24 Floors.

"We need to talk." Jack walked into the back lounge and paused the movie I was watching.

It had been a week since my shower incident, and I couldn't help but feel as though everyone was walking on eggshells around me. They still talked to me, and you could see the worry in their eyes, but no one wanted to mention if my shirt was on inside out or you could see my bra or panties through my clothes(trust me, I tested it). Even Rian seemed to be taking a step back from me, and I would be lying if I said that didn't hurt. I hadn't left the bus yet while presenting as anything but male, and I felt isolated. "Okay?"

He plopped down beside me and started talking animatedly. "So, there's this organization, right? They're based in this area and they're basically a teen support network for LGBT students, especially the T part." My heart stuttered. I didn't like where this was going. "And they asked to do an interview with our band, kind of like an 'it's okay to be trans' thing. We have a lot of fans here, and they think it would mean a lot, and we agreed."

"Alright, and what does this have to do with me, exactly?" I stared intently at the screen as if the movie was still playing, not frozen in a single frame.

"I'm so glad you asked, my wonderful child!" He exclaimed, resting his head on my shoulder and looking up at me with puppy eyes. "The guys and I were talking, and we think it would make a huge impact if someone associated with All Time Low was, in fact, on the transgender spectrum. And wouldn't it be amazing if we could say, along with said associated person, that people shouldn't be afraid of who they are?"

"Jack." I warned. "I've only just barely come to terms with myself. I don't think I'm really in the position to advocate for anything related to LGBT. Hell, I didn't even like gay people before I came here!"

"But that's okay!" He started excitedly, jumping up and pacing off his energy. "I'm sure, especially since we're in the bible belt right now, that there's plenty of people in your position. And seriously, don't you know how brave you are for coming out to people you barely knew? You have serious balls - shit, does that make you uncomfortable? Strength, you have serious strength. The kind that I only wish I had. You know how long it took for Alex and I to even come out to Rian and Zack? Months. I get that you might not want to come out yet, but I honestly think you should consider it. Do you really want to hide every day you feel feminine? Because lately, that's been a lot. And I didn't buy you a bunch of rockin' outfits for you not to get laid."

I couldn't stop my eyes from rolling. "When's the interview?"

"Is that a yes?" He squealed.

"No, that's an 'I'll think about it but I need to know how much time I have to decide.'"

His shoulders slumped a little as he checked his watch. "Two hours. Can I have an answer in an hour so I can let the guys and the interviewer know, though?"

"Yeah."

I knew the second he walked out of the room that my decision was made. I couldn't disappoint him again.

***

"Hey viewers! My name is Mike, and I'm the president of the Just Accept It! campaign. I'm sure most of you don't care about that, though, and would rather see our special guests of the day: Jack Barakat, the guitarist for All Time Low, and his newly found child, Jayden!" The interviewer gave his introduction to the camera before turning and greeting us. "How are you two doing today?"

"We're great." Jack had promised me he would answer every question he could so I only had to speak when absolutely necessary. "We're excited to be here! It's one of our last shows of this tour, and every show just seems to get crazier and crazier. Hopefully tonight is no exception." Him and Jack launched into a conversation about insane fans and Jack's favorite experiences on stage and during meet & greets - of course, he brought up the story of how we met; now that we had moved past everything, it was pretty funny and ridiculous.

Once the topic died naturally, Mike went on to the reason I was asked to be here in the first place. "Now, Jack, I know your band has toured all over the world and you've met people from probably every walk of life, right?" He paused only for a second so Jack could nod along. "And your fan base is quite infamous for their gay fanfiction, am I right?" Another pause, another nod, Jack's face going pink. "How would you describe All Time Low's relationships with the non-heterosexual and genderqueer communities?"

Jack's gaze flickered to me, as if he was waiting for my permission to continue even though he had already received it. "Really close. I mean, obviously, my...boyfriend, Alex, and I are very involved in the non-heterosexual community. And very recently, the band has kind of been thrown into the genderqueer community as well. A lot of our fans have told us about their struggles with sexuality and gender identity. I think because we're so open about our own sexuality and people know we're accepting of pretty much every lifestyle choice, they find it easier to talk to us. In the past few weeks, someone in our crew has come out to us as genderfluid, and I think nearly all of us didn't bat an eye. They had been struggling a lot with gender dysphoria, and still are. We've done our best to accommodate them and make them as comfortable as possible. They came from a place where they weren't accepted at all and it's been a very difficult adjustment for them, but I think they're adjusting quite well, especially with everything else going on in their lives at the moment."

