Who: Cole & @mmuscles​​

𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙺𝙸𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙻 #𝟶𝟶𝟼: cole & max

MAX: gross.

MAX: how were you supposed to know this would happen?

MAX: i don't know, for once, i don't think it's your fault.

MAX: but maybe i'm biased.

MAX: also not convinced talking works, so, are you really missing out or whatever...?

MAX: do you want me to pick up a movie? give your lazy ass some extra time?

COLE: i mean, yeah... fair point.

COLE: i think it's more like... my timing was really awful

COLE: and then i went and put on his sweatshirt which was kind of a dick move.

COLE: i don't know. i can't think about it anymore

COLE: yeah a movie would be cool. maybe i'll shower for you or something

who: Cole & @willthewize​

where: Main Street

Cole had just gotten off work and was a few blocks into the skate home. On days when he had nothing else to do, which was most days now, he liked to pass through downtown via Main Street. It was nice to see the activity and be reminded that people were here and going about their normal lives.

Since the camping trip fiasco, Cole had felt phantom pains in his ankle from where... whatever it was... had dragged him underwater. He was pretty sure it was all in his head, because Adam hadn’t been feeling the same thing. But still, Cole stopped and sat on a bench to give it a break. He studied it closely, looking for any sign of contact or inflammation, but there was nothing. Maybe Hawkins was making him crazy.

Thankfully, he was interrupted by footsteps on his side of the street. Snapping his head up, Cole’s face broke out into a smile. “Hey, Will,” he called, hoping the other wasn’t in a rush and would come over. He’d been meaning to talk to him, anyway, ever since he’d spoken with Joyce. “What are you up to?” he asked. Cole vaguely recalled that Will had been at the camping trip, too-- but he must’ve been with a different group. “How was the camping trip for you?” Cole had heard whispers about weird stuff happening in a cabin, but he had admittedly been too focused on his almost-drowning to gather any details.

xx.

Cole never could’ve imagined this-- any of this-- when Adam Richards had approached him to be his English tutor freshman year. He’d known who Adam was, of course, because everyone did. It was normal to have a crush on the hot and funny and sweet quarterback, as evidenced by the conversations he had with the cheerleaders, except for the fact that Cole was a boy, too. He’d made peace with it, figured it would pass when Adam graduated and Cole would hear about his engagement to Chrissy Cunningham one day from some nosy mom in the Melvald’s checkout line. That was how things were supposed to be. But then, one night in February after a few hours of studying for an English test, Adam had kissed Cole.

Everything changed that day, and Adam quickly became the subject of all of Cole’s thoughts. They were inseparable for three years, and those were easily the best three years of Cole’s life. In every way, Adam was Cole’s balance: where Cole was shut off and withdrawn, Adam was open and giving, where Cole was book smart, Adam was emotionally intelligent, where Cole was cautious, Adam was trusting. Cole wasn’t religious at all, but he truly believed they were meant to find each other, and he never hesitated to tell Adam as much. So when Adam died in the ‘freak accident’ just before they were going to run away together, Cole’s life halted. Since then, he’d felt like he was a ghost, moving through the motions of life despite being completely detached. He didn’t really care what happened to him, not if it was without Adam. And when Adam came back? It was supposed to be good, and easy, and they were supposed to move on. It was still good, Adam was still Adam, but it was impossible to ignore the reality of the situation: that Adam had died and come back, and there were side effects.

Still, it was worth it to try-- to push it to the side for a few hours at least. When Adam offered to plan a date, Cole was elated. When he showed up at Cole’s door with their usual from Benny’s, Cole had wanted to cry. He had longed for this for so long. He’d gathered a few things in a bag of his own-- his dusty copy of The Odyssey, a chapstick, his house key, a few rogue pens and highlighters, and at the very bottom of the bag, his flask. Just in case things went South, not that they would, he just didn’t really go anywhere without it these days. Cole left the bag on the floorboards of the passenger seat and climbed into the truck bed with Adam. Like it was the most natural thing in the world, Cole scooted closer to him and nestled into his chest, angling his face to the sky to look at the stars like they’d done dozens of times before. “Mhmm,” he hummed contentedly, smiling at the memory. “We were so worried someone would find us,” he chuckled. “Worth the risk.” All of it was worth the risk-- Cole would always choose Adam, always. Cole shoved Adam away jokingly, “In my defense, what the fuck are jumper cables?” He laughed, though, unable to resist Adam with that grin. As they shifted and Adam leaned against Cole, he ran his fingers through the other’s hair gently. Everything about this felt so right, and Cole felt completely at peace. As Adam kissed his cheek, Cole caught his chin and lifted it so their lips met. “I love you,” he responded, feeling pressure building behind his eyelids. Not tonight, surely he could go one night without crying. “Thank you for this,” he said, kissing Adam’s forehead with a smile. 

