The Only Thing Worse Than The Residual Pounding In Cole’s Head Is The Haunting Thought Of What He’d

𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙺𝙸𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙻 #𝟶𝟶𝟼: cole & max

MAX: yeah, your timing was shit i won't lie.

MAX: why would that be a dick move? he's still your boyfriend isn't he?

MAX: [simultaneously] don't think too much about it.

MAX: exactly.

MAX: i'll see you in an hour, loser?

COLE: not thinking about it

COLE: trying not to think about it

COLE: ... see you in an hour

COLE: am I supposed to say over?

END.

@zccming

one of the best/funniest dynamics on TV is antagonistic best friends who insult each other constantly but are immediately in cahoots whenever there’s a whiff of shenanigans. nothing better than two bozos bickering nonstop as they execute the stupidest plan you’ve ever heard

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as HARRY STYLES on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

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.

who: Cole & @drewcampbell​​

where: The Music Center

It had been a week and a half since Cole had gotten out of the hospital, and he’d run a few errands by himself despite his mother’s and Adam’s protests. Truly, Cole was sick of being stuck in the house, like he had been sick of the hospital room. He was restless. Though the owner of the Music Center had told him to take all the time he needed, Cole wanted to go back in to work, if only to get out of the house for a while. Plus, he hadn’t taught the new guy how to do inventory, and Cole hated when the owner attempted it. He’d once come back to find Joni Mitchell in the heavy metal section, and promptly banned anyone else from the job. 

The drive over was a spectacle, from Cole having to carefully lower himself into the driver’s seat and avoid moving too much or too quickly and inflame the pain in his broken ribs, to him driving with one hand and adjusting the radio with his arm in the sling. But, he pulled into his usual parking spot and let himself into the Music Center from the back door. Smiling at Drew, Cole waved with his good arm. “Hey, man. How’s it going? Holding everything down here?” he asked, eyes skimming over piles of undone inventory. Cole tucked a stack of records under his arm and busied himself immediately.

He turned, feeling Drew’s eyes on his back, and supposed he should explain his more-ghostly-than normal appearance, the still-healing cuts and bruises, the sling. “From the carnival. Wrong place, wrong time,” he grimaced. Then, lifting a brow, he asked the other: “Were you there? I don’t remember much. You didn’t get hurt, did you?” He didn’t know much about Drew, so he wasn’t necessarily worried about him, but Cole winced at the thought that they’d forced him to work because Cole had been hospitalized.

After several days too long stuck to the hospital bed, Cole was thrilled to be home, to have a change of scenery. He was still bedridden for the most part; the three broken ribs made it difficult to walk still, but his daily trek downstairs to the family room and then back upstairs to the bedroom felt better than sharing a 4x4 room with Steve Harrington. No offense to Steve, but he snored. Or maybe it was Eddie. Either way, being home alone and lounging on the living room couch was ideal. Adam had left an hour ago, promising to be back soon, and Cole was half sleeping half watching whatever stupid Western was on at 1p.m.

When Beth walked in, Cole smiled up at her. It was funny, the ways all the people closest to him entered his house: Adam and Chrissy with a polite knock, Beth breezing through the door, Max scaling the side of the house. “Thought you were my mom,” he remarked before studying the options she’d brought over. “I don’t know... should we try something new?” Cole grabbed the tape from Beth’s hand and held it up with a teasing smile. “Yeah. Hairspray. He’s hot, remind me of Adam,” he winked. It was fun to be able to tease Beth about him and Adam again, like he used to before. And it was nice to hang out without one or both of them breaking down into tears. “I think we need popcorn, though. There’s some in the pantry, if you don’t mind,” he asked, giving her his best pleading eyes. 

WHO: beth richards & @loverboymontgomery​ WHERE: the montgomery house

There was nothing more that Beth hated than feeling useless. It was exactly how she felt for most of the time when Cole was in the hospital: Adam was there to hold his hand, and she was left to provide not much more than moral support and the occasional errand. She hadn’t even been with Cole and Adam when the explosion went off; she was with Cindy and their parents, distracting them while her favorite couple in the world spent some much-needed what was supposed to be care-free time together. Now that Cole was home, though, Beth had ordered Adam to sleep, something that he hadn’t done in days, while she ran over to Family Video and then the Montgomery household to keep Cole company. 

