Who: Cole & @drewcampbell​​

mmuscles​:

so, yes, thad was late, but he had to scour town for decent enough tools to get this repair on the road. he doubted that cole had anything that would suffice and he wasn’t gonna half ass this job, but truthfully, he didn’t think cole would notice. he pulled up to the montgomery residence, motley crue’s girls, girls girls, blaring as he put the car in park. the sound stopped when he took the key out of the ignition, grabbed the tools from his backseat, and made for the garage. of course cole commented on the fact he was late, which caused thad to place a hand on the side of his head, dragging it gently after him in a bro rough housing kind of way as he head for the garage. 

he called back as he moved to assess the damage, “are you drunk already, pretty boy?” thad wondered if cole really found him that insufferable, but quickly concluded that couldn’t be the case. he was…thad. and people loved him. he shook off the thought and began buffing feeling around the dents of the car, not entirely focused on conversation with cole, but still responding, “grab me one!” 

thad was pushing around on the crumped metal, seeing if any of the repairs could be done by hand when cole returned with the drink. gladly, he took the bottle, took a sip, but nearly spit it out as cole called adam his boyfriend. fortunately for his own pride, he swallowed the beer, then stood to meet cole at eye level, “yeah, i met him. no big deal.” he shrugged, and thad hadn’t thought it was, until now. adam wasn’t anything spectacular in thad’s eyes, but he could feel this conversation going downhill fast, so he diverted to another question, “is he really like, your boyfriend?” the idea of a guy so openly, so gently calling another guy that, well, it formed a lump in thad’s throat that he had no idea how to explain. it definitely wasn’t a bad thing, just different, in fact, thad felt kind of jealous that cole was so comfortable with the word. so, he set his beer down, and turned back to the car. 

xx.

A hint of an amused smile flashed over Cole’s face when he heard what Thad had been listening to on the way here. Motley Crue: Girls, Girls, Girls. A bit obvious, in Cole’s opinion, but for once he didn’t feel like picking a fight over something so small. That is, until Thad grabbed Cole by the side of the head. Wiggling out of his grip, Cole shot Thad a look. “Don’t mess up my hair,” he grumbled, fully knowing it was still wet and unstyled. It was the principle. 

“I’m not drunk,” he corrected, and watched as Thad inspected the car. Honestly, he was still surprised Thad even came. That was... decent of him. Since they’d met, and since Thad had kissed him, Cole’s sneaking suspicion that Thad wasn’t that bad had been on shaky ground. There were glimpses of decency, even kindness-- but Thad hid that behind whatever show he thought he was putting on. 

Cole hid his smirk behind the beer bottle, taking another swig. He didn’t tell Thad about Adam solely for his reaction, though he assumed it would be amusing. Resisting the urge to argue with him-- actually, Adam is a big deal-- Cole crossed his arms over his chest. Not helpful right now, probably. At Thad’s question, Cole was glad he’d held off. “Yeah, he is,” Cole said simply, words accompanied by the smile that always lifted Cole’s lips when he mentioned Adam. The stupid smile that he couldn’t banish even though things were so tense right now. “Since high school. He was... gone for a while, but obviously, he’s here now.” 

Pretending to inspect the passenger side door, Cole hazarded a glance at Thad’s face. As usual, his expression was unreadable-- guarded. “It goes without saying, but... not everyone knows.” 

@zccming

“I sorta spent the last few days hangin’ out with Elliot.”

stevehharringtcns​:

.

steve smiled once cole accepted his beer, nodding his head as he took the bottle to his mouth and took a sip, looking at cole as he talked about the lake. letting out a chuckle, steve shrugged his shoulders slightly. “yeah, i haven’t exactly had the best experience with lover’s lake… trust me.” he said, his eyes widening a bit at the memory of being pulled down all the way to watergate and the demo-bats. the simple thought sending shivers down his spine, but he thought it probably wouldn’t be for the best if he shared that with cole. he didn’t want to sound crazy at that hour. “is adam okay?” he asked, remembering that the other had been with cole when something had grabbed them in the water, raising an eyebrow at cole for a few moments and then nodding his head.

once cole gave him the green light to ask the question, steve nodded his head slowly. cole would definitely know what to say, after all, he had been his first… experience with another guy. and steve trusted the other. after all, he had never told anyone, so there wasn’t a reason not to trust him. “oh, uh… we’re not together.” he said, closing his eyes momentarily as he tilted his head down and sighed. “it’s not even really a question, it’s just… i think eddie likes me. and i… kind of like him too. but i don’t know, i don’t know what to do. i’ve never been with… a guy. you know, besides you.” he said almost in a whisper. he really didn’t want people to listen to his trouble in his love life. “do you have any advice for that? i mean, you were… are together with adam, right?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

xx.

