Eddiemcnson​:

tessacallovvay​:.

Mr. Sarcastic, as always. Good to know somethings hadn’t changed since high school. And, just like high school, he was doing his own… thing here, at this dingy little music store. Yawn. Tapping her nails on the counter, Tessa smiled, “Just wanted to chat, that’s all. About that little kickback you were at.” She said, glancing discretely around. She’d already talked to Sinclair about what had happened, but there was something that didn’t sit right with her about his answers. It made sense, but… it didn’t feel right.

“What sort of gross prank were you pulling that night, hm?” Tessa asked. She’d asked Lucas and he’d freely admitted to it, though he’d sworn he’d worked alone. She wanted to test a little theory of hers.

xx.

A humorless smile pushed up the corners of Cole’s mouth at her question. Well, at least he wasn’t completely crazy. The recurring nightmare he’d been having about Adam, though... that made him feel like his mind was splintering. Had he hit his head hard enough to cause hallucination? Or insomnia? He supposed both were possible, though the doctor Lucas had taken him to had assured him that the symptoms of the concussion would be gone in about a week. 

Cole’s eyes snapped up to Tessa’s face and offense crossed over his features. A prank? She couldn’t be serious. “You’re fucking with me, right?” Cole scoffed. “Tessa, why the hell would I throw myself into an open grave and give myself a concussion for a prank?” He wasn’t going to go so far as to say something pushed him into the grave, although that’s what it felt like, but he certainly hadn’t fallen in on purpose. 

zccming​:

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

xx.

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

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

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

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

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

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

willthewize​:

    Will returned the friendly smile as Cole called him over, raising his hand in a little wave as a greeting. “Hey! I’m not doing anything right now if you wanna hang out,” he offered. It had been a while since they’d really had a proper conversation, but he wasn’t busy and Cole was definitely a welcome presence.

     The simple mention of the camping trip as a launching point for a catch-up chat, however, caused the grin on his face to falter. Not-so-pleasant memories from the day immediately resurfaced and he offered a shrug in response. “It was okay, I guess,” he said, glancing away. He was never very good at lying. In fact, the trip was pretty uncomfortable for more than one reason, but he wasn’t about to dump all of that on someone who wasn’t involved with any of it.

    “How about you? Did you have a good time?” He met Cole’s eyes again as he returned the question and relaxed his expression back into something more open, hopeful. He would love to hear that the other guy’s night had been a lot more fun, that it involved a lot less embarrassment, confusion, panic and general unease. Somebody should have had a good time at the lake at least, because he knew nobody he’d been stuck in the cabin with had.

xx.

When Cole first found out that he and the Byers boys shared a father, it had somehow made sense to him, intuitively. He and Jonathan had never been super close despite being the same age, and neither had he and Will for the opposite reason, but Cole always felt a soft spot for the younger Byers. Maybe because Will couldn’t seem to catch a break, maybe it was simply biological. Smiling at Will’s suggestion, Cole nodded. “Sounds great. Where to? Don’t you guys usually hang at the Palace?” Cole could’ve sworn that Max had mentioned the arcade as a meeting point for the party a few times.

Cole noticed the change in Will’s expression when he brought up the camping trip and immediately felt a pang of guilt. Clearly, that was an off-limits topic for now, and Cole had hit a sore spot. Though he didn’t get the impression that Will was similar to Max in that he would react poorly to prodding, Cole didn’t feel it was his place to pry. So he let the answer go without comment, and followed Will’s diversion.

“It was okay, I guess,” he repeated, with a teasing smile. Then, leaning back against the bench, Cole decided to be a bit more honest. “It was really weird, honestly.” The last thing he wanted to do was stress Will out about something going on in Hawkins, especially given what Max had told him about Will being sort of the first one to fall victim to the alternate universe Hawkins. Following Will’s example, he diverted. “But it was nice to see everyone all together. Especially with all of this... commune stuff. It felt like a reunion.” 

byersphotography​:

..

Jonathan pursed his lips as Cole knocked over the planter, resisting the urge to hush him.His heart raced. This was an overwhelming piece of news. Today had literally been an emotional roller coaster. He couldn’t think straight right now and the disorientation frustrated him.

“Okay.” He nodded, acknowledging Cole’s statement.His mom knew. Perfect. It was a good sign. Why hadn’t she said anything, though? This was a pretty sensitive family issue. Jonathan loved his mother - he’d lay down his life for her, but sometimes her choices really perplexed him. What were they going to do with this information? Sometimes it felt like he was the only one who feared instability.