After three years of just Beth and Cole, Cole and Beth, it was strange to not just spend time the two of them anymore. She wasn’t complaining: having Adam back was all they’d wished for and more since he died. What she missed now, though, were the late nights that she and Cole spent up watching the latest movie on tape, early mornings at the diner when they simply hadn’t slept at all. Now, at any opportunity to try and relive just that, she jumped at it. Beth let herself into the house, Maggie more of a surrogate mother to her now than Ms. Montgomery, and headed toward the family room, where Cole had been set up with the television on loop. “Alright, I’ve got lots of options. Dirty Dancing, which, I know we’ve seen a bunch since it came out, but I think it’s becoming a comfort of mine. Or, hear me out, Hairspray. Just came out on tape, Steve Harrington said I came by just as Karen Wheeler dropped it off.”

mmuscles​:

still utterly fixated on getting cole to agree, the words that came from his mouth flew right over thad’s head. with a determined huff, he pointed his finger seriously in cole’s direction as he insisted, “yeah! you won’t!” as soon as it fully clicked that they had a deal, thad deflated a healthy amount and nodded, “oh. okay. cool.” feeling confident in his negotiation skills, he dropped his hands to a comfortable resting position on his hips. 

there was some kind of energy cole exuded that was causing thad’s stomach to churn. what was he thinking about? why was he thinking so hard? thad never thought that hard about anything. right when it curious sparks were about to fly off the tip of his tongue, cole cracked a joke, and thad instantly frowned. this fucking guy. “i am, pretty boy. thank you very much.” he said proudly. he liked to think he was skilled in a lot of departments, money, girls, sports, but he put the most value into being good with cars. as if he were scheduling a meeting, thad held out his hand in proposed, “i’ll swing by monday afternoon?” 

xx.

Cole studied Thad’s eyes, attempting to nail down what the other was feeling. Wondering if he’d even thought about why what had happened had happened. But, Cole decided, this ‘deal’ seemed like the best option for them both. If it would make Thad feel good enough not to take out his anger on Cole and Adam, it was good enough for Cole. Though, it was hard for him not to care, not to sympathize with Thad. It wasn’t his place. Thad would figure it out when he was ready.

“Great. Monday it is,” Cole agreed. “I’ll try not to wreck it again before then,” he added in, to ease the tension he’d built up in his mind. Something about Thad being at his house to fix his car felt... risky. But Cole decided not to press the issue. With a polite nod, he left the other standing there and went to look for Adam in the crowd. 

END.

who: Cole & @byersphotography​​

where: Outside the Wheeler barbecue 

when: the end of the BBQ!

Cole had been hitting the beer pretty heavy throughout the night, not unintentionally, but that didn’t mean he wanted anyone else to notice. So, he slipped to the front lawn somewhere between beer pong games to catch some fresh air and have a smoke; maybe the nicotine would help him hide the fact that by now he was properly tipsy. 

He was standing on the front porch, propped up by the railing, when the door opened. Turning too quickly for how dizzy he was, Cole’s eyes landed on none other than Jonathan Byers. “Jonathan!” he said, with enthusiasm that could only be described as drunken. “Hey, brother,” Cole grinned, clapping the other on the shoulder and giving him a squeeze. “That shit you brought to Skull Rock? Fuckin’ great, dude,” he explained. 

Furrowing his brow, Cole studied Jonathan’s face, as if he was looking for something. Looking for any similarities between his own face and his half-brother’s. “You know, back in high school, I thought-- no way we’re brothers. We’re soooo different. But now-” a hiccup interrupted his thought, “I get it!”

goldenboyrichards​:

Adam braced himself, fully prepared for Cole to yell at him. He deserved it. Ever since they got serious, once Adam knew that Cole was it for him, they had planned on running away together. Hawkins was too small to contain a relationship like theirs - they deserved to go somewhere where no one knew them, where no one could judge them for being together. And Adam just left him. Regardless of how Adam came to be in that commune, whether it was his intention or not, he still left Cole behind. 

