Every Now And Then, On A Day He Didn't Have To Work, Cole Found Himself Wandering Aimlessly Around The

who: cole & @dvstybuns

where: the music center

Thursdays at The Music Center were predictably slow, and today was no different. Cole had already finished the new Stephen King novel, reorganized the vinyl and cassette tapes, and done inventory. Usually, he would pass the time by using the shop’s instruments, honing his piano skills or struggling on guitar-- but because of his broken finger, he’d not been able to.

Today, though, the boredom hit so hard that he abandoned his finger splint and carefully played a few scales on the electric keyboard. It didn’t hurt too bad, so he began playing through the song that had been stuck in his head for weeks now: Steely Dan’s “Third World Man.” 

He got carried away until he heard the door open. Cole glanced over his shoulder and a grin overtook his face. “Hey, kid,” he said, motioning for Dustin to come in. “What’s up?”

sinclairss​:

.

lucas nodded. he was thinking about how he’d seen billy and how cole had seen someone who’d died, too. if the others had seen visions of dead people then…he didn’t know what it meant, but it was pretty fucked up. and it couldn’t be a coincidence. it just seemed like…it felt like it was starting again. he didn’t like the feeling. he’d wanted to get out of hawkins, but it had at least been tolerable over the last few years. a little boring, maybe, but tolerable.

they were almost at the doors when cole asked, so lucas paused, gripping his injured shoulder as a guy holding a towel to his face walked into the hospital past them. “it means something’s happening in hawkins.”

he kind of wanted to tell him. he wanted to warn him that maybe being in hawkins wasn’t the safest thing to do. but a voice that sounded a lot like steve’s warned him not to do that. he wasn’t sure what was up with steve tonight, but he trusted steve. and the code didn’t really count for non-party members. he walked through the electric doors and to the reception desk. “hi. we were out drinking and i hit my shoulder.” he lifted the affected shoulder. “and my friend hit his head, so we need to get checked out.” 

xx.

Something’s happening in Hawkins. It seemed like something was always happening in Hawkins, especially lately. Or maybe it had always been happening and Cole hadn’t realized it. Through bleary eyes, Cole tried to read Lucas’ expression-- but he seemed guarded. Maybe he was hiding something, or maybe Cole was paranoid. 

He tried-- unsuccessfully-- to put it out of his mind as they walked into the hospital. Nodding along with Lucas’ story, Cole touched his head for good measure. As the receptionist gave them the proper forms, Cole lead Lucas over to a few plastic hospital chairs in the corner of the waiting room. He tried not to let his eyes linger on the guy with the alarmingly green tint on the other end of the room.

Cole couldn’t focus on the forms, so he turned to Lucas instead. “If I asked what you mean, would you tell me?” he asked, keeping his voice low to not attract any unwanted attention.

eddiemcnson​:

+++

he melted into the kiss, well, eddie had expected ole to be a good kisser but this ? this blew his expectations. so differet from the encounters he’s had in chicago, all rushed and messy, and oddly…cold and distant where it should be intimate and warm. kissing ole was a welcome change to that, the way he softly cupped his cheek, leaning into him.

eddie chased his lips when they pulled apart, a dazed, glossy look in his eyes. he blinked, lips parted and swollen, breath shallow, his heart beating so fast it was threatening to burst out of his chest any second now. a  grin tugged at his lips. “yeah, well, i can only return the compliment, montgomery.” his hands found cole’s waist, drawing him in closer.

and while there was certainly a different person in the back of his head, eddie noted that kissing cole felt vastly different than how he imagined kissing steve to be. and maybe that was a good thing. maybe that would actually ground him, in a way, bring him back to the realms of what was possible and what was seemingly destined to play out in his fantasies only. this was cole, not steve, eddie repeated to himself. it was cole and it would likely never be steve. and right now, that was more than okay.

because kissing cole was maybe the best thing he’d felt in a long time. “don’t let it go to your head, though.”, he grinned, took hold of cole’s chin and drew him in closer. his lips found cole’s easily now, they moved together in a steady, comfortable rhythm.

xx.

