Zccming​:

willthewize​:

     Will looked up from his sketchbook as a familiar figure approached, a surprised smile forming on his face to see him out of the blue. Cole hadn’t called to let him know he was stopping by, but it wasn’t an unwelcome visit by any means. But then something about the nervous tone the other guy spoke with—or just the words themselves, there’s something I wanna talk to you about, which were never usually the opener to a pleasant conversation—clued him into the fact that this was maybe more serious than a friendly little hang-out, and his easy grin faltered.

     “Sure, wanna…?” He motioned to the bench, the space next to him, offering a seat before Cole continued on to say that he had talked to Jonathan, and…why would he feel the need to tell him that, anyway? What was this all abo…Lonnie’s my dad, too. Oh. Oh. That wasn’t the last thing Will had expected to hear: it wasn’t even on the list.  His gaze suddenly focused on the sling Cole wore, the loose threads he fiddled with and he replied, “How is your arm doing?” It was almost funny that he would rather talk about the aftermath of the carnival, with its explosions and casualties, than his—their—father.

     He had to answer the massive revelation that was just dropped. Paradigm-altering information. His dad was Cole’s dad, too. But what was he supposed to say—my condolences? This shouldn’t be quite as much of a rug-pull as all that had been happening this summer with the border and the doppelganger and the cabin and who knew what else. Was it really surprising that Lonnie Byers had had another son with someone out there (even one whose age made it clear that the man had had an affair?) Not really. But Will couldn’t help the feeling that in all of this, he was the butt of some cosmic joke right now.

     It was like he was always the last to know anything, like he was always the one who walked into a room right after something cool happened, always just missing the moment. Or in cases like this—like nobody thought he could handle the truth; he was just too fragile, too sensitive, or at least that was how everyone viewed him. Jonathan knew? Will didn’t even think he and Cole were friends. How long was ‘a while back,’ anyway: a couple weeks or even longer? When the hell would Will become an active participant in his own life, instead of stuff just…happening and him learning to deal with it. Not today, evidently.

     Rather than allowing himself to get upset, Will had to remember that this wasn’t just a big deal to him, in fact it wasn’t about him. It was Cole’s news to share when he felt ready—the fact that they were…they were brothers. They were half-brothers. They were related. They have been this whole time. Well, obviously. Cole has known it, the whole time…? Will forced himself to look up and meet his eyes. “That must have been really difficult for you,” he said. “Thanks for telling me.” That wasn’t what he wanted to say. He had so many questions and no way to verbalize them, because the moment he started, he just stuttered, “So, when did…I mean, have you always…Did you…What?”

xx.

Too nervous to sit down, Cole leaned against the porch rail instead, his nervous fingers moving between picking at the cast to tapping on the splintering wood  Cole’s expression betrayed his bewilderment at Will’s question. Had he heard what he’d said? Had he said it aloud at all? But, autopilot kicked in and he answered with a shrug, “It’s fine, I guess. Just a fracture. Should be off in a few more weeks.” 

He studied Will’s face, trying to read any emotion he could detect, and also trying to find any similarities, any features they shared. Growing up, Cole had always been told he was the spitting image of his mother-- he had her dark curls and her eyes and her cheekbones. Maybe he hoped he had her temperament too-- her easygoing spirit, her openness. But lately he’s wondered what all he’d inherited from the other side: the drinking? The standoffishness? The thought itself made him want to reach for the flask in his back pocket, but he could investigate that urge later. 

Will seemed upset, which was understandable. It was a lot to take in, and Cole’s lingering feeling of being exposed intensified. Maybe Will and Jonathan were upset at him-- maybe he was right in thinking that his very existence was a scandal. It certainly made sense, even his own grandparents had wanted to hide him away, to let his mother and aunt raise him in New York. For a brief moment, Cole entertained the question: what would his life look like now if he’d stayed in New York? Who would he be? Would it be better for everyone in Hawkins if he’d simply stayed gone?

