Cassieconrads​:

backtowheeler​:

— ✎ —

“It’s pathetic, isn’t it?” Nancy smiled, knowing how idiotic she sounded. Even when her and Steve first broke up, she swore to herself that she wouldn’t jump into another relationship. It didn’t do her any good the first time… or the second time. Third time’s a charm though, right? “But he’s better than you’d think,” she lied. Thad was just as typical as anyone would expect a guy named Thad would be. Nancy wasn’t particularly fond of him, but for her senior year? She could put up with him. Or maybe she’d get hit with the Wheeler curse and marry him, pop out a few kids, and stay unhappy until death.

Nancy let out a sigh, finishing off her beer. “I’m tired of talking about me,” she groaned, turning to Cole. “Top me off and tell me all things Cole?” She wiggled her cup in front of him, a grin on her face. 

xx.

Suddenly Cole felt bad for his relentless teasing of Nancy. Certainly, she was an adult and could make her own decisions about who to date, even if Cole suspected he was an asswipe. “Hey, if you’re happy, don’t listen to me,” he offered her an apologetic smile. “And if you’re not... well, send me a postcard from the Hamptons.” 

Cole’s grin matched hers, and he took her cup with a bow. “As you wish, m’lady.” He turned on his heel and dutifully retrieved two new beers. Pouring one into the cup, he chewed on his cheek. All things Cole. “Hmm. What’s there to say? Still studying lit, still sure I’ll be unemployed come graduation,” he shrugged, taking a swig of his beer. “Tell me, how does one figure out what to do with their life?”

joycefm​:

    hand  freezes  on  the  refrigerator  handle  at  cole’s  words.  again,  she’s  not  surprised  at  all.  lonnie  had  always  tested  joyce’s  trust  -  she  wasn’t  stupid  nor  was  she  blind.  she  saw  how  people  looked  at  him  in  high  school  and  she  chose  to  ignore  it..  simply  because  she  thought  she  was  head  over  heels  in  love.  and  well…  she  definitely  was  at  the  time.  there  was  a  lot  of  love  there  at  one  point  but  the  idea  of  happily  ever  after  with  lonnie  didn’t  last  long  when  she  started  catching  him  out  on  lies,  multiple  fights..  she  could  go  on  and  on.  “i  mean..”  she  started,  a  small  shrugging  following  as  she  moved  back  towards  cole  to  take  a  seat  next  to  the  other.  “i  thought  there’d  be  more  of  you,  honestly.”  there  probably  was.  joyce  knew  well  that  lonnie  was  up  to  no  good  —  it  was  more  surprising  to  her  that  lonnie  had  been  cheating  on  her  way  before  she  picked  up  on  it.

    “it’s  fine,  cole.  you’re  fine.”  it  wasn’t  like  you  could  chose  your  parents  -  lonnie  byers  certainly  shouldn’t  have  been  anyone’s  first  choice.  “he  sucks  even  more  for  not  being  in  your  life..  you’re  a  good  kid.”  it  just  reminded  her  of  will  -  it  wasn’t  like  lonnie  was  around  much  for  him  either.  not  to  mention  the  name  calling  and  the  fights  that  came  along  with  all  that.  “either  way..  i’m  not  surprised  at  all  and  i  promise  you  that  you  aren’t  missing  out  on  anything  with  him.”  hand  reaches  out  towards  his  shoulder,  giving  it  a  small  squeeze.  “but  that  also  means  you’re  family  now.”  joyce  smiles  wide,  looking  for  the  positive  in  the  whole  situation.  “have  you  told  jonathan  and  will?”

Cole kept his eyes trained on Joyce, watching her hand freeze and looking for any indication of what was going on in her head. He’d imagined this moment dozens of time in the last hour, many more in the last five years. He knew he couldn’t expect her to welcome him with open arms; even if she didn’t love Lonnie anymore, Cole’s existence was evidence that Lonnie had been running out on her for a long time. That was enough of a reason to resent someone, in Cole’s mind. When she finally spoke, Cole let out an involuntary sigh of relief. If it weren’t so fucked up, Cole would’ve laughed at her comment-- I thought there’d be more of you. What a fucking asshole. “I know it wasn’t me, but... for what it’s worth, I’m sorry he was such an ass. Sorry that you all had to deal with him.” 