Mike hadn't been told the reason I was coming instead of Rian, Zack, or Alex, but I think he started catching on about halfway through Jack's speech. "Wow, that's so awesome. Even though I guess it's still unsafe for them to come out, isn't it?"

He gave me one more look. This is your last chance.

I smiled reassuringly.

"No, it isn’t. Although not by choice, they've gotten away from the situation they were in and they're ready to come out. They want to be able to present how they feel they need to, in private and public. That's actually why I've brought Jayden here today."

Mike wore a half smirk as he connected the dots. "Care to explain, Jayden?"

I rested my hands on my knees while taking a deep breath. "Well, the person Jack's talking about is me, if you haven't guessed yet. When I met the guys and came on this tour with them, I wasn't in a great state of mind. Part of that was due to some other issues, but eventually through a lot of research and late nights I realized this thing I had been feeling for years wasn't a depression or just a part of life. It was dysphoria, and the guys were actually the ones to point that out to me. I've gotten more support from them than I ever thought possible. Before I came here, I barely even knew what the word 'transgender' meant. Here, I've learned more about myself and the LGBT+ community than I ever thought possible. Even though these two months have probably been the hardest time in my life so far, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And what would you say to the kids out there who are in your previous situation now?"

I turned to the camera for my answer, and I felt Jack's hand solid on my back. "It's okay. You can always change your opinion and how you feel today might now be how you feel tomorrow. That's life. That's learning and growing. Being closeted doesn't mean being ashamed. Only you know what's best for you. Find an outlet: music, art, someone to vent to. Don't bottle everything up; it just makes things worse for yourself, and consequently they people around you. There will always be people to love and accept you, even if you can't see them. I promise."

***

It had been two days since Just Accept It! recorded and posted our video online. It went viral in hours. I never expected to get such positive feedback from males, females, non-binaries, old people, and young ones. I was seeing words like "inspiration" and "love" instead of the hate I was used to getting. It was a pleasant and welcome change, but it was nothing compared to the Baltimore show.

The last night of tour went out with a bang. According to Rian, this was how it always was, but I couldn't imagine that. We crossed the country in one day to finish off with the boys' infamous home show. This is where they started, and it was where they wanted to end. When we arrived at the venue, it was nearly noon. The boys had to rush inside to get set up and have their sound check in time, and I decided I was going to go out front for the first time in the entire tour. If this was going to be where I was living, what was wrong with trying to make friends with my father's fangirls? I located a pair of skinny jeans and a flannel shirt. I was presenting as female still, but I wanted to be comfortable now. I would change into something a little sexier for the after party. Throwing a beanie over my hair and deciding I looked like a tomboy, I accepted it and went outside.

I expected to see a bunch of girls my age and younger, but that was not what I was met with. No, standing near the front of the line was a group of at least ten males. That wouldn't have been shocking in itself, if they hadn't been wearing dresses.

These boys were also the first to notice me. "Jayden! Oh my gosh, can we get a picture?" A dark man with a deep voice boomed. Now that everyone's attention was on me, hundreds of people shouted my name. I went to the guys first, figuring I would work my way down the line.

"Of course you can! I see you've got enough bras to throw on stage tonight." I gestured to the chain of bras two of them were proudly holding.

"A-Actually," A small voice spoke up. He was the youngest one in the group by far, maybe 9 or 10 years old. "They're for you, Jayden."

My eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What?"

Another guy in the group who resembled the youngest enough to probably be his brother pushed to the front. "We saw your video, and we wanted to support you. It takes a lot of guts to come out like you did, and we didn't want you to feel uncomfortable if you wanted to wear a dress or something to the show."

"Yeah, now you won't be alone!" The youngest one cut in again.

"Also, we kind of wrote you some notes of encouragement inside the bra cups, something for you to look at when you're down." The first man said as the two holding the bras wrapped them around me.

Tears were welling up in my eyes. "This means so much to me. Thank you all so much. I really don't know what to say other than 'thank you' and that's really not enough."

"It's enough, Jay, as long as you take pictures with us!" someone in the crowd shouted. I stayed outside for nearly three hours until the pre-show meet & greet was about to start, and then hurried to change - there was no way I wasn't rocking my new favorite dress with those boys, and I also had to figure out to shove ten bras into my already overfilled suitcase - before going in the venue to help with last minute set up. Usually I wouldn't care, but I knew everyone wanted it to be the best night of tour and I wasn't about to not be a part of that.