Cole wasn’t surprised at Steve’s comment. Max had mentioned that Steve was one of the people who knew about the... spooky shit going on in Hawkins. Cole gave him a grim nod: “So I’ve heard.” Shrugging, he answered Steve’s question. “That’s the weird thing... he didn’t have any kind of mark. Just me. I think he’s shaken up, but we’ll be okay.” But he didn’t really want to talk about it. For some reason, Cole didn’t want answers anymore. He was afraid of what the answers would mean for him, for Adam, for Max, for... everyone. Wouldn’t it just be easier to stay out of its way and move on? Or was it wishful thinking? 

He welcomed the change of topic to something lighter. Well, maybe it wasn’t lighter for Steve, but it wasn’t sea monsters and ghosts. Cole nodded at Steve’s explanation. The hint of a smile played on Cole’s lips at the mention of their hookup in the back of Steve’s car. He wondered if Eddie had told Steve about the mall. It didn’t matter. “I’ll be honest, the way you two were looking at each other by the beach? It definitely seems like he likes you. But I think I’m more sensitive to that... since I know you both, you know.” He paused for a moment, chewing on his lip. “I think you have options, but you’ll have to decide that with him. Like... if you want to be together, then do it. There’s a way, and there are plenty of people who won’t think a thing about it.”

Cole nodded, confirming Steve’s question. “Adam and I dated in high school. Secretly, obviously, except for a few people we really trusted. And then... well, he died. Or disappeared. Whatever. So that was that, which is why I... sort of, was with a few other people. Yourself included. But now that he’s back, yeah, we’re together.” He looked over at Steve, giving him a tender smile. “It’s worth whatever risk I was afraid of to be with the person I love. I know you and Eddie might not be there yet, but... to me, it’s worth the risk.” 

zccming​:

cole stirred and max jumped up, gasped even. “i’m not fucking crying.” she said, defensive, but the wetness on her cheeks was undeniable. she didn’t care to argue the point though. cole was awake, he was fine as he could be, and that was enough. shuffling on her knees down closer to his head, max gingerly maneuvered her way into a hug, while somehow also avoiding adam. she didn’t apply any pressure, knowing the state he was in, but her arms fell limply and her head hovered above his chest as she explained, “you were so stupid i finally fucking snapped and beat this shit out of you.”

believe it or not, his jokes were appreciated. it was a sliver of normalcy amidst all the chaos, so, she figured, why not try to return the favor? “doc told me you weren’t gonna live.” max sighed. it wasn’t funny, there was nothing funny about any of this actually, but she wasn’t doing it to be funny, she was doing it to match cole’s energy, try to make him feel less alone with the burden of his injuries and the weight of some new trauma. “so thanks for saving me from a life sentence i guess.” she sighed, then finally lifted her body from it’s half hugging position, “how are you feeling?” max asked, then amended, “and don’t say like shit.”

xx.

Despite the pain and confusion, Cole smirked at Max’s defensive response. He looked at her tear-stained cheeks and rolled his eyes; this was always more comfortable than touchy-feely for them. As much as he could, Cole wrapped his free arm around Max to return the hug. “In that case... Fuck, Mayfield, you punch like a dude,” he pressed the ice pack to his sore ribs. 

Cole snorted at her continued antics. “Waking up and seeing you first thing? Not sure I’d call that living.” He reached over and swatted her arm, taking advantage of his status as unwell. At least now she couldn’t hit him back. Cole opened his mouth to respond and clamped it shut at her additional instruction.  “Rumor has it I’ll live,” he managed, before reaching for his water. His throat was dry, and he wasn’t sure the raspiness was sexy at this point. “You were there, too. Are you hurt?” he asked, inspecting her face as he took a long gulp. “What happened?” he asked, voice soft enough to indicate that he was done joking. 

zccming​:

“yeah, and you were only able to fracture it because i saved your ass first.” max huffed. now she understood how dustin felt all the time, no credit paid where credit was due. it wasn’t like she was expecting to be met with high praises or anything, but she had been anticipating a few more thank yous and a few less lectures. cole, at least, wasn’t going to lecture her. he was only going to be whiny, like always. “i’m surprised it isn’t already healed.” max snickered, then condescendingly sympathized, “must be real bad.” then as he made fun of her request for him quiet down, she smiled mockingly at him, “it’ll be quiet enough when you shut the fuck up.” 

