Eddiemcnson​:

Since Adam had returned, Cole had lost half of his wardrobe. It wasn’t Adam’s idea or even his preference-- he always said Cole looked better in his clothes--  but Cole felt bad for all the shirts and flannels he’d stolen from Adam’s room over the years. It was a comfort thing, and Cole figured that now with his boyfriend back, he could let go of some of the shirts. He definitely kept his favorites. 

His mission today to replenish his wardrobe led him to Blue Quarry Mall. He had mixed memories of the place, and always felt a bit on edge when he was there. But lately, he’d felt on edge everywhere. After the chaos at the cemetery and then the lake, Cole had a hard time trusting that anything was what it seemed. Still, he walked into the first store he saw and began sifting through the t-shirts, picked out a few, absentmindedly chewed on his lip. 

Hearing the familiar voice calling his name, Cole turned around. “No way,” he said, a grin overtaking his face as he welcomed Chrissy’s hug. He was never much of a hugger, but with her, it had never mattered. “Chrissy fucking Cunningham!” he exclaimed, shaking his head. “My God, what are you doing here? I thought you were out of town, or whatever?” Cole laughed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m okay, I mean, same old,” he lied. The last thing he wanted was to scare Chrissy away when she’d just gotten here. 

“Wow, I seriously can’t believe you’re here. Have you seen Adam yet? He’ll totally freak out!” Cole was ecstatic at the thought of reuniting their group, then it would surely be just like old times and they could forget all the bullshit that had happened in between.

𝐖𝐇𝐎: Chrissy Cunningham & @loverboymontgomery​​​

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Chrissy loves Cole. that’s all <333

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Blue Quarry Mall!

Reintroducing herself into society felt particularly odd to Chrissy. Was two years really that long to not know anything in town? As far as Chrissy was concerned, it all looked the same. Maybe a few less people, but nothing unusual to note other than herself. When Chrissy woke up, she realized that maybe her high school threads weren’t really cutting it anymore. They were out of fashion for 1988 and what was still in fashion either had Hawkins Cheer or Hawkins Basketball on the front of it and when she heard of a new mall? She was skirting out of the house in an instant.

The Blue Quarry Mall was nothing compared to the Starcourt Mall she once remembered, but the outlet mall at least had a couple of clothing stores. Sifting through the bargain bin, she spotted a few tops she deemed cute enough to consider buying and when she looked up, she spotted none other than Cole Montgomery walking in. “Cole?” She let out a laugh, partially in shock of just seeing an old friend standing a mere five feet away from her. “Cole Montgomery?” She repeated, almost sprinting over towards him. Chrissy wrapped her arms around her, regardless of any protests Cole had. She was a hugger, after all!

Chrissy pulled away, a million questions roaming in her head. Was he in college? What was he doing nowadays, if not? Did he have a boyfriend? How was Maggie? It didn’t go completely unnoticed that if Adam was at the commune and Cole was in Hawkins that there had been some sort of falling out between the two. All Chrissy could muster up though was, “how are you?”

zccming​:.

“not physically under it.” max corrected, not thinking of how she was likely contributing to cole’s ever growing confusion. “it’s like, physics or something. it was another dimension, that looked just like hawkins, under hawkins…but it was …bad?” she sighed. even now, max’s grasp of logistics on the upside down were slim, there’s only so much of the unexplainable one can understand. but even then, what she knew was far more than cole did. 

max mayfield wasn’t one to be known for her incredible tact. if she was going to lay out the facts for cole, she was going to lay them out cut and dry, and she’d handle any questions that might come up as they did. “lucas knows, steve knows.” she repeated, then added, “and nancy, and jonathan, and hopper, and robin, and mike, and dustin, and–” max stopped herself, figuring he got the point. “and a lot of us.” she finished. the further they moved from talks of adam, the less gentle max felt she had to be, “a monster took him.” god, she really did sound crazy. “i wasn’t there but, his mom and hopper pulled him out i guess.” 

max waited, intensely staring at cole while he mulled over whether or not he wanted to hear the next part. static filled her ears rather than the sound of her radio, like her body knew before her brain that this next bit of information would be the most difficult to divulge. i’m just in shock, i think. “it’ll pass.” max promised, a familiar and distant look glossing over her gaze. she wouldn’t tell him the fear he might meet on the other side, the pain. if they were lucky, maybe cole’s journey with the hawkins curse would start and end with this shock. 