When Will finally spoke, Cole’s shoulders relaxed in relief. Whatever it was, it was better than the silence. But he certainly hadn’t expected this. Cole opened his mouth to respond, then clamped it shut again. Will was... thanking him? He couldn’t make sense of that. Will was a sweet kid, he’d always known that, but this level of empathy felt like too much to ask for. “No, don’t... I mean... I’m sorry,” he managed. He was lost, wondering how Will was being so nice about it all. Maybe it wasn’t a huge deal to him, but... wouldn’t it be to Cole if the roles were reversed? He’d probably be furious, but maybe Will hadn’t inherited the rage gene from Lonnie. 

Then, when Will tried asking for more information, Cole clicked into gear. That he could do. The minefield of what each of them were thinking and feeling, not so much in his lane. “Right. I found out five years ago,” Cole admitted, with an apologetic smile. “There was sort of... a lot going on for you guys. I didn’t want to, like, make it worse.” Cole shrugged, not sure if Max had told Will that Cole knew, but not sure it even mattered at the moment. “Then, I... guess I thought it wasn’t a big deal for a while. But, with everything...” he gestured vaguely, hoping to communicate that he meant the bigger picture in town.

“I wanted you to hear it from me,” he settled on. Not that Cole’s life was in any immediate danger, other than the way that everyone’s was all the time. Still, it felt like an urgent enough need to come here today. 

sinclairss​:

.

lucas nodded. he was thinking about how he’d seen billy and how cole had seen someone who’d died, too. if the others had seen visions of dead people then…he didn’t know what it meant, but it was pretty fucked up. and it couldn’t be a coincidence. it just seemed like…it felt like it was starting again. he didn’t like the feeling. he’d wanted to get out of hawkins, but it had at least been tolerable over the last few years. a little boring, maybe, but tolerable.

they were almost at the doors when cole asked, so lucas paused, gripping his injured shoulder as a guy holding a towel to his face walked into the hospital past them. “it means something’s happening in hawkins.”

he kind of wanted to tell him. he wanted to warn him that maybe being in hawkins wasn’t the safest thing to do. but a voice that sounded a lot like steve’s warned him not to do that. he wasn’t sure what was up with steve tonight, but he trusted steve. and the code didn’t really count for non-party members. he walked through the electric doors and to the reception desk. “hi. we were out drinking and i hit my shoulder.” he lifted the affected shoulder. “and my friend hit his head, so we need to get checked out.” 

xx.

Something’s happening in Hawkins. It seemed like something was always happening in Hawkins, especially lately. Or maybe it had always been happening and Cole hadn’t realized it. Through bleary eyes, Cole tried to read Lucas’ expression-- but he seemed guarded. Maybe he was hiding something, or maybe Cole was paranoid. 

He tried-- unsuccessfully-- to put it out of his mind as they walked into the hospital. Nodding along with Lucas’ story, Cole touched his head for good measure. As the receptionist gave them the proper forms, Cole lead Lucas over to a few plastic hospital chairs in the corner of the waiting room. He tried not to let his eyes linger on the guy with the alarmingly green tint on the other end of the room.

Cole couldn’t focus on the forms, so he turned to Lucas instead. “If I asked what you mean, would you tell me?” he asked, keeping his voice low to not attract any unwanted attention.

After the mall protest, Cole had been laying low. Partially because he had deliberately lied to the cops, partially because his mom made it very clear that he was on thin fucking ice after wrecking the car. When Max offered up her house for the night, he accepted without question. It was more low-key than their usual late-night rendezvous at the skatepark, and he definitely craved the company. So Cole stopped off at the 24-hour grocer, grabbed a six pack and a few bags of chips, and skated to Max’s trailer.

He thought he was plenty quiet, but Max’s expression showed he was wrong. Clicking the door behind him, Cole slung the backpack off his shoulder and unzipped it, revealing the beer and chips. He rolled his eyes, “I’ll kindly remind you that this fractured finger was an attempt to save your ass, Maxine. Here, I got beer and chips, wasn’t sure what you’d have,” he plopped down on her bed, holding his finger up to the light with a pout. “It’s not so bad, thanks for asking.” He was being purposely dramatic. In an exaggerated whisper, he responded: “Breakfast sounds nice. Is this quiet enough?” 

He chuckled and started towards the window. “Fancy a joint? It’ll be just like old times,” he suggested, remembering the mall. He turned away from her, a smile tugging at his mouth as he remembered what he’d said in the mall, and how she’d reacted with kindness. She wasn’t half bad. 

