Khloe Kardashian Reunites With James Harden After Lamar Odom Birthday, Credits Kourtney Kardashian For Saving Her

Khloe Kardashian celebrated the birthday of Lamar Odom in a hospital room, getting kudos for her kindness. It was symbolic of how the reality TV star has responded since the day she learned her estranged husband had been found unconscious in a brothel. Since then, she has stayed primarily by his side, reportedly paying his medical bills as she encourages him to recover.

But lately, Khloe gradually has been emerging for events ranging from a simple shopping expedition to her mother Kris Jenner’s 60th birthday party. And most recently, following rumors that she was even considering returning to her marriage permanently (the divorce was never finalized), she has reunited with boyfriend and basketball star James Harden just as new reports emerge from the reality TV star’s dark past when sister Kourtney Kardashian saved her from almost ending up in rehab.

Khloe Kardashian and James Harden went out together last night in Hollywood. Still together? https://t.co/5zxw9I1zOx

— TMZ Live (@TMZLive) November 9, 2015

Rumors initially spread that James had ended it with Khloe when he saw her apparently reunited with Lamar. But in reality, Harden and she had simply agreed to keep their own romance below-the-radar during her estranged husband’s medical crisis, according to Fairfax Media.

Now that Lamar is on his way to recovery, she and James, 26, feel more comfortable about returning to their public displays of affection. But as she continues to support her husband, to whom she’s still legally married, it’s become a complex balancing act.

Most recently, Lamar celebrated his 36th birthday with his wife and pals by his side. But only a few hours after she sang the happy birthday song, it was off to the Lure Nightclub in Hollywood with Harden for a party-for-two that lasted late into the night.

However, Kardashian also feels confused by the choice between the two men, even though she wants to hold onto James, according to the International Business Times.

A source shared that she feels in order to keep her relationship with Harden, she has to appear as if her estranged husband needs her, and only her, to save him. But the reality TV star, 31, also is making it clear that she and her husband have put off the divorce for reasons other than the intimacy she seeks with James.

“I’m still married for a multitude reasons, but intimacy is not one of them,” she emphasized.

One reason that the reality TV star may be staying with her husband and not moving forward with the divorce has to do with the way she relates to his past battle with booze, as well as that of Scott Disick, her sister Kourtney Kardashian’s own estranged boyfriend. Although Scott is fighting his battle now, and most recently, after getting dumped by Kourtney, returned to rehab again, Disick and Khloe share the same dark past of party days and too much alcohol, reported Perez Hilton.

It all comes out in her new memoir, entitled Strong Looks Better Naked. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians co-star confesses that following the death of her father in 2003, alcohol became a way to cope. Although she’s discussed in the past her sorrow when her father Robert died when she was just a teenager, the new revelations in Strong Looks Better Naked reveal just how much she struggled and how closely that struggle resembled those of Disick as well as her estranged husband and, in some ways, brother Rob.

“I was 19 at the time, and to say I didn’t handle his death well is an understatement. I didn’t turn to drugs, but I certainly drowned my sorrows in drink, and the partying soon got out of hand. I was underage and behaving recklessly in clubs and at private parties. During this period, I became aware of how easy it is to become a binge drinker… I see pictures of myself at the time and I was so bloated that I look like I’m 45 years old!”

Gradually, she began to party more and more, staying away from family and mingling with those who continually plied her with booze and club entry.

“It was pretty much, ‘Don’t worry. We can get you into this club.’ Or, ‘Here, have one more drink for the road.'”

Although she was close to rehab, Kourtney came to the rescue and saved her with a position at the Dash company.

“I didn’t end up in rehab… because Kourtney put her foot down and forced me to take control of my life, but I probably came close,” confesses the 31-year-old now.

[Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Clear Channel]