Zccming​:.

zccming​:

.

“the grave had nothing to do with me.” max reminded cole. she wouldn’t try too hard to defend the idea she wouldn’t yell at him for using sign language too loud, or that she hadn’t indirectly been the cause of his broken finger, so she’d settle with acknowledging the one thing she could deny. while it was evident that cole was joking, she couldn’t seem to pick up the pace and get into the mood. instead, her voice came out as a surprising lecture, “you and lucas need to be careful. seriously.” the heeding was unexpected, but sincere. since childhood, max felt like her life was moving in a rapid, downward spiral. she didn’t want to think about how much worse it could get if anything happened to lucas or cole. her concern and care wasn’t often displayed so openly, but in this moment, she locked eyes with cole, expressing the full force of her love.

“lots?” max laughed in his face, shaking off the seriousness of the prior conversation. “fine. name five. go.” she demanded, a smile ghosting across her features. she wasn’t sure if cole could give her a genuine answer, but whatever he came up with was sure to ease the mood towards normalcy. 

still, max couldn’t find herself fully present. not about adam, not about cole’s smile. he didn’t know just how bad things could get around here and she hoped it would stay that way. she wouldn’t burden him with her feelings about billy or urge him to be more skeptical about adam. it was like interacting with a child who hadn’t been able to comprehend what atrocities their parent had just watched on the seven o’clock news. max could tack a lot of adjectives to cole’s name, but she never thought she’d use innocent. 

with the flick of her cigarette, she shrugged at cole when he dug a little deeper about billy. “i’m wondering the same thing.” vague as ever she took another drag and stared off into the night. max hoped if they left it at that though, maybe he’d understand a flash of her misery and leave it be. if there was anyone she felt she could allow herself to be miserable with, it was cole. god knows it was one of the foundations of their friendship. wanting to show she had been listening to him too, she asked, “what about adam? how’s…that?”

then of course, there was the matter of el and her’s kiss, which was an entirely different layer of stress. “well, not like i hoped.” the kiss itself had been good, really good. so good it scared her. but the events that followed tainted the memory, “she like, ran away from me.” max sighed, “i guess i must’ve been bad or whatever.” she joked wryly, gaze falling to the blooming cherry on the end of her cigarette. “i think she might hate me.” she truthfully didn’t know and she wasn’t sure what she was seeking to gain by sharing this with cole, but the more they talked about it, she thought maybe she merely wanted to share. 

frustrated with her own moping, she shifted gears and asked cole, “so what are we getting up to tonight?” implying, im not feeling up to sleep. 

xx.

“I didn’t claim it did,” He corrected, though he was teasing. For all of his young life, Cole had desperately wanted a sibling; someone to talk to when he was home all day. Max had filled that void in a lot of ways-- she was always around, it seemed, and always ready to argue with him. Except today. Today her concern for him, the affection she usually buried way down deep, was on the surface. “Yeah, I’ll be more careful. Promise,” he said, her expression reason enough to save his snarky response for another time. Cole reached over and squeezed her knee, perhaps the only display of affection he could give without fear of being hit. 

Cole smirked, took a drag of his cigarette, and shrugged. “This stays between us,” he said, an air of faux-seriousness glancing over his features. “But... I have it on good authority that Steve, Eddie and Adam think I’m pretty irresistible,” he paused, not meeting her eyes for the next confession. “Also... Nancy’s boyfriend. And this guy Luke from college.” He couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. He and Adam hadn’t talked about it yet, but Cole hoped he wouldn’t be hurt. He’d thought Adam was dead after all, surely that gave him the right to at least try and move on? And it’s not like any of these flings compared to what he and Adam had, what they would always have. “I know that I can trust that this will stay between us,” Cole reminded Max, raising an eyebrow. The last thing he needed was to be the person who had outed Steve or Eddie or, worse, Thad. 

Settling back into a relaxed position, Cole watched Max’s face out of the corner of his eye. At once, he knew that her feelings about Billy returning were the exact opposite from his feelings about Adam being back. Warranted, based on what he knew about Billy. It felt strange; for once, Max’s misery was something Cole didn’t share. Not that he couldn’t relate, but he couldn’t commiserate like usual. He felt a pang of guilt, not wanting her to feel alone with him. “I know you’re not asking for an apology, but... I am sorry about Billy. Where is he living?” Cole asked, worried about the answer.

Cole couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his mouth in response to Max’s question. It really was insufferable how in love he was, but he tried to tone it down-- it felt inappropriate to be over-the-top right now. “It’s been really good. Obviously really confusing... But I’m trying not to focus on that. Maybe that’s dumb, given everything, but...” Cole shrugged. If anyone would understand, he figured it would be Max. At least, she would try to understand. 

