It took a while to get this out, but Blayze is back! It took a lot longer to get this version out and ready to go. For those who don't know, this is a better version of my first story From the Ground Up. I honestly didn't like what was going on with the story, so i decided to put FTGU on hiatus and give it a fine tuning and here it is.

The main premise of the story is pretty much the same, just with some things taken out and others added in. Hopefully you guys like this story as much or even more than FTGU. Anyways, here is the first official chapter of It's For the Best.


"I hope to God Dad is in a good mood when I get home." 16 year old Blaine Bonin said as he walked home on a warm day in Tulsa. Even though his name is Blaine, most people called him BB—which annoyed him when he was younger; he eventually got used to it. Worrying about his father's temperament has been a common occurrence for numerous years.

At first, BB thought it was because he refused to be a football star like his brother. BB realized early on that he had no desire to do football because he was five inches shorter and fifty pounds lighter than his older brother, Chance. He wasn't scrawny—he had some muscle for being on the track team—he had no interest in football. Also, he preferred the idea of comic books and superhero movies—a "nerdy" life.

Whatever the reason is, it caused problems because BB declined to acknowledge or speak to other people about his father being abusive. It's one of BB's biggest secrets. What made it worse was that no other family members knew; BB felt like the pain caused was all his fault and he didn't know how to make the situation better. BB looked over at the clock tower by city hall and saw that he was extremely late, so he ran like hell to get home before he got in big trouble—knowing the smallest thing could set him off—and he didn't know why.

Ten minutes later, BB made it home—hoping his dad was at work or with some skank for the night. BB walked inside and about threw up when the stench of something he couldn't recognize hit him in the face. He did sigh in relief when he saw that his dad wasn't in the living room as he walked upstairs to his bedroom. The relief quickly left his face when he found his dad sitting on his bed with a belt in his hand

"H…H…hi dad." BB manages to stutter out, having a bad feeling about what's going to happen. His dad gets off the bed and walks over to his son—towering over him.

"What are you doing home so late?" His dad asks with a calm tone.

"Sorry. I lost track of time at the library." BB replied with a little more confidence in his voice.

"Why the hell did you not look at the clock at the library?"

"It was broken and I didn't have a clock with me!"

"Why don't you have one?"

"Because SOMEBODY decided to break my phone and my watch." BB yelled at his father. "Oh shit. This is not gonna…." BB thought when he realized his mistake a bit late, but he never got to finish his thought when the belt in his father's hand slapped him across the face. BB stumbled back a few feet and scrambled out of the bedroom with his father hot on his heels. His dad grabs BB by the ponytail and shoves him against the wall and cracks the belt against his back before turning him around and covering his mouth.

"Where the fuck do you get off blaming me for your problems, you little bastard? You are always getting into trouble this year at school. Constant detentions, parent-teacher conferences, don't forget the suspensions you racked up. I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but it's going to be changed pretty quickly." His dad said releasing his hand from BB's mouth.

"All I want to know is what happened between us? You have been this way towards me ever since mom died. I want to know what I did to you to make you hate me so much. You never had this much anger toward Chance. Why me?" BB asked starting to back up. His dad caught up quickly and grabbed him by the shirt.

"What happened? I don't need to give any reason. All you need to know is that you're worthless! You're a worthless little bastard!" BB's dad said as he swung his fist back and punch him in the face. The force from the punch knocked BB backwards…and sent him tumbling down the stairs. BB managed to grab onto the stair rail halfway down and he tried to pull himself up. Unfortunately, his dad grabbed him by the shirt and drug him down the rest of the stairs.

"I think you're wrong." BB managed to say before being shoved back first into the front door—the door knob catching him in the low back. BB's dad scoffed at him while dragging BB up by the hair and opening the front door.

"You know what. I'm done with you. I don't care if you are sixteen or not. You think I'm wrong? You won't even last a week without my help or money. Get out! I wouldn't come back if I were you because if you do, you'll get the beating of your life. You ungrateful BASTARD." BB's dad remarked as he shoved BB out the door. BB stumbles off the porch and lands face first in the yard. BB is slow to get up as he is feeling sore all over his body. BB reaches into his pocket and feels something broken as he pulls out his broken glasses.

"Shit. Guess I need to get new ones. Good thing I paid extra for contacts this time." BB thought as he started walking down the street spitting blood after being popped in the mouth. He knew he was probably bleeding, but he partially didn't care because it's happened before.

He didn't know what to do now because his dad threw him out of the house—with just the clothes on his back. As he was walking down the street, he started thinking about the things his dad said to him. The thing that disturbed him the most was the fact he sidestepped BB's question about his mother.