And then, Joyce offered the thing Cole hadn’t dared ask for: acceptance, permission to exist without guilt. He felt pressure behind his eyes and tried to blink it away; he so desperately didn’t want to make this a thing. “Thank you,” he breathed, glistening eyes meeting yours. Cole laughed at himself, swiping at his face, “I don’t know why I’m crying.” But he knew; he had never, in a million years, expected that he’d be welcomed into a family that, for all intents and purposes, wasn’t his. Should have never been his. He never even thought that anyone other than his mother would consider him family or look out for him, and in one single moment he was offered an entire family unit. 

Joyce’s remark shook Cole out of his thoughts. He nodded, readily agreeing that he wasn’t missing out on dad of the year. Eyes dropping to his hands, Cole shook his head. Then, lifting his gaze to meet Joyce’s eyes, he explained: “No.. I wanted to make sure you knew first. And, I guess, ask for your permission?” That sounded weird. “Like... if you didn’t want me to tell them, I don’t have to,” he shrugged. Cole didn’t want to give more detail if he didn’t have to; he knew he had a certain reputation around town, not a bad one, but one that everyone wouldn’t appreciate... and he wasn’t sure how Joyce would feel if he got close to Will and Jonathan and started bringing his ‘best friend’ around. But that felt like a conversation for another day; there was no need to spill every one of his secrets today. 

joycefm​:

  lonnie  byers  had  been  everything  that  joyce  had  been  looking  for  as  a  teenager  -  the  pair  got  along  and  had  for  years,  he  was  the  bad  boy..  the  guy  that  all  the  girls  wanted.  and  he  had  picked  joyce  of  all  people.  they  had  something  special  in  the  beginning  and  then  things  started  to  crumble  pretty  quickly.  whilst  joyce  loved  her  little  family  and  loved  being  a  mother,  lonnie  didn’t  seem  to  enjoy  his  role  so  much.  “i’m  sorry  i  put  my  kids  through  dealing  with  him.”  that  was  truly  her  only  regret.  "i  should  have  kicked  him  out  sooner.  he  wasn’t  good  for  anybody.”  she  couldn’t  really  describe  how  happy  she  was  that  cole  didn’t  have  to  experience  that.  the  less?  the  better.

    hand  reaches  up  to  touch  his  shoulder,  giving  it  a  small  squeeze.  she  didn’t  know  why  he  was  crying  either  -  but  she  did  understand  it  to  an  extent.  he  was  clearly  worried  about  what  she  might  think.  “you’ve  always  got  us,  cole.”  and  she  meant  it  to.  he  might  not  have  been  related  to  her..  but  he  was  family.  he  would  always  be  family  now.  “i  mean  it.  come  here  whenever  you  need  it.“

      and  yet,  a  small  smile  crosses  over  her  lips  at  his  words,  amused  that  he  was  panicking  ever  so  slightly.  “you  don’t  need  to  ask  for  permission.”  head  shakes.  “they  deserve  to  hear  it  from  you.”  they  knew  that  their  father  was  an  asshole.  joyce  sounded  like  a  broken  record  ranting  about  lonnie  at  times.  “so  whenever  you’re  ready  -  whenever  you  want.  i’ll  leave  that  all  up  to  you.  they’re  good  kids,  i  don’t  think  it’ll  take  them  long  to  get  used  to  it.”  or  believe  it,  for  that  matter.

If Cole knew one thing about the Byers family, it was that Joyce’s boys adored her. And for good reason, obviously. Admittedly he didn’t know much about marriage and even less about raising kids with someone, but he did know that Lonnie being an asshole wasn’t Joyce’s fault as much as it wasn’t Maggie’s. “I don’t think they’d want you to be so hard on yourself,” Cole offered, gently.

