After a long delay, here is the next chapter. The last few months have been crazy, but things will be winding down for about a month, so hopefully that means more writing time. Like always, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

As much as he didn't want to admit, BB was pretty excited that he was going to have a few friends over to hang out with him at his…well his aunt and uncles…house. A year ago, if anybody would have said that he was going to have friends come over, BB would have called them crazy. BB always wanted to have friends come over, but because he was scared about his friends finding out about his dad, or his dad going crazy and attacking his friends. It wasn't a risk that BB was willing to take, but now that he is in a more stable environment, he was more than happy to have friends visit.

"BB!" Johnny to snap BB out of his thoughts. BB looks around as Johnny laughs at him. "Daydreaming or something? Was practice that boring?"

"It wasn't. I was just off in my own little world thinking." BB replied.

"Are you sure that it's alright that I ride with you guys?" Johnny asks as the two walk out of the gym towards the parking lot. BB rolls his eyes and laughs.

"Believe me. It's completely alright. All you have to do is ask and we can give you a ride. Don't worry about it." BB says.

"Is Kaitlyn alright with that?"

"Well…she'll just have to get used to that." BB answers laughing as they reach Kaitlyn's car. Seconds later, Kaitlyn and Seth make their way to the car.

"Are you joining us tonight for the fun and excitement?" BB asks.

"Not this time, Blaine. Football team has a scrimmage two hours away tonight. There's always next time." Seth replies. "Speaking of that, I've gotta get to the field. See you all later…especially you." Seth says kissing Kaitlyn and walking towards the football field. BB and Johnny roll their eyes as the three teens get into the car.

About an hour later, the three make it home after making a pit stop at the grocery store to pick the necessary…junk…items to get them through the night. After putting the bags in the kitchen, BB takes Johnny upstairs to his room to put his bags away.

"So how many people are going to be here at this little thing tonight?" Johnny asked putting his bag near BB's closet. He turns to BB and he shrugs.

"Not sure. I know that Kaitlyn is having our friends AJ Lee and Becky Lynch stay over. As for the guys division, it's you, me and Evan. Me and her both invited a couple of extra people to have fun, but we don't know if any of them are going to show up." BB replied.

"Like who?"

"She wouldn't tell me who she invited, but I can tell you my invitation list was pretty small because most of the guys in our group are on the football team and they had a scrimmage tonight. I did invite Dean because if Renee is coming than Dean will not be far behind…don't tell him I said that. I also invited Chad Gable because he's pretty cool and we have math and English together, so we've started to become friends. I also invited Tye…." BB explained before being cut off by Johnny.

"You invited Tye Dillinger?" Johnny asks as BB answers with a nod. "Well check him off the list. From what I've seen and heard, Tye Dillinger likes to keep to himself. He barely even goes to school functions like dances and awards assemblies."

"I figured. I was just being nice. Let him know that he can join us if he wanted to hang out with anybody." BB said as he put his backpack next to his desk. Johnny walks over and looks at a picture sitting on the desk.

"Is this a little BB?" Johnny asks laughing. "Aww…you look so cute." Johnny laughs harder when BB hits him in the shoulder.

"Yep. That was taken after my first day of third grade. My mom picked me up from school and took me and my brother to this photographer friend of hers and we got our pictures taken."

"The lady in the picture your mother?" Johnny asks as BB nods. "Does she live here in Houston too or is she back in Oklahoma?"

BB shook his head and looked down. "I should have known that this was going to happen eventually. Outside of family and Uncle Steve, I've never really talked about my mother. If we are going to become as good as friends as Johnny says we are…I'm gonna have to eventually let people into my personal life." BB thought as he took a deep breath.

"She doesn't live here or back in Oklahoma. Honestly…she died about six years ago. Cancer. She was a strong fighter. I miss her." BB answered with a sad tone in his voice.

"I'm very sorry. I bet she was a very nice person." Johnny said trying as best as he could to not upset BB any more.

"Thank you. She was a very nice person. Don't worry, I'm ok. It still hurts a bit, but I'm doing much better. I've been the happiest I've been in a long time."

"That's good to hear. I'll be honest with you, there were a few rumors spread about you whenever you first started. Can I ask if any of the rumors are true?" Johnny asks. BB shrugs.

"I have no problem with it. Ask away."

"If you ask me, some of them are pretty stupid. To sum them up, you were sent here because you were either on parole, had a drug problem, or got a girl pregnant." Johnny said. BB couldn't help but crack up laughing after hearing those rumors.