despite the hostile words tossed around, max shuffled over to her dresser, grabbed her baggie, and got to rolling. following the mall, she was relieved to find that things seemed to remain normal between them. there wouldn’t be anything weird from her end, but it made her quietly pleased to see cole stand by his choice to share his truth with her. in time, she’d produced a joint for them. moving mostly in silence, max laid staring at her ceiling as they passed the j back and forth until she was lost in her thoughts, the sounds of the radio, and the bugs chittering outside of her thin walls.

cole had shared with her about adam, and all max could think about was how she couldn’t stop relating it to her feelings about eleven. of course, they had skimmed the surface over the billy of it all, but this was a new, equally difficult, perspective. it was horrible of her, but that didn’t mean anything weird, did it? maybe cole would know… thoroughly baked, max distantly asked, “do you ever think about how el has like, the perfect face?” did he even know what she looked like? “or how she’s like, the perfect girl. or perfect person even. it’s… crazy.” it wasn’t exactly explicitly emotional, but in her altered state, max was holding out hope that cole might just read her mind about what she was trying to convey. “i really missed her.” with even less tact than usual thanks to the weed, max somehow brutal and awkward, prodded at cole, “how does it feel when you think about adam? like …what does missing someone…like that…feel like…to you?” then she rasped, “it’s different from…my experiences.”

xx.

“It is real bad, thanks for your sympathy,” Cole retorted sarcastically, cradling his finger in his other hand. “I can’t play the piano with this shit. What else am I supposed to do at work?” he sighed, though his eyes twinkling with laughter. Cole blew Max a kiss with his good hand, playing along. “What, did you invite me over here to sit quietly in the corner? You got a dunce cap I can wear while I’m at it?” he teased, though he wouldn’t put it past her to actually sit him in the corner with a dunce cap, for the bit.

Cole gratefully took the joint and lifted it to his lips. “Cheers,” he breathed out, releasing a cloud of smoke. He still couldn’t believe he’d come out to Max. He hadn’t regretted it-- the opposite, he felt an ongoing sense of relief-- but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad on edge, waiting for any sign that Max treated him differently. He passed the joint to her and turned onto his side, studying her face. She acted like something was on her mind.

The mystery only lasted a few seconds more, until she started going on about El. Chuckling, Cole took the joint back from her, “I hadn’t really thought about her face. She’s nice enough, but not really my type.” The two grew quiet and Cole dared not vocalize his thoughts, his suspicion that Max maybe liked El as more than a friend. Maybe he was projecting, hoping that she could relate to him in that way. Then, to his surprise, her questions all but confirmed it. He took a drag of the joint, and then another, turning his response over in his head. “Not to be dramatic, but I think it felt like... I was missing part of myself. The part that only he knew, you know?” he looked down at his hands. “It still feels like that. Like I’m a fraud, like everything I do without him is just pretending.” Cole looked back up at Max, wondering, but not wanting to pressure her. “Maybe I need a shrink.”

As he began blinking awake, Cole’s memories from the fucking carnival from hell began to resurface. He saw Lucas crumped on the ground, Jack shoving him away, Adam yelling at him to leave him the fuck alone. But then he woke up and the first thing he saw was Adam, their arms intertwined, blonde head bobbing up and down as he snored. Cole squeezed his eyes shut. Was it a dream? Why did he remember a bomb? An explosion? It was all making his head hurt. 

Cole must’ve fallen back asleep, because the next time he opened his eyes, Max was there. She was holding his other hand and mumbling something. He shifted, trying to sit up, and instantly regretted it. Pain shot through his abdomen and he groaned. His movement caused a barely-cold icepack to shift off of his ribcage; had he broken a rib? 

With a weak smile, Cole turned his gaze to Max. “Tell me you’re not crying over me, asshole.” His throat was painfully brittle, and he attempted to swallow to make it easier to speak up. “The fuck did you do to me, Maxine?” he asked, a piss poor excuse for a joke, and squeezed his eyes shut again in an attempt to stop the pounding in his head. 