I knew All Time Low really wanted me to come and see their show, so I did. I hadn't actually watched their show in a couple of weeks, and I forgot how great they were to watch. It was like night one all over again, except this time Jenna watched the concert with me. We danced along to all of their songs sidestage, and when Alex saw us, he called us out. When it came time for Time Bomb, I stepped up to Jack's mic. "Jeff, can you put the lights on the crowd for a sec?" No one knew what I was doing, but seconds later the screaming crowd was fully illuminated anyways. I saw them almost dead center. "You guys. You know who I'm talking about. All of you, get up here!" They whooped like crazy and told the people around them to give them lifts. While they traveled to the front, I explained. "I don't know any of their names, but I am so thankful for these guys. I think a lot of you know by now that two days ago, I came out as genderfluid. It was one of the scariest things I've done in my life, but I've received nothing but positive feedback from all of you. I can tell you right now, though, if it weren't for this wonderful group right here," The last couple were straggling up and hugging the guys. "I wouldn't have had the confidence to come out here right now in this dress." I could see my vision going blurry again, so I wrapped it up. "Thank you for letting me feel comfortable in my own skin."

As soon as I stepped away from the mic, Jack stepped up to it. "Wow. I'm just going to second everything that Jay just said. Flyzik, these guys are gonna come to side stage with you after this next song. I want to personally thank them all after the show." The crowd went absolutely ludicrous as Jack went into the opening notes of Time Bomb, and I jumped along with the guys on stage while the band did their thing.

I went to side stage with the boys while Jenna helped All Time Low perform one of their songs called "A Love Like War." They originally recorded it with Vic from Pierce the Veil(whose music I had recently come to love), but Jenna definitely completed the song just as well.

Jack was true to his word, and spent nearly an hour after the concert talking with the group of guys. He apologized more times than I cared to count - I stopped after I reached 35. Him, the other guys, and Jenna hung around with us and took pictures, signed autographs, and chilled. I ended up getting a few of their numbers so we could have a group chat and I promised I would let them know when I knew what high school I would go to next school year. It was by far the best night of tour, and that didn't even include the after party.

The after party would have been a great night without the concert, but it was made even better - and by better, I mean crazier and drunker - by the post-show, post-tour energy radiating off of the bands and their crews. Everyone was both ready to go home but not ready for their time together to end. Most people were pretty drunk by midnight (only an hour after the show had ended), but I was still on my first beer, and Jack and Alex were too wrapped up in each other to drink much. Jack had talked to me the day after the shower crisis about how I was feeling with Alex. I wasn't at all comfortable with him yet, but his mood shift over the past week and a half was undeniable. I also knew that the two missed each other more than their pride ever let them show, and it was a relief to know I was no longer in their way.

It was only about 1 am when Jack and Alex decided to call it a night. We were the first to leave, but I don't think anyone even noticed us. For once, Jack and Alex were quiet at the party, leaving the rowdy members of Tonight Alive to get the party started. Jack had gotten someone to bring his car to the venue so we could go straight home. He wanted to get me settled in even though we would have to come back here in the morning to clean the bus.

Even though we were all half asleep, Jack babbled on and on about my room and how we could decorate it. "What's your favorite color again? We can paint the walls whatever color you want. And you can put a bunch of cool posters or maybe you could paint something! Do you even paint? Zack does sometimes; maybe he could help you! And we can go out and buy new blankets and sheets and whatever in a couple of days once we catch up on sleep and everything, alright?"

He didn't stop talking until we pulled up to the moderately-sized house and the dogs started barking inside. "They missed me!" Alex gushed and Jack turned the ignition. He started talking to me about the dogs, but I couldn't hear him.

There was someone on the front porch.

"Guys, don't get out of the car." I said suddenly. They both looked at me like I was insane.

"Why? It's bedtime." A yawn accented Jack's point as he took his hand away from Alex's.

"Don't you see them?" I pointed at the door, were the shadowy figure was now standing up and walking to the car.

The boys were much less concerned than I was, passing it off with a simple eye roll and sigh. "Another fan must have found us."

The figure's movement triggered on the porch lights, and my heart stopped. "Oh my god." I was going to be sick. I was positive of it. Never more had I wanted to be invisible that that second. Not when I almost got arrested, not when I first met my father.

"You know them, Jay?" Alex asked. Jack's eyes were calculating. He knew her, but he couldn't remember where from. Not until I told him.

"That's my mom."