"I'm sorry that I'm laughing, Johnny, but that was actually very hilarious. Believe me when I say that those rumors are the farthest from the truth. The truth is that I'm here because of…." BB replied before stopping himself a little too quick.

"Because of?" Johnny asks in return.

"It's because of personal reasons I'm quite honestly not ready to talk about just yet. I'm very sorry." BB replies as Johnny gives him a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You'll know when you're ready." Johnny replies rolling out his sleeping bag on the floor.

"Thank you. Now we better get downstairs before Kaitlyn gets pissed she has to do all the work down there." BB says as the two teens head downstairs.

Hours later, Evan, AJ, Renee and Becky have arrived and everybody was hanging out in the living room with the party just getting started.

"Is it just going to be the seven of us tonight?" BB asks Kaitlyn.

"I don't know who you invited, but I have one more person coming. She'll be here in a bit. She had a few things to finish up before she got here. How about you? Anybody else you invited coming?"

"I invited a couple people, but I don't think they are coming. For the guys, it'll just be us three." BB replies as there is a knock at the door. As Kaitlyn opens the door, a blonde girl with a bag on her shoulder and cupcakes in her hands.

"Guys. This is Candice LeRae. Candice, you already know AJ and Renee; this is Evan, Johnny, and my cousin Blaine—who goes by BB usually." Kaitlyn says introducing her friend and everybody greets her with their hellos. BB smiles and turns to Johnny, who smile has not left his face since he saw Candice. BB gives Johnny a few seconds to try to compose himself, but when he sees that that won't happen, he gives Johnny a quick nudge on the shoulder to snap him out of his trance.

"Oh…it's very nice to meet you." Johnny finally answers with a small blush on his face. Candice laughs and gives Johnny a smile before starting a conversation with Kaitlyn.

"Looks like somebody has a crush on Miss LeRae." BB says as Evan shakes his head.

"Not just a crush, BB. He looooves her." Evan says laughing as Johnny punches him in the arm.

"Shut up! I do not have a crush on her." Johnny quickly answers, but BB and Evan give him a knowing look. "Alright…maybe a little bit."

"There's nothing wrong with that. So…when are you going to ask her out on a date?" BB asks as Johnny's go wide.

"It's too soon! We just met!" Johnny answers as BB and Evan roll their eyes.

"That's kind of the point of going out on a date. So, you can get to know a person. What have you got to lose, Johnny?" Evan asks.

"My dignity."

"We're not asking you to do it now. Do it when you're ready…or two weeks maximum…whichever comes first." BB says patting Johnny on the shoulder as he sighs in surrender after thinking about it for a moment.

"Alright. I'll do it." Johnny finally answers as Kaitlyn sets a bag of games on the living room table.

"Since there are enough of us here, the girls have decided to invite the boys to participate in a few games. Kinda like a classic Battle of the Sexes competition. What do you say, boys?" Kaitlyn asks as BB stands next to Kaitlyn.

"As much fun as that sounds. It really isn't fair for the guys. You girls have a five on three advantage. Where are…." BB starts to ask as the doorbell rings. BB and Kaitlyn both yell for the person to come in as Seth walks into the house with a gym bag.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had a scrimmage tonight and wouldn't be back until late." Kaitlyn asks as she gives Seth a hug.

"We did. Got a huge lead early in the game, so the other team ran the clock the rest of the game to end their torture as soon as possible. Since we got back earlier than expected AND since I was invited to this little shindig by Blaine, I thought it would be fun to hang out with a few friends for the night." Seth answers as BB smirks at Kaitlyn.

"Looks like it's now five against four. It's almost an even game, dear Katie." BB says as Kaitlyn glares at him.

"Am I missing something?" Seth asks as Evan waves him over from the dueling cousins.

"Yep. You pretty much walked into a Bonin Battle. Kaitlyn issued a challenge for a Battle of the Sexes and BB pretty much accepted…but there are more girls than guys as you can see and BB is calling foul." Evan answers as Seth looks over at BB and Kaitlyn talking about something.

"Since we've been dating, Kaitlyn can be very competitive. I guess we'll find out if Blaine is just as competitive." Seth says as Johnny speaks up.

"I can answer that now…yes! When we first met at the arcade, me and BB played against Kaitlyn and Becky Lynch in air hockey. They're both very competitive, but in the end, nobody walks away with feelings hurt from what I saw." Johnny answers. Seth quickly remembers something as he walks back to the two cousins who are still discussing the game.