God, Cole desperately wished Max could say that the kiss was everything she’d wanted, that it had been received well. He wished Max could catch a break. Breathing out a cloud of smoke, Cole was reminded of his experience with Thad. How Thad had kissed him and run, and the look in his eyes when he left; anger, sure, but beyond that, it was fear. “I don’t think she hates you,” Cole said. “Maybe she’s scared,” he offered, his voice soft. “Maybe... she didn’t know what it meant and it was easier to run from it right now. Not everyone can be as self aware and well-adjusted as us,” Cole added with a joking smile. He shrugged and lifted his cigarette to his lips, as if to say we don’t have to talk about it. 

“I thought you’d never ask,” Cole jumped to his feet and stuck his hand out for Max. “I don’t know... wanna break into Melvald’s?” He smiled mischievously, remembering their Memorial Day antics. “Unless you have a better idea.”

@goldenboyrichards

Cole hadn’t retained anything that anyone in the last... ten minutes? Thirty minutes? Hour? since the vision. He vaguely understood that Officer Callahan wanted them gone, and that Tessa had agreed, and that now they were going. So, he shuffled towards the front gate like a zombie, falling behind everyone else. His mind was a loop of Adam bursting into flames. 

When Lucas clapped him on the back, Cole jumped. Embarrassed, he swiped at his still-wet eyes and turned to Lucas. “Hey, man,” he flashed a pathetic smile. Something about being stuck in an empty grave together made Cole feel like he could trust Lucas, even if they’d never spoken much before tonight. With a nod, he walked with Lucas towards his car. “Probably should. And your shoulder, too.”

Casting a sidelong glance at Sinclair, Cole tried to read his expression. “So, that was...” he paused throwing his hands out in an I-don’t-fucking-know gesture. Cole knew that Lucas was friends with Will, and that Lucas was at Starcourt when it caught on fire, so he wondered if Lucas was somehow better equipped to handle these things. Or at least, maybe he had some answers. Worth a shot, anyways. “What the hell was that?”

who: lucas sinclair & @colemontgomeryx​​​ where: outside the cemetery when: 5 minutes after escaping a grave💙

lucas’ shoulder throbbed. it was strange how he hadn’t really noticed it during the night, but as soon as all of the excitement died down -and the group was safely out of the cemetery gates- it hit him like…well, like falling into an open grave. he’d left his bag behind, but callahan was probably still hanging around. that was definitely the reason he’d left it behind. 

at least he still had his car keys stuffed in his pocket. lucas tugged them free and spun them on his keyring. he was sober enough to drive. something about being scared out of your mind did that to you. he couldn’t even feel the shot he’d taken ten minutes ago. the group began to disperse, back to their own little worlds, and lucas felt panic creeping up his spine and making his lungs feel like they couldn’t get enough air. he didn’t really feel like being alone right now. not after what he’d seen. and besides that-

“hey,” lucas said, relieved to find that cole hadn’t wandered off too far and jogging over, lightly clapping him on the back with his good arm. “don’t you think maybe you should go get that checked out?” he pointed to his own head and gestured to his beat-up honda, parked edge of the grass. 

who: Cole & @drewcampbell​​

where: The Music Center

It had been a week and a half since Cole had gotten out of the hospital, and he’d run a few errands by himself despite his mother’s and Adam’s protests. Truly, Cole was sick of being stuck in the house, like he had been sick of the hospital room. He was restless. Though the owner of the Music Center had told him to take all the time he needed, Cole wanted to go back in to work, if only to get out of the house for a while. Plus, he hadn’t taught the new guy how to do inventory, and Cole hated when the owner attempted it. He’d once come back to find Joni Mitchell in the heavy metal section, and promptly banned anyone else from the job. 

The drive over was a spectacle, from Cole having to carefully lower himself into the driver’s seat and avoid moving too much or too quickly and inflame the pain in his broken ribs, to him driving with one hand and adjusting the radio with his arm in the sling. But, he pulled into his usual parking spot and let himself into the Music Center from the back door. Smiling at Drew, Cole waved with his good arm. “Hey, man. How’s it going? Holding everything down here?” he asked, eyes skimming over piles of undone inventory. Cole tucked a stack of records under his arm and busied himself immediately.

He turned, feeling Drew’s eyes on his back, and supposed he should explain his more-ghostly-than normal appearance, the still-healing cuts and bruises, the sling. “From the carnival. Wrong place, wrong time,” he grimaced. Then, lifting a brow, he asked the other: “Were you there? I don’t remember much. You didn’t get hurt, did you?” He didn’t know much about Drew, so he wasn’t necessarily worried about him, but Cole winced at the thought that they’d forced him to work because Cole had been hospitalized.

goldenboyrichards​:

Adam couldn’t wrap his brain around Cole’s words. There was no way. No way he had… because how could he be here now? If that had happened, why didn’t his family say anything? How could they just not remember? 