BB's mother was sick, but it wasn't like the flu or complications from pregnancy—it was cancer. His mother first found out about the tumor when BB was three, but was declared cancer free a year later. Unfortunately, the cancer came back worse when BB was eleven; she died eight months later from it—two weeks before BB's twelfth birthday. It wouldn't surprise BB that his dad probably blamed him for the death. What made it worse that BB blamed himself. It didn't help that BB had nobody to talk to when all the tragedy was occurring—his dad was angry all the time and his older brother was fourteen and wanted to be left alone all the time. The only thing BB could do was push away the emotions.

It was about four months after the funeral when it first happened. BB asked a question about his mom—a subject that was taboo in their house—and his dad slapped him. The abuse got worse over the years and tonight being one of the worst beatings that BB endured. It would have been easier to endure if BB didn't get beat two days before. The mental scars left were much worse than the physical ones. BB had NO self-confidence, he didn't talk to very many people outside the track team, he has trust issues, he flinched whenever somebody tried to touch him, and the sight of somebody holding a leather belt scared him—for obvious reasons.


When BB walked by a payphone—one of the last ones in the city—he remembered that he might have one and only one choice. As BB walked back to the payphone, he tried to avoid the weird looks he was getting. At the payphone, BB pulled out his change and a phone number from his wallet and he called the one person who might be able to help.

"Blackman. Tulsa Police Department." The voice on the other side of the line said. BB thanked the gods that he answered his phone.

"Un…Uncle…Steve." BB said stuttering. Steve Blackman had been friends with his dad for so long that he and Chance called him Uncle Steve on occasion.

"Blaine? Blaine are you ok?" Steve asks.

"Umm…not really. I need your help." BB said trying to take a breath, but it getting harder by the second. Steve could hear that and thought the worst.

"Where are you? I'm coming to get you." Steve replied.

"I'm at that shitty payphone by the McAlister's on Sixth Street." BB said.

"Don't move. I'm on my way." Steve said quickly hanging up. BB hung up the phone and tried to find a place that didn't bring him any unwanted attention.

Ten minutes later, BB saw Steve pull up in his police car. As Steve walked towards BB, he put his head in his knees because he didn't want to look his Uncle Steve in the face.

"Come on, Blaine, let me get a look at you." Steve said as BB replied by shaking his head no. Steve rolled his eyes. "Now is not the time to be stubborn. Let me get a look at you." Steve demanded. BB knew that he couldn't win this argument, so BB stood up and looked at Steve. Steve couldn't believe the sight of this little kid covered in dried blood and bruises. Steve quickly pulled BB into hug as BB tried as hard as he could not to break down and cry. After a moment, Steve let go of the hug and escorted BB to the police car.

"What happened?" Steve asked helping BB into the car as BB still held his side.

"I don't want to talk about it." BB replied trying to push himself away—which was his go-to move whenever people started asking him questions about his personal life. Unfortunately for BB, Steve had an idea about what was going on. Steve worked as a school resource officer for a couple years and one of the main people he talked to was the little kid who he knew since he was born. Every time Steve even tried to bring up the subject of his home life, BB refused to talk about it. Steve had his assumptions, but the assumption might be fact by seeing BB battered and bloodied. Steve saw BB holding his ribs, and he knew what he had to do first before asking him more questions.

"Where are we going?" BB asked when Steve started driving.

"Where else? The emergency room." Steve replied.

"What?! Why?!" BB asked in shock.

"Because you are hurt. You have been holding your ribs ever since I showed up. There could be more damage than you even know." Steve said looking at BB with sincerity.

"But they are going to ask questions!" BB said starting to panic. The last thing he wanted to do was to tell some random doctor that he got the shit beat out of him by his dad.

"I'll take care of that. Don't worry. Ok?" Steve asks. BB was still nervous but he nodded the affirmative. Steve gave BB a sympathetic look as he drove towards the hospital.


Sometime later, BB woke up in some random bedroom. BB tried to get up, but he got dizzy and sat back down on the bed. Moments later, Steve walked into the bedroom and sat next to BB.

"Morning. About time you woke up. You've been sleeping for two days. Four bruised ribs, one cracked rib, bruises galore, and a black eye. Otherwise you were extremely lucky." Steve said rubbing safe spot on BB's back.

"Two days? What happened?" BB asked rubbing his temples. As he looked down he saw he was wearing only a tank top and gym shorts. "Wait…where are my clothes?" BB asked with confusion in his voice. Steve laughed in response.