WHO: Adam Richards & @loverboymontgomery​

WHAT: What were Richgomery doing during town hall????

WHERE: A backroad of Hawkins, somewhere near Lover’s Lake

Adam had met Cole during his sophomore year, not long after being named starting quarterback. Cole was in his English class - a year ahead of others in his grade, and far better at understanding literature than Adam could ever hope to be. The second he’d seen the snarky brunette who always had something to say in class, Adam had been hooked. For a long time he thought that maybe he just saw the other guy as someone he really, really wanted to be friends with, but eventually, it clicked why he was so obsessed with Cole. And once Adam’s grade began to drop in English because he just didn’t understand why people used metaphors or similes or whatever ( why couldn’t everyone just say exactly what they meant all the time ? ), asking Cole to help him seemed like it would solve two problems for him. Suddenly, he could spend all the time he wanted alone with Cole, getting to know him and liking him more each day, and he could bring up his grade. 

It hadn’t taken long before something had shifted between them, and Adam had made the first move. Kissing Cole without knowing how the other felt about him was scary - historically speaking, kissing another boy without asking typically didn’t end well for guys. But, Cole had kissed him back. He had been so kind and sweet and patient while Adam figured out how to tell Chrissy about it all, which had thankfully gone well. Then, Adam and Cole had gotten three beautiful years together in high school, full of them slipping love notes into the other’s locker, hanging out in Adam’s car together after football games, saying I love you for the first time, riding together on the bus to away games, studying together, and even slow dancing together at Prom in one of the empty classrooms. It had been perfect. Every single thing about their relationship in high school had been beautiful, untainted by any of the complicated feelings that existed there now because of Adam’s death and the grief it had caused. So Adam hadn’t been surprised when Cole had sadly admitted to wanting to go back to that - to get to experience how happy they’d been. How simple it had felt. And Adam had decided to rise to the challenge and do his best to plan a night for them where they could feel like that again. 

They had each planned plenty of dates for the other in high school, but there was always a trick to it. It had to still feel like a date - not just two friends hanging out - without drawing too much attention to themselves. They weren’t like Chrissy and Jason or Chance and Bev; they couldn’t share a kiss or hold hands across the table. Being openly affectionate in public wouldn’t end well for them, so they’d always had to get creative. Tonight, Adam had ordered them takeout from Benny’s, getting their usual order as well as a milkshake to split. He’d loaded his truck with blankets and pillows, and driven them out to a field on the edge of town. The farmer who owned the land was older, he wouldn’t even notice them parked back here off the main road. After they’d eaten and gotten everything set up, Adam sat back against the pillows, looking up at the stars. “Remember when we did this for the first time?” He asked Cole, leaning closer to him. “The summer after we’d gotten together.” Adam had gotten his truck around then, and had taken Cole out on drives all the time. “Oh, or that time you freaked out and swore a snake had gotten back here, but it was just my jumper cables?” Adam laughed, grinning at Cole. Shuffling closer to Cole, Adam laid down, resting his head on Cole’s shoulder. There had been so much weird tension between them lately, and Adam had felt like he had no idea how to even address it, let alone fix it. But right now, he wasn’t worried about it. He just wanted to enjoy a date with Cole, not caring about bomb or the Doppelganger or the Mindflayer or anything else. Just the two of them, here, together. “I love you,” He said softly, leaning up to kiss Cole’s cheek. 

cassieconrads​:

It was almost a relief to hear that Cole had been experiencing the same kind of insomnia that Cassie had. She wasn’t sure what that meant for the group that had been at the cemetery overall, if they were doomed to be repeating the same dream-like vision over again and again. At least she didn’t have to worry about any physical injuries, like Cole and Lucas had sustained. Cassie wasn’t known for being the most careful person, and she was honestly shocked that she hadn’t wound up falling herself.