“remember when my arm was broken?” max sucked in a breath. i almost died felt a little too harsh, “there was this…i guess…” she let her head drop, afraid that if she even mentally revisit that period of time, vecna would somehow pop up in her mind. seldom did she talk about what had happened in the wake of it all. feeling paranoid, max wordlessly stood up and switched out the cassette in her radio to the hounds of love album, just in case. “another monster killed chrissy, fred, and patrick.” she said flatly, plopping back down and working overtime at picking the skin around her nails to soothe herself, “he would basically attack with like, your worst nightmare, he wanted to destroy hawkins, needed to kill four people to do it.” max broke her eye contact with cole, staring past him and at the wall, “i was supposed to be the fourth, but like i said, we killed him. avenged everyone. the end.” 

xx.

Cole could feel his mind stretching, trying to hold all of this information. An alternate universe was one thing, but an alternate universe that was an evil Hawkins? That so many people he knew had been to? That was entirely another thing. 

He thought back to when Will went missing, and tried to imagine Joyce and Hopper pulling him out of another realm. How had they even discovered it? And, once again, why Hawkins? Cole would think that if some supernatural force was going to replicate a place it would be somewhere like Chicago at least.

“Okay, sure,” Cole said, a pathetic attempt at affirming all that Max had said. At least he could take comfort in knowing that she was in his shoes too, so she knew what it felt like to be thrown into all of this. He winced when she mentioned her broken arm; He couldn’t imagine being hunted by some supernatural being... much less surviving and having to live with that knowledge. Even thinking about it made Cole want to get high.

“God, Max...” he wanted to apologize, but he figured she’d scoff at him. “How the fuck do you just, like, move on from that?” he asked, taking a puff and passing the joint to her. It sounded like she needed it more than him.

Despite the fear and the whirlwind of new information, Cole was fixating on one fact: Adam had been possessed. That’s why they’d gotten in that fight. That’s what had killed him. It wasn’t good news, per se, but it definitely helped explain the last week of Adam’s life. It comforted Cole in a weird way, almost like it gave him permission to grieve Adam as a lover and not an ex-boyfriend. 

An uneasy feeling crept down Cole’s spine. He tried to keep his tone neutral, not wanting her to think she’d freaked him out, but he couldn’t help asking: “Do you think everything is ... gone?” He was afraid he knew the answer.

THE END

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

where: blue quarry mall 

who: cole + max

@zccming​

Although Cole had thrown himself headfirst into this protest/party/whatever-the-fuck-it-was, he was unsure. Incredibly unsure. He hadn’t been back to Starcourt since before the fire; it was hard enough to see reminders of Adam at the high school and the Music Center and his parents house and every goddamn place he looked. So now, being in the mall, everything felt... surreal. He knew it was illogical, but Cole couldn’t help the guilt creeping into his chest, the feeling that maybe, if he had been here, he could have saved Adam. 

Cole leaned over, his lips pressed into a grim line, and filled up his cup for the... fourth or fifth time. Lifting the plastic to his lips, Cole glanced up to see none other than Max Mayfield coming his way. He quickly pasted on a smile and handed her a fresh cup. “How dare you think I forgot cups,” he scoffed, though his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Help yourself.” 

Cole didn’t know why Joyce had called him and invited him over for dinner. Instantly, he was afraid he would be reproached for telling Jonathan and Will his news... though, Joyce had told him he could. Maybe she’d changed her mind, or maybe it had gotten back to her that he’d been in varying states of intoxication when he delivered the news. Still, he felt he owed it to her-- for her kindness-- to show up on time, in a clean shirt, with a small bouquet he’d picked up at Melvald’s. He’d had a drink or two earlier in the day, to soothe his nerves, but by the time he was walking up the all-too-familiar porch, its effects were wearing thin.

