Backtowheeler​:

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?” 

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.

Cole had been in and out of sleep basically for the last seventy-two hours, as best he could figure. Every time he woke up, Adam was next to him, clasping his hand or resting his head on Cole’s leg. Cole vaguely remembered forcing Adam to go get something to eat the last time he was conscious-- he didn’t feel bad for keeping his boyfriend there with him, but he did feel bad if Adam wasn’t eating.

He hadn’t expected any visitors-- Max had just left, Beth had gone home for the day, and Chrissy hadn’t been allowed outside. When the door opened, Cole didn’t bother looking up; he figured it was someone coming to see Steve, but Cole lifted his gaze in response to the familiar voice. “What, couldn’t stay away from me?” he attempted a joke, though his voice was so weak that it sounded more pathetic than funny. 

He had an interesting relationship with Chance-- Cole thought there had always been an element of competition between the two, despite Adam’s reassurance that they were all friends. He’d never quite trusted Chrissy’s brother, much preferring to keep to the sidelines with the cheerleaders rather than fully insert himself into the uber-jock football world. He took a long sip of water, groaning slightly at the motion it required, before responding. “So do you. At least I have a reason.” 

Raising a brow at Chance’s expression, Cole nodded slowly. It had been a long time coming, this conversation between Chance and Cole. Since they were never particularly close, they hadn’t talked after Adam’s death, or after Chrissy left. But after both Adam and Chrissy coming back, and then whatever the hell that was on the fourth, Cole sort of anticipated this. “I can talk, yeah. What’s... up?” he asked, cautiously. Just because he’d anticipated this didn’t mean he was prepared for this. 

WHO: @loverboymontgomery​ & chance WHERE: the hospital </3 WHEN: post-carnival

after a day or two of processing on his own, chance knew he had to pick himself up by the boot straps and go tend to the people who needed him.  adam’s death disappearance paired with chrissy’s had made him a ghost but the carnage at the carnival had woken him up. chance was so far from himself, so far from who he used to be…but whatever had happened to that cult in the woods was clearly bleeding into hawkins and chance could either stand by idly or he could try to figure out how to keep himself and his people safe. 

did he have even the slightest idea of where to begin in order to make that happen? no. but he figured a visit to the hospital to pay his respects and at least try to get the story straight couldn’t be a bad first step. plus, he had something he needed to return. 

chance arrived at the hospital a few minutes after visiting hours started. he went up to the nurse working the check-in desk and he gave her a list of names of people he wanted to see. some people weren’t taking visitors, some already had company, so at the end of his conversation with her, he was told he could go see one cole montgomery. 

he wasn’t chance’s first choice, mostly because he wasn’t sure what he’d get, but oh well. it was time to suck it up and be brave. chance followed the signs that led him to cole’s room and once he was there, he gave two warning knocks before opening the door. “yo,” he greeted, standing cautiously by the frame as he let out a deep breath, “you look like shit.” cole had no doubt gotten the worst of it when it came to injuries. at least out of the people he’d seen so far. clearing his throat to ease some of the awkward tension he was feeling, chance slowly approached the chair next to cole’s bed and reluctantly sat down. “can you talk?” he asked, staring at adam’s friend with a twinge of concern, “or does it hurt?” 

zccming​:

don’t cry. max’s heart screamed in her chest, but she didn’t say anything, merely kept holding cole’s hands while he digested. while he processed. she was acutely aware of the fact she was forever altering his perception of reality, she didn’t take it lightly. she watched his expressions play out across his face like she was watching a movie, curious as to what was going to happen, trying to absorb all the information she could. “the mind flayer, yeah.” max echoed, confirming he’d said it correctly. she had fully prepared herself for cole to push back against what she was saying, the first time lucas tried to tell her, she resisted. but he’s surprised her. i don’t think you’re crazy.

“okay.” max breathed out, nodding as a sort of thanks. she wasn’t shocked by the questions, but she definitely hadn’t prepared herself on how to answer. “i don’t know.” she told cole. there hadn’t been time when they were actively fighting off the mind flayer to do a deep dive into how it flayed. “and i don’t know. i wish i knew why hawkins, or how, but i don’t.” max added, starting to feel her throat tighten. “but i guess it started with will, when he went missing, before i moved here.” she answered him in slow fragments, knowing each piece of information would be a blow of it’s own. “there’s…like…this world under hawkins, or there was. it’s called the upside down and it’s where will went.” she looked down at her knees, staring for a moment as she tried to wrangle all her thoughts. “lucas told me, the year i moved. i thought he was full of shit.” she answered, making it sound much more simple than it was, “then i saw stuff from the upside down for myself, i went there. did you know that steve’s pretty mean with a baseball bat?“ she recalled vaguely. 