Cassie shook her head at his question, beginning to flip through the catalog on the counter as they spoke. “Me neither. Every time I close my eyes, it’s like I’m seeing the same dream all over again.” Maybe it was more than she should’ve admitted, but she somehow she felt more comfortable telling Cole about what she’d seen than Nancy, who hadn’t been there.

xx.

Cole busied himself, re-sorting the metal section. Why was it always the metal section that got ransacked? He glanced up at her, alarm in his eyes when she mentioned a dream haunting her. Was that a coincidence? Was that even possible? “Dream? What kind of dream?” he asked, dropping the record he was holding into its rightful place.

Until now, Cole had chalked his recurring vision up to the head injury, thinking that maybe hitting his head that hard had brought up some sort of unprocessed trauma. It made sense, or rather it was the explanation that was the least terrifying to think about. 

The Wheeler family barbecue wasn't exactly Cole's first choice as far as Memorial Day festivities go. He would much rather be by the lake, pretending to read a book-- away from all the prying eyes of Hawkins' very own helicopter parents. But one chance run-in with Steve Harrington can derail even the strongest man's plans for the day. And Cole didn't mind, he sort of liked the twitch Karen Wheeler got when he was around.

See, Karen and Cole's mom used to be friends-- best friends, as Cole understood it. But best friends in the girl way, where they secretly hate each other and are always competing to be the prettiest, smartest, funniest, whatever. And then Maggie Montgomery got shipped off to New York and Karen won prom queen and that was supposed to be that. Until Maggie came back with a son, born around the same time as Karen's oldest, and suddenly the competition began again. Whose kid would be the smartest? The most athletic? The prettiest? It was amusing to Cole, especially in the last few years since he and Nancy have become friends.

So, he matched Karen's polite smile when he greeted her and raided her kitchen, making a plate of every feasible kind of chip and dip he could find. Karen watched him the whole time, peppering him with faux-questions used to assert Nancy's superiority. Are you still at Indiana State? Meaning: you aren't at a real college like Emory. How are you liking the Music Center? Meaning: Nancy has a real job running a newspaper, etc etc. After no less than twenty questions, Cole escaped to the front yard and to a cold beer. Glancing sideways, he noticed that Nancy had the same idea. "Prized pony, huh?" He grinned, clinking his beer to her plastic cup. "What would Mrs. Wheeler think if she knew Secretariat was defiling her body with alcohol?" he whispered, raising his eyebrows. "Hey, say the word and we can get outta here. You know I love to see Karen squirm."

𝐖𝐇𝐎: Nancy Wheeler & OPEN

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Nancy escapes the confines of Karen Wheeler, spots your muse, and forces them to talk to her.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Memorial Day aka Nancy’s Day!

Nancy had been home from Emerson for approximately five days and eight hours. In that time, she had barely seen the sunlight let alone escape from the grasp that was Karen Wheeler’s perfectly manicured hand. It was thing after thing with her mom. First, they went to the nail salon, then grocery shopping, then to The Gap, and then to her nana’s house for a visit. There had barely been time for her to even sit down and breathe for the last week. Then Karen began talking about how they should throw a BBQ for Nancy! It made perfect sense, in Karen’s mind. The Wheeler’s knew so many people and a cook out on Memorial Day was the perfect kickstarter to reintroduce Nancy to people who she had actively been avoiding since leaving Hawkins. Nancy would protest, looking over at her dad who’s glued to his Lay-Z Boy for some help, only for Ted to grumble and ask, “Do I have to cook?”

There was no use and come Memorial Day, the Wheeler’s backyard had been decorated. Her dad was on the grill and her mom was pushing Nancy along to talk to all of Karen’s friends. Nancy goes to Emerson! She’s a part of Alpha Epsilon Phi! And she’s dating the president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon! Oh, and she’s editor-in-chief at The Berkeley Beacon! Karen was bragging and bragging about all of Nancy’s accolades. It seemed to give Karen a leg up against all of her other friends who’s kids were still stuck in Hawkins. “Hey, I’ll be right back,” she said, excusing herself from the gaggle of moms.

