Rcbinbvckleys​:

mmuscles​:

.

“you better watch it, buddy.” thad said, jaw clenched, inches from cole’s face. it would’ve been easy to punch him, the other was annoying enough, but he found himself dropping his fist and rather gripping the collar of cole’s shirt with both hands. “i don’t fucking want you to buff it out.” he said, shaking his head, “it’s about the principle, the paying for it.” he listed, “plus i bet you can’t buff for shit.” thad sincerely doubted a guy who looked like that when batting his eyelashes knew the first thing about cars. for a split second, he stared at cole. openly, plainly, unapologetically licking his lips for a moment. then a barrier went back up, anger pointed fiercely at cole. thad didn’t have confidence in cole’s ability to amend this situation, but he did recognize that he had a knack for getting under his skin. 

the longer thad stood there in close proximity, his grip loosened. his breathing remained shallow, and now felt as good of a time as any to reveal – “i already fixed my car.” he glanced over his shoulder, out of the garage, and out to the street. that car was his life, he had the knowledge on how to fix it, and there was no way he was taking it back out on the street dented, so he did what he had to. when thad looked back to cole, a quick, burning sensation coursed up from his toes and settled at the tips of his red ears. he must have been really mad or maybe, maybe this was something else. thad wasn’t looking to find an answer to that question right now. priorities. jolting cole by his collar, he repeated, “did you hear me? i already fixed it, pretty boy. are you gonna pay for my time or what?”

xx.

“Cole Montgomery,” he said, his eyes not leaving Thad’s. Clearly, this guy wasn’t going to let it go anytime soon, and Cole knew he’d already gotten under his skin. When Thad focused on Cole’s lips, he barely resisted the urge to pull Thad in closer. Cole wanted to retort to Thad’s comment, but also didn’t want the other to get more defensive-- he didn’t want to hurt the chances of Thad acting on his desire. “If you say so, guy,” Cole replied, his voice low. 

He’d already fixed his car, so why was he here? Why was he putting up such a big fight? That was as much confirmation as Cole needed. Cole didn’t particularly enjoy Thad’s personality, but that had never stopped him from appreciating an attractive man before. It’s not like he was looking for love. As Thad jostled him, Cole leaned closer, leaving mere inches between their faces. “If you think I’m so pretty, Thad, why don’t you show me?” 

mmuscles​:

WHO: thad bradshaw & @loverboymontgomery​ WHAT: it’s like, collateral. WHERE: the meteor shower 

thad was ashamed to admit he’d thought about cole since he cornered him in his garage. he wished he could say it was a time or two, but when he laid on the hood of his car outside of the motel 6 and moping about his life soundtracked to elvis each night, he found his thoughts drifting to cole, kissing cole. fuck, this was bad. he knew he had to say something next time he saw cole, and not kiss him this time, actually say it. there was no accounting for when he would see him next and secretly thad hoped it would be never, but of course the cookie just didn’t crumble.

he had gone to nancy to the meteor shower the next time he saw cole. he was there with some other guy and thad knew he had to act. quick. he told nancy he was going to take a leak and walked up to cole, who was newly alone and looking in the direction of the boy he was walking off, “hey, pretty boy.” he greeted, gesturing with his head to a less congregated area of the field, “wanna walk with me? i gotta talk with you.” 

xx.

Being in public with Adam again was weird. Good weird, but weird. After they’d spent the last few days alone, making up for lost time, Cole found it difficult to keep his hands off Adam now. Not in a trashy way-- all he wanted to do was hold Adam’s hand, brush the same pesky hair out of Adam’s eyes, press a reassuring kiss to his shoulder. But Cole knew Adam was already on edge given, well, everything, so he was on his best behavior. Besides the two sharing a blanket and a few stolen glances, an innocent bystander would hardly know Cole and Adam were together.

When Adam left to go catch up with a friend, Cole’s eyes followed him. The fear that Adam would disappear still hadn’t gone away. He’d long given up trying to reason it away, because there was frankly nothing reasonable about anything in this situation, and sat lost in thought until he was approached by a familiar face. At Thad’s customary greeting, Cole couldn’t help but laugh. He figured this was coming, at some point, but he still didn’t know what he was going to say. The fear Cole had felt after Thad kissed him came rushing back; he was grateful they were in public, because he wasn’t sure what to expect-- anger, shame, aggression, even. “Uh, sure, guy,” Cole said, hoping his nerves weren’t apparent in his tone. Pushing himself off the ground, Cole followed Thad to a more private corner of the field. “What’s up?” he asked, glancing anywhere but Thad’s eyes. Instead, Cole skimmed the crowd and took momentary comfort in seeing the back of Adam’s head. 