A satisfied grin spread across Cole’s lips at Eddie’s remark. It was easy to be good at kissing Eddie, he thought, when Eddie looked at him like that. Simultaneously, Cole was desperate to have more of Eddie and terrified that he’d never really find what he was looking for. But that was a problem for tomorrow.

Heat spread across Cole’s body as Eddie grabbed his waist and pulled him closer. Unable to stop himself, Cole let his hands wander Eddie’s body-- slipping under his shirt and balling up the fabric in his hand. If they weren’t in public, Cole would tug it off... and other things. 

Pressing his lips to Eddie’s ear, Cole whispered: “Oops, it’s already gone to my head.” As Eddie took his chin, Cole shut his eyes and gave in to Eddie’s demands. Darting his tongue inside the other’s mouth, he felt his cheeks heat up and his heartbeat quicken. It felt so natural with him, like they'd done this before. 

Cole pulled back, giving them a chance to breathe, and focused his attention on Eddie’s neck. Careful not to leave any marks, he trailed his lips down to Eddie’s collarbone, his hand lazily rubbing Eddie’s back. In the back of his mind, behind the kissing-induced haze, Cole heard several voices-- were they yelling? But he couldn’t tear himself away from Eddie.  

stevehharringtcns​:

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steve looked at cole as he moved to get another drink for them. with the conversation, steve hadn’t really paid attention to his bottle, so when the other handed him the second one, he just grabbed it and held onto it, now holding two bottles in both his hands, before tilting them both towards in a cheer way once the other spoke. “right… at least in lover’s lake. it just doesn’t seem like a good place to swim anymore.” he said with a small chuckle, nodding his head as he took a sip from the first bottle he had and letting out a sigh. it felt good to talk about everything, especially with someone like cole. he had never expected for this to happen and if someone were to tell him it would be with cole montgomery, he wouldn’t have believed it.

seeing cole laugh made steve raise an eyebrow, nodding his head as the other explained their connection with chrissy. “oh… i didn’t know about that.” he said, nodding his head slowly. “she’s really nice… i mean, even when i was in high school, she would usually sit with… you know, the jocks and all of that, but i had no idea she was doing that for you guys. that’s… sweet.” he said with a smile. hearing cole say that eddie liked him and that the way he looked at him was obvious, steve nodded his head. maybe it was all in his head - he was looking for reasons on why eddie wouldn’t be interested in him, self-sabotaging if one could call it that. he just hoped that one day the two could share how they really felt about one another. “you would think i would know what a look means, but liking a dude really makes it a whole new experience…” he said quietly, shaking his head as he chuckled.

steve appreciated that cole had taken the time to talk to him about it. he could have just dismissed him, but he didn’t. and steve was thankful. he smiled over at cole, nodding his head at the other’s statement. “well, i definitely got some practice with them… i’m sure eddie did too.” he said with a smile. he thought of the party and all of the things he had done together. sure, they gave him a hard time, but at the end of the day, steve knew that they were the closest thing he had to family. and that was saying something, considering he shared a house with his parents. maybe eddie felt the same way. “i guess you can say that… they’re kind of hard to ignore.” he said with a chuckle.

xx.

“Definitely not in Lover’s Lake. It’s eerie enough being this close to it,” Cole shuddered. He couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever it was was still out there, waiting for him. Shaking his head and taking another swig of beer, Cole decided that he would stop thinking about it for the night. Or, he would try to. But Steve was making it easier, by having a genuine conversation with him-- one that wasn’t all teasing and shallow, like they usually did. Earnestness looked good on Steve Harrington, unsurprisingly. 

Cole smiled with a fondness he rarely felt for others-- it was a category reserved for Adam, Chrissy, and Max. “Yeah, she’s great. She and Adam dated, you know, but obviously that didn’t work out... thank God all stayed friends,” he chuckled. Cole studied the multiple emotions that seemed to flash across Steve’s face and, God, he could relate. The agonizing months of after-school tutoring when Cole had to pretend he saw Adam as a friend or teammate only... he wouldn’t go back to that for anything. He nodded to communicate his understanding. “I get that, I really do. The first move is always the scariest,” he said, remembering his and Adam’s first kiss-- rushed, nervous, in the back of Adam’s car, but still complete magic. 