"Your jeans and socks are folded in the living room, but I trashed your shirt. Too stained with blood I'm afraid." Steve admitted. BB muttered 'Oh God' and put his face in his hands.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but answer me one question. Did it happen?" Steve asked already knowing the answer; he just wanted BB to answer the question.

He honestly didn't want to answer the question. BB has been sweeping the subject under the rug for four years, why start changing things now? But looking up at Steve made him realize that this won't be a time he can change the subject. Steve wanted an answer and he wanted an answer now. BB couldn't gain enough confidence or strength to verbally answer; he weakly nodded his head yes.

"I never thought that Johnny would be capable of doing that to his own child. Pisses me the fuck off." Steve said reigning in his anger.

"I don't wanna talk about it." BB said with no emotion in his voice. "I do have a question, though. Can I move in with you?" BB asked hoping Uncle Steve would say yes. Steve knew that BB was going to ask that, so it made what he was about to say that much harder.

"Kiddo, you know I would love to have you; you can't move in." Steve said with hurt in his voice knowing that BB's heart just sunk. "Let me explain. Blaine, after I dropped you off here after seeing the doctor, we responded to a domestic disturbance call at your house. Blaine…your father was arrested last night. For that and some other things I can't discuss with you."

"You guys arrested him? Damn it! He's gonna know it was me. Fuck I'm going to get the shit beat out of me now! Why did you do that? I didn't say anything." BB said getting mad. Steve knew that BB was going to get mad, but what was going to happen will be the best for Blaine.

"Actually, no it wasn't you. One of your neighbors heard the commotion and called the police." Steve said while BB looked at him with a confused look on his face.

"What does that have to do with me?" BB asked in reply. Steve looked down and took a deep breath before replying.

"It's a long story, but let me give you end result…the judge determined that you were in an unsafe environment with your father. The judge ruled that your father lose custody of you for the time being." Steve answered.

"Lost custody? Wait…who has custody of me?" BB asked, tired of beating around the bush. Steve decided to come clean and tell BB the truth.

"The judge awarded custody to the next of kin—your Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Mike. Blaine, you're moving to Houston." Steve finally admitted to BB. BB is in complete shock as he flings himself backwards onto the bed.

"Houston? Why do I have to go to Houston? I don't want to go to Houston. My school is here. My team is here. My friends…well what I have…are here. Why can't I just stay in Tulsa with you?" BB asks frantically. BB lied about the part on leaving his friends. He really didn't have any because BB didn't want to deal with the big explanation about his home life.

"Do you think staying here with me will make things better? For now, yes. What about when your dad gets out of jail? Not really. As much as I would like you to stay here, it would be best for you to go to Houston." Steve replies pulling BB into a hug.

BB doesn't know what to say. As much as he really doesn't want to go, Uncle Steve may be right. On the other hand, BB has a bad feeling about all of this starting to turn into a drama with the shit hitting the fan. Right now, BB really doesn't have much of a say regarding this situation. He's just going to have to go and hope for the best.

"Ok. Maybe it will be for the best. So…when do we leave for Houston?" BB asks rubbing his temple with a mix of annoyance and a pounding headache from being hit in the head.

"Actually…we are leaving for Houston tonight." Steve replies cautiously.

"TONIGHT!" BB screams leading to Steve holding his ear. "How can I leave tonight? I can't believe this is happening."

"Come on, Blaine. We need to stop by your house to get some of your things." Steve says helping BB up to get dressed.


"I can't believe this is happening. I really can't believe this is happening." Was all BB could think for the last three hours of this eight hour car ride. He knew that in just a few hours that he was more than likely going to have to tell two or three people his biggest skeleton in his closet.

"Blaine, you need to calm down. Everything is going to be alright." Steve says trying to reassure the teenager in the passenger seat.

"Easy for you to say. What exactly do Cheryl and Mike know about the all this?" BB asks wondering how much his aunt and uncle truly know.

"They know that they are gaining custody of you for the time being. I told them the reasoning was classified. That answer satisfied them for now." Steve replied focusing on the road.

"For now?" BB asks.

"Blaine, they are going to need to know why they are becoming your guardians. As much as it terrifies you or makes you want to hide away, you are going to have to tell them the truth." Steve says with resolve.

"I figured, but the thing that scares me the most is that I have been hiding this from my whole family for years and I'm finally telling people. I'm scared that Cheryl and Mike are going to tell people and cause World War Three in our family. I'm scared that my family is going to start judging me and thinking of me differently. I'm scared that they are going to think of me as some pity case." BB says almost yelling at Steve. He didn't mean to, but all the insecurities and anxiety he has about the situation is starting to boil over.

