Mmuscles​:

backtowheeler​:

— ✎ —

Nancy let out a laugh. “If I’m going to be stuck here all summer instead of the Virgin Islands then I’d like to keep her as pleased as can be,” she explained. Nancy had always had a complicated history with her own mother. Karen Wheeler could be a sweet woman, she cared about her children, she tried to be there for them as much as she could, but there were stark differences in Nancy’s raising compared to Mike or Holly’s raising. Nancy was the first born meaning she set the precedent for the rest of her siblings. She was also the first girl which, with a father like Ted, meant that she had to adhere to simple rules (even as a 21 year old). It was a difficult life to lead, one that she didn’t quite like at all, but she’d play the part and just pray she didn’t end up like her parents.

I bummed a ride off Harrington. That statement sent shivers down Nancy’s spine. She should have known Steve would show up. He was close to the Wheeler’s whether Nancy liked it or not and even though she was currently in a state of avoiding him, they were friends… at some point. “The deal is that Steve and I are currently in Splitsville,” for whatever bullshit reason he gave Nancy instead of outright saying, ‘I’m having trouble with my sexuality’. “And I’ve been seeing this guy. His name’s Thad, business major at Emerson, his parents own a summer house in the Hamptons,” would you look at that! Nancy Wheeler was all about letting another guy dictate her life! “So, things are going much better than anticipated.”

xx.

Cole chuckled, nodding in agreement. While his mom and Karen Wheeler were similar-- washed-up former "it" girls-- Maggie Montgomery was decidedly less... invested in her son's life. They both liked it that way, and Cole couldn't imagine being Nancy, having her entire life on display, under the watchful eye of her mother. It was no wonder she would up dating Harrington-- decidedly her polar opposite. "Cheers to keeping Karen happy," Cole clinked his bottle to her plastic cup and took a swig.

"Thad." He repeated, looking at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Just going off his name he sounds..." searching for the right word, "like he might have a giant stick up his ass." Cole pre-emptively ducked out of the way in case she tried to swing. "But, who can blame you, using the poor guy for his summer home," he teased.

jackforeman​:

It pained Jack to see Cole seem so on edge when he’d sat down beside the bed. Not that he could blame him, though, for what he’d apparently done at the carnival that he couldn’t even remember. He knew that Adam had been acting the same way, or so Jo had told him, and if he had explained to Cole that he had no idea what had happened, then maybe he would believe Jack, too. “I’m so sorry, seriously, if I–had anything to do with you feeling like shit.” He gave a pained smile; even if he hadn’t directly hurt Cole, he was somehow a part of setting up the fireworks that had led to this disaster. That much was made clear to him.

Jack gave a shrug, since it was really the only response he had. “I don’t know, I mean, I’m not injured or anything, which is kind of weird.” He thought about hearing that he’d fought Steve, who wasn’t by any means a weak person; he must have defended himself to some capacity. “I don’t remember any of it, either, which is … did Adam say that, too? I haven’t seen him since then.” Not when all Jack could think was that Adam might have been the one who killed him. 

xx.

At Jack’s second apology, Cole started to feel guilty, too. For what exactly, he wasn’t sure. But he wasn’t mad at Jack. Clearly what happened wasn’t in his control as much as it wasn’t in Adam’s control. So Cole motioned at the chair next to his bed that Adam had been occupying earlier in an invitation for Jack to sit. “It’s not your fault, man. Nothing I didn’t get in middle school, either,” he attempted a joke, then cringed as it came out more pathetic-sounding than he anticipated. “Seriously. I’m fine.”

That was weird-- Cole remembered Jack shoving him and Steve around, and Steve had definitely fought back. “I guess Harrington lost his touch,” he murmured, still mulling over how Jack had escaped unscathed. He bit his bottom lip, glancing up to the door as if Adam would walk in at any second. Then, refocusing on Jack, he sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, he doesn’t remember anything, except--” Cole frowned, stopped short. “Except, we got in this big fight before he... left. He was acting like he did at the carnival. And he didn’t remember it until now.”  He shook his head; none of this made any sense. “You didn’t suddenly recover any memories, right?” he asked, another feeble attempt at a joke.

jackforeman​:

Jack knew he should’ve stayed quiet, but it was too late now. He had been answering enough of his family’s questions about his whereabouts the past few years, and he didn’t really need anyone else judging the shit out of him for skipping town to go live in the woods, but Col never seemed one to be judgmental, at a least from what Jack could remember. He dropped a stick of deodorant in his basket, then a razor and shaving cream before turning back to Cole, giving a sheepish smile.

“Yeah, I, uh—“ he started, letting out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. “Hard to explain. I guess we both decided it was a good idea to run off to the woods for a few years?” It certainly didn’t get any less embarrassing the more times he said it. “I don’t know, honestly, I think I was high the whole time, because it’s a bit of a blur, but yeah. All I know is that Adam was with me when I left the woods.” It was one of the only things keeping him sane, knowing that at a lets he must’ve joined because his friend had, too.

xx.

Cole’s expression froze at Jack’s comment, and he quickly turned to pluck something, anything, off the shelf to hide his concern. Of course, he knew that Adam thought he had been off in a commune, and he’d heard that there were others who’d returned, too. Jack’s story checked out, at least with what Adam had said. But he knew Adam had died-- there had been a funeral and everything. 