With watery eyes, he smiled at her shoulder squeeze. It was weird, how familiar and comforting she felt to him. “Thank you,” he repeated. “And, for what it’s worth, um... same here.” He wasn’t sure exactly what he could offer to their familial unit-- maybe a discount at The Music Center-- but he wanted to contribute if he could. “I mean, they don’t really need another brother, but whatever I can do, you know.”

He smiled, nodding as Joyce spoke. He knew they would be cool about it, but he also worried about like... ruining whatever view of their dad Will and Jonathan had. But, he trusted Joyce. “Okay... yeah. Thank you.” He knew he should stop thanking her, but he really was so relieved to have it out in the open. “I’ll tell them,” he confirmed, growing confident as he got used to the idea. “I’m glad you’re okay with it,” he admitted, sheepishly. “I always wanted a big family.”

Eyes of Timothée Chalamet

stevehharringtcns​:

.

steve looked at cole as he moved to get another drink for them. with the conversation, steve hadn’t really paid attention to his bottle, so when the other handed him the second one, he just grabbed it and held onto it, now holding two bottles in both his hands, before tilting them both towards in a cheer way once the other spoke. “right… at least in lover’s lake. it just doesn’t seem like a good place to swim anymore.” he said with a small chuckle, nodding his head as he took a sip from the first bottle he had and letting out a sigh. it felt good to talk about everything, especially with someone like cole. he had never expected for this to happen and if someone were to tell him it would be with cole montgomery, he wouldn’t have believed it.

seeing cole laugh made steve raise an eyebrow, nodding his head as the other explained their connection with chrissy. “oh… i didn’t know about that.” he said, nodding his head slowly. “she’s really nice… i mean, even when i was in high school, she would usually sit with… you know, the jocks and all of that, but i had no idea she was doing that for you guys. that’s… sweet.” he said with a smile. hearing cole say that eddie liked him and that the way he looked at him was obvious, steve nodded his head. maybe it was all in his head - he was looking for reasons on why eddie wouldn’t be interested in him, self-sabotaging if one could call it that. he just hoped that one day the two could share how they really felt about one another. “you would think i would know what a look means, but liking a dude really makes it a whole new experience…” he said quietly, shaking his head as he chuckled.

steve appreciated that cole had taken the time to talk to him about it. he could have just dismissed him, but he didn’t. and steve was thankful. he smiled over at cole, nodding his head at the other’s statement. “well, i definitely got some practice with them… i’m sure eddie did too.” he said with a smile. he thought of the party and all of the things he had done together. sure, they gave him a hard time, but at the end of the day, steve knew that they were the closest thing he had to family. and that was saying something, considering he shared a house with his parents. maybe eddie felt the same way. “i guess you can say that… they’re kind of hard to ignore.” he said with a chuckle.

xx.

“Definitely not in Lover’s Lake. It’s eerie enough being this close to it,” Cole shuddered. He couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever it was was still out there, waiting for him. Shaking his head and taking another swig of beer, Cole decided that he would stop thinking about it for the night. Or, he would try to. But Steve was making it easier, by having a genuine conversation with him-- one that wasn’t all teasing and shallow, like they usually did. Earnestness looked good on Steve Harrington, unsurprisingly. 

Cole smiled with a fondness he rarely felt for others-- it was a category reserved for Adam, Chrissy, and Max. “Yeah, she’s great. She and Adam dated, you know, but obviously that didn’t work out... thank God all stayed friends,” he chuckled. Cole studied the multiple emotions that seemed to flash across Steve’s face and, God, he could relate. The agonizing months of after-school tutoring when Cole had to pretend he saw Adam as a friend or teammate only... he wouldn’t go back to that for anything. He nodded to communicate his understanding. “I get that, I really do. The first move is always the scariest,” he said, remembering his and Adam’s first kiss-- rushed, nervous, in the back of Adam’s car, but still complete magic. 

