Cole Had Been Extra Stressed Lately. What With The Graveyard Debacle, The Rumors He’d Heart About The

sinclairss​:

lucas caught cole’s eye in the rearview mirror. he hadn’t really thought about it, but steve had been acting a little bit off, now that he did pause to look back on it. he shrugged it off. “maybe he was just freaked out too?” he didn’t think any of them had been acting particularly normally, but given the circumstances, who could blame them? 

hawkins had exactly one hospital and it was all the way on the opposite edge of town. luckily, everything in town closed by nine, so they were nearly there as cole answered his question. lucas’ good hand tightened on the steering wheel, just slightly. he wasn’t sure who cole’s best friend was, but he had a bad feeling about it. people didn’t just die in the fire…they were involved with the mind flayer. he pressed his tongue against his teeth and debated keeping it to himself but…well, falling into a grave together kind of made it easier to want to share. besides, he had to tell someone or he was going to explode. 

“yeah, uh, nothing like that.” he offered cole a wince, maneuvered the car into the parking lot closest to the emergency room and threw it into park before turning to look at him properly. “just somebody from my past who didn’t like me very much. he’s not even around anymore.” that was putting it mildly. “he was going to run me over with his car, i think. and i couldn’t move. it was….” fucked up. that’s what it was. 

xx.

Cole nodded slowly, careful of further exacerbating his head pain. Of course Steve was freaked out-- everyone was. He still wondered, though, if Steve was a little... cold. But, whatever, that was by far not the weirdest thing to happen, so it was easy to put out of his head.

So Lucas had a dream-- or vision, whatever they were calling it-- too. Cole wondered what it meant that whoever he was isn’t around anymore. With a frown, Cole shook his head, “That’s horrifying.” He paused, looking for similarities between their visions. “Did it feel... like, super real to you? I don’t know about hallucinations, but I don’t think they usually feel that real.” 

Cole couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just a hallucination, though that’s likely what the ‘reasonable’ explanation should be. He touched Adam, he heard Adam, he even smelled Adam’s fucking cologne. How could that be explained? And if Lucas had one too, then... “Do you think everyone had one? A different vision?” 

“I have done nothing all summer but wait for myself to be myself again —”

— Georgia O’Keeffe, in a letter to Russel Vernon Hunter, from Georgia O’Keeffe: Art and Letters (via luthienne)

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.” 

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. 

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?"

byersphotography​:

Striped wallpaper - it haunted him on his way down the stairs. Flushed, he opted for the front door. It was the fastest way to his car. Jonathan’s first time back in the Wheeler residence had been … successful? He wasn’t entirely sure. Regardless, no amount of cocktail offers would make it easier to stick around any longer. His adventures down the rabbit hole of a Wheeler supply closet and heartfelt throwback in Nancy’s bedroom needed to end.

Jonathan opened the front door, reaching for his car keys as he walked towards the patio stairs. Cole’s greeting caught him off guard. As of lately, people always seemed to slap him around the shoulder. “Heey.” He said, frowning at the use of brother. Sharing a joint at the keg party was a nice gesture but it didn’t produce a cosmic bond between them. “Yeah, thanks - yeah – I uh, I guess it was.” The way Cole examined  him added tension to his already uncomfortable stance. 

This day could not get any weirder. Removing himself from Cole’s grasp, Jonathan looked at him with desperation that read – I can’t do this right now. “Are you okay?” He looked around, wondering if the guy was alone on the patio. Is Cole always drunk? It probably wasn’t ethical to leave him out here like this. Jonathan really didn’t remember much from high school - especially Cole.  “What… what are you talking about, man?”

xx.

“Was sooooo good,” Cole said with a goofy grin, using the porch’s railing to swing away from Jonathan. He stumbled over his feet but caught himself, laughing hat his lack of coordination. “Said it’s from California? Or... Colorado? No! Culver City,” he decided, nodding with finality. “Gotta go sometime, bro.”

As hard as he concentrated, Cole couldn’t decipher Jonathan’s expression. He felt like the other was trying to send him a message, but his face was blurry-- Cole wished he would just say it, whatever it was. “What?” he asked, louder than he had intended. “I’m fiiiiine. ‘S been a fun night.” Cole leaned his back against the porch railing and smiled absentmindedly into the dark. 

“Lonnie, dude, he’s my daddy too,” he laughed, like he’d just told an incredibly intelligent joke. Hearing commotion by the front door, Cole turned, hoping it was Adam finally escaping from his final round of goodbyes. He frowned when he saw it was just one of the kids-- Mike-- rushing past the door. “Looks like everyone had fun,” he commented as if to continue a casual conversation, then turned to Jonathan with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, I didn’t see you earlier? You just get here?”

backtowheeler​:

Nancy was surprised to see Cole Montgomery show up at the little shindig put on by her mom. She knew this was mostly the time for Karen to shuffle her eldest and most successful child around (who knows? Maybe Holly will grow up to be a doctor!) for all her friends to see. It wasn’t so much about Nancy’s friends, and she especially didn’t expect to see Cole. Maybe Max, or Robin, but her and Cole’s family had such a convoluted past that she’d thought he’d sit this one out.