WHO: max mayfield & @colemontgomeryx

WHERE: mayfield residence 

sleepovers were sacred rituals in the eyes of max mayfield. although usually reserved for the likes of el or on accident in the wheeler’s basement, after what cole shared with her at the blue quarry mall, he could be looped into one of her favorite past times. while it may have been more difficult to swing because she was grounded, she still made a way. her instructions to cole had been clear. wait until midnight, she’d leave the door unlocked, he could come in, lock it and make a clean break for her room. susan mayfield would have long been passed out on the couch or tucked into her room

the clocks eventually ticked 12 : 00 and max waited to hear her trailer go bump in the night. by the time cole was securely inside her room her eyes were narrowed pointedly at him, “you and that stupid fractured finger couldn’t make it inside anymore quietly?” she asked, but still stood to drag him onto her bed, “come on, sit.” she urged, then crossed to her stereo and flicked it on. the chances of her mom coming to check on her were slim, but in case she did, she wanted something to drown out the noise of her and cole’s chatter. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car blasted throughout her room as she jumped onto the bed and joined cole. “anyhow, if you can manage to quiet down, i figured we could sneak out early and go get breakfast or something. i know the diner is closed but, we could find somewhere. if you want.” she snatched a magazine from her bedside table and began flipping through it as she explained to cole, “cigarettes are in my bedside table, weed is in the top dresser drawer. help yourself, just open a window when you do.”  

To say Cole was having a really fucking bad day was the understatement of the century. He’d started his morning being yelled at by a woman at work who was positively incensed that The Music Center of Hawkins, Indiana didn’t carry some brand new Yamaha keyboard. As if Hawkins was the epicenter for all trends and expensive brands? Then, he’d taken his mom’s car to the shop to assess the damage, and those crooks were claiming he’d have to pay $3,000. Who in Hawkins had that kind of cash laying around and what the hell did they need it for? So, yeah, he’d left the shop in a bit of a flurry and maybe wasn’t paying the best attention to his surroundings-- but it was not his fault that his car slid into the one in front of him. He’d slammed on the brakes, but the damn thing reacted so slowly. Could you damage your brakes in a crash?

Cole groaned when the prick got out of the car. This was going to be fun. The guy started yelling and, truthfully, Cole was barely listening. He was distracted by the guy’s antics... and maybe a little by his face. Cole unclicked his seatbelt and slid out of the car, wishing he had a cigarette right now. He had barely even hit the car, it wasn’t even dented-- something that could easily buff out, which Cole knew because he’d buffed out plenty of scratches on his mom’s old station wagon before. “Calm the fuck down, guy,” Cole said, rolling his eyes. “I happen to like driving my car around like this, unsure if the brakes will give out or if it’ll all just go up in flames at any minute. Keeps me awake,” he articulated every syllable, leaning into the guy’s personal space. Then, because he couldn’t help it: “If you wanted my number, you could’ve just asked without all the fuss.” He paused and, when the guy prompted him again, Cole threw his hands out in a shrugging motion. “The fuck do you want me to write my information on? Your car?” he dangled his keys in front of the guy, as if he would key his home address into the bumper. 

WHO: thad bradshaw and @colemontgomeryx​ WHERE: the streets of hawkins 

thad could read a map, he really could! he’d even taken cartography lessons growing up, but nothing, nothing, could have prepared him for how to navigate hawkins. the roadways made no sense, the city planning was incomprehensible, and he was thoroughly irritated. as his road rage was about to peak, everything halted when some piece of shit came barreling into the back of his car. his baby. he had a lot of outlandish things in life, but none quite as important as his car. money was no object, and neither was the labor, thad would drop both gladly, but it was the principle. nice things, like his car, should be kept nice. and ugly things, like the clunker that hit him, should be driven off a bridge. 