"I know you're nervous, but there isn't anything to be nervous about. Trust me. They wouldn't consider letting you move to Houston if they didn't love you. They want the best for you." Steve replies. BB looks up at Steve and nods his head as he starts to fall asleep.

Two hours later, they finally reach Houston and pull into Cheryl and Mike's driveway. BB and Steve get out of the car. Steve starts walking to the door, but BB doesn't move and just stares at the house.

"I think I'm going to throw up, Uncle Steve." BB admits. Steve walks back to BB and rolls his eyes.

"Come on, you can do this. You are talking to family. We've went over this. Now come on." Steve says patting BB on the back and helping him walk up the steps to the front door. Steve knocks on the door, but it wasn't Cheryl or Mike who answered it—it was BB's cousin Kaitlyn.

When they were younger, BB and Kaitlyn were thought of as twins—even though Kaitlyn was seven months older—because they almost looked alike and were about the same height. After seeing Kaitlyn, BB realized that this just got a lot harder than he expected.

"Uncle Steve!" Kaitlyn yells as she hugs Steve.

"Hi Katie, long time no see. How have you been?" Steve replies.

"I've been good. Now I see my cousin back there…now give a hug you little…oh my god!" Kaitlyn exclaims after letting Steve go and getting a look at her cousin. "What the hell happened to you, Blaine?"

"Nothing that major happened. I just got into a little fight with someone." BB lied.

"Katie, where are your parents? I want to see them really quick." Steve asked intervening.

"They're in the living room. Come on in." Kaitlyn answered as she shows Steve and BB to Cheryl and Mike.

"Hey, Mom, guess who is here! Uncle Steve and Blaine are here!" Kaitlyn tells her parents.

"Steve. It's a pleasant surprise seeing you. It's been a while." Cheryl says.

"A long while, Cheryl, but I wish I was here visiting under better circumstances." Steve replied escorting BB into the living room. As BB sits down, Mike gets a look at BB's face and can't believe what he sees.

"Blaine, what happened to your face? Steve is this why Blaine is down here?" Mike asks Steve.

"Partly." BB answers weakly. Everyone looks over at BB with a mix of shock and confusion on their face.

"Kaitlyn, can you go upstairs so we can talk to Blaine in private?" Cheryl asks her daughter.

"What's the big deal? Blaine got into a fight. He's gotten into a few of those over the years." Kaitlyn asks wondering what in the world was going on.

"Kaitlyn please! We need to talk to your cousin alone." Mike asks with a much more serious tone. Kaitlyn shrugs, still wondering the big deal was, and walks upstairs to her room.

"Ok, Blaine, what is going on here? We get a call three days ago saying that your father has been arrested and we were awarded temporary custody of you. That's all we've been told. Can you explain this all to us?" Mike asks. BB looks down at the floor because he can't make eye contact with anybody right now. Steve knows what's going on and leans down to BB.

"It's ok. You'll be fine. Just take a deep breath and go. You'll feel much better when you do." Steve says reassuring BB. BB takes as deep a breath as he can with his ribs taped up and looks up to his aunt and uncle.

"Whatever statements Steve has told you this point…have probably been true. He left some stuff out because he wanted me to tell you guys. He's right. I need to tell you and I should have told somebody a long time ago; I was scared about the end result." BB starts to say.

"What do you mean, Blaine?" Cheryl asks. BB tries his hardest not to go back to his defense mechanism of changing the subject or diverting eye contact. That strategy won't work this time. It was three adults against one teenager—a fight BB can't win.

"What I am about to say is hard, so I'm gonna try to say it as best as possible. Here it goes." BB says taking a breath and trying not to vomit. "Uncle Steve told you that my dad was arrested. He was arrested due to a call about a domestic disturbance…among other things." BB started saying.

"Domestic disturbance?" Mike asks as Steve nods his head. "What's been going on at that house of yours?"

"Mike…Cheryl…you have custody right now because DHS and the Tulsa Police Department are doing an investigation on him." BB starts to admit.

"Blaine, you can tell us anything." Cheryl says to comfort her nephew.

"They are investigating a possible case of a…ab…abuse." BB manages to say. Cheryl and Mike look at BB confused.

"Are you trying to say that…."Mike tries to ask before getting cut off by BB.

"Yes. I've been abused by my father." BB confesses as Mike and Cheryl look at him with wide eyes.