For all intensive purposes, Nancy and Cole should have hated each other. They were pitted against each other from the moment they were born. Nancy could recall early years when Karen would mutter to her that Cole had gotten a better score than her on a Social Studies test, pushing Nancy to try harder and be better, a mantra she would often hear until the day she left Hawkins and moved to Boston. Yet, she never had disdain for Cole. She learned early on that it wasn’t him doing anything, it was her mother perpetuating a different narrative, and while they weren’t close in high school, Nancy was glad they could grow closer in recent years.

“Probably drop dead,” she chuckled, knocking her cup against his. Nancy was legally able to drink (the National Minimum Drinking Age Act had never affected Indiana), but her parents weren’t heavy drinkers and assumed the same for their children. Or at least for Nancy. The booze was mostly there for guests and no one else. “I wish, but I’d like to try to keep her panic to a minimum,” she took a sip from her cup. “What brought you here? Surely it can’t be just because of me.”

Cole chuckled at the thought of Mrs. Wheeler spontaneously combusting; it’s not that he hated her, he didn’t dislike her at all, really, it’s just that he hated what she represented: the overbearing presence of a small town, the way everyone everywhere was ready to whisper about you behind your back. There’s a certain type of person who does well in this town: someone like Nancy, who is generally impressive and straight-edge (or so she seems). But Cole knows what that’s like, and he knows all-too-well the fear of bursting everyone’s bubble.

Maybe that’s what drew him to Nancy. He sensed there was more underneath the surface, that she could also understand the feeling of hiding from everyone. Maybe, together, they could escape from it all a while. Part of him was disappointed when she declined his offer to get out of there, but he knew it was for the best. “Keep her panic to a minimum,” he repeated, “probably best for your sanity, anyway.” 

A wry smile teased the edges of Cole’s mouth. “Funny you should ask, actually, I bummed a ride off Harrington,” he said, raising his beer to his lips and keeping his eyes trained on her face. He hoped he could deduce exactly what was going on between the once-hottest couple in town from her expression, but he guessed Nancy was sneakier than that. She wouldn’t reveal anything she didn’t want to... but Cole was never above prying. “So, you excited to see him? What’s the deal?” 

Cole had a lot on his mind. Despite the glaringly obvious-- being pushed into open graves, having horrific visions, and his boyfriend coming back to life-- now they were fighting. Kind of. It wasn’t a fight, really, but things were tense in a way they never had been before. And Cole really didn’t know how to handle himself in a fight-- he could give great advice to people like Steve, sure, but when it came to him? He was miserable and whiny and terrified to say too much or not enough.

He’d been going over the whole night all morning-- everything he said, every look they exchanged, looking for anything to find comfort in. And it was driving him crazy. So crazy that he decided to go into work on a day he wasn’t scheduled. He had leftover inventory to do, anyway. Cole clicked ‘The Queen is Dead’ into his Walkman and skated over to the Music Center. The Smiths were, objectively, the perfect music for wallowing in self-pity.

A few hours passed of Cole listening to the album on repeat and getting a surprising amount of work done. It was nice to drown out his brain for a while, uninterrupted except for when the clerk told him that he was singing out loud again. As he finished up cataloguing the folk section, Cole looked up to see Jo walking in. His cheeks flushed involuntarily-- this Keith guy’s paper had been pushed to the back of Cole’s mind, but not forgotten. 

Stepping through the aisles, Cole approached her and lowered his headphones. “Good album,” he commented, always a little relieved when someone with taste came into the store. He offered an awkward smile-- it looked more like a grimace-- as she commented on his state. “Not quite, I just have naturally dewy skin,” he joked. His hangover was certainly still with him, as per the pressure behind his eyes. “You feeling okay?”

He laughed, relief evident in his tone. Thank God she had brought it up. “No, no, yeah, I didn’t think you... I mean, even if you did...” Cole groaned at how awkward he was making this. “Jo, you’re great. I’m just... not... I don’t feel that way! So, I’m glad we’re on the same page.” He said, finding his words at last. 

Cole knew better than to listen to anything published in that shitty paper when Keith suggested that Cassie Conrad go for Thad or Adam. Talk about misreading the room. But still, he didn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea, or completely ignore it and come off like an asshole.  