With a laugh, Cole shook his head. It was a surprise to everyone, he was sure, that Steve Harrington had become the designated babysitter for the party. But now that he knew Steve a little better, it made all the sense in the world. He was a comforting and steady presence, and he did have a nice car. "All that to say, I don’t think it’ll scare Eddie off. Just one man’s opinion,” he said, a hint of teasing in his tone. Then, with a more serious look, he asked: “So, what’s your next move, Harrington?”

zccming​:

.

“you take a hit like a dude.” max countered, feeling a momentary wave of relief as he returned the hug. his arm was warm, and heavy, and very much alive. he was alive. she pulled back, wincing herself when he pressed the ice pack against his torso. no way that felt good, but again, at least cole was there and breathing. max couldn’t be too upset with that outcome. she was sure it would hit her later, but she’d already shed a few silent tears in front of cole, she didn’t want to shed anymore. 

at his next comment, max’s brows rose as she looked at adam beside him, “what? you’re telling me you didn’t know he was here?” she rolled her eyes, relishing in the fact that this almost felt normal as she teased, “you’re fine. big baby. at least pretend you’re grateful i stole an ambulance for you.” she moved from the floor to a chair while cole reached for his water. she pulled her legs up into the chair with her and when cole asked if she was hurt, she flashed him her nasty looking hands. it hadn’t been related to the explosion, but it was an unavoidable truth. she had gotten hurt, a little. “i’m thinking about getting some boxing tape, i’ll look real tough.” max said dryly, then dropping her hands. cole’s next question left max mute. she shrugged, wanting to melt into the chair, “i didn’t see it all go down.” she admitted, “but, dustin said something about a bomb? and explosive fireworks? unbelievable.” sighing, she felt like she had to ask, “does that ring a bell to you?”

xx.

“It’s all those years of football,” Cole flexed the arm closes to her, pathetically. “I was a varsity athlete, you know... Technically,” he added before she could correct him. He took another sip of water, his throat burning at how much talking he was doing all of the sudden. But Cole didn’t care; he craved this sense of normalcy, even if it was just a distraction. He figured they were both owed that. Following her gaze to Adam asleep in the chair next to his bed, Cole’s expression softened. “Well, you were the one sobbing over me. Hard to notice anything else,” he joked. 

Cole choked out a laugh, “You stole an ambulance? Christ, Max. You’re compiling quite the record.” Concern flooded his face at the sight of her hands. “Max,” his tone was intentionally stern. “You need to get them looked at.” He motioned to the button by his bed, “We can call for a nurse. Then you can have your boxing tape.” The apprehension on Cole’s face only grew at Max’s mention of a bomb and fireworks. Admittedly, he didn’t remember much after the Tunnel of Love. He was preoccupied thinking Adam was going to die again; if he thought hard enough about it, he was sure he remembered Steve and Dustin arguing over something, mentioning ‘bomb’. 

“What the fuck,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Kind of...,” then he dropped his voice, not wanting Adam to hear his next words. “He was acting weird. Like before. He was fighting with me... physically. Telling me to leave him alone,” he confessed, hoping Max knew what it meant. Hoping more than anything that it was an easy fix, though the heaviness in his gut told him he knew better. 

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.

who: Cole & @goldenboyrichards​​

where: Cole’s hospital room :’) 

Everything hurt: his head, his abdomen, his shoulder, his throat. He blinked, but his eyes were heavy and hard to open. What the fuck had happened? His head felt foggy, and his memories were short and senseless. He saw a flash of the Tunnel of Love ride, some unidentified black goo, an explosion, and... Adam looking angry. At him. Adam shoving him away, telling Cole to ‘leave him the fuck alone.’ 

Cole tried to turn onto his side, to hide his teary eyes from the door, in case anyone walked in. Only, moving was no longer simple-- he must’ve broken a rib or two, because the pain that lit up Cole’s body was almost strong enough to knock him out. “Fuck,” he exclaimed, brows knit together and stars in his eyes. If he could keep his eyes open long enough to look around, he might have seen Steve in the bed across the room or the figure entering the room and nearing his bed.