"Are you serious, Blaine? How long has my brother been doing this to you?" Mike asks putting a hand on BB's shoulder. At that point, Steve excused himself to give the family some privacy and to check up on Kaitlyn.

"About four years…about four months after the funeral was when it started." BB admitted.

"Why didn't you tell anybody that happened to you?" Cheryl asks as her heart going out to her nephew.

"I thought it was an accident. I thought it was him getting over emotional about everything." BB replies.

"Sorry, Blaine, but that is a bunch of bullshit. There is absolutely no excuse for hitting your child. No matter what the situation is at the house." Mike says getting angry thinking about his brother.

"I know. I should have known that sooner. Part of me believed that it would get better. For the most part, I thought it was my fault. I thought a lot of things were my fault. Like being hit or my mom getting…." BB said before being cut off by Mike.

"I'm stopping you right there. Nothing about this whole situation is your fault." Mike says as BB turns his head away. "Don't do that, damn it. What I'm telling you is true. I don't care if you don't believe me right now. Cheryl and I will tell you every day until you believe us. Nothing has been your fault." Mike says getting face to face with his nephew.

"Umm…thanks. You know, I never really talked to anybody like this…not even after the funeral. It feels kinda good." BB says with a small smile.

"You seriously never talked to anybody about anything?" Cheryl asks as BB nods in response. "Why haven't you talked to Steve or Chance or a counselor at school?"

"I didn't want to bring up the subject with anybody. I felt like it was better to just ignore it and hope everything would get better. Steve and the counselors at school tried, but I wouldn't talk. I was afraid that my dad would find out and the end result would be worse for me. I really couldn't talk to Chance because he always wanted to be left alone and we really didn't bring those subjects up when we did hang out or talk; all that was left was me." BB admitted has his voice breaks at the end.

"Let me get this straight. For four years, you have bottled up all emotions about everything and not done a damn thing about it?" Mike asks as BB nods his head. "How about when Anne Marie died?" BB shook his head no with tears starting to flow.

"It sucked and it hurt, but I stayed strong knowing that my mom wasn't in pain anymore. Plus, there was nobody to console to and it felt weird crying alone. I mean I did cry when I said goodbye to her at the funeral, but that was it." BB replied.

"You're a strong kid. Doing all this at twelve, but you don't have to been strong right now. You need to let everything out. You need to grieve. You deserve it." Cheryl said sympathetically as Mike nods in agreement. At that moment, BB decides to agree with them and stop ignoring the pain that has been building up by walking into the open arms of his uncle and completely breaking down crying in his hug.

"I miss her." BB manages to say through the crying.

"I know you do. We all do. Everything will be fine now, Blaine. We are happy to have you here with us." Mike says as BB continues crying.


"Katie, I think you're looking too much into this. How long has it been since they've seen him?"

"It's been about a year. I'm not mad, AJ, it's just weird that my parents want to talk to Blaine without me there." Kaitlyn answers as she sits on her bed talking to her friend AJ Lee.

"Maybe it's something personal. If Blaine and you are as close as you say you two are, then you will find out eventually anyways." AJ replies. Kaitlyn thinks about it for a second as she hears a knock at the door.

"I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later." Kaitlyn says as she hangs up her phone and Steve enters her room.

"How's it going, Katie?" Steve asks as Kaitlyn shrugs.

"I'm fine. I just wonder what the big deal is with my parents and Blaine. I can handle it." Kaitlyn replies.

"It's not that you can handle it, it's that Blaine can't right now. That last week kind of turned his life upside down." Steve says.

"What do you mean?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Let me show you." Steve answers grabbing Kaitlyn's hand and walking her to the top of the staircase where they hear Blaine crying.

"What's wrong with Blaine?" Kaitlyn asks worrying about her cousin.

"You will have to ask Blaine or your parents to find out why Blaine is here, but right now Blaine is letting go of four years of built up pain and emotion." Steve says. Kaitlyn continues to look downstairs and wondering what exactly is going on with her cousin.


As much as I would like to keep this chapter going, I found a good place to stop. Hopefully you guys like the chapter. As I said, there were a few changes (some big and some minor) from FTGU that I made that I feel made the story flow a little better.

For example:

BB's older brother Colby from FTGU is now Chance. BB's father's name changed from Jeremy to Johnny and that he is now Mike's brother and not Cheryl's like in FTGU (among a few others).

With this chapter, I pretty much summed up to about Chapter 4 or 5 in FTGU.

Hopefully you guys liked the first chapter in It's For the Best. Feel free to leave a review and tell me what you guys liked, didn't like, or what changes you see in the story.

Thanks for reading!