With a laugh, Cole shook his head. It was a surprise to everyone, he was sure, that Steve Harrington had become the designated babysitter for the party. But now that he knew Steve a little better, it made all the sense in the world. He was a comforting and steady presence, and he did have a nice car. "All that to say, I don’t think it’ll scare Eddie off. Just one man’s opinion,” he said, a hint of teasing in his tone. Then, with a more serious look, he asked: “So, what’s your next move, Harrington?”

@zccming

one of the best/funniest dynamics on TV is antagonistic best friends who insult each other constantly but are immediately in cahoots whenever there’s a whiff of shenanigans. nothing better than two bozos bickering nonstop as they execute the stupidest plan you’ve ever heard

eddiemcnson​:

+++

“oh.” eddie just continued to stare, stupidly, until his eyes widened, brain finally catching onto what cole had just admitted here. shit. so hawkins wasn’t as prim, proper and heterosexual as he’d been made to believe all this time. eddie licked his lips, blinked. wracking his brain on what to say next. nearly choking on his own breath when he said ‘we fucked’ and oh, his cheeks immediately lit up, stained a deep red colour. he nodded.

“so you’re….”, he trailed off, browd furrowed, giving cole a meaningful look before he dropped because shit, what else did he need, here? cole had just said he used to have a boyfriend, whom he quote unquote ‘fucked’ - or the other way around? he tried not to think about it, it was getting hard trying to concentrate as is -  what other confirmation could he possibly need to know that cole was into guys?

he didn’t miss how cole’s eyes slipped to his lips and his tongue darted out to swipe over his bottom lip. shit, why was he this flustered? getting hit on in chicago eddie usually wasn’t this squirming and blushing mess of a man. but hawkins? whole ‘nother story. not that he was totally suave in chicago, either, but at least a little more in control. here, he felt powerless. 

however, he straightened his back, took another drag. however, he thought, it didn’t need to be that way. if he pulled himself together. “oh yeah?”, he questioned, brow raised, a grin forming on his lips. “yeah? well, what if i -” and he actually couldn’t believe he was going to use a line this corny but here went nothing - “ well, what if i wanted to skip straight to dessert?”

xx.

As redness overtook Eddie’s cheeks, Cole took another drag of his cigarette. “Yes, I’m gay. You can say it,” he confirmed, his voice remaining low. Cole was sure Eddie would never out him, partially because that wasn’t Eddie’s character, and partially because of mutually assured destruction.

It was exhausting to have to keep such a large part of him a secret, and Cole was frustrated by it. Maybe that’s why he told Eddie (other than, obviously, trying to hook up with him). When Cole went to college, he was able to be himself more freely; he wasn’t out, per se, but he was much more comfortable discussing his sexuality. He wondered if Eddie had a similar experience in Chicago, and was now, like Cole, struggling to reconcile all the different parts of himself.

Cole grinned, noting the change in Eddie’s demeanor. Cole finished his cigarette and reached behind Eddie to throw it away. He brushed his arm against Eddie’s and took advantage of proximity this move afforded him. Glancing up into Eddie’s eyes, Cole’s own twinkled mischievously. “Well, that’s too easy. What about foreplay?” his voice was barely above a whisper. 

stevehharringtcns​:

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steve couldn’t blame cole for what he was saying. he would have probably done the same if he hadn’t been a swimmer during high school, knowing that he just couldn’t stop swimming. but even then, he preferred using the public pool rather than his own pool. “right… that makes sense. you know, i haven’t really been able to use my pool after…” he said, narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember. he didn’t remember, but he knew that he had associated a bad memory to his pool, even if he couldn’t remember exactly what it was. “you know what, i don’t even know… it’s just that my pool kind of gives me the creeps and i don’t like being near that much. but it’s kind of hard to ignore it.” he said with a small shrug of his shoulders, pursing his lips as he looked at cole.

steve couldn’t remember the last time he had liked someone this much. obviously, he had liked nancy a lot, but those feelings eventually had faded away. and there was always his crush he had on robin, but that had been cut short, obviously. he looked over at cole, nodding his head slowly, but frowning slightly when cole said that eddie didn’t like girls. “right, right… but, even if he doesn’t like nancy.” he said, letting out a sigh. “what if he liked… you know, chrissy? the two were seen together a lot before she… disappeared or whatever. you can’t tell me that they weren’t like… into each other, right?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at his own question. steve wondered if eddie would be dating chrissy if she hadn’t disappeared, but he decided to not think about it that much.