“No – Cole.” He glanced over Cole’s shoulder, frowning to navigate his own thoughts.  “I’m not mad.” To be honest, Jonathan wasn’t sure what he felt. This whole situation was fucked up. “Can you just - be careful, okay?” He wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by careful. All he knew was that this patio conversation couldn’t continue with Cole like this, in this state. He swallowed, grappling with the reality that maybe he didn’t want people to know about this. Right now he couldn’t put his finger on why. “I don’t know … how my brother will react to this.” He used brother in the singular form. It wasn’t a malicious choice but Will was truly the only thing on his mind right now. And perhaps he just wanted to buy time for himself, to figure out how he should react to this news.

xx.

Now lost in thought about Joyce Byers, a pensive look overtook Cole’s features. He ran a hand through his hair, depositing soil on his forehead. “Your mom-- she’s really nice,” he said, nodding as if to affirm his own statement. “And so is my mom.”  Leaning against the porch railing, Cole rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “Why were they with such an asshole?” his tone was bordering on philosophical, and beer sloshing around in his gut defeated any attempts to read Jonathan’s expression-- or pick up on how much Jonathan really didn’t want to talk about this. 

Jonathan’s admission--I’m not mad-- was like balm to Cole’s soul, and a wide smile spread across his features. He reached out to pull Jonathan into a bear hug-- a brotherly love hug-- but once again his foot got caught on that damn snake plant. Dropping his arms, all thoughts of a warm embrace vanished at Jonathan’s chastisement. “I’m always careful....” Cole said, unconvincingly. At the mention of Jonathan’s brother-- singular-- Cole’s eyebrows knit together. “Oh, Will, right,” he slurred, then forced a smirk onto his lips. “Don’t worry. It can be our little secret,” Cole wiggled his eyebrows, though his stomach was churning and he felt like he might vomit.

“Get home safe--” bro, he was going to say. Cole’s tone was dismissive; If he were more clearheaded, maybe he would realize he was hurt. But, thankfully, the alcohol numbed it out and allowed Cole to twist on his heel and clamor down the stairs, deciding to wait for Adam further away from the house-- get some fresh air and finish his cigarette. Plus, if he was going to vomit, he’d rather it be away from any watchful eyes. 

END.

rcbinbvckleys​:

⚢

“i think some faces are just, way more noticeable than others.” it would have been much easier to pretend that she didn’t know him at all, but words had escaped her mouth way quicker than robin’s mind working to figure that one out. hopefully, she’d just managed to pull it back. if cole ever actually found out… she’d practically beg the ground to swallow her up. 

“truthfully if you said that you didn’t know him, only then would i be surprised.” it felt like steve knew everyone, and they all definitely knew him. he had been known as king steve, after all. “and he was so obnoxious back then, right?” it wasn’t surprising that cole and he were friends, even if robin felt like there were some other details she didn’t know. “it was truly some crazy fucked up shit. i’ve never been more scared in my life.” until the events of 1986, but that was a whole other ball game. “if it wasn’t for steve and that stupid hair of his, i honestly don’t think i’d be here right now.”

xx.

“If this is your roundabout way of calling me pretty, I’ll take it,” he teased, trying to ease the tension. Hawkins High was a small school, anyways, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they’d seen each other around. He needed to let it go, but was used to being on the defensive with his classmates.

Cole laughed, nodding knowingly. He didn’t believe there was anyone who’d gone to Hawkins High in the last... six years, give or take, who didn’t know Steve Harrington. “Was, past tense?” he joked, “As far as I can tell, he’s still obnoxious. Less of an asshole, though.” Cole’s teasing quickly subsided into a sad smile. “I can’t imagine being here. It’s fucked up enough that I knew people who died, you know? Like, I can barely deal with that.” Deal with it was generous, as he really hadn’t, but Robin didn’t need the details. 

Timothée Chalamet in ‘The King’ (2019)

willthewize​:

    “Yeah, the Palace. If you’re into video games?” That came out more like a question than he’d intended. He wasn’t sure whether Cole was actually interested in hitting up the arcade or if he was just picking a spot he knew Will liked because it was easier than the alternative of going back and forth trying to figure out where the hell else to go or what else there was to do in this small town. Either way, he was down to head over there for a hangout if Cole was willing.