eddiemcnson​:

+++

droplets of nervous sweat starting to appear above his brow, eddie’s eyes darted down to where cole pulled out that blasted bandana before he took both the cigarette and lighter from him. he clicked it a couple of times, no light appeared, eddie nervously glanced back up at cole, down at the lighter. violently shook it around for a moment, another attempt - it thankfully lit this time and he handed it back to cole.

he was a bundle of nerves. the previous pleasant buzz from the alcohol had almost entirely disappeared, he flicked  the cigarette’s filter repeatedly, fidgeted with his rings on his other hand. as if he was almost….waiting for cole to ridicule him. instead, however, he said something completely unexpected and eddie chocked on his own breath, sputtering cough.

he looked up to lock eyes with him. i am, too. the fuck did he mean? and ‘too’? was this some sort of trap? or was he literally genuinely saying what…eddie thought…he was saying? hadn’t he not gotten any of his surely widely popularly used phrases moments ago? he quirked a brow, took a drag once his coughing had subised. “you are….what?”, eyes narrowed, voice low in case this was, indeed, a trap.

adam richards was mentioned and, oh, jeez, it all made sense. eddie almost instantly felt bad, a guilty nauseau creeping up on him. way to go, munson, way to go. “your best friend, wasn’t he?” brows pulled together, lips twisted into a sympathetic smile. of course, max hadn’t been the only one who’d lost someone on the very ground they were standing on. “listen, man, i’m so…sorry - like, that’s gotta be rough, like, being here and everything. sorry. i can go and  leave you alone if you want to.”

xx. 

Cole didn’t waver under Eddie’s gaze. If he was correct, Eddie’s behavior made sense. Cole felt it too, the fear of being found out by someone who wasn’t safe. It was the reason Cole and Adam snuck around for the three years they were together-- to avoid the football jocks and the band geeks and the teachers berating them and calling them names. Only it never stopped there; it often got physical, violent. Of course Eddie was afraid.

It was like they were playing chicken, like they were standing in front of a train for as long as possible and pulling back at the last second-- exhilarating, maybe, but not satisfying. Something about being in the mall, all his thoughts about Adam... it was the perfect concoction for a confession. “I like guys,” he said, meeting Eddie’s eyes again. “Adam was my boyfriend.”

And then: relief. Cole felt like he’d recovered part of himself, like he’d regained a phantom limb. He hadn’t been able to talk about his feelings this openly since, well, Adam. It was refreshing, rejuvenating even. “If you want, I’ll prove it,” he teased, giving Eddie a once-over. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so open about it, but what’s the worst that could happen?

eddiemcnson​:

+++

see, cole could’ve hit eddie flat in the face with a giant metal sign that said ‘i’m into guys’ and he still wouldn’t have taken the hint. just…the thought of someone else in hawkins that was like him. surely not - or well, they just wouldn’t come right out the gate and say it. no, being…different, whatever kind of different, and living in that godforsaken town - for some people that was comparable to a death sentence.

still, his eyes widened, blinking at cole with that ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look as he hastily in- and exhaled the smoke. not that that did anything in terms of calming him down. on the contrary, eddie just started to fidget more. “as in….you like them or…like, like like them….” he felt like a fucking middle-schooler. but he just continued. “your boyfriend. you mean like when … wheeler and buckley or like, i dunno, girls call each other ‘girl-friends’ or like….like if…like, when wheeler called harrington her ‘boyfriend’ when they were still a thing?”

as confused as eddie was about the whole situation he apparently still had it in him to blush and get insanely flustered at cole’s….suggestion? if that’s what it was? lips parted, mouth dropped open slightly, he took another drag. his eyes never left cole’s, only once to go look around them, see if anyone was in earshot. negative. “h-how….”, his lips formed around words he didn’t say, a thousand scenarios flashes in his head. eddie blinked.”…how would - you, uh, prove….it?”

XX.

Cole felt bad, but he laughed at Eddie's inability to accept what he was told. It was a defense mechanism, he assumed, after many years of having to keep this part of him secret. For a moment, Cole was grateful for Adam-- grateful he had someone to share it with; in a way, it made this whole ordeal easier. More natural.

"He was my boyfriend-boyfriend," Cole explained. "As in, we fucked," he took a drag of his cigarette, granting Eddie time to take in what he said. "Sorry to be so explicit, but wasn't sure what else to say," Cole explained, though he wasn't really sorry. Part of him liked seeing Eddie squirm. He liked the effect his words had on the other.

