, Finn. My mother use to tell me that stumbling was part of growing up but the important thing was that we took what we learned from those times and moved on."

"You're mother sounds like she was a very wise woman," I replied.

"She was," Kurt said thoughtfully, and I couldn't help but feel like the moment to talk about the situation was over.

One thing was for sure though, I planned on making sure my teammates left Kurt alone from now on.