"I don't see what the big deal is about having one of your friends sitting out each game so it can be four against four. It's only fair." BB suggests as Kaitlyn shakes her head.

"No, it's not. The point of the games is to get everybody involved. Even if you are missing one man on your team." Kaitlyn replies as Seth steps in.

"Hold on a second, you two. I don't think we have to worry about it not being uneven anymore, Blaine." Seth explains as BB looks at him confused. "You're not going to believe who pulled into your driveway after I did."

BB and Kaitlyn were about to ask who it was, but a knock on the door silenced the cousins as Seth went to answer the door—because he already knew who it was. Five seconds later, the eyes of everybody in the room went wide as they saw Tye Dillinger walk into the house—gym bag intact.

"I thought you said he wasn't coming?" Johnny asked as he walked up to BB.

"That's what he said. I guess he changed his mind. I'm not complaining." BB replies giving Johnny a fist bump.

"We're glad that you are here, Tye." BB says acknowledging Tye's entrance. "I don't know about you, Katie, but let the games begin."

"What did I miss?" Tye asks Seth as Seth waves him over to where the guys were standing.

"Don't worry about it. We'll explain everything to you. You probably weren't expecting anything like this, were you?" Seth asks as Kaitlyn began setting up the first game.

"Alright. So the score is tied and the last game is Truth or Dare War. The game is pretty much like war, but with a small twist. The loser must answer the truth or do the dare that the winner decides. Even guy will face off with a girl every 5 rounds. I'll start off with Blaine." Kaitlyn says explaining the rules as she grabs BB by the arm to the table where the deck of cards was placed. "On the count of three, we each reveal our cards and let fate be decided."

BB and Kaitlyn count to three and flip over their cards. BB was excited that he was able to pull out a nine, but quickly cringed when Kaitlyn revealed a Jack.

"Oh shit." BB thought as he groaned at the end result.

"Oh what am I going to have Blaine do? Hmm…." Kaitlyn said as she thought of a punishment for her cousin. "I know! I'll keep it simple first round. Tell the truth. How did you get the nickname BB?"

BB glares at Kaitlyn because he knows that she knows how he got it. BB rolls his eyes and sighs.

"I usually tell people that to call me BB because it is a shortened version of my first and middle name—Blaine Bryce-Michael—and that I didn't like being called Blaine. That's partially true. I do like the name Blaine and BB is short for Blaine Bryce-Michael. The real reason that I got the nickname BB was that when I was little, I was a chubby kid. My mother used to call me her little butterball. As I got taller and skinnier, the nickname got shortened to just BB…and I just kept it." BB answered honestly which got a couple chuckles from the crowd.

"Aww…that's so cute. Who knew that's how BB became BB." AJ said pinching one of BB's cheeks.

"Alright, so that's how the game will work." Kaitlyn says handing a deck out to each of the girls. "I've already determined the pairs: Me and Seth; AJ and Evan; Becky and BB; Candice and Johnny; Tye and Renee. The pairs will go each round and play how me and Blaine played. One rule, the dares MUST be appropriate. Whenever one opponent of a pair has the whole deck, they win their pair. The team with the most survivors—men or women—will win the game. Then again…we will all win because we learn new stuff about each other."

Seth and Kaitlyn began the match with Seth pulling a five against Kaitlyn's two. He dared her to kiss him…which got groans from a few people. Becky and BB went next with Becky drawing a King to BB's seven.

"Alright, laddie. Time to let your hair down. Give me that hair tie." Becky dares BB.

"Why?" BB asks confused.

"Because I've known you for how long and I've always seen you with a ponytail. You need to loosen up a little bit. Not gonna lie, laddie, it's on my bucket list because that's how many of us could tell the difference between you and Katie. So you're gonna keep yourself like that for the rest of this weekend. It's a dare…you gotta do it." Becky replies laughing. BB groans as he loosens and removes the band from his hair, letting it fall down his back and on his shoulders. BB was silently thanking genetics that as he got older, his hair was straight unlike the wavier hair he had when he was little.

"You know…you look weird like that. You're always slicked back and nothing out of place. It's interesting seeing you loosen up a little bit." Johnny says getting a laugh out of the rest of the group. BB smirks and rolls his eyes. BB goes for the tie around his wrist to put his hair up again, but he gets stopped by Becky grabbing his wrist.

"Nice try, laddy. Hand them ALL OVER." Becky says trying to be intimidating. BB rolls his eyes and slips the band from around his left wrist and gives it to Becky. Becky glares at BB, knowing that he's hiding something. He lets out a sigh and removes the extra band from his right wrist. Becky takes the bands and puts them in her pocket.