     When his own words were used back at him, he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips even as he rolled his eyes. Then, as Cole said something that was a little more real, a little more open—It was really weird, honestly—Will straightened up in interest. “God, I know, right? It was…weird, yeah.” He didn’t exactly know what the other guy was referring to, but what they’d discovered at the cabin was enough to rattle him and the rest of the party.

     As for the mention of the commune stuff, Will shrugged. He didn’t really know much about that besides the news coming out about people returning from some weird forest community, but nobody he knew very well. Not enough for him to feel like it was a reunion, at least. Cole’s use of the word sparked his curiosity. “Oh, did you have family or a friend who was involved with that?”

Cole chuckled and shrugged “I’m not not into video games... but maybe I get my ass handed to me every time Max and I play.” He stood up, motioning for Will to follow him. At least the Palace gave them something to do, something to take Cole’s mind off of the piece of information lodged in his throat. He knew timing wasn’t his strong suit, but Cole had to wonder if there was some information that even timing couldn’t make palatable. 

At Will’s reaction, Cole’s dull worry that the camping trip had been weird for everyone was confirmed. He hadn’t asked around yet-- he’d been too occupied by the disappearing lesions on his ankle-- but he knew something had been off. “It feels like it’s always something,” Cole replied. He was happy to leave it at that, or happy to talk about it-- whatever Will decided.  

So even Will didn’t know anything about the tree commune. At least, according to his reaction. Cole shoved his hands in his pockets and ventured a sideways glance at the other. “Sort of-- my best friend, Adam Richards? He... left right after the mall fire. Closest thing I had to family, I guess, so I’m relieved he’s back.” He was rambling and digging himself into a rabbit hole-- not one, but two of his ‘big secrets’ were scarily close to the surface. Thankfully, they’d arrived at the Palace and could leave this topic outside, for another day.

sinclairss​:

his car was kind of aa junker, but since he’d helped get the thing up and running again, he was kind of proud of it, even if lucas had to loop around the vehicle to unlock cole’s door manually with the key because the passenger side’s internal lock stuck. “oh yeah. probably.” he lifted his shoulder experimentally and tried not to wince at the white-hot surge of pain through him. he put on a brave face because that’s what he did, climbed into the driver’s seat and started up the car. hiphop crackled over the speakers and he reached over to turn down the volume, waiting until cole was safely in the car before backing up and out of there. 

at a stoplight, lucas looked over at cole and shook his head, a silent i-have-no-idea. he cleared his throat and focused back on the road as the light changed, thumb tapping out a rhythm against the steering wheel as they rolled through downtown hawkins. “all i know,” he said as the song changed on the radio. “is that one second i was over by you guys and the next i’m at the bottom of a grave.” he shrugged with his one good shoulder. a hollow chuckle followed. 

the headlights across the road were playing tricks on him. he kept seeing bill hargrove behind the wheel which was…that didn’t make any sense. right? he didn’t know what made him ask. maybe it was because he wanted to feel less insane. or maybe he just wanted to feel less alone. “did you…see anything while we were out there?”  

xx.

Cole climbed into the car, his movements slow due to the pounding of his head. He tried to watch Lucas’ face for a hint of pain, but there was nothing. Cole knew he’d fallen on his shoulder-- hard-- but he was showing no signs of pain now. In the back of his mind, Cole wondered if Lucas should even be driving, but it’s not like he was in any better condition, and given his track record with cars, Lucas probably wouldn’t want to hand over the keys.

Leaning his head back, Cole’s eyes fixed on Lucas’ hand, tapping out a beat to whatever song was in his head. How was Lucas so nonchalant right now? “It happened so fast,” Cole confirmed, unable to even remember how Lucas fell into the grave. He remembered trying to help him out and then being below himself. “Steve was being super weird, right?” Cole asked, unable to remember details of what Steve had said. 