Grabbing a red solo cup, she snuck off with one of the beers she spotted in the cooler, and poured it in the cup. There was no way she could tackle this sober. Taking a long drink, she spotted a familiar face, and booked it towards them. She needed some kind of distraction away from the clutches of Karen Wheeler. “Hey, do you think you could distract me for like… five minutes before I have to go back to being trotted around like a prized pony?”

sinclairss​:

the hideaway wasn’t usually at the top of lucas’ list of places to hang out, but after the carnival, he was looking for just about anything that might take the edge off. he’d been attacked by the doppelganger. max had been taken by the monster. the older kids had nearly gotten blown up. any of those things would be traumatic enough on its own, but add on the fact that five people -including mr. clarke- had died, and it left lucas with a lot to think about. according to his therapist, he’d gotten to the anger portion of his grieving process when he’d vandalized his middle school. showing up at the hideaway when he was supposed to be at physical therapy? that was squarely in the depression part. it wasn’t that he didn’t drink, but lucas didn’t usually drink alone. 

which was probably why lucas’ first instinct upon walking into the dimly lit bar was to find a drinking buddy. relief loosened his shoulders when he spotted cole montgomery sitting at the bar. ever since the guy had fallen into an open grave trying to help lucas out of one, he’d felt a strange sort of camaraderie with the other. he wondered if cole’s doctors knew he was spending his time drinking at the bar before realizing he probably didn’t care if they did. “same as you,” he answered with a humorless smile. “needed a drink.” he nodded as he slid into the seat to cole’s left and ordered a beer. 

the good thing about this bar was that they rarely ever carded, especially not after tragedy struck town. again. he remembered that his dad came here the night will’s ‘body’ had been found. and he and the basketball team had spent time tucked into a corner after…something had happened to jason’s girlfriend, right? lucas couldn’t remember. either way, the bartender passed over a glass and lucas thanked her with a smile, lifting the beer in cole’s direction in a mock toast. “thanks.” he took a long sip and wrapped both hands around the cool glass as he turned in his seat to look at cole properly. “so…” his eyes flicked back to cole, one side of his mouth quirking in the shadow of a grin. “what’s new? seen any good movies lately?”

xx.

Needed a drink. Cole certainly couldn’t argue with Lucas’ logic, enough had happened to warrant everyone in town taking a load off, especially Lucas. Cole absentmindedly wondered if Max knew Lucas was here. He hadn’t exactly gotten an update from her in a while, so he didn’t know what was going on between the two of them, except that there was something. There had always been something. “Well, cheers.” Cole raised his glass to Lucas’ and took a long drink, barely stopping himself from downing the whole glass in one gulp. Best to reign it in, in case Lucas relayed anything to Max.

Not that they were exactly talking right now, anyway. Things had been weird ever since Tessa Calloway’s funeral, which Cole only attended because Adam wanted to, for the record. He’d been torn up about the whole thing since then-- partially because he’d fought with Max, but also because he couldn’t help but wonder: How many others were afraid of Adam? How many others wouldn’t hesitate to restrain him or hurt him, even though none of this was his fault? Cole took a long look at Lucas, the other’s words processing somewhere behind the alcohol-induced haze of Cole’s mind. Was Lucas one of them, too?

The side of Cole’s mouth quirked over the glass at Lucas’ joke. “Hmm... Dirty Dancing? I’ve watched that like, six times with Adam’s youngest sister now. Or Hairspray,” he added, laughing at his movie choices. He knew Lucas wasn’t the type to make fun of him, but still, couldn’t he have at least seen a Star Wars movie or something? Then, it clicked. “The Lost Boys. Max really liked that one,” he smiled fondly, but his smile faltered after a second. “Is she... doing okay? It’s been a minute.” 

zccming​:

.

if max hadn’t been so pleased with cole’s vow towards safety, there was a one hundred percent chance she would have wacked him across the chest for touching her. but this go around, just this once, she welcomed it. she closed her eyes, simply grateful to have him near. after taking a moment to convince herself that he would make good on that promise and be careful she flashed him a small smile and clapped her hand over his, “thanks.” and that was that. 