Cole smirked, letting his eyes linger on Eddie's lips. He figured it would never happen, but he was open to all possibilities. Especially possibilities that looked like Eddie. "Well, I'm a gentleman. I'd take you out to dinner first," he winked, taking another drag of his cigarette.

Eyes of Timothée Chalamet

who: cole & @goldenboyrichards​

where: the Richards’ house

Since Adam died, Cole had made it a habit to check on his sisters at least once a week. He’d been quite close to them when Adam was alive, as he went over to the Richards house once or twice a week for English tutoring. Mrs. Richards, particularly, loved Cole for ensuring her son passed English, and always had some sort of baked good in the oven on tutoring days. He’d loved coming over to the Richards’, to get a glimpse of a functional family and a father who was fairly involved with his children. Besides, Cole had always wanted a big family, so he was never annoyed by the girls’ footsteps and giggling filling the hallways.

Now, though, the energy in the household was different. For the first few months after the fire, Cole almost dreaded going over-- it broke his heart to see the family so devastated. But in the last year or so, it had gotten easier; they’d sort of mutually decided that remembering Adam together was better than suffering alone. It was a somber occasion, still, but bearable. 

Today, Cole had picked up Dirty Dancing at Family Video, because Cindy had been talking about it lately and he figured he’d give it a shot. He always had a soft spot for Cindy (and Patrick Swayze). Cole approached the familiar house on his skateboard and stopped short by the curb, glancing at a guy around his age sitting on the porch. Had they invited cousins into town he didn’t know about? Or maybe it was the neighbor?

Untucking the VHS from his arm, Cole walked up the steps and tried to get a closer look at the guy without seeming weird. He immediately recognized Adam’s old hat-- the beat-up Notre Dame logo, with bleach spots from a botched wash, was unmistakable. “Hey, man,” Cole said, trying to get his attention. “I don’t know if you’re a guest or whatever, but you shouldn’t touch Adam’s stuff,” he said, trying to keep the resentment out of his voice. What kind of asshole just helped himself to a dead guy’s belongings? Cole wanted to snatch the hat off of the guy’s head, but he resisted.

mmuscles​:

thad refused to meet cole’s eyes as they got into boyfriend talk. sure, cool, they were a couple or whatever, but he didn’t want to hear about it. it had been so deeply conditioned within him that what cole was…boasting about was wrong. maybe it was right for other people, but not for thad, not in this lifetime. the whole conversation confused thad to the point he regretted even asking, so he put on his best sour expression and stared at the car. his hands were numb and he had to take another large gulp of beer before he got back to work on this piece of shit car.  “whatever man,” he shook his head, “i’m not gonna go tattle to the first person i see, don’t flatter yourself.” thad huffed, insisting cole and now adam didn’t take up nearly as much space in his mind as they did. 

“everyone keeps talking about being gone…” thad started, no acutely aware that he couldn’t stand to talk about cole or adam any longer, otherwise this job wasn’t getting done. “but where did they go, like, study abroad? vacation? i don’t get it.” he didn’t read the papers or keep up with the times. as far as thad was concerned, he kind of lived in his own little bubble amidst the chaos that descended upon hawkins. it was one of many things he remained blissfully unaware of. 

xx.

Thad clearly didn’t want to talk about it. And that was fine, it’s not like Cole wanted to get into details... but he felt a sense of relief that Thad knew, if only so that what had happened before wouldn’t happen again. It was easier, anyways, to fall into the bickering back-and-forth with Thad; avoid the real stuff. “Whatever,” he echoed Thad’s tone. “I know you’re obsessed with me,” he laughed, to make it obvious he was joking.

Cole felt his stomach sink at Thad’s question. Of course Thad Bradshaw didn’t know what was going on in Hawkins, if Cole barely knew himself. “They were... off in this... group. In the forest. Like, a commune?” Cole said, trying and failing to infuse certainty into his tone. “It’s weird, but a bunch of them did it. Guess they had enough of the bullshit. Anyway, you can read about it in the paper. Assuming you can read,” he tacked on the end, hoping to piss Thad off enough to distract him from the ‘commune’ nonsense. 

@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

goldenboyrichards​:

After getting off of the Tunnel of Love, Adam couldn’t remember a single thing until he woke up surrounded by ash and smoke. Hours of his life were just missing, gone completely as if he’d fallen asleep and woken up. Adam had been popular in high school - he wasn’t unknown at parties. But even back then, he had never truly gotten so drunk that he blacked out. Whatever had happened to him at the carnival was something else entirely, something much more confusing. 

