The white door of the March house was a welcoming sight to Zach Roberts up until about a month prior. In front of that front door is where he kissed June for the first time, where he met up with his best friend Adam, and where he confessed his love to a girl who, at the time, loved him.
The door also held heartbreaks. This was where June had broken up with him, where adam had said goodbye at the beginning of what was shaping up to be the longest summer ever, where Zach had witnessed June kissing another guy, and finally...where Zach was standing now, his hand lifted above the door as he tried to work up the courage to knock. The heartbreaking thing about it was that June wasn't on the other side, she was gone. He realized then that he had been so stupid about everything, he should have listened. He would rather have had her alive and hating him then dead and gone.
It took a few more moments before the boy finally knocked, the sound of his fist hitting the door making his nerves act up. He half expected June to answer, to smile at him, or to frown at him, or even to tell him that she didn't want to see him. But Zach reminded himself once again that she wasn't there.
The sound of footsteps coming from the other side made Zach internally panic, but he was too far to go back now. The handle moved, the door creaking open and revealing someone that Zach had never expected to see.
"Zach?" Adam March stood in the doorway, a frown stitched into his face. Zach didn't know Adam was home, making him shake his head in absolute disbelief.
"I didn't expect to see you here." Zach stated, a small smile still coming to his face. Adam had been Zachs friend for as long as he could remember, seeing him again was almost enough to brighten his day.
"You wanna come in?" Adam asked, his frown lifting slightly at the sight of his friend. Adam had become hyper aware of the sun, how bright it was, and how it had no right to be shining so excellently when his world had become so dim.
Zach nodded, waiting for Adam to move out of the doorway and let him in. He took a deep breath as he entered the house, his eyes instinctively going to the door at the top of the stairs.
"What are you doing back here man?" Zach asked, pulling Adam into a bro hug when he closed the door. Adam led Zach up the stairs, heading for his room so that they could talk. Zachs eyes lingered on June's door for a moment longer than they should have, making a pit grow in his stomach.
"Well my mom called me, told me what was happening with my sister. I made it on the first flight back."
"Oh. Well it's nice to see you. It feels like it's been ages man. Especially with everything that's happened." Zach said, feeling the pit deepen.
"Yeah yeah." Adam said, nodding his head. He got his thinking face on a moment later, his eyes lowering to the floor before going back up to Zach.
"How's your summer been?"
"Well up until now...pretty good. Well, I'd say a few weeks ago. Everything kind of went to shit a few weeks ago. How was China?"
"Good. Well up until a few days ago."
"Learn anything cool there?" Zach asked, scratching at his chin.
"I actually learned a lot, I learned plenty about the culture, the languages, the people. It's an amazing experience."
"Well I'm sorry you had to come home to a shit show." Zach chuckled, feeling the awkward lump gather in his throat. The way that him and Adam were conversing, it was like they were strangers. Adams eyes seemed to be burning a hole into Zachs head, and the subtle anger behind them was alarming to the younger boy.