 “i watched the mind flayer kill billy.” she blurted, tears prickling in her own eyes, “at starcourt.” then as if it might help she offered a twisted assurance, “i’m sure adam’s death wasn’t painful.” she didn’t know if that was true, but she liked to believe that it was. “like…flicking off a switch. it was over.” there was no more sarcasm or jokes to be found behind max’s words, only the uncomfortable truth, and fear of how cole was going to take it. she let it linger for a long moment, then eventually let go of cole’s hands and ran her own over her face, stiff at the memories. stressed. hesitantly, max offered, “there’s more that happened, after the mall, if you want to hear about chrissy and all them.“ she held her breath, "and if you don’t, i guess, know that we avenged adam and the others. that stuff is gone now.”

xx.

Cole had to actively try to keep listening. He wanted to know everything and he had no shortage of questions, but his brain felt like a feedback loop, connecting: Billy was different before to Mindflayer to Will going missing to ‘I watched the Mindflayer kill Billy’ and back again. He felt like she might as well be speaking to him in Latin-- she was saying so many familiar words, but he couldn’t understand them. For a former gifted student, it was an infuriating feeling. 

“A world under Hawkins,” he repeated, slowly, desperately trying to conjure up an image of an underground world. He felt like his head was going to explode. “Lucas knows? And Steve?” he asked, half-listening for an answer and half-stuck on deciphering what any of this meant. If it wasn’t Latin, it was hieroglyphics. “What.... is the Upside Down?” It was horrifying to think of a young Will stuck in an alternate dimension alone. “How did Will get out?” Then, a more horrifying thought. “How did Will get in?”

He nodded, trying to find comfort in Max’s words. He hoped it was true, that Adam’s death hadn’t been painful or agonizing--not that he would ever know. He sat in silence for a minute, staring at the wall just past Max. Did he want to know? He figured it was best to hear... whatever it was from Max, anyways. “I... yeah. I want to know. I’m just in shock, I think,” he explained, though he was sure she already knew that. 

𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙺𝙸𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙻 #𝟶𝟶𝟼: cole & max

MAX: ew

MAX: since when do you know religion freak?

MAX: oh.

MAX: well, you are an asshole, but not for this. was the situation a lapse in taste? definitely, but you didn't do anything wrong or whatever.

MAX: i'm guessing adam didn't take it well?

COLE: my grandparents dragged me to church like, once

COLE: yeah.

COLE: i mean, technically i didn't, but... it sucked.

COLE: i don't think he's like, mad. hurt, probably?

COLE: i don't know. we haven't talked and i'm trying not to freak out.

where: blue quarry mall who: cole + robin @rcbinbvckleys

From the moment he stepped into the mall, Cole knew this night was going to be wild. Not because everyone was in the mood to party-- no, not at all-- but because everyone was uncomfortable. It made sense, everyone in the room had been affected by the fire in some way, and of course no one really wanted to be here. And if there's one thing Cole retained from high school, it's that when people are uncomfortable, they drink. A lot. Which is why Cole was offended when Harringon questioned his forethought.

After about six cups of lukewarm beer, Cole decided to venture into the crowd. The closest person to him was Robin, who he had never officially met but knew from afar. He noticed her cup was dangerously low and took it from her hand, using his head to motion towards the keg. "Here, let me top you off," he offered, his words slightly slurred.

Then, through his alcohol-infused haze, he realized how weird it was for a guy she doesn't know to take her cup and he turned towards her, splashing beer onto his shirt. "I'm Cole. A friend of Harrington's. Sorry, not trying to be weird, or like... predatory." He handed her the cup back and laughed at his stupidity. "So, how's your night going?"

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. 

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.” 

Every now and then, on a day he didn't have to work, Cole found himself wandering aimlessly around the main attractions of Hawkins; like he was taking a tour of his hometown. Today, somehow, he ended up at the high school. He couldn't decide if it was self-sabotage or nice to remember, but everywhere he looked he could see him. Lost in thought, it took the girl's deep sigh to shake him out of the fog. "Damn. Should've known the school was that broke," he joked, trying to plant himself firmly in the here-and-now.

Cole walked closer, peering at the girl. They definitely went to high school together, but weren't really friends. "Ginny, right?"

WHO: ginny sprat & open.

WHERE: the hawkins high tennis courts. 

she sat on the picnic table, head bent as she re-wrapped her racket’s handle. sweat dripped down her forehead and stung her eyes, but she hardly stopped to wipe it away. glancing up at the person nearby, who’s repeated pushes of the button indicated a familiar frustration. 

“water fountain’s broken,” she sighed, “so don’t even bother.”