Goldenboyrichards​:

@goldenboyrichards

PARKS AND RECREATION — 4.05 “Meet n Greet”

sinclairss​:

if it weren’t for the most recent injury, lucas would’ve gone on a run right now. the adrenaline coursing through his veins meant he barely felt any pain, not from his surgically-repaired knee and not from his newly-dislocated shoulder. he could use something to channel that adrenaline, especially when he wasn’t entirely sure how deep into this conversation he wanted to get.

to buy himself some time, lucas hopped out of the car and rounded the passenger side to tug cole’s door open. “yeah,” he finally said with quick nod. “i felt like…i thought i was gonna die.” and that would be a shitty way to go. he held his arm out, unsure if cole might need him for balance and then heading for the doors beneath the glowing EMERGENCY ROOM sign.

this, lucas wasn’t sure on, but he had a hunch. “two’s a coincidence. three’s a pattern,” he said, like he didn’t need to elaborate at all.

xx.

“Thanks,” Cole gave Lucas a grim smile as he climbed out of the passenger seat. He was able to stand on his own, which Cole hoped meant it wasn’t a major injury. Something that would go away in two days, tops. But Cole was tired-- not just physically, but emotionally. He was drained and if he was honest, all he really wanted to do was lock himself in his room for a few days to try and understand what was going on.

Cole waved his hand, dismissing Lucas’ arm. “I’m good, thank you though,” he repeated, feeling bad that Lucas had driven him all the way here just to field his questions and be released with a concussion. Lucas said ‘I thought I was gonna die’ so casually that Cole barely clocked it, so when he realized what Lucas said, Cole stumbled over some shitty landscaping job. “Mine was really real too. Only I wasn’t the one dying,” he added the last part in a mumble.

Raising an eyebrow at Lucas’ comment, Cole turned to him. “Three?” he prodded. He knew he’d remembered a few others mentioning things they’d seen, but everyone was so rattled that he guessed he hadn’t paid much attention. “What does it mean, if it is a pattern?”

goldenboyrichards​:

Being co-host of the camping trip, Adam had had to spend awhile checking in on everyone else when they got back. A lot of theories were being thrown around, as well as stories from the cabin, but he wasn’t paying much attention to them. They sort of went over his head. He didn’t know what grabbed him and Cole, but it had felt stronger than algae. He couldn’t be sure, though. 

Cole drifting away from the others wasn’t surprising to Adam. He understood needing a minute after all of that, and it was starting to get a bit cold out here now that the sun had gone down. Without asking, he passed Cole one of the hoodies he’d brought with him in his duffle bag. If anyone noticed that Cole was wearing his clothes, Adam was kind of beyond caring. He’d do anything that Cole needed him to do right now. 

“You didn’t make it up,” Adam assured with sad eyes, hating that what had happened to them was real. If only it could have been some fucked up nightmare or something. “I’m fine,” He assured, giving Cole a small smile. Honestly, he was worried. But there were no physical marks on him, and he and Cole had both eventually made it to shore. Adam would be okay - this was just another weird thing to add to the list of awful stuff happening around him lately. “I’m not going anywhere.” Adam glanced around, checking to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them. Once he was sure they were safe, he squeezed Cole’s knee in reassurance. 

As Cole began begging him to leave with him, Adam’s heart ached. That had always been the plan, hadn’t it? But Adam had fucked it up somehow three years ago, leaving Cole alone to pick up the pieces. And as much as Adam wanted to go now, he thought about his mother. His dad. Beth, Cindy. He couldn’t just leave them again. He couldn’t run away this time. When he and Cole left, they deserved to know in advance. “Cole,” Adam began sadly, squeezing his hand. “Cole, I want that so bad. I want us to go to California like we planned. I want that.” He assured him, voice steady because someone had to be. “But I can’t leave my family right now. My mom…I don’t think she’s sleeping much, these days. My dad calls home to check and make sure I’m still here every few hours when he’s at work. My sisters didn’t stop crying for hours when I finally came back,” Adam rambled, running a hand through his hair. “I just can’t go right now. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” 

xx.

