Lindsey smiled as she helped me do my makeup. My makeup was done all pretty with a Smokey eye and she used face paint to make the pride flag on both my cheeks.

"Wait," I mumbled as I looked in the mirror. "This isn't the flag. Where's the rainbow?"

"You're not gay," Lindsey said with a small chuckle. "This is the trans flag, sweetheart."

"Transgenders get their own flag?" I asked.

"There's different flags for everyone," she said.

I looked in the mirror and smiled softly at the little trans flags painted on both of my cheeks.

"I like it," I said. "It's so pretty. The colors are so soft and cute."

"Frankie, you look adorable," she said.

I smiled and looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing just a white t-shirt that was tucked into a pastel pink tennis skirt with white thigh high socks and pastel pink vans.

"Alright, looks like we're about ready to go," Gerard said as he walked in. "By the way, I bought you a trans pride flag."

He handed me a big flag and I gasped.

"Wow, this is mine?" I asked.

"Yeah, thought you might want some of your own pride to decorate this house with," he said.

"I love these colors," I said. "It's so cute. So pastel, so pretty."

Gerard smiled and gave me a kiss. Everyone was all dressed up, Lindsey wore a little crop top that was in the colors of the trans flag. She also had on a tiny little black leather mini skirt with a pair of black high heel boots that were so high I didn't actually know how she could walk in them. Ryan and Brendon were both dressed in black spandex shorts with rainbow paint on their cheeks and across their chest. Gerard was dressed in a pair of black shorts with a tank top in the pansexual colors and a sparkly tiara that had a rainbow  on it going over the jewels and the curling silver gems.

"You wanna wear it?" Gerard asked as I eyed his tiara.

"That's okay," I said.

"You know what, I have a little tiara that would look adorable on you," he said.

Gerard got me a little tiara and I smiled as I put it on.

"Gerard, let me put some facepaint on you," Lindsey said. "You want the pan colors?"

Gerard nodded and sat down, letting her paint his cheeks. Ryan also had a full face of makeup like Lindsey and me, his eyeshadow was rainbow.

"Alright, we should get going now," Brendon said. "We don't want to be late."

We all got into the car and I sat between Ryan and Gerard.

"You look so cute," Ryan said. "Girl, you make skirts look so good, I wish I had legs like yours."

We stopped through to get some breakfast for McDonald's and Gerard handed me my estrogen pills when I got my smoothie.

"You been feeling alright, Frankie?" Lindsey asked.

"The mood swings aren't as bad," I said.

"That's good," she said. "You'll start feeling a lot better soon."

I smiled as I ate happily, looking out the window. It seemed to take years before we finally got there and got out. It was crowded and I immediately began to worry as I clung to Gerard's side. I don't know why I was so worried but I took off the tiara and looked down to try and hide the facepaint. It was a lot harder than I expected to be so openly out and transgender after spending eighteen years in the closet.

"Frankie? Is something wrong?" Gerard asked.

I could feel my eyes watering as I began to panic and Gerard quickly pulled  me into a calm, quiet coffee shop.

"Baby?" He asked. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

I didn't even know what to say, I didn't even know why I was panicking so much. Gerard quickly wiped away my tears and held me until I calmed down.

"Baby, if you really want then we can take off the makeup and there's another pair of sweatpants in the car," he said. "I know that you're a girl, you're the prettiest girl I've ever laid eyes on but I also don't want you to be uncomfortable and I know you just recently came out so you're not all that comfortable with everything yet so if you don't want to--for lack of a better words--you can spend today in the closet again."

"N-no, I want to," I said. "I'm just scared. I-I'm scared, Gerard. I just keep thinking that I'm not gonna fit in. I'm gonna be called a fag and be hit."

"Frankie, no, that's not going to happen," he denied. "Everyone here is loving and accepting of just who you are. But it's okay to be scared, this is all so new to you."

I nodded and he gave me a kiss.

"Are you ready to go out now?" He asked.

I took a few deep breaths before nodding. They were already starting and we quickly joined the others. Gerard put my tiara back on me and smiled as he kissed my cheek. Music was playing and everyone was now a little more spread out as we walked. A man in a pretty dress came over and gave me a little rainbow pride flag. I smiled, waving it around.

"Frankie, your hands are full," Gerard said. "Let me help you, Baby."

He tied my trans flag around my neck like a cape and I smiled. He held my hand, walking around with me.

"This is pretty nice," I said.

Everything here was so heart warming and welcoming, I was really growing to love every second of it. I looked around at everyone smiling and laughing, it seemed so happy here. I saw some other people with trans flags and I grinned, a part of me hoping they would notice my flag and know that I was transgender too. Maybe we could be friends. Trans buddies.