But the yelling never came. Instead, Cole threw himself into Adam’s arms and it felt like maybe some of those jagged pieces inside him fit again. For the first time since he’d left the woods with Jack, Adam felt like something in his life made sense. 

Adam clung to Cole, burying his own face in his curls. He’d changed shampoos at some point, but it didn’t matter. Underneath it, he still smelled like Cole. Tears were freely falling down his face now, but Adam couldn’t be bothered to wipe them away. He had no intention of letting go of Cole any time soon; not until Cole wanted him to. 

“Yeah, last time I checked,” Adam laughed wetly, crying still. “I’m so sorry.” He apologized again, holding Cole close to him. “I don’t… I don’t know what happened. They said I’ve been in some sort of commune or something?” Adam explained, shaking his head at the words. He didn’t really remember that - but what other explanation was there? “I didn’t mean to go, I don’t know why I did. None of it makes any sense. I promise I didn’t mean to leave you! I’m sorry.” 

xx.

Suddenly, unexplainably, Cole had a future again. Since Adam died, he had been aimless and drifting; obviously, he’d moved on in the literal sense-- he’d gone to college, gotten promoted, made new friends-- but he had no goals or ambition. All of his plans were tied to Adam; he would take whatever job, move to whatever state necessary just to be with him. Losing that felt like losing part of himself. More than he was confused, Cole was elated and relieved. He felt muscles unclench that must’ve been taut for the last three years. Finally, he was whole again. The closest he’d gotten for the last three years was talking about Adam with Max. 

He had so many questions: how was Adam alive? Did he remember the Mindflayer? Why did he think he’d been in a commune? But Adam’s embrace was intoxicating, the feeling of his face in Cole’s hair was bliss-- Cole didn’t want to ruin the moment with questions, because what if questioning it made Adam disappear? What if this wasn’t real?

Cole laughed, too; It was classic Adam to crack a joke at a time like this. Cole’s brows furrowed together at Adam’s apologies; he really seemed to believe the commune thing, and Cole hated seeing him so wrecked with guilt. “Adam, no... you didn’t run away. You were dead,” he said, his tone gentle. “And I don’t know how you’re back, but you are.”

Tears pricked up in Cole’s eyes again at the thought of Adam gone, but he pushed the thought aside for now. “And can we worry about the details later?” he asked, meeting Adam’s eyes and pushing hair out of his face like he always used to. Tenderly, Cole cupped Adam’s face and pressed their lips together. Somehow, every kiss with Adam felt like magic-- sloppy drunk kisses and rushed kisses in hidden corners alike felt like coming home, and now was no different. Cole leaned into the kiss, holding onto Adam like he was afraid he’d disappear if he let go. He paused, resting his forehead against Adam’s, and breathed: “I missed you so fucking much.”

who: cole & @joycefm​​

where: the byers residence

I know the timing isn’t great, but I just wanted to let you know... No. I just wanted to run this by you... Still no. I hope Will’s okay and also I’m his half brother. 

The entire ride to the Byers house, Cole tried to rehearse his opening line. So far, nothing inspiring had come to mind. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous; Joyce had always been kind and everyone in town knew how much he loved her boys. But, Cole wasn’t sure how she’d feel about her ex-husband having another one... who happened to be very close in age to her oldest.

To Cole’s credit, he hadn’t grown up around Lonnie; Maggie was convinced Lonnie didn’t even connect the dots and realize that Cole was his. Fitting. Cole never felt like he was missing out on much, and after his mom told him who his real dad was when he was sixteen, Cole knew for sure he was better off without Lonnie Byers as a father figure. He felt a pang of guilt, knowing that Jonathan, Will, and Joyce had to live with the asshole for so long.

Before he knew it, Cole was on the Byers’ front porch, his hand balled in a fist to knock on the door. Now or never. He knocked, stepped back, and pasted a smile on his face when Joyce opened the door. “Hi, Mrs. Byers! Sorry to just barge in... but I was hoping you had a minute?”