listening to cole talk made steve a little more relaxed. it didn’t fix how he was feeling, but it definitely gave him some more comfort, knowing that he wasn’t alone in this situation. he would never have thought that when they made out in the back of his car, that this is how they would end up - with steve asking cole for advice. “thank you, cole… that’s really cool of you.” he said, nodding his head with a smile. “i should talk to him about this, but i don’t want him to get scared or anything. plus, i’m not sure if the whole talk about… wanting a family and six kids will work on eddie.” he said, sighing.

xx.

Cole studied Steve’s face as he spoke, trying to determine whether or not Harrington was pulling his leg. But his confusion seemed genuine, which maybe... was worse. Cole finished off the beer Steve had originally handed him and slipped into the kitchen, grabbing two more from the fridge and presenting one to Steve. “Cheers to never swimming again,” he said with a smirk. Maybe this was his gift, making light of really terrifying shit.

He couldn’t hold back his laugh when Steve mentioned Chrissy. Quickly, he explained so Steve wouldn’t think he was laughing at him. “Sorry. I just... Chrissy covered for me and Adam a lot back in high school.” It was funny to think of her, perfect Christian Chrissy Cunningham, being part of yet another scheme to cover for two guys. “To be honest, Harrington? I’m sure Eddie likes you. You don’t just look at a guy like that unless you want to jump his bones.” Cole didn’t elaborate on how he knew that look from Eddie; it wasn’t relevant, especially with the state Steve was in. 

Cole took a sip of his beer to hide his smile. It was surreal; at first, Cole was sure what happened between him and Steve was a one-off, just a jock experimenting. And honestly, Cole hadn’t expected it to ever come up again, but he was sort of glad it did. At least so that they could be friends... or something. “No problem, seriously. I get it.” He chuckled at Steve’s thought process. “Don’t you both like... kind of already have six kids? With the DnD club and all?” he teased. Cole swirled the beer around in the bottle, giving Steve a one-shoulder shrug. “It’s a scary conversation, but maybe what’s scarier is not having it at all.” Jesus, he needed a blunt. If only he could take his own advice. 

who: Cole & @willthewize​

where: the Byers’ porch!

what: brother reveal (2.0) (semi-sober version)

The day after the Wheeler’s Fourth of July barbecue Cole woke up with a pounding headache and a faint memory of a conversation with Jonathan Byers. But, he’d also woken up in Adam’s arms, and that took precedence. Still, the memory haunted him; Cole couldn’t escape the embarrassment he felt knowing that he’d been noticeably drunk when he told Jonathan they were related. Not his brightest moment. 

In truth, he’d wanted to tell Will first-- he’d even tried before, after the camping trip at the lake, but he was too nervous. Cole figured that it might be an easier pill for Will to swallow, since they weren’t close in age like he and Jonathan. He’d fully intended to tell Will right away, Jonathan’s warning to ‘be careful’ ringing in his ears and convincing him that he needed to tell Will before someone else did. But, then the explosion happened and Cole was in the hospital. 

At this point, he didn’t know what to expect, and he was certainly worse for for the wear: bruises and cuts still healing, arm in a sling, bursts of pain in his torso from the broken ribs, and the ever-present fear that something worse was going to happen. That something worse might cause him to lose Adam again. And if something worse happened and Cole died (physically or otherwise) before he got to talk to Will, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. 

So, he filled up his flask-- only for a few bursts of liquid courage-- and drove over to the Byers’ neighborhood. Only, he couldn’t stop in front of the house. Nervous fingers tapping on the steering wheel, Cole looped around the neighborhood once. Twice. Three times. God, he didn’t have the gas money for that, so he parked about five houses down and got out, careful not to bang his ribs or his arm on the car, and began pacing. 

About a half hour passed, accompanied by a few more swigs of the stinging liquid, and the dread didn’t go away. So Cole took a deep breath and approached the house... only to see Will sitting on the porch, sketchbook in hand. Had he seen him the whole time? An embarrassed flush gathered on Cole’s cheeks, and he wiped his good hand on his jeans to dispel the sweat that had gathered.

