24 Floors.

"Jayden Barnes?" One of the secretary women called. Jack and I stood up at the same time and walked to her desk.

"Hello, ma'am." It was so weird to see Jack being polite and mature like this. "We're actually in the process of legally changing Jayden's last name; is there any way we can register him under that name instead?"

She pursed her bright red lips, wrinkles forming around her mouth. She had to be in her early fifties at the least. "I'll see what I can do. What's the name being changed to?"

"Jayden Barakat. B-A-R-A-K-A-T."

She wrote it down on a sticky note and stood up from her desk. "I'll go talk to my boss. You can wait here or sit back down. It should only take a few minutes." She smiled politely and disappeared.

Jack was true to his word on making an appointment with a gender therapist. He pulled some strings and was able to get me in the day after he called. When I told him I could have waited longer, his response was "But I can't." He wanted to make me better in every way possible. I think if he could he would have rewired my brain a long time ago to eliminate the dysphoria and everything bad I felt.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He knew today I was feeling pretty good, so I was much more lenient in letting him touch me. "You're feeling okay?"

I nodded and swallowed. "Yeah, fine. This is just kind of surreal." So much had happened in the two days since I ran away. Yesterday, I had to give a statement to the police saying my mom abandoned me. I had to talk about everything I could remember that happened on tour, good and bad. I knew they were just gathering information, but I felt like if I said the wrong thing I wouldn't end up with either of my parents. They had to interview Jack, Alex, Rian, Zack, and Matt, too. Diana was in a holding cell until the trial sometime next week. If she was convicted - which even the police were certain she would be - she would be facing termination of her parental rights and probably some prison time. Jack also insisted that if she was found guilty that we would file for a restraining order.

When I found out she might be going to jail, I broke down. Probably some of it was relief, but a bigger part told me this was my fault. Prison was scary and it would ruin her life.

You mean, exactly like she ruined yours?

Surprisingly, Alex was the one to calm me down from that. By no means had I forgotten what happened on tour, but I knew he was trying hard to make up for it, and I appreciated every second of it.

After that drama, Jack and I were forced to go through an official paternity test. Matt had scheduled to get us one while we were on tour, but we decided against it, not wanting to create unnecessary drama. What if I hadn't been Jack's kid? How would Alex have reacted at that point to either answer? Regardless, now what we assumed all along was finally confirmed: Jack was truly, 100% my father. Rian had insisted on a celebration, which is where we were headed after my first gender therapy session.

The woman returned smiling even wider, looking directly at me. "Okay, Jayden Barakat, can I have your date of birth please?" She typed it into her computer. "Alright, if you go back this hallway you'll find room 203 on the left. Your therapist should be waiting for you!"

"Thank you!" Jack guided me away from the desk. He stopped me before we went down the hallway. "Do you want me to come with you?"

On one hand, I was almost 17. I should be able to do this alone. However, being alone with a stranger I've never met before who expects me to tell them all of my secrets didn't exactly sound appealing to me. "Can you come?" I asked in a small voice.

"Of course I can. I just wasn't sure if you wanted me to or not. It doesn't matter what age you are, I'll always do what I can to help you out."

A warmth spread through the middle of my chest. "I love you, dad."

His eyebrows went wide as he beamed. "I love you too, Jay."

***

Walking out of the therapy made me want to cry. The therapist was a man in his late twenties with broad shoulders and tired eyes. I didn't even bother learning his name, that's how impressed I was with him. He wanted me to talk about my history. My dysphoria, my "depression" - Jack and the therapist claimed that was what it was, but I still wasn't too sure. I felt like it didn't happen often enough for it to have that label - and any self destructive behaviors I engaged in. Apparently, the therapist considered excessive sex a self destructive tendency, along with my rubber band thing and occasional sleeping pill "popping." Basically, he felt the need to point out all of my flaws and discuss them with Jack like I wasn't in the room.

What made the day even better was the girl in the lobby wearing an All Time Low shirt and staring at us with wide eyes. Jack noticed it about the same time I did. "Fuck." He breathed as she stood up and approached us. Before she could utter a sound, Jack was speaking. "I really don't want to sound rude right now, but what do I have to do for you to keep this quiet for the time being?"

"A selfie and a follow on Twitter." She said instantly, as if she had anticipated this.

"Done." He pulled out his phone to take a picture with her before opening his Twitter app and asking for her handle. "I'm sorry, but we really have to go, actually. I'll tweet the picture later and tag you in it, alright?" She nodded dreamily and Jack turned on his heels, dragging me to the front door. "I didn't even think about fans." He moaned, starting the car.

"Sorry." I shrugged.