stepping out of his car huffing and puffing, thad slammed the door closed, “hey, man.” he said, jaw clenched. “i don’t know if your brains are scrambled or you think driving that thing is street legal, but you just ruined my car!” it was a dramatization, really. he hadn’t even looked at his bumper, but right now it was more important that thad get the point across that he was upset. “it’s an engine combustion waiting to happen,” he placed his hands on his hips, “not only are you stupid, but you’re lazy. that would take me maybe…two…three afternoons worth of work.” he boasted, simultaneously insulting the other, “and god knows, there’s nothing to do around here, so maybe you should get your priorities in check, pal.” now that he had sufficiently ranted, thad thought clearly to demand, “give me your information, so i can contact you with a bill after i fix my car.” he looked back at his baby, all dented and scratched in the back. thad’s lip could’ve quivered. he turned back to the monster who did this, and more forcefully prompted, “well don’t just stand there, now.”

mmuscles​:

so, yes, thad was late, but he had to scour town for decent enough tools to get this repair on the road. he doubted that cole had anything that would suffice and he wasn’t gonna half ass this job, but truthfully, he didn’t think cole would notice. he pulled up to the montgomery residence, motley crue’s girls, girls girls, blaring as he put the car in park. the sound stopped when he took the key out of the ignition, grabbed the tools from his backseat, and made for the garage. of course cole commented on the fact he was late, which caused thad to place a hand on the side of his head, dragging it gently after him in a bro rough housing kind of way as he head for the garage. 

he called back as he moved to assess the damage, “are you drunk already, pretty boy?” thad wondered if cole really found him that insufferable, but quickly concluded that couldn’t be the case. he was…thad. and people loved him. he shook off the thought and began buffing feeling around the dents of the car, not entirely focused on conversation with cole, but still responding, “grab me one!” 

thad was pushing around on the crumped metal, seeing if any of the repairs could be done by hand when cole returned with the drink. gladly, he took the bottle, took a sip, but nearly spit it out as cole called adam his boyfriend. fortunately for his own pride, he swallowed the beer, then stood to meet cole at eye level, “yeah, i met him. no big deal.” he shrugged, and thad hadn’t thought it was, until now. adam wasn’t anything spectacular in thad’s eyes, but he could feel this conversation going downhill fast, so he diverted to another question, “is he really like, your boyfriend?” the idea of a guy so openly, so gently calling another guy that, well, it formed a lump in thad’s throat that he had no idea how to explain. it definitely wasn’t a bad thing, just different, in fact, thad felt kind of jealous that cole was so comfortable with the word. so, he set his beer down, and turned back to the car. 

xx.

A hint of an amused smile flashed over Cole’s face when he heard what Thad had been listening to on the way here. Motley Crue: Girls, Girls, Girls. A bit obvious, in Cole’s opinion, but for once he didn’t feel like picking a fight over something so small. That is, until Thad grabbed Cole by the side of the head. Wiggling out of his grip, Cole shot Thad a look. “Don’t mess up my hair,” he grumbled, fully knowing it was still wet and unstyled. It was the principle. 

“I’m not drunk,” he corrected, and watched as Thad inspected the car. Honestly, he was still surprised Thad even came. That was... decent of him. Since they’d met, and since Thad had kissed him, Cole’s sneaking suspicion that Thad wasn’t that bad had been on shaky ground. There were glimpses of decency, even kindness-- but Thad hid that behind whatever show he thought he was putting on. 

Cole hid his smirk behind the beer bottle, taking another swig. He didn’t tell Thad about Adam solely for his reaction, though he assumed it would be amusing. Resisting the urge to argue with him-- actually, Adam is a big deal-- Cole crossed his arms over his chest. Not helpful right now, probably. At Thad’s question, Cole was glad he’d held off. “Yeah, he is,” Cole said simply, words accompanied by the smile that always lifted Cole’s lips when he mentioned Adam. The stupid smile that he couldn’t banish even though things were so tense right now. “Since high school. He was... gone for a while, but obviously, he’s here now.” 

Pretending to inspect the passenger side door, Cole hazarded a glance at Thad’s face. As usual, his expression was unreadable-- guarded. “It goes without saying, but... not everyone knows.” 

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.

bethkrichards​:

With a piece of popcorn in hand, Beth chucked it lightly in the direction of Cole in response to his commentary about her brother. It was almost sickening, how much in love the two were, and while she teased Cole and Adam about how much they said about each other in front of her, Beth had missed it. “Okay, Walden. To be fair, he could have, and I would have had no idea unless you two weren’t being messy in the driveway,” she reminded him, raising a brow. She’d thought about how Adam’s sexuality might’ve died with him if it weren’t for Cole, but Beth was glad to know that she knew everything about her brother before he’d left them. 