it was much easier to throw herself into teasing conversations. it wasn’t difficult for max to find a good time, but it did take some concentration to force herself to stay in the moment now and again. that being said, the information that cole dropped into her lap fully grabbed her attention. she had been expecting cole to stumble to come up with a full five people, so when he not only did that, but also name dropped steve and eddie, max’s jaw dropped, “shut the fuck up!” the back of her hand came into harsh contact with cole’s chest, “you’re joking.” she levelled with him. when it became abundantly clear that cole was being honest, she turned her head and curiously leaned in a little closer, “what the fuck? when?” screw adam and luke from college and also nancy’s boyfriend? there was no judgement to be found in max’s expression or in her tone, merely shock from apparently being severely out of the loop. regardless, she was fully invested now and swore her own secrecy with a zipping motion over her lips, “it will. i can keep quiet.” 

the reveal had been a nice reprieve, but matters circled back to billy, as they always seemed to these days, and max’s expression darkened. she hunched over, slightly more protective of her body as she divulged cole with details from her own life. “it’s cool, you didn’t force the asshole to come back.” she shrugged, picking up a pebble from the ground and fixing her eyes on it while she rolled it between her thumb and index finger. max sighed, shaking her head, then throwing the pebble into the distance, “he’s staying in the living room.” she looked back to cole. did she really need to say more than that? max didn’t seem to think so. 

cole’s unspoken offer to not talk about what happened with el was snatched up by max in record time and replaced with the sharp and giddy jabbing of her elbow into his ribs, “really good? like, you’re dating good? or what? i wanna know!” she’d been moody enough for one conversation and she’d caught a sudden wave of energy that she was finding to be extremely helpful in her enthusiastic efforts. 

the suggestion of breaking into melvald’s left max scoffing, “yeah, right. not my brightest moment.” she rolled her eyes and ashed her cigarette. despite the criticism of her past idea, max offered an equally as bad, but much more fresh one, “do you think we could get away with spray painting the police station? like what are the odds we pull it off?”

xx.

“Ow,” Cole groaned, rubbing his chest where Max had hit him. It wasn’t that hard, he just liked to make a point. He wondered for a moment if he should be offended that Max was so shocked, but the question passed when she asked for details. He knew she wasn’t judging him-- that had never been a factor in their friendship-- so he allowed himself to crack a smile. It was pretty ridiculous, after all.

“Steve was a while ago-- couple months, maybe. At some party; well, in his car outside of some party,” he admitted. “Eddie was... at the Blue Quarry Mall party, thing. Before your arrest, obviously,” Cole noted. “And Thad was a few weeks ago. That was weird,” his brow furrowed. He still didn’t know what to make of it, and he’d taken to pushing it out of his mind now that Adam was back. Cole nodded, relief passing over him at her promise to keep it secret. Obviously, he needed to tell Adam, but... it hadn’t come up. Truthfully, he was afraid it would change things, or change the way Adam viewed him. Cole really couldn’t take that. He couldn’t even entertain the thought.

He watched as Max’s body language shifted dramatically. Cole had never gotten details on what her and Billy’s relationship was like, other than he was an asshole, but how she was acting now was all he needed to know. “Goes without saying, but if you need to crash, my house is open. My mom loves you anyways,” he said, hoping she would take the offer. Or any offer really, just something that would put distance between her and Billy. Cole got a bad feeling in his gut when he thought about them staying together in the already-cramped trailer. It felt like playing with fire. 

At Max’s sudden change, Cole quirked an eyebrow. But whatever, maybe it was her way of signaling that she’d had too much of the heavy stuff, so he went along with it. A laugh escaped Cole’s lips, “Yeah? I mean, yes. We haven’t like explicitly talked about it, but...” Cole shrugged. “Not to be gross, but he’s my future. He’s it.” It was a funny question, he realized in retrospect, because Cole wouldn’t call Adam his ‘boyfriend’-- that felt too high school. Adam meant more to him than that, but he didn’t know how to put it into words. Hopefully Max got the gist.