They had left his room exactly the same, down to the dirty clothes littering the floor and the half-drunk can of New Coke on his bedside table. At first, when he’d come home and seen that, he’d felt odd about it. Like he was a ghost, returning to the place he’d felt most comfortable haunting. Maybe… maybe there had been some truth to that feeling. But that was just impossible. Right? How could someone be dead for three years, then just come back like nothing had happened? 

Adam stopped that train of thought in it’s tracks. “No, I… no.” He said more firmly, shaking his head again. His hands let go of Cole briefly, only for his balled up fists to scrub at his eyes. “I didn’t die, Cole. I didn’t…” Adam repeated, voice pleading with Cole. Because he didn’t die. He couldn’t. What did that mean if he did? And what did it mean if he didn’t? “I left. I was in a commune. I’m sorry.” Adam repeated, voice breaking on his apology. 

And then Cole was kissing him, and the distress he’d just felt melted away slightly. It wasn’t gone. It was just shoved away to the back of his mind, deep in a dark place where Adam could hold on to it until he felt ready to process something that huge. Adam’s arms returned to Cole, wrapping around him and pulling him close. For the first time ever, Adam didn’t really care that they were in a semi-public place. Mrs. Sanders be damned. He kissed Cole sweetly, making up for the three years they’d been apart as best as he could. Adam ached for that time back, but he would take what he could get now. As they pulled away, Adam leaned his forehead against Cole’s, sighing at how right it felt. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” 

xx.

Cole’s heart leapt into his throat at Adam’s pleading tone. He wished he hadn’t said anything, and just let Adam go on believing that he’d gone away to a commune. But Cole had never been able to lie to Adam, nor did he ever want to. He knew that, although it was entirely too much to understand, Adam would want to know. Maybe he even needed to know, so he could stop punishing himself for ‘leaving Cole.’ But only when he was ready, only on his own terms-- Cole felt a pit in his stomach as he remembered Max’s description of the Mindflayer and how it possessed its victims. Something akin to rage flared up in Cole’s body thinking about it hurting Adam, but he buried the feeling for now. That was something to ask Max about later.

Meeting Adam’s eyes, Cole shook his head. “Please stop apologizing,” he said, brushing a stray tear off of Adam’s cheek. It made his chest physically ache to hear the pain in his voice.  “I don’t blame you. I know it wasn’t your fault.” Cole’s eyes welled up again as he offered Adam a smile. “I’m just so glad you’re here, that you’re okay. I love you. I always will.”

Cole paused again, barely resisting the urge to kiss away his questions. “I might have some answers... about what happened. We can talk about it, whenever you’re ready,” he promised, taking Adam’s hands and squeezing them for comfort. Distantly aware that they were still on the Richards’ front porch, but unwilling to leave Adam, Cole tugged on his hand. “Want to come over to my place?” he asked, knowing that his house afforded them more privacy, as it was only him and his mom. 

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?

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as HARRY STYLES on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

jackforeman​:

Jack knew he should’ve stayed quiet, but it was too late now. He had been answering enough of his family’s questions about his whereabouts the past few years, and he didn’t really need anyone else judging the shit out of him for skipping town to go live in the woods, but Col never seemed one to be judgmental, at a least from what Jack could remember. He dropped a stick of deodorant in his basket, then a razor and shaving cream before turning back to Cole, giving a sheepish smile.

“Yeah, I, uh—“ he started, letting out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. “Hard to explain. I guess we both decided it was a good idea to run off to the woods for a few years?” It certainly didn’t get any less embarrassing the more times he said it. “I don’t know, honestly, I think I was high the whole time, because it’s a bit of a blur, but yeah. All I know is that Adam was with me when I left the woods.” It was one of the only things keeping him sane, knowing that at a lets he must’ve joined because his friend had, too.

xx.

Cole’s expression froze at Jack’s comment, and he quickly turned to pluck something, anything, off the shelf to hide his concern. Of course, he knew that Adam thought he had been off in a commune, and he’d heard that there were others who’d returned, too. Jack’s story checked out, at least with what Adam had said. But he knew Adam had died-- there had been a funeral and everything. 

Composing himself, Cole turned around with shampoo in his hand. He gave Jack a thin-lipped smile. “Yeah... that’s essentially what Adam is saying, too.” He shrugged, “It does seem... weird.” Cole desperately didn’t want to ask questions-- he didn’t even want an explanation, really, for fear that Adam would be ripped away from him again. “But, I guess, I’m glad you guys are all back. And relatively okay,” he said, with a sympathetic smile. “How’s your family holding up?”

Cole hadn’t realized what he’d gotten himself into by volunteering to bring a keg-- scratch that, multiple kegs-- to this shindig. It might not bother everyone, but the sticky beer dripping on the linoleum made Cole’s spine shiver, so he dug into his backpack for something to clean it up with. Digging to the very bottom, he found a black handkerchief. Perfect. Cole wiped down the side of the keg and the floor beneath it, and decided to perch nearby in order to nag people not to let it drip on the floor. Really, how hard was it?