WHO: max mayfield & @loverboymontgomery​ WHAT: max checks on cole WHERE: hospital </3

max had been lingering in the hospital for around twelve hours now and had no intentions of leaving any time soon. herself, dustin, and max, worked in shifts, using steve’s room as base. she was in and out a lot, mostly to cry, but sometimes to check on the status of her other friends who had been admitted last night. it was nearing ten-thirty in the morning when max took a break. she went to cole’s room first, after a nurse told her he woke up between now and her last break. anything that stood between her and that door got shoved out of the way or fully knocked over until she was on her knees beside his bed. 

unfortunately, cole was out again when she entered his room. she clocked adam’s close proximity, who was also asleep. not wanting to disturb them too much, but at least see how cole was doing for herself, she took the hand of his that wasn’t occupied and grabbed it with both of hers, then set her forehead on top of it. she sat like that for a second, listening to the chorusing of the heart monitor. all good signs, all good, but still, she found herself wanting to cry again. max rubbed her lips together, then whispered, not intending for cole to hear her, “hey, fucking…stupid shithead…” she mumbled, “i leave for one night and you land yourself in the hospital? geez.” she laughed wryly, a tear slipping out. a life without cole flashed across her mind. it wasn’t one she was interested in seeing. this blows, she thought. sitting up, max wiped the couple of tears that snuck up on her, then rubbed her tired eyes, “i’m glad you’re okay…” she continued in her quiet tone, “and i’m so kicking your ass when you get out of here.” 

joycefm​:

    “cole!!”  a  smile  rests  on  her  face  as  she  greets  the  other,  hiding  anything  that  resembled  surprise.  she  definitely  hadn’t  been  expecting  the  other  but  there  had  always  been  something  about  cole  that  felt  so  familiar.  maybe  because  they  simply  fit  into  hawkins  so  well  -  or  because  he  simply  got  along  with  her  boys  so  well..  she  wasn’t  exactly  sure.  but  she  extended  her  kindness  to  everyone  across  town  unless  they  gave  her  reason  not  to.  

    brows  raise  at  his  words  but  yet  she  doesn’t  hesitate  to  open  her  door  further,  welcoming  him  in.  “i  have  all  the  time  in  the  world  -  i  bought  some  fresh  fruit  so  come  on  in.”  she’s  already  moving  to  grab  the  other  a  bowl,  placing  it  on  the  kitchen  table  and  moving  immediately  to  the  refrigerator  to  grab  some  grapes.  "talk  to  me  -  what’s  on  your  mind?”

If Joyce was surprised, she certainly didn’t show it, which put Cole at ease. He supposed she was relatively used to all the youth of Hawkins showing up unannounced, but for Cole this was a first. Following Joyce to the kitchen, Cole tapped his fingers nervously on his legs. He smiled at her as she handed him a bowl and plopped grapes into it. “Thank you, you didn’t have to,” he said, though he bit down on a grape.

What’s on your mind? 

A lot, actually, but in the moment Cole was focused on his timing. Was this the right time? Was there ever a right time to say what he was going to say? He decided to just be honest. Five years late, maybe, but nonetheless. “I don’t really have like... a tactful way to say this?” Cole explained, with an apologetic smile. “Lonnie Byers was my dad. Or, is. But we don’t talk or anything. I’ve never met him.” Realizing that his sentences were running into each other, Cole took a breath, popped another grape into his mouth. “Um. My mom... Maggie, you might know her from school... she told me a few years back and I just didn’t know if I wanted to say anything? I don’t want to complicate your life, or Will’s or Jonathan’s, but...” He didn’t know how exactly to express what he’d been feeling for his whole life: the desire for a family, to come home to a house teeming with life, to not be so... alone in the world. 

𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙺𝙸𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙻 #𝟶𝟶𝟼: cole & max

MAX: do you have windows? i'm pretty good with windows.

MAX: what are you talking about? you know im useless with science.

MAX: yeah i can tell.

MAX: well, you have like, fifteen minutes to tell me about it now, or you can wait until i get there.

COLE: it's not science, maxine. it's religion

COLE: or something...

COLE: i told adam...

COLE: we were going to that keg thing and Thad was going to be there and

COLE: i panicked and told him right before

COLE: i'm an asshole

goldenboyrichards​:

Adam wouldn’t have blamed him if Cole had told him to leave. Because Adam didn’t know what he had or hadn’t done - especially to Cole - but he knew it couldn’t be pretty. He was just so fucking worried that his nightmare really was a memory, that he’d said those things and shoved Cole up against a wall and nearly choked him. He wouldn’t be mad at Cole if he was scared of him, because until Adam got some answers, he was pretty scared of himself.