"I don't know about you, but I'm saying forget the cards. Let's just play a little mix of Truth or Dare and Never Have I Ever." AJ suggests playing with the one card left in her hand.

"You're just suggesting that because you're about to lose!" Evan answers in reply. "But that's fine by me. How about you guys?" Everybody looks around and nods before gathering up all the cards and cleaning up the living room before starting the next game.

After everything was reorganized, everybody was sitting around the dining room table getting ready to start the next game.

"Alright. We all know how to play these games. Who wants to go first?" Kaitlyn asks as everybody looks around the room. After a moment of silence, Johnny speaks up.

"I'll go first." Johnny said which honestly shocked a few people. Johnny looked around at who he wanted to ask first.

"Candice." Johnny said startling Candice. "Truth or Dare?"

Candice thought for a moment because she didn't think that she would have to answer first. "Truth."

"OK…Candice…Would you ever want to go out on a date with me?" Johnny asks. Candice's eyes go wide as BB and Evan fist bump under the table. They wanted him to ask her, but neither one of them expected Johnny to go for it this way.

Candice stammered for a moment as she was caught completely off guard by Johnny's question. Seconds later, Candice answered the question, "You bet…how about next Friday?"

"It's a date." Johnny answered with a huge grin on his face. BB, who was sitting next to Johnny, gave him a pat on the back.

"Way to go!" BB whispered as the game continued to play. After about three rounds and finding out some amusing facts about everybody (including BB's ability to do the splits and fear of heights, Candice's baking hobby, Tye being born in Canada, and Kaitlyn's weird obsession with unicorns, the game came back to Evan.

"BB." Evan said as BB looked up towards him. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." BB answered. He hasn't picked one dare all night and it has done him well.

"Alright, BB. I have a feeling you were not being truthful about something earlier. What exactly is the real reason why you left Oklahoma for Texas?" Johnny asks. BB's eyes go wide as Seth and Kaitlyn look at each other since they are the only two who know the real reason.

"I'm here for personal reasons. Stuff going on at home and my uncle wanted me to have a good education, so here I am." BB replied. Evan smirked, but was not impressed with the answer.

"BB, I mean what is the REAL reason. Nobody knows much about you except for Kaitlyn. I don't mean to be an ass, but how do we know that you're not here because you got arrested or you knocked a girl up." Evan replied.

"None of that shit is true and you know it. He answered the question now lay off!" Kaitlyn answers quickly jumping to her cousin's defense.

"Come on, Kaitlyn. We're among friends here. How can we not be better friends if we don't know much about them and to help them make their lives better? I thought we were all friends." Evan replies.

"That's a low blow, Evan. The point of this game was to have fun, not to delve into Blaine's personal life." Seth says which starts an argument. After a minute of hearing the bickering, BB decided that he heard enough.

"ENOUGH!" BB screams as he looks down at the floor and as everybody turned towards him. For the brief minutes since being asked the question, BB had been having an internal battle as to either drop the subject or finally admit the truth. It was only a couple months ago that these incidences happened, so everything was so fresh on his mind. In the end, if he was wanting to become good friends with Evan and Johnny, he needed to explain the whole truth…no matter how much it hurt. "Evan wants to hear the full truth…I'll tell everybody the full truth."

"Blaine, you don't have to do this. It hasn't been that long. You don't owe anybody the truth." Kaitlyn says trying to talk BB out of it.

"Katie, If I don't, people will either make worse rumors or they will find out on their own and that would hurt our friendship even more. Part of me needs to do this." BB explains with an almost monotonous tone. Kaitlyn walks over to BB and gives him a quick hug. BB takes a deep breath before starting the truth.

"You want the truth…you got it. I moved here from Oklahoma because of events that have built up over at least the last four years. The only person who saw any image of my parents was Johnny when he found the picture with me, my older brother, and my mother. My mother passed away years ago due to cancer. She was a strong fighter and it was because of her that I'm here." BB started.

"If your mom passed away, where's your dad?" Johnny asks hesitantly, having a feeling that it was going to be a touchy subject.

"My dad…my dad is in a correctional facility in Oklahoma City. He was arrested three months ago on drug and violence crimes." BB admitted which stunned everybody.

"You mean like assault and battery?" AJ asks. BB nods slowly.

"More like domestic assault."

"Domestic assault usually means that…." Evan says to himself before fully understanding what BB was trying to say.