“Anyways,” he said, dragging out the syllables. “Can I ask you something? About the keg party?” Cole knew that Jack and Adam were close, and thought that maybe, if Adam had said something to Jack, maybe Jack had said something to Jo. Worth a shot, at least. 

where: the music center

what: jo’s browsing through some new sweet tunes !

who: @loverboymontgomery​​ + jo

truly, it felt like her first day off in weeks, and jo intended to spend it as follows: lounging in bed as long as possible ( until her mother started passive aggressively vaccuming up and down the hallways, seeing as this was her day off, too ), driving down to the music centre to browse through their latest releases and then straight back home to work on the board. a perfect day, in her humble opinion. or as perfect as it got in hawkins, indiana.

with the first part of her day off concluded, jo had wasted no time grabbing her walkman, pulling her headphones over her ears before she’d even left the house to drown out her mother’s incessant sighing. not even half of side a was finished when she’d reached the music center - a new personal best - and she quickly locked her bike, rushing into the store, straight to the aisle with the new releases.

humming happily to herself, a content smile on her face as she inspected a copy of the new cocteau twins album, jo jumped sligthly as a figure came into view. she looked up, pulled her headphones down around her neck. “oh - hi, montgomery.” said somewhat awkwardly, she gave him a smile. it felt a bit silly, calling him by his last name with how often jo came into the store. “i see you’ve recovered from the keg party.”

a couple of beats passed, jo hesitated, drew in a breath - no, it wouldn’t leave her mind. she had to say something. “listen - keith is an ass.” a bold yet true statement, another beat passed before jo continued. “like… i don’t know if you’ve seen his stupid little paper, but.. .i don’t know, he’s spreading rumors that i, like, have a thing for you? and i just wanted to make clear that i don’t. i’m not into you, cole, i promise!”

byersphotography​:

TW: FAMILY ABUSE MENTION

————————————————————————————————-

“I’m fiiiiine.” 

Cole’s assurance didn’t strike confidence. This guy needed help. He sighed, exasperated - the best course of action would be to drive him home. Where did this dude even live? While Jonathan had plans to go downtown and investigate Barb’s return, he couldn’t leave Cole stranded on this patio … even if it meant cleaning vomit from the carpet of his passenger seat. “Come on.” He shrugged towards the patio stairs. “I’ll take you home, man-”

“Lonnie, dude, he’s my daddy too,”

Cut off - the realization dawned on him. Lonnie. He hadn’t heard it aloud in a long time. Cole really couldn’t have come up with a more shocking way of saying – Surprise. Your dad fucked my mom. We’re all alcoholics in this family.

He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. This couldn’t happen here. Right now. Jonathan’s stomach sunk seeing Mike blast by the door. He did the only logical thing and sprung into action, calmly pulling Cole by the sleeve of his shirt to a corner of the patio, lowering his voice. “Are you fucking with me right now?” He knew Will was somewhere in the Wheeler house. Lonnie was virtually dead to him, but his mom and brother always seemed more affected by his antics. He wasn’t sure how they would react to this news. His own relationship with Lonnie was terrible. Fighting, yelling, neglect – it had all been tucked away in effort to keep the family afloat, but his dad had also been gone for a long time now. Things were good now. The Byers household didn’t need Lonnie’s legacy resurfaced for all of Hawkins to see – especially on his ex-girlfriend’s front porch, in one of the most pristine neighborhoods in town. “Who knows about this, Cole?” Jonathan remained calm but close to Cole, arm still on his shoulder, trying to decipher his drunken expression.

If only he could go back five minutes in time to the peace of Nancy’s bedroom.

xx.

Cole wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so tipsy-- were he thinking straight before the barbecue, perhaps he would’ve eaten something before playing several rounds of beer pong-- but he’d been so anxious about the conflict between he and Adam that he didn’t know the last time he’d had more than a few crackers. And unfortunately, Jonathan was experiencing the brunt of his thoughtlessness.  

At Jonathan’s offer to take him home, Cole shook his head furiously. “No, no, it’s okay, dude--” he paused, dizzy from the motion. “My boy... best... friend is taking me home,” he smiled at the thought of Adam. “Don’t worry, can’t drive anyway,” Cole murmured, picturing his mom’s wrecked car, a side effect from the last ‘party’ Cole had attended. 

There it was again, that look. Cole scrunched up his face, peering at Jonathan’s. Before he could ask if there was something on his face, Jonathan was pulling Cole away. In his less-than-coordinated state, Cole stumbled into a planter. “Fuck!” he exclaimed, as the snake plant toppled over. “Sorry, Karen,” he called over his shoulder, into the darkness. “’m not fucking with you, ‘m sorry... didn‘t mean to kick the plant,” he answered with a deep frown. Leaning down, Cole made a valiant attempt to right the planter, instead pushing too hard and sending it toppling to the other side. “Well, shit,” he stared at the feat of gravity. 

Jonathan repeated himself, causing Cole to raise on wobbly legs and look at him. “--the plant? I dunno, dude, there’s no one out here?” He scratched his head, nevermind the potting soil on his fingers. When Jonathan’s arm reached out to steady Cole, he stared at the other’s hand. Lonnie. Right. “Your mom,” he offered, leaning into Jonathan’s stability.  “Told her... a few days ago...” he struggled to remember what day it was, when he’d talked to Joyce. A warmth crept through his body at the memory of her acceptance. 

Suddenly insecure and unable to read Jonathan, Cole’s expression drooped. “Are you mad at me?”

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.