But his chest ached when Cole called him Sweetheart, voice rough but so Cole. That alone made him want to cry and hold him and tell him that he’d never ever ever want to do something to upset Cole again. And when Cole asked him to sit with him? Adam had no choice but to walk closer, sitting down gently on the edge of the bed, farther away from Cole than he would normally. As much as Adam wanted to seek comfort from his boyfriend, he didn’t want to jostle any of his injuries.

“Are you sure?” Adam asked urgently, blue eyes studying Cole closely. He knew he wasn’t physically okay - he had broken a rib. But how was he handling all of this emotionally? Cole had a tendency to be in denial of things, to want them to be perfect even when everything was falling apart around them. And Adam needed to know that he wasn’t doing that right now. “Baby, you have to tell me if you’re not okay. Please. I can’t,” He took a deep breath, pressing his lips into a thin line. “I can’t handle it if you’re not honest.”

He reflexively tried to reach for the water for Cole, to take care of him without even being asked. But Cole could do it himself. He didn’t need Adam to smother him right now, no matter how much Adam wanted to. He slowly lowered his hands back to his lap, clasping his knees tightly. “Not from the carnival,” Adam admitted sadly, biting his lip. “Just riding the Tunnel of Love, and then I woke up to you being put into an ambulance.” He finally let himself lean a little closer, needing physical contact to ground himself. His hand slipped into Cole’s, squeezing it gently.

Adam hated seeing Cole cry. If he could do something to make it better, to shield him from whatever pain he was facing, he would. Adam would shoulder any burden if it meant keeping Cole happy and healthy and safe. He would do anything in the world that Cole Montgomery asked him to do - something that had been true since they met in early high school. Gently, he leaned forward and wiped away Cole’s tears with his free hand, touch feather light against his skin.

And then Adam’s world collapsed.

“I…what?” He asked, confusion lacing his voice. That didn’t make any sense. He had been possessed? By…by a demon, or something like that? For one gut wrenching moment, Adam worried that maybe this was God’s way of punishing him for being who he was. For who he loved. But Cole called it the Mindflayer, and that didn’t sound like any demon he’d ever heard about in church on Sunday. “So I really died?” Adam begged Cole to lie, to tell him that he was kidding. But something in his eyes said that this was true. He didn’t even try to stop the tears that were flowing down his cheeks now, letting them hit the starched sheets of Cole’s hospital bed.

“What if I am?” He asked, lip trembling at the thought. Adam didn’t want to die. He was still so young - there was so much of the world he wanted to see. He wanted to live with and love Cole for as many years as possible, not die before he’d even turned 25. Right now, he needed to comfort Cole though, and he leaned forward to sob on his shoulder, free hand wrapping around his neck as gently as possible. In the nightmare he’d wanted to do that out of anger, but now the only thing Adam felt for Cole was love. Love and guilt for putting him through this.

“I do remember… something from before. Or maybe it isn’t a memory, maybe it was a - a nightmare, or something,” He rambled, tears continuing to fall as his thumb rubbed over the back of Cole’s neck from the uncomfortable position he was committing to. “I…or, it wasn’t me but it was me. It was my body. I was so mean to you, and I shoved you against a wall and told you to leave me alone. I thought I was going to kill you, Cole. But I…I stopped it. I don’t know what I did, but I stopped it.” Adam told him, sobbing into the space between Cole’s neck and shoulder. Maybe this wasn’t fair - maybe he shouldn’t be acting like this when it was Cole in the hospital, not him. But fuck, Adam needed comfort. Adam needed to know Cole was alive and that they could get through it together. That Cole didn’t hate him or blame him. “I love you.” He whispered when his tears felt like they might begin to subside. “I love you more than anything, Walden.”

xx.

Of course Cole wasn’t okay. How could he be? His broken rib was nothing compared to the way his heart was splintering and cracking with every tear Adam shed. Losing him had been the worst pain Cole had ever felt, but sitting next to him and watching him break was a close second. The confusion and fear in Adam’s eyes, while expected and completely understandable, made Cole want to take it all back-- say it was just a joke-- beg for forgiveness. 

But now, Cole couldn’t avoid it. He couldn’t avoid the truth, and Adam wasn’t going to let him avoid his feelings. Since Adam came back, Cole felt like he was walking around with a bomb strapped to his chest-- like it was only a matter of time before he’d be destroyed again. As if he hadn’t cried enough, Cole’s eyes welled up in response to Adam’s urgent tone, the way he was peering into his soul.