But when he’d come to? All Adam had seen was carnage. People injured, people dead, and Cole being loaded into a fucking ambulance. Adam had been too dazed to follow; he needed a minute to breath and figure out what had even happened. Because he just didn’t know - but there were several people glaring at him like he was responsible for this. Not solely, the others from the forest commune had helped, it seemed. But…. what had they done? And why?

Once he had fully come back into his own body, he remembered the nightmare he’d had. Or maybe it was a memory? But… but Adam would never hurt Cole. Even nightmare Adam hadn’t wanted to. But the thought of shoving him, pinning him against a wall and telling him to ‘fucking leave me alone already’ made Adam’s chest ache. 

As he caught a ride with someone to the hospital, he couldn’t help the tears that collected in his eyes. Just the thought that there was maybe a chance that he’d actually done that made Adam feel like he was going to throw up. 

Adam had waited while Cole lay on a bed, resting after breaking his rib. He couldn’t imagine that he was comfortable - that it didn’t hurt him. Adam would do anything in the world to take the pain from him, add it to his body instead of Cole’s. But there was nothing he could do but watch as his chest rose and fell, steady with the beeping of the heart monitor he was hooked up to. 

When Cole finally came to and asked about the lights, Adam leapt up immediately, reaching over to flick one set of fluorescents off. He thought about turning both off, but… well, what if Cole didn’t want to be in the dark? What if he was scared of Adam? His worst fear was seemingly confirmed when Cole stared at him, studying Adam’s eyes. 

Arms wrapping around him to hold himself together, Adam met his gaze sheepishly. Not because he wanted to, but because Cole deserved to see that it was him standing in front of him.  “Hey,” He replied, feeling far too casual given every fucking thing the two of them had been through. He kept his distance, standing by the light switch near the doorway. “Are you…. is it okay that I’m here?” Adam asked quietly, looking down at the floor. “I was worried about you. I don’t… I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember anything.” 

xx.

The rush of tears made Cole feel lightheaded and, despite his frantic blinking, they spilled down his cheeks. It was him. Adam was okay. He knew it was his him when he heard the layers of guilt in his voice, when his boyfriend angled his head to the floor. Cole hated seeing him like this, maybe just as much as he hated seeing out-of-body Adam. “Sweetheart,” Cole cooed, attempting to make his brittle voice sound comforting.

“Of course... Of course I want you here. Will you come sit by me?” he asked gently, though internally he felt like he was twelve years old, begging his mother not to leave him at bedtime. He was afraid of what happened, of course. But more than he was afraid for his own safety, he was terrified of what all of this meant for Adam. A pang of guilt swirled amidst the fear; Cole should’ve told Adam everything he knew, right away.

As Adam sat next to him, still cautious, afraid of something, Cole reached out his arm, offered his hand. “I’m okay,” he promised. “I’ll be fine. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” He searched Adam’s body for any sign of injury and met his eyes. Cole desperately wished that this was all they had to talk about, that Adam could climb into bed with him and things could be simple. But he knew better, and he wouldn’t leave Adam in the dark, not again.

Painfully, Cole twisted and picked up his water, needing some relief for his throat before he dared dive into this. “You don’t remember anything?” he asked, eyes lingering on the crease in Adam’s brow. He desperately wanted to shield Adam from this, to never tell him what horrible things had been done and said through his body.

Cole was crying again, in anticipation for how much this was going to hurt Adam. Adam, who couldn’t fathom hurting another person or letting someone down. Adam, who was always so good, who happily took on the burden of being the strong one, the shoulder to cry on. Adam, who deserved better than all of this. Cole bit down on his trembling lower lip, willing himself to keep it together, if only for Adam’s sake.

“Before you died,” he began cautiously, knowing that even saying that much was still shocking, “You were different. It wasn’t you. I didn’t know until later, but you were... possessed, I guess. By this thing they call the Mindflayer. It made you act different and then... it killed you. Or, it died and you died with it.” The whole thing still hurt his head, honestly, and there weren’t nearly enough answers. “I don’t know how or who or why but... you came back. And I think it’s happening again... it controlling you. I thought you were going to die again,” he choked back another influx of tears, remembering that horrifying moment at the carnival.