In his bag, Cole caught a glimpse of his cigarettes and felt a familiar pang in his gut. Surely it wouldn’t be in bad taste to smoke inside, given the circumstances? Absentmindedly, he tucked the bandana in his back pocket and grabbed a cigarette. “Hope no one minds,” he mumbled, mostly to himself, and lit up.

Shutting his eyes, Cole allowed the blaring music to distract him from the fact that he was inside the mall where the love of his life died. Light stuff. He wasn’t mad at the music choice, surprisingly. Cole tried not to be pretentious about music, but he could only take so many days of people coming into the Music Center asking for the new Rick Astley or Whitney Houston. Thankfully, this music had some teeth. He wondered who’d been recruited to play it. 

When Cole opened his eyes to take another drag, he was shocked to see Eddie Munson running right at him. Cole leaned back instinctively, confusion written on his face, “Uh, sorry. What’d you call me?” He followed Eddie’s eyes to his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief. “Wait-- flagging? I’m cleaning up the keg because these goddamned kids can’t be bothered to catch their beer...” he paused, suddenly curious. “What did you think?”

where: blue quarry mall who: eddie + cole ! @colemontgomeryx​​

despite the inital apprehension, because he really didn’t need the hawkins police department all up in his business again, not when he’d been a murder suspect barely two years ago, eddie slowly felt himself relax, some of the tension slipping from his body. not all, ever since that upside down debacle he hadn’t been able to relax fully. but the beer helped - bless that kid who’d brought the keg - and the general air of…insanity that lingered amongst the party-goers and protesters.

the sounds of black sabbath filled the mall, eddie felt himself nodding along to the tune, and, hey, he really didn’t care that most of the people here had never heard of ozzy osbourne in their lives. they all seemed to have a great time, anyway. so he didn’t even need to whip out that tape of 1988′s top of the pops he’d recorded, just in case they’d want to burn him at the stake for seducing them with his evil satanic dnd music.

he leaned against a pillar, let his eyes wander among the crowed, took a sip of beer and - hey, there he was, that kid with the keg. definitely not a kid now that he got a proper look at him. eddie tilted his head, his mouth dropped open slightly and he craned his neck, pushed himself off the wall, because… wait a minute.

wait a damn minute. he narrowed his eyes, looked down and. holy shit. well, if his eyes weren’t deceiving him then that - yeah that - that was a bandana. dangling from his - cole’s - back pocket. on display. he nearly choked on his beer, coughed and, taking another sip to ease said cough, he booked it across the mall, tapped him on the shoulder.

“hey, man - cole.”, he said, held eye contact with him for perhaps a tad longer than was appropriate. cleared his throat, gestured down towards his own back pocket. a quick look left and right, they weren’t in hearing distance of anyone else. still, he lowered his voice. “hey man, are you… are you flagging?”

jackforeman​:

Weird. That was one way to describe it, anyway. Jack didn’t know what to think of any of it besides that it was weird: weird that he woke up and walked out of the Hawkins forest one morning, weird that he even went in the first place. But, Jo had shown him the newspaper articles and everything–it had to be true, even if he didn’t want to believe it. Maybe talking to Adam again, getting some clarity, wasn’t a terrible idea. 

“I’m glad to be back, too,” he agreed, matching Cole’s smile. “Yeah, they’re … you know, shocked, but good. My mom is saying I’m never allowed to leave Hawkins again, so I guess community college it is,” he joked, as if it were the only light he could make out of the situation. “My sister, Jo, she was pretty freaked out, but that’s probably because she didn’t expect to see a man in her basement when she came home from work. So, you’ve … talked to Adam, then? How is he?”

xx.

Cole genuinely chuckled at Jack’s answer. He remembered the first day he and Adam had left the Richards house, the fear in his mom’s eyes when Adam had told her he was going out for a bit. Cole couldn’t blame her, but Cole also would rather spend time with Adam alone than with his whole family. At least for a while, an attempt to make up for lost time. “That sounds like Mrs. Richards,” he admitted with a smile. “I can’t imagine what it feels like for them-- the moms.”

Raising a singular eyebrow, Cole nodded. He wondered if that was why Jo was freaked out, or if she might have the same questions Cole had. “That’s... understandable,” he said. Even he still hadn’t adjusted to Adam’s return, a return he never could have predicted. “Yeah! Yeah, we’ve been hanging out. He’s okay... he feels shitty for leaving his family behind, and all. I keep trying to tell him it isn’t his fault, you know, but...” Cole shrugged. That’s just who Adam was, always the one who wanted to help, who his family relied on. If only it was as easy as saying ‘it’s not your fault.’ “Have you? Talked to him?”