“No,” he choked out, wrapping Adam’s hand into both of his. “I thought I was going to lose you again.” Cole’s voice was barely above a whisper, and his hot tears fell onto their hands. Saying it out loud took Cole back to that place-- the moment at the carnival when Adam started acting different. The terror in his chest at the thought of attending another funeral for the love of his life. Cole didn’t realize he was having trouble breathing until he felt Adam’s hands on his shoulders, willing Cole’s chest to stop constricting. “I’ve never been more afraid of anything in my life. I can’t do this-- life-- without you... that’s the truth,” he lifted his gaze to Adam’s face and squeezed Adam’s hand tight, as if a tight enough grip would save him.

They shared a contemplative silence, and Adam finally moved closer to Cole. Relieved, he shifted his legs over to give Adam space to occupy, a way to feel his closeness. Cole’s chest felt heavy in an entirely different way than his head; he knew loving someone this completely was the greatest risk he could take. He always knew it would hurt somehow, but never anticipated this-- the way his entire life lost meaning when Adam died. The way he didn’t feel like himself, much less like a person, without Adam Richards to look at him with a knowing smile or wrap him up in a hug or laugh at jokes that went over his head. 

As Adam wiped away Cole’s tears, Cole leaned his head against the other’s hand, held him there for a second. He knew with more certainty than he knew anything else that if, when he met Adam Richards for the first time, he could see the future-- all the love and all the pain-- he would choose him again. 

When Adam started crying, processing the information Cole had dumped on him, Cole instinctively pulled him closer and rubbed circles in his back. He hated that there was nothing he could say to make this better; he hated feeling powerless to help. At Adam’s question, Cole met his eyes and nodded once, confirming Adam’s fears. Cole carded his fingers through Adam’s hair as the other cried into his shoulder. “You won’t. I won’t let anything bad happen,” Cole whispered into his boyfriend’s hair. 

Cole’s stomach dropped; the one thing he wanted to keep from Adam, the moment he wanted to take to the grave, had somehow resurfaced in his memory. For a beat, he considered denying it, but he’d never been able to lie to Adam. Adam always knew. Cole’s hold on Adam tensed and he pressed his lips to Adam’s temple a few times. “I know, baby,” he murmured, “That was before. Right before you died... I know it wasn’t you.” Cole’s eyes welled up at what Adam was saying. “You stopped it from hurting me. You stopped it.”

Gently, Cole cupped Adam’s face and angled him up, so Cole could see him. He couldn’t stop the smile pushing up his lips when Adam called him Walden. In Adam’s eyes, all of Cole’s fear melted into tenderness and he felt his body relax. It was going to be okay. They would get through it together. “I know you do. And I love you more than anything, Adam Richards. I’ll love you forever.” 

who: Cole & @mmuscles​​

where: the Montgomery residence

Cole had thought about calling off the repair about a hundred times, given everything that happened at the impromptu keg party in the woods. The last thing he wanted was to give Adam another reason to be upset. Not upset, but more confused. But, he didn’t have a phone number for Thad, and... his mom’s car was borderline undriveable, so he was stuck.

He’d been a bundle of nerves all morning: worried about what Adam thought of him, worried that maybe Adam wasn’t thinking of him at all, worried about what Thad would do or say. It was all unreasonable, he knew that, but if Cole had a talent for anything, it was catastrophizing. 

Just twenty minutes before Thad was scheduled to arrive, Cole had finally peeled himself out of bed to move from wallowing in the dark to wallowing in the shower; drama was another one of his talents. He trudged down the stairs and opened the garage door. Two beers in hand, he plopped down in a lawn chair with sunglasses hiding the remnants of his nasty hangover.

And waited, for thirty extra minutes, in the heat. By the time he heard Thad pull up, Cole had gone through both beers. “You’re late, guy,” Cole called, gruffly. Though, he supposed he couldn’t be too upset-- free labor and all. He stood up, pushing the lawn chair with a loud screech-- and gestured for Thad to step inside the garage. “’m gonna get some more beers, but, uh... make yourself at home, I guess.” 

Cole slipped inside and exchanged the two empty bottles for two fresh ones. Shutting the door behind him, Cole stretched his arm out to offer Thad the bottle. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he kicked some leaves to the side. “So, you met my boyfriend.”