When Adam passed Cole his hoodie, he smiled. Though it was a cliche, he loved wearing Adam’s clothes-- so much so that he’d periodically stolen dozens of shirts, hoodies, and jackets over the years. He brushed his hand against Adam’s and tugged the hoodie on, trying to act cool, calm, and collected when he was anything but. Both because he was freaking out about whatever had grabbed them in the lake and because Adam was here, looking at him with those eyes, and he wasn’t allowed to hold him.

“Kind of wish I did,” Cole said, with a sigh. He wished he had answers for Adam-- or rather, that his answers made any fucking sense. When Max had told him about the Upside Down and the Mindflayer and the fucked up shit happening in Hawkins, it had actually made him feel better, for a while. He finally knew that Adam hadn’t died hating him, that he was... possessed. But when Adam showed back up with a completely different story, any comfort Cole took in the truth was long gone. 

I’m not going anywhere. Cole closed his eyes for a moment and willed himself to believe it. Only, Adam couldn’t guarantee that. Cole couldn’t guarantee that either. Adam coming back both gave Cole a future again and threatened his utter demise. Losing Adam once had already destroyed him, but the thought of losing him twice felt like a death sentence. He did his best to muster up a smile, so as not to worry his boyfriend, but Cole knew better. Adam was always able to tell when something was up. 

Cole knew Adam’s answer before he elaborated, just based on the way he said his name. He nodded profusely along as Adam spoke, as guilt settled into his stomach. Of course Adam couldn’t leave his family now. He’d just gotten caught up in the moment, in his own fears, and was desperately trying to find something to cling to. “Of course, love. Of course,” he murmured, squeezing Adam’s hand back. “I’m sorry, that was... I was being emotional. I don’t want you to leave your family.” If anything, Cole wanted to bring Adam’s family with them. “I understand how they feel. I’m so scared of losing you again,” he finally admitted, rubbing circles on Adam’s hand with his thumb. 

rcbinbvckleys​:

⚢

the best friend… that had to be the jock she’d seen cole with once upon a time. robin was all too aware of the fact that the jock in question had been one of the flayed, it only made logical sense. which somehow made cole’s vision feel a lot worse than it already was. “holy shit, that sounds horrible. i’m really sorry.” in that moment, robin felt worse than ever considering what actually happened at the mall that night.

cole being honest only gave her the incentive to do the same in return. “do you um- remember barbara holland? it’s not an important detail but she was kind of my best friend in middle school.” a pause, willing herself to continue and explain what she saw. “i saw her, that night. i was standing by someone’s pool, and barb, she-“ voice breaking, robin stopped and took a deep breath. “she was in the water and she just… grabbed on to my leg and started begging for me to help her! like something was trying to pull her down and there was no escape.”

blue eyes met cole’s own, attempting to gauge his reaction and hoping that she hadn’t over shared. “then she was sucked back under and pulled me right in with her.” robin gave a shudder, all of the details still clear in her mind — it was just everything else that was foggy. “and like you said, it felt so real. i seriously haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

xx.

“Thanks,” he said, weak smile not quite meeting his eyes. The worst part, he thought, was that it felt like a fantasy first; he and Adam laying in bed, talking about the future, and then out of nowhere... Adam’s eyes changing, his body ablaze. It wasn’t a memory, so what was it? “I don’t think I made it up? But I don’t know.”

Cole let a breath go, shaking his head and watching Robin’s eyes. When her voice cracked, he put a hand on her knee, trying to reassure her. “I’m sorry, too. That’s... fucked,” he shook his head. 

He’d thought his ‘vision’ was bad enough, but he couldn’t imagine someone trying to pull him down-- kill him, presumably. If Robin was anything like him, she was hearing Barb’s cry for help over and over again in her mind. “I don’t know what happened to Barb, but... I’m sure there was nothing you could do,” he said. Cole paused, searching his hands for something to say. “Why do you think... we