Pasting a smile on his face, Cole knocked twice. She opened the door in record speed, and held out her arms for him. Cole obliged, giving her a loose hug, and then held out the arrangement of baby’s breath and peonies he’d picked up, like a peace offering. “Hi, thanks for having me--” he hesitated, unsure what to call her. Mrs. Byers felt too formal, Joyce felt too casual. “I’m doing a lot better,” Cole said, shaking his now cast-free arm. “Jonathan’s out. How is he?” Cole had seen him-- spoken to him, at The Hideaway the other day-- but they hadn’t exactly broached the topic of Jonathan’s physical health. 

who:  joyce  &&  @loverboymontgomery​ what: momma  joyce  checking  up  on  those  she  loves  -  her  next  victim  being  cole. where: the  byers  house

  things  might  have  been  a  little  rough  for  joyce  lately      —    between  bob  returning,  all  of  the  stuff  that  happened  on  the  4th  of  july  and  the  chaos  that  was  work  and  the  simple  stress  that  came  along  with  having  a  job,  the  one  little  constant  in  her  life  was  her  kids.  biological  and  not.  of  course  she  had  made  it  a  point  to  invite  cole  over,  food  prepared  and  everything  -  he  was  just  as  much  her  kid  as  the  rest  of  jonathan,  will  and  eleven’s  friends  were.  and  his  existence  itself  hit  too  close  to  home  for  her  for  obvious  reasons.  she  meant  what  she  said  that  moment  she  found  out  about  cole  and  his  relation  to  her  children  -  he  always  had  her.  they  were  family.

      door  opens  with  a  smile  on  her  face,  arms  extending  out  for  the  boy  with  a  warm  smile.  “how  you  doing,  honey?”

The only thing worse than the residual pounding in Cole’s head is the haunting thought of what he’d seen in the cemetery. Or what he thought he’d seen. He had desperately tried to convince himself it wasn’t real-- but to no avail. How could it not be, when it was so tangible? If it was a mind trick, he should be institutionalized. But something felt... off, like so many other things in Hawkins did. So, Cole smoked until he finally passed out, and woke up to his alarm two hours later.

All day at work, he’d kept his headphones around his neck, playing music loud enough to distract from thinking about what had happened. Maybe it was immature, but he didn’t know how to deal with it so he just avoided it. That is, until Cassie walked through his door. He knew from her expression what she wanted to talk about, and he dutifully paused the music. Dragging his fingers through his unruly curls, Cole shrugged. “Not feeling my best, to be honest. I didn’t sleep much,” he admitted. “What about you?” He vaguely remembered her being at the cemetery, but the more time passed, the less clear the memories became.

WHO: cassie & @colemontgomeryx​ WHERE: the music store

To say that Cassie didn’t sleep well the night after being at the cemetery was an understatement. She was up the entirety of the night, replaying the same scene in her head until she finally began to count sheep instead. She couldn’t quite shake the feeling of being lifted up in the air and the sound of her bones cracking, followed by the voice … the one that was telling her it would all be over soon. The most peculiar part was that she wasn’t herself, she was the cheerleader, whoever she was. Though she could’ve sworn that Lucas had mentioned her name when Cassie told the story, the details of the night before were so hazy that she couldn’t remember. Had they really drank that much?

Nancy had warned her about this, and she didn’t want to tell her first thing in the morning what had happened. Instead, she thought to see someone who had been there in the cemetery with her, someone who might have answers to the running list of questions that had been growing in her head since she left the graveyard. Cassie found herself at the music store, remembering from their first meeting that Cole worked there. She greeted him with a pained smile, approaching the counter. “Is it me, or was something weird in that beer last night, because I feel like I’m having the worst blackout of my life. But you … you hit your head, right? I just wanted to see how you were feeling.”

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.

goldenboyrichards​:

Adam wasn’t ready to process something like that. How could anyone ever be? Being faced with your own mortality - knowing that you’d died - it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t possible. Adam couldn’t believe it because it just couldn’t be real. Dying and coming back three years later wasn’t something that could just happen. 

He knew it had been summer, the last time he really remembered anything. Adam had been working at the pool with Billy Hargrove and Heather Holloway. He remembered talking to Billy after work one night, something he wouldn’t usually do, and then… then mostly nothing, until he woke up in the woods a few days ago. A brief flash of a fight with someone, maybe. Adam didn’t remember. 

It was the not remembering that scared him the most, besides the thought that he could have died. How did someone forget three years of their life? 

Before he could spiral too far, Cole was grounding him back to reality. Whatever had happened had happened years ago. Right now, in this moment, he was safe because he was here with Cole. And Cole wanted him to stop apologizing for leaving him. Adam leaned into his touch, choking back a sob when Cole forgave him. I know it wasn’t your fault. It didn’t fully relieve Adam of all of his guilt, but it did make him feel a bit better. “I wouldn’t have left you.” He agreed, slumping against Cole. “I don’t know what happened, but I didn’t mean for it to.” Adam pulled him close again, needing to know that this was real just as much as Cole. “I love you too. I always have.” 