"Yes, Evan. That's exactly what it means. For the last four or so years ever since my mom died, me and my older brother were physically and mentally abused by my father." BB said with his eyes starting to water. Everyone was looking around completely stunned and not sure what to say. Evan looked down at the floor feeling completely guilty. He knew there was a reason, but he was not expecting THIS to be the reason.

"I'm living in Houston because my dad is a total asshole. In the last two or three months, I was in the hospital twice, had a broken arm, a concussion, and I was almost molested. I'm here because my uncle and aunt were worried for my safety and my life was in a tailspin. I haven't told anybody because I'm still trying to come with everything. Coming to terms with the fact that man who was supposed my father doesn't even want me to exist. That's the REAL REASON! Are you satisfied?" BB asks before he gets up from the table and leaves the room.

"I hope you're happy!" Kaitlyn says glaring at Evan who can't keep the guilt off his face.

"Look. When I asked the question, never in my wildest assumptions did I think that Blaine was gonna answer like that. You've heard the rumors, Kaitlyn. I just wanted to confirm that none of them were true." Evan replied. "I better go apologize. Do you have any idea where he went?" Kaitlyn nodded and pointed out towards the living room as Evan nodded and left the kitchen.

BB was sitting out on the front porch trying to reign his emotions together after telling everyone in the kitchen probably the darkest secret from his past. He also started twirling a piece of his hair around his finger…another reason he always kept his hair in a ponytail because whenever he got sad or nervous, he always played with his hair.

"Blaine? Are you okay?" Evan asked after opening the front door. BB jumped at the voice because he was expecting—or wanting—anybody to come after him.

"Yeah I'm fine." BB replied unconvincingly due to his voice sounding hoarse due to him crying for the last ten minutes. BB didn't turn to look at Evan because he knew he looked like a wreck.

"Blaine, I know what I asked you earlier was completely out of place; I wanted to tell you that I am extremely sorry about that. You must believe me when that when I asked you that question, the answer you gave was the farthest from what I was expecting. I should have respected your wishes about telling us when you're ready and not force it out of you like I did. I feel like utter shit and really regret what I did. I hope you can forgive me." Evan said sitting down next to BB. BB finally decided to turn and look at Evan, who got his first glimpse of the red eyes and the tear stained face of his friend and immediately felt worse.

"I'm going to be honest with you. I was completely blindsided by your question because everyone besides Kaitlyn and Seth got the same story. I felt that at the time that was enough. I couldn't bear to tell anybody else the truth because it's still painful for me to tell anybody. For the last three months, I have been sad, angry, depressed, scared, and happy all for several reasons. For a moment tonight, I felt disrespected because you tricked me into giving more information than I was ready to give." BB said trying to clear his throat.

"Blaine, I am so…." Evan tried to say before being cut off by BB.

"Hold on. Let me finish. After sitting down here and truly thinking about everything. I realize that I can't bottle up everything anymore. It's caused horrible effects before and I can't do that again. I also realized that when you asked me about my past, it wasn't only that you were nosy…it's was because you were worried as a friend. I was more hurt than I was mad. As your friend, there really isn't anything to forgive. You were just looking out." BB replied smiling. BB stuck his hand out for a shake and Evan slapped it away. BB looked confused, but seconds later, Evan smiles and gives BB a hug as Johnny opens the door.

"I see everything is better between the two of you. Everyone was getting worried. Come on, let's go back inside and finish the game." Johnny says.

"Thanks, Johnny. Enough about us, what about you? Way to go asking out Candice. Proud of you, bud." Evan says slapping Johnny on the back. BB rolls his eyes as the three walk back into the house.

As Johnny and Evan sat at the table, BB was standing at the door just looking around the room at all the people who he could really call friends. Kaitlyn caught her cousin staring around the room with a blank look on his face and looked at him worriedly. BB locked eyes with Kaitlyn before giving her a smile and a small wink before taking his seat. Kaitlyn smiled when she realized that her cousin was going to be alright.

Even though there was a rough patch in the night which led to BB revealing a deep secret, but now that he has had some time to really think about things, he was glad the night ended the way it did.

Like what his mom said:

Some things were just meant to happen.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Since I took a small break, I had to remember what exactly my plan was for this chapter, so I do apologize if the chapters seems awkward or choppy. As always, please tell me what you thought and get you the next chapter as soon as possible.

To all the readers, thank you very much for taking the time to read the chapters, leaving reviews, and liking the story. I am completely grateful.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!