Composing himself, Cole turned around with shampoo in his hand. He gave Jack a thin-lipped smile. “Yeah... that’s essentially what Adam is saying, too.” He shrugged, “It does seem... weird.” Cole desperately didn’t want to ask questions-- he didn’t even want an explanation, really, for fear that Adam would be ripped away from him again. “But, I guess, I’m glad you guys are all back. And relatively okay,” he said, with a sympathetic smile. “How’s your family holding up?”

mmuscles​:

.

thad watched the grass crunch below his feet as he walked off with cole. the fact he even had to say anything about this at all was stressing him out and the one feeling he kept coming back was wishing he simply hadn’t done it. maybe the thoughts of cole couldn’t haunt his mind and maybe he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable with having to use some tact. as easy as it was to intimidate with fists and words, he didn’t want to do that with cole. with what little he knew about the guy, it didn’t seem like it would work. they spent a long time wandering around the field, thad unspeaking despite pulling cole aside.

finally, he shoved his fists into the pockets of his shorts and looked down at cole, “look, i like, really don’t want anyone finding out about….” he trailed off, nervously licking his lips. he was too embarrassed to even say what had happened, speaking about the incident made it more real, and that made thad more nervous. trying to keep up a tough exterior for cole, he continued, “i’ll fix your car if you keep that big mouth shut, deal?” he asked, sticking out his hand for cole to shake. would this be a business deal that thad’s father would be proud of? probably not. as he waited for cole to take it, thad added, “like, as collateral or whatever.” 

xx.

Wordlessly, Cole followed Thad around the field. Maybe Thad wanted to be further from people to say what he wanted to say. Cole had a foggy idea of what this conversation would be about; he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it too. Mostly, he’d thought up about a dozen questions, all that he couldn’t imagine Thad wanted to hear. Cole knew from personal experience that things as big as this couldn’t be forced; Thad had to be ready on his own.

He could tell Thad was nervous, ashamed even, and that made Cole sad. God, he was getting soft. Cole ventured to look into Thad’s eyes and decided, for once, to be earnest. “You don’t have to bribe me. I won’t say anything.”  Deciding to be the bigger person, Cole let the ‘big mouth’ comment slide. Besides, he knew how Thad really felt about his mouth. “For the record... it’s okay to feel that way,” he said, though his muscles were tense. He was ready to duck out of the way if Thad swung on him, just in case. 

stevehharringtcns​:

.

with his hands gripping the steering wheel, steve stared at cole and thought about how he had almost ran him over. what was with people skateboarding in this town, anyway? he asked to himself as he looked at the other approaching his car. the memory didn’t take long to appear on steve’s mind as he was reminded of what the two had done in the backseat, but he shook it off his mind as he looked at cole as he leaned on the frame of his car. “you really should be careful when you’re skating that thing, you never know who’s behind the wheel… you’re lucky i saw you in time.” he warned, as he shook his head slowly and then motioned his head so the other could make his way inside the car.

“i wasn’t exactly offering a ride, but it’s better if i just drive you there. like i said, maybe next person won’t stop and then you’ll be left bleeding on the road.” he said, rolling his eyes slightly as he waited for cole to make his way inside of his car. steve didn’t mind driving other people around, in fact, he was used to. he was almost always the designated driver when it came to these type of events and it didn’t help that he was one of the few people in the group of people he knew that could actually drive. god forbid he would let max drive his car again, or anyone for that matter. “just get in, we can show up together.” he said with a nod.

xx

Cole put his right hand up as if he were reciting a pledge. "Right hand to God, it won't happen again, Officer Harrington," he promised, with a mischievous gleam in his eye. He knew Steve spent a lot of time with Dustin and Will and all those younger guys, maybe it had transformed him into the dad friend, or something. Anyways, calling a skateboard that thing aged Steve to at least forty in Cole's mind.

Without hesitation, Cole opened the passenger door and slid in, stashing that thing in the backseat. "Well, I appreciate it, really. What can I do to make it up to you?" Just barely, he resisted the urge to add a wink to the tail end of his question. Steve was being nice by offering a ride, and there was no need to torture him about it. "Sounds like half the town will be there. Anyone you're excited to see?" Cole asked, nonchalantly, though he was certainly fishing for information.

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?” 

God gave me the greatest misfortune: meeting you, needing you, loving you.

(Matilda)

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.” 

who: Cole & @elevcnhops​​

where: by the fire

He knew he had almost drowned and then had a mysterious.. burn? And then Dustin had disappeared. But all Cole could think about was finding ingredients to make S’more’s. He wondered if this was how he coped, by just ignoring the unexplainable. And he wondered if that was really a bad thing, given the circumstances. Cole rummaged around the cabin’s kitchen and, at last, found the stash. Graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows, and even skewers. If he had to bet, he’d put money on these being the forethought of one Nancy Wheeler. With a satisfied hum, Cole shut the door behind him and made a beeline to the fire.

There were a few people scattered throughout the campsite talking and drinking, and Cole’s eyes immediately landed on Adam, who was currently occupied by Melissa. Damage control, maybe. As Cole looked at the fire, he noticed El sitting alone in the dark. Lifting a hand to her, Cole waved. “Hey El,” he raised up the package of graham crackers, “Want to make S’mores?” He sat down on the log near her and began unpacking everything. Handing her a skewer, he slipped a marshmallow on it. “Okay, good to toast it,” he pronounced. As he readied his own, Cole cast her a sidelong glance. “Everything okay?” She seemed... quieter than usual.

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.