Turning towards the driver, Cole felt a twisted sense of relief at Lucas’ question. Finally, Lucas wasn’t acting casual or unaffected. Finally, Cole knew that maybe he wasn’t crazy. He wasn’t quite ready to make a definitive statement. “Actually... yeah. It felt like a nightmare, but like, really real. My best friend died in the mall fire and I just... kept seeing what would’ve been his last moments.” Cole tried to force the image of Adam out of his mind. “Did you? See something?” 

zccming​:

cole might not have known about the truth about upside down, the mall fire, or the flayed, but he did know the truth of loss. he understood better than most the weight of grief and how it could change a person. at least, cole understood it in some of the ways max understood it. regardless, as soon as she started feeling jittery about everything she searched for cole. naturally, he met with an argument, which only made her scoff as she moved to refill her cup, “i wouldn’t trust you to remember how to spell your own last name, let alone cups.” max assured him, then took a drink from her cup as a vow of don’t worry, i will. 

swallowing the last of her sip, she took a couple of step backwards, “come on, i have something better.” max turned around and proceeded to lead cole halfway down a stopped escalator. they sat overlooking a fountain on the lower level, it’d be almost pretty if this entire place didn’t feel so eerie. she fished around in her pockets, shoes, then bra to a produce a baggie, paper, and zippo lighter. “gotta get this off me.” max insisted, like it wasn’t perfectly clear why she had pulled cole aside. it wasn’t often max and cole got vulnerable with one another, but it happened enough that they managed to stay friends throughout all the bickering. a trauma bond ( and then some ) or whatever.

max got to rolling, throwing her trash off the side of the escalator as if to say fuck this mall as she went. all finished up, max sighed, “are you as miserable as me right now?” she asked bluntly, extending the joint to cole, then the lighter. max placed her hands on her knees  and shook her head, “like, this is super messed up, right?” 

xx.

"In my defense, my last name is long," Cole teased, trying to lighten the mood-- but the smirk on his face felt wrong, like he was spitting on Adam's grave. How dare he be happy in the place he had died? Cole finished his cup and set it on the ledge nearby, taking a long drag from his cigarette in the process.

When Max told him to follow her, he did so without hesitation. She was one of the few people in this town he trusted fully, oddly enough. Their friendship, however unorthodox, was a natural one: after running into her at the skate park a few times, he started bringing snacks for them and they just clicked. He could tell they were similar: both of them carrying around a pain they didn't know how to handle, and both of them unwilling to burden another with it.

Upon seeing her stash, Cole put out his cigarette on the side of the escalator, following suit and launching it over the side. Fuck this mall, indeed. Cole laughed, though it was more a breath than anything. "Oh yeah. Let's go throw a rager to memorialize the place our friends and family died. Nothing weird about that," he remarked, taking the blunt and lighting it behind his hand. He took a drag and handed it to her.

"It's just... do you ever feel like it should've been you? Like, why did all those people die and not me?"

To be honest, Cole had forgotten it was a holiday. He usually didn't work Mondays anyways, so it was easy to forget the date and any federal holidays that happened to fall on Mondays. That is, until he woke up this morning with a primal craving for a Wild Cherry Pepsi. Two stores down and Melvald's was his only hope. As Cole rounded the corner on his skateboard, he couldn't keep his laugh in. There was Max, arm cocked like she was about to-- throw a rock through the window?

He couldn't blame her determination, but he knew she'd get found out. "Maxine!" he called out, making a tsk sound. "Are you positively determined to prove every negative stereotype about skaters right?" He propped his skateboard up against the curb and sauntered over to his unlikely friend. "Well, fuck, Max. Did you try to pick the lock?" he motioned for her to put the rock down. "At least, something that won't get you caught immediately. What's so important, anyway?"

WHO: max mayfield && open.

WHERE: outside of melvald’s general store.

this wasn’t max’s most…well-thought-out plan, but she had ransacked the trailer for anything she could bring to the wheeler’s barbecue. and she was pretty sure cereal or swanson’s tv dinners wouldn’t cut it.  as she skated her way downtown in hopes of a miracle, she brainstormed what she could bring that wouldn’t be too complicated. she came up with the likes of doritos or boxed pasta salad. of course, when max pulled up to melvald’s and tugged at the doors, they were locked.  melvald’s, like the hawk, and every other godforsaken business in this town just had to be closed. “shit…” she breathed out, scanning her surroundings. not a car in sight…not a person … but there was a rock. maybe if she just…she could get away with it…

max scooped it up from the ground and raised her arm to chuck it through the window, but she felt these eyes on her.  turning around, max initially jumped at the sight of another person.  hadn’t she checked for people? in a swift recovery, max rolled her eyes and frowned, “asshole. you can’t just sneak up on people like that.” as if to explain herself, she stepped forward and gripped the handles once more, “it’s locked.”  after chucking the rock out into the road, max placed her hands on her hips, then eyed the other, “i need in, like now.” then as a hint to help or get lost she asked, “got any better ideas?”