Cole openly scoffed at Max’s new-and-improved suggestion. “Christ, Mayfield. Are you trying to get arrested again so soon?” Not that he had a better idea. “Why don’t we, like, break into Harrington’s pool or something else that won’t get us handcuffed.”

mmuscles​:

.

each time thad thought this guy was going to go right, he veered left. how did he know nancy? he lives here, dummy. why did he say that? why the fuck did he say that? the discomfort, outrage, and curiosity sparked blatantly behind thad’s eyes. he was never one to successfully mask his feelings, and now that trait was coming back to bite him in the ass. he opened his dry mouth and leaned in closer to the other, pointing a firm finger in the stranger’s face, “watch what you say about my girl,” and then, “and i’ll call you whatever i want, pretty boy.” thad was becoming gradually more convinced that the other just liked to hear himself talk. the offer to buff out his car for him made thad audibly laugh, “yeah right, like i’d even trust you to spell your own name correctly.” he looked at his car, “you couldn’t handle her. not in the slightest.” he scoffed, then snatched the legal pad out of the stranger’s hands. Steve Harrington. so he had a name. smugly, he tapped the pad of paper on top of steve’s head. “nope.” he popped the p. “this’ll do, i gotta jet. more important things to do.” thad winked at steve as he walked back to his car, feeling satisfied with the conversation. 

when thad had left the stranger in the dust, he hadn’t been expecting to have to go on a hunt to find him again. turns out he was most certainly not steve harrington. for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to ask nancy about this mystery man. and he definitely wasn’t going to ask cassie. so thad was left with no choice but to ask strangers if they’d seen the small fry with the curly hair? to which he got a different answer almost each time. thad thought he might just lose his mind. the longer he had to go on this chase the more fired up thad got, stuck on the mental image of this guy’s stupid face and his stupid idea of a joke. he became more and more set on the idea of finding him, then giving him a piece of his mind. thad, actually, replayed the thought over and over, near obsessively over the course of the two days it took to find him. when thad next laid eyes on this asshole, it happened completely on accident. he was driving around, killing time when he saw him, barreling down his driveway on a skateboard. 

wasting no time, thad screeched to a halt and scrambled out of his car, “you!” he shouted, pointing a finger as if it would make him sound more clear. immediately, he stormed up the driveway and eventually backed him into the garage, “do you think i’m like, stupid or something?” he asked, then balled up the fabric of the other’s, as if he might strike him. but he didn’t. instead, thad faltered, and eventually backed him into the wall of his garage, “you’re not steve.” he breathed out obviously. if it wasn’t already apparent why he had shown up, thad leered over him as he demanded to know, “are you gonna fix my shit?”

xx.

My girl. What an absurd thing to say about Nancy Wheeler, Cole thought. He couldn't imagine them together at all-- this guy who felt the need to control... everything, it seemed, with Nancy who was the most capable and independent person Cole knew. Even worse, Thad was a person who gendered his car. He probably named it too. Gross. Showing his distaste on his face, Cole looked from Thad to Thad's car. "Whatever you say, guy. Let's hope I spelled my name right," he smiled, glad to be done with Nancy's boyfriend.

When Cole didn't hear from Thad, he figured he'd uncovered Cole's scheme and decided he didn't care that much-- which was the plan. His mom's car wasn't any closer to getting fixed, but at least he didn't have to scrounge up his last three paychecks to pay for an overpriced repair on a gendered car that he could do himself. So, in lieu of a ride, Cole took to skateboarding around town. He'd just returned from work and was skating up his driveway when Cole heard a familiar voice yelling at him.

With an eyeroll and a groan, Cole planted a foot on the cement and turned. Unable to hid his smirk, Cole shrugged at Thad's question, "I never said that. Maybe I just misspelled my name. Oops." Cole's eyebrows shot up as Thad pushed him against the wall. Well, didn't this feel familiar. "I'll happily buff it out myself, guy, but I'm not paying for that shit. Why don't you call your diamond daddy and ask him for a favor?" Cole said with a sickly sweet smile and a bat of his eyelashes.

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?”

who: Cole & @drewcampbell​​

where: The Music Center

It was inventory day, which was easily Cole’s least favorite day of the month. Since he’d become manager of The Music Center a few years back, he’d been delegated the task of coming in on his day ‘off’ and checking the in-store inventory versus their log. Basically, to see what Max had stolen. Or anyone else, but usually Max.

Today, though, the new guy was working-- Cole hadn’t hired him or even met him yet, so he was curious as to what he was like. Cole stepped into the store and immediately spotted the employee over by the records. He smiled, walked over, and stuck out his hand. “Hey, man. I’m Cole, one of the managers here. You’re Drew?” 

“How are you settling in?” he asked, as he pulled out his inventory sheet and skimmed the list. “I heard you were new in town, and all.”