“Hey, man,” Cole greeted, attempting to put on a casual smile. “Got a minute? There’s something I wanna talk to you about,” the words fell out in a jumbled heap, but he was glad he’d said it. That he couldn’t escape from it this time. “I talked to Jonathan a while back and, I just... I thought I should tell you.” Cole studied his sling, picking at the fabric fraying on the edge. “Lonnie’s my dad, too.” Saying it out loud, without copious amounts of beer to numb the feeling, left Cole feeling like he’d ripped a bandaid off. He was exposed, bare, vulnerable to whatever Will’s response would be. He wished desperately that he remembered what Jonathan had said, if only to have some litmus for how this would go.

rcbinbvckleys​:

robin didn’t necessarily directly associate cole with what she had accidentally witnessed all those years ago. yet being where they were right now, it was all she could possibly think about when confronted with him. the other jock, who’s name currently slipped her mind, had died in the ‘mall fire’. and the two of them clearly had something special back then. she couldn’t imagine how cole felt just being in the location where it actually happened, it was almost haunting.

“oh! cole, i recognise you,” shit, was that too obvious? “from back in high school.” she added quickly, in case he somehow figured out where she actually knew him from. though unlikely. “wait, how do you know steve?” steve hadn’t previously mentioned that cole was a friend, weird. she’d have to ask the former about that much later, when she was much more sober. “it’s… going. it’s just super weird being here though, right? you know, because of what happene-“ yeah, obviously he knows about that, idiot.

xx.

Cole caught a glimpse of Robin's expression and froze. Of course he knew her, but why did she know him? Did he stand out for some reason? He was probably just tipsy and paranoid, but still, it was enough to put him on edge. Still, he trusted that Robin meant nothing by it and choked out a laugh, "Oh yeah? I didn't realize I was so popular."

Steve. Maybe Steve had said something to her, and that's why she was being weird. "Just... you know, I was the water boy, he was a jock, impossible not to know him," he shrugged, burying the truth in his plastic cup. Cole nodded, a grim smile pushing his lips together. "Yeah. God, you were here, weren't you? That must have been fucked up," he said, though his gaze was vacant. What if she'd seen Adam that day?

mmuscles​:

.

thad watched the grass crunch below his feet as he walked off with cole. the fact he even had to say anything about this at all was stressing him out and the one feeling he kept coming back was wishing he simply hadn’t done it. maybe the thoughts of cole couldn’t haunt his mind and maybe he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable with having to use some tact. as easy as it was to intimidate with fists and words, he didn’t want to do that with cole. with what little he knew about the guy, it didn’t seem like it would work. they spent a long time wandering around the field, thad unspeaking despite pulling cole aside.

finally, he shoved his fists into the pockets of his shorts and looked down at cole, “look, i like, really don’t want anyone finding out about….” he trailed off, nervously licking his lips. he was too embarrassed to even say what had happened, speaking about the incident made it more real, and that made thad more nervous. trying to keep up a tough exterior for cole, he continued, “i’ll fix your car if you keep that big mouth shut, deal?” he asked, sticking out his hand for cole to shake. would this be a business deal that thad’s father would be proud of? probably not. as he waited for cole to take it, thad added, “like, as collateral or whatever.” 

xx.

Wordlessly, Cole followed Thad around the field. Maybe Thad wanted to be further from people to say what he wanted to say. Cole had a foggy idea of what this conversation would be about; he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it too. Mostly, he’d thought up about a dozen questions, all that he couldn’t imagine Thad wanted to hear. Cole knew from personal experience that things as big as this couldn’t be forced; Thad had to be ready on his own.

He could tell Thad was nervous, ashamed even, and that made Cole sad. God, he was getting soft. Cole ventured to look into Thad’s eyes and decided, for once, to be earnest. “You don’t have to bribe me. I won’t say anything.”  Deciding to be the bigger person, Cole let the ‘big mouth’ comment slide. Besides, he knew how Thad really felt about his mouth. “For the record... it’s okay to feel that way,” he said, though his muscles were tense. He was ready to duck out of the way if Thad swung on him, just in case.