They could talk about it when Adam was ready. But… what if he was never ready? He hoped to be at some point, but right now, he just wasn’t. He had never been the sharpest knife in the drawer - his teachers had never accused him of being smart. But this just wasn’t something Adam could rationalize. He couldn’t understand it. Maybe Cole knew people who could, and maybe they should talk to them. Just… maybe later. Adam squeezed Cole’s hand, nodding his head. “Let me tell Mom,” He replied, pulling Cole with him to the front door. 

“I’m heading over to Cole’s. I’ll be back,” Adam promised as he ducked his head back inside the house, ignoring the panicked look on his mother’s face at the mention of him going anywhere. She was so scared he’d run away to the woods again, Adam knew. He hated that he’d ever made her worry that much. 

xx.

Cole hated seeing Adam this upset. Before, it was rare for Adam to be upset about anything. He can’t recall a time when Adam was angry, and he can’t recall a time when Adam was this sad. The Mindflayer had broken part of him, and while Cole was confident that he could and would heal, he was still angry. He kept caressing Adam’s cheek, though his hands were shaking. Why Adam? Of course, it wasn’t just Adam, but... why not Cole? He would rather it be him coming back, dealing with all of this, than Adam-- Adam who was always the first to crack a joke or include an outsider or show kindness to the most unlikely people.

Cole had never been like that, he’d never been like him: naturally kind, easily trusting. From birth, it seemed Cole had a chip on his shoulder-- and that was okay with Adam. It was okay that they were different, it worked. And it still worked, it would always work. But Adam was never supposed to hurt like this. As Adam choked back a sob and slumped against Cole, Cole wrapped his arms around him and buried fingers in Adam’s hair. 

I love you too. I always have.

Tears stung Cole’s eyes and relief flooded his body hearing Adam say it. He figured it was part of the Mindflayer’s possession, but the last fight still echoed in Cole’s mind. Leave me the fuck alone, Adam had yelled, and Cole was relieved to be able to dismiss his fears that Adam hated him once and for all. “I’m so glad to hear you say that,” he admitted, his breath hot against Adam’s neck. He hadn’t planned on telling Adam about the fight-- there was too much else going on-- but he couldn’t help the pent-up tears from years of heartbreak. 

Pulling away just far enough to lock eyes with Adam, Cole angled his chin upward and cupped Adam’s face. “We’ll never have to be apart again. I promise,” he paused, taking in the view of Adam’s face. He was really here. “We’ll go to San Francisco, like we always planned,” Cole’s face broke out into a nostalgic smile.

It was a small thing, but Cole was glad Adam hadn’t let go of his hand to go to the door. Cole needed the physical reassurance that this was real, and he fully intended to hang on to Adam’s arm for the next year, at least. “Wait!” he called, grabbing the VHS from its discarded position on the floor. Cole ducked his head inside, still holding Adam’s hand behind him, and placed the tape on the entryway table. “Could you give this to Cindy? Tell her I’ll come by and watch it with her tomorrow, if she wants,” Cole flashed Mrs. Richards a smile, more genuine than any he’d produced in the past six months. “I’ll watch out for Adam,” he stated, hoping to ease her nerves.

Shutting the door behind them, Cole turned to Adam once again. “I don’t really have a car right now, so.. you up for a walk?” He looked at the porch swing with Adam’s hat and sunglasses. “Want your disguise?” he teased, bumping Adam’s hip with his own. For a second, things felt simple like they used to be. Cole breathed in the feeling, giving Adam’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

who: cole & @dvstybuns

where: the music center

Thursdays at The Music Center were predictably slow, and today was no different. Cole had already finished the new Stephen King novel, reorganized the vinyl and cassette tapes, and done inventory. Usually, he would pass the time by using the shop’s instruments, honing his piano skills or struggling on guitar-- but because of his broken finger, he’d not been able to.

Today, though, the boredom hit so hard that he abandoned his finger splint and carefully played a few scales on the electric keyboard. It didn’t hurt too bad, so he began playing through the song that had been stuck in his head for weeks now: Steely Dan’s “Third World Man.” 

He got carried away until he heard the door open. Cole glanced over his shoulder and a grin overtook his face. “Hey, kid,” he said, motioning for Dustin to come in. “What’s up?”

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.”