Cole had immediately recognized the similarities between Adam at the carnival and Adam the last day he saw him-- the stiffness of his body, the coldness of his tone, the cruelty of his words. He hoped Adam never found out about that moment. Swiping at his cheek with the back of his hand, Cole met Adam’s eyes again and tried for an encouraging smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, and I’m sorry I don’t have more answers. But we’ll figure it out. Together, like you said.” He lifted Adam’s hand to his lips, ignoring the shooting pain from his ribcage. “I promise, love, we’ll figure it out.” He didn’t know what figuring it out meant, not even remotely, but he knew he wasn’t going anywhere until they did.

goldenboyrichards​:

Being co-host of the camping trip, Adam had had to spend awhile checking in on everyone else when they got back. A lot of theories were being thrown around, as well as stories from the cabin, but he wasn’t paying much attention to them. They sort of went over his head. He didn’t know what grabbed him and Cole, but it had felt stronger than algae. He couldn’t be sure, though. 

Cole drifting away from the others wasn’t surprising to Adam. He understood needing a minute after all of that, and it was starting to get a bit cold out here now that the sun had gone down. Without asking, he passed Cole one of the hoodies he’d brought with him in his duffle bag. If anyone noticed that Cole was wearing his clothes, Adam was kind of beyond caring. He’d do anything that Cole needed him to do right now. 

“You didn’t make it up,” Adam assured with sad eyes, hating that what had happened to them was real. If only it could have been some fucked up nightmare or something. “I’m fine,” He assured, giving Cole a small smile. Honestly, he was worried. But there were no physical marks on him, and he and Cole had both eventually made it to shore. Adam would be okay - this was just another weird thing to add to the list of awful stuff happening around him lately. “I’m not going anywhere.” Adam glanced around, checking to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them. Once he was sure they were safe, he squeezed Cole’s knee in reassurance. 

As Cole began begging him to leave with him, Adam’s heart ached. That had always been the plan, hadn’t it? But Adam had fucked it up somehow three years ago, leaving Cole alone to pick up the pieces. And as much as Adam wanted to go now, he thought about his mother. His dad. Beth, Cindy. He couldn’t just leave them again. He couldn’t run away this time. When he and Cole left, they deserved to know in advance. “Cole,” Adam began sadly, squeezing his hand. “Cole, I want that so bad. I want us to go to California like we planned. I want that.” He assured him, voice steady because someone had to be. “But I can’t leave my family right now. My mom…I don’t think she’s sleeping much, these days. My dad calls home to check and make sure I’m still here every few hours when he’s at work. My sisters didn’t stop crying for hours when I finally came back,” Adam rambled, running a hand through his hair. “I just can’t go right now. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” 

xx.

When Adam passed Cole his hoodie, he smiled. Though it was a cliche, he loved wearing Adam’s clothes-- so much so that he’d periodically stolen dozens of shirts, hoodies, and jackets over the years. He brushed his hand against Adam’s and tugged the hoodie on, trying to act cool, calm, and collected when he was anything but. Both because he was freaking out about whatever had grabbed them in the lake and because Adam was here, looking at him with those eyes, and he wasn’t allowed to hold him.

“Kind of wish I did,” Cole said, with a sigh. He wished he had answers for Adam-- or rather, that his answers made any fucking sense. When Max had told him about the Upside Down and the Mindflayer and the fucked up shit happening in Hawkins, it had actually made him feel better, for a while. He finally knew that Adam hadn’t died hating him, that he was... possessed. But when Adam showed back up with a completely different story, any comfort Cole took in the truth was long gone. 

I’m not going anywhere. Cole closed his eyes for a moment and willed himself to believe it. Only, Adam couldn’t guarantee that. Cole couldn’t guarantee that either. Adam coming back both gave Cole a future again and threatened his utter demise. Losing Adam once had already destroyed him, but the thought of losing him twice felt like a death sentence. He did his best to muster up a smile, so as not to worry his boyfriend, but Cole knew better. Adam was always able to tell when something was up. 

Cole knew Adam’s answer before he elaborated, just based on the way he said his name. He nodded profusely along as Adam spoke, as guilt settled into his stomach. Of course Adam couldn’t leave his family now. He’d just gotten caught up in the moment, in his own fears, and was desperately trying to find something to cling to. “Of course, love. Of course,” he murmured, squeezing Adam’s hand back. “I’m sorry, that was... I was being emotional. I don’t want you to leave your family.” If anything, Cole wanted to bring Adam’s family with them. “I understand how they feel. I’m so scared of losing you again,” he finally admitted, rubbing circles on Adam’s hand with his thumb.