Lifting his hands to his face, Cole shielded his eyes from the fluorescent lights. “Why are the lights so fucking bright,” he grumbled to no one in particular. He was about to complain about the bed being angled too high when he locked eyes with him. 

His stomach did a backflip and Cole’s mouth dropped open. He desperately searched Adam’s eyes, trying to decipher who he was right now-- his Adam or... whatever he’d been at the carnival? 

“Hey,” he managed, after a beat of silence. Cole desperately wanted to be held, to have some confirmation that Adam was himself again, to push the memories of anyone else to the edge of his mind. 

jofcreman​:

+++

a strained smile. “yeah, i need my sad music fix, now that the smiths have broken up.” said in a desperate attempt to make light hearted conversation. small talk. not one of jo’s forte’s, for sure. when it got to idle chitchat, she never really participated in the conversation, except for a few nods and affirming noises to show that she was listening. she chuckled at cole’s joke, though she hadn’t missed his initial grimace which, in turn, had made her grimace a bit, too, as she felt bad for … well, calling out his state like that. smalltalk. not her thing.

people skills? lacking. she gave him a shrug. “yeah, i’m alright, i guess.it was a, uh…interesting night.” in truth, the keg party at skull rock had faded into somewhat of a blur in her head. a blur of tossing around a football with jack and his friends - and nancy wheeler’s boyfriend ? -; a blur of californian weed and jonathan byers’  pretty face. 

eyes wide, she instinctively held up her hands, nearly dropping the record. “oh my god, no, yeah, i get it, totally. i didn’t think - i mean, you’re also great, cole, you’re like, tops, you’re major and …. everything. just - but i don’t - yeah, don’t feel that way either. “ eager nods, she cleared her throat. “definitely on the same page here.”

boy, was jo glad that there weren’t any other customers present to hear their stopmach churningly awkward exchange. she quickly looked back at the record, smacked her lips together and moved them around as if she was applying chapstick .finding anything to do but talk. 

anyways. glad that cole had broken their silence again she looked back up with a smile. “uh, yeah, sure. shoot.”

xx.

Hand to his heart, Cole groaned. “Don’t remind me before noon, Foreman, Jesus,” he teased. “Some of us are still in mourning.” He turned to the other side of the aisle, raking his fingers through the intentionally-small country section. One of Cole’s greatest battles in life was whether or not they needed to carry every genre of music, but the Big Man wouldn’t budge on this one. 

Cole glanced at her over his shoulder. “Interesting is a good way to put it.” He pulled The Clash’s ‘Combat Rock’ out of the Country/Western section with a raised brow and slid around Jo to return it to its rightful place. “Byers’ shit was pretty good,” he commented, remembering Jo had smoked it, too. “You had it before?”

At Jo’s response, Cole smiled-- actually smiled-- for the first time that day. It was amusing, the way they were both tumbling over their words because of some far-fetched lie printed in some dude’s basement. “That’s a relief,” he said, turning to face her with a mock-serious expression. “Because usually I have to beat girls off with a bat, or enlist Max. Embarrassing for them, really,” he joked.

Turning back to the records in front of him, Cole pretending to skim his clipboard while a heaviness wedged itself back into his chest. All of the sudden, he felt silly, asking Jo if she had heard anything about Adam instead of talking to Adam himself-- but they hadn’t really fought before and it seemed like Adam needed space. Only, Cole wasn’t so good at giving space. Not after the Mindflayer incident.

“It’s not a big deal,” he lied, attempting to put on a casual air. “Just... Adam’s a good friend of mine. And he seemed off that night. I was wondering if Jack said anything? Or if you heard anything?” He said, eyes not leaving the paper in front of him in an attempt to keep his voice steady and light. At the end, he looked up at Jo and offered a small smile, as if to say see? I’m totally normal about this.