He sighed, pulling out of the parking lot. "Look. Tonight I'm going to start keeping the medicine in mine and Alex's bathroom. The medicine cabinet in it locks. If you need something, I'll give it to you. It sounds childish, I know, but for now that's how it's going to be. I don't want to take the rubber band away from you because I'm a bit scared you'll just turn to something else. I will ask you to try and slow down and talk to Alex or I if you feel like doing it."

"Okay." I whispered. He didn't sound like he was going to snap, but I didn't want to take the chance by fighting back. I think I could deal with his rules for the time being, anyways. They weren't unreasonable in the least, although a little patronizing.

The celebration Rian wanted was just a nice evening at a diner near Jack and Alex's - no, our house. It was a change for the rowdy band, but nice nonetheless. I got to meet Rian's girlfriend, Cassadee, who absolutely adored me, and the majority of the night was dedicated to relaying the story of Vinny and Grieco's drunken adventure last night, which they were still recovering from. We finished dinner and were home by 9 o'clock, which everyone claimed to be a record.

"I'm going to bed, guys. I'm exhausted." I told Jack and Alex as Alex pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses. Alex told me goodnight as he poured the glasses and Jack gave me a hug before I made my way up the stairs.

I was still getting used to the house, so it was no surprise that I found myself forgetting which door led to my room. I knew which one was the bathroom, but other than that, I had forgotten all of them. I started my search my opening the closest door to me, and looking in, I recognized nothing. The walls were a pastel yellow and a crib dominated the center of the room. In one of the corners, there was a changing table, and in another a rocking chair. Brand new baby toys sat in a neat pile on the floor and unworn clothes and pacifiers sat pristine on the changing table.

This must have been the room they passed off as a storage closet when they gave me a house tour.

This was Julia's room.

"Jack did a great job with it, didn't he?" I gasped loudly, jumping in a half circle to be greeted by Alex's bittersweet face. "Sorry, I was coming up to get a blanket and I saw the door was open. I haven't been in here since she...anyways, Jack spent weeks in here painting and trying to put together this damn crib. He refused to let me see it until he was done with it." He shook his head fondly, staring at the crib while tears burned his eyes. "Do you want to see her prints?" He murmured, voice thick with pain.

"Her what?"

"Her prints. Before they, like...took her away...they stamped her hands and feet for official records and such, and they made us a copy too. Do-Do you wanna see?"

I couldn't turn down his hopeful, heartbroken face.

Julia's hands were tiny, no longer than my pinky finger. Her feet were only slightly bigger. "They're so beautiful, Alex." I said after a minute. "Your princess was beautiful."

He nodded in agreement, biting his bottom lip to keep from crying. "She really was." said a hollow voice that didn't belong to either of us. Neither of us had noticed Jack join us, watching over our shoulders.

"Come sit with us, love." Alex and I moved away from each other, making room for him in between us. Gently, Alex handed him the paper. They both handled it as if it were the single most important thing in the world, and I'm sure to them it was.

He left the paper in one hand while the other searched for mine. He trembled against my touch. "Maybe we can go visit her this weekend." The swell of emotion in Jack's voice made it hard for me to refrain from crying.

"I'd love to meet her." I spoke up. Both boys looked at me in awe. Jack gently placed Julia's prints on the ground in front of him before capturing me in an embrace, Alex following not far behind.

The prints sat right in the middle of our hug. Julia was right here, too.

"Can you guys hear me out for a second?" I asked eventually. "Especially you, Jack." Both of them nodded into my shoulders. "I think you should try to adopt again."

"Jayden." Jack warned. The malice I thought would be there was replaced my sadness, misery.

"No, don't you see how happy this room would be if you had a kid in here? You guys avoid this room like the plague. I think we should replace the bad memories with good ones. There's three of us now in the house to take care of them, not to mention the rest of the crew. Maybe we can wait a few months until I get settled in and school starts again, but I think we should consider it."

Jack held me tighter. "But Julia-"

"Wouldn't like to see her fathers cry every time they passed her room. I'm not saying forget her. Hell, I'm saying frame these prints and hang them on the wall. Associate her with happy things, not death. What we need is a restart. Forgive not forget, leave the past in the past and all of that shit. What do you think?"

Alex pulled back to look at me. "I think you're right. We should consider it and try to move on as well as we can. We're going to start working on a new album soon; I think a fresh start is what we need to make this the best record yet."

I grinned at him as our tears dried. "Jack?" I asked him, still laid against me. He sat up and looked between us. I tensed; what if he said no? Would there be a fight, or would he convince Alex too it was a bad idea?

"I agree."

A new start was what we got. And really, a new start was all we needed.