"Here, let's grab some water, it's hot as shit out here," Ryan said.

They were passing out water bottles and we each grabbed some. People were cheering and I smiled at the two little kids near us that were dancing. Lindsey held my hand and I giggled.

"I got some little flags," she said. "You wanna help me pass some out?"

I nodded and we went to the side where people were. We passed out little trans flags and I smiled as everyone grinned.

"Y-you're trans?" Someone asked.

I looked at the man who was at the front of the barricade.

"We both are," I said.

He seemed nervous almost as he looked at me. Fear struck through me then and I thought that maybe he was going to say something rude. He picked up a little child then with short brown hair and a batman t-shirt.

"This is my son, his name is Connor and he's seven and he's trans," the man said. "He was so excited to come here to meet someone else who's trans because we don't know anyone else and he wanted to be somewhere where there's people like him so he can fit in. And we're still both trying to learn all about this stuff."

"Oh, that's so sweet," Lindsey said. "Here, do you want a little trans pride flag?"

Connor smiled and took the flag.

"I'm still trying to learn everything too," I said. "I just started transitioning a few weeks ago when I first came out."

We wish we could've talked more but we had to catch up with everyone else. I held Gerard's hand, looking up at him fondly as he smiled.

"Are you having fun?" He asked.

"I am," I said. "This is a lot of fun and everyone here is so nice and welcoming."

He gave me a soft kiss and I giggled. We spent the whole day cheering and laughing as we walked before stopping into a restaurant for dinner when the parade ended. Everyone there was from the parade, covered in rainbows and cheering happily.

"Are you cold?" Gerard asked as I shivered in my booth.

"Just a little bit I'm okay," I said.

"I don't have a jacket, unfortunately," he said.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. I smiled, the heat radiating off his body. We ate happily and  the excitement of the day seemed to leave as the restaurant began to empty and I grew tired. We ate quickly before getting into the car. I fell asleep in Gerard's arms on the way home but was woken up from a sudden jolt and commotion.

"Wh-what's going on?" I asked.

"Looks like a popped tire," Brendon said.

"We're not far from our apartment," Gerard said. "We can head back there."

"I think that the three of us are fine," Ryan said. "You two just head home, you look tired."

Gerard nodded and we got out of the car. It was dark and the streets were empty as we headed back to our apartment.

"What'd you think of the parade?" He asked.

"It was fun," I mumbled.

"You really tired?" He asked.

I nodded and he smiled, holding my hand. We turned a corner and saw a group of men standing around there. They snorted when they saw us and I looked down, taking off the tiara.

"Couple of fags up here," one of them said.

Gerard didn't say anything, just pulled me to stand on the other side of him so he stood between me and the men. They were unfortunately stood just outside our apartment.

"Hey, we don't want any fags here," someone said.

Gerard continued to ignore them and tried to go past them into the apartment but they shoved him back. My heart was racing and I stared at them in fear. I was already about to cry, I was so terrified.

"We don't want any fucking fags," he said, shoving Gerard again.

Some laughed and shoved me and my eyes watered as I dropped the tiara and he stomped on it, breaking it.

"Don't touch her," Gerard spat.

"He's not a her," one of the men denied. "He's a faggy man in a skirt."

Gerard tried shoving the man away when he grabbed my arm but that only seemed to anger them. It was suddenly chaos as they started shouting and one of them hit Gerard. That's when I felt a hit to my jaw and I cried out in pain as I heard the derogatory words that followed. I sobbed, trying to protect myself as I was shoved around and hit.

Gerard finally got them away and pulled me inside, hurrying us up to the apartment as I sobbed. I pulled away from him and locked myself into the bathroom. I wiped off my makeup, tossing it all away.

"Babygirl, please open the door," Gerard said.

"No," I sobbed. "I can't do this. I-I can't be transgender. I'm not. I'm a boy."

"No, Baby, you're not," he denied. "Baby, it's okay. I know you're upset but just come here and let me help you."

I shook my head, stripping out of my clothes. I put on some boxers and a pair of black sweatpants and one of Gerard's baggy t-shirts. I left the bathroom and crawled into bed, crying into the pillow.

"Babygirl," Gerard said softly as he crawled into bed with me. "It's okay. This is your first time experiencing something like this and I know how hard it is."

"I can't do it," I whimpered. "I can't just be some fag in a skirt."

"You're not," he denied. "You are a girl, Frankie, a beautiful, beautiful girl."

"No," I denied. "I'm not. I'm a boy. I know I'm a boy. I can't be a girl."

Gerard just kept holding me close and giving me soft kisses as I fell asleep in his arms.