Beth nodded her head wordlessly, sadly. She knew exactly what Cole meant–even if Adam hadn’t been entirely himself at the carnival, there was no way he was ever going to entirely forgive himself for what his body had done. “I know. I’m worried about him, too. I mean, you were there … was he like he was, you know, in that last week or so?” To think that the Adam that he’d been back then could come back was terrifying, but at least now the three of them could work together this time to try and prepare. “I wish I could’ve been there. For you, and for him. I know I couldn’t have done much, but still.”

xx.

Cole caught Beth’s smile, and he returned it easily. Since he’d graduated from tutor to boyfriend, Beth had been like a little sister to him. And with that came its fair amount of tormenting. Adam was such an angel, someone had to torture Beth and Cindy every once in a while! “Woah, not the government name!” he feigned surprise, pressing his good arm to his chest. Cole smirked at the memory, at how new and urgent it felt to kiss Adam right there and right then, even if it was in his driveway. “I’ll never apologize for kissing him. And besides, you got me out of it-- your extra big brother.” Cole nudged her shoulder affectionately, hoping it communicated how glad he was to be in her life without having to get sappy and gross.

His stomach squeezed as Beth’s expression dropped; Cole hated seeing her upset, and he almost wished he hadn’t brought it up. Not that she wouldn’t have asked, but Cole wanted Beth and Cindy to be able to just enjoy Adam being back, without all of the baggage attached. But, Cole could never lie to any member of the Richards family. “Yeah, he was,” he admitted, wrapping his good arm around Beth’s shoulders and pulling her into him for a hug. It hurt his ribs, but he didn’t care. “No, I’m glad you weren’t,” he said, quickly. “Not that he would...” do anything, “I just don’t think he’d want you to see him that way.”

Funnily enough, this was the second time in his life Cole Montgomery was sneaking into a girl's house. First, it was Max telling him to be quiet and not wake up her mother; now, Robin sending him straight upstairs. The fact that Robin had invited him over at all was surprising to Cole; sure, they'd talked and had mutual friends, but they weren't super close. At least, until the cemetery fiasco. He guessed that living through something like that meant they were bonded for life, or something.

Cole saluted Robin, turned on his heel, and marched upstairs. "Yes, Sergeant Buckley," he joked, keeping his voice low. Cole peered around the corners, taking the opportunity to snoop before Robin got upstairs. He stepped through a doorway that he assumed was her room and surveyed the walls.

Just as she threw the soda, Cole turned and managed to catch it. Hey, maybe those 'football lessons' forever ago with Adam paid off. "Thanks," he cracked the soda open and lifted into the air as if to cheers her. Cole leaned against the wall, taking a sip and shaking his head in disbelief. Fucked up was an understatement. He still couldn't get the vision... or whatever it was.. out of his head. "You could say that," he paused, hesitantly. "Did anything... weird happen to you? Like, other than the fire going out and me falling into an open grave, I don't really remember anything."

𝐖𝐇𝐎: robin buckley + @colemontgomeryx​ ! 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: buckley residence

robin didn’t really invite anyone over to her house, she was used to just keeping her home and social life different. steve was an exception to the rule and he’d been there more times than she could count, although robin had to tell her parents that they weren’t dating way too many times. then there were the odd few occasions where she’d had one of the others over for some reason or other. and today, she’d took a literal leap and invited cole over for the first time. which would only welcome a barrage of questions from her mom who was currently home, but if she didn’t actually know that he was here then…

robin was watching out her bedroom window for cole’s arrival, and as soon as she spotted him she took to carefully making her way down the stairs as if to not make a single sound. she opened the front door with ease, slowly shutting it behind him once he made his way inside.

“please go straight up, i really don’t want my mom to ask any questions!” having said that, robin snuck away to the kitchen and to the fridge hoping for some beers, for their ‘trauma bonding’. sadly there was nothing but cans of soda so she grabbed two anyway before quietly making her way up to her room. “catch!” robin threw one of the cans at cole, assuming that he would catch it or alternatively, it would land on her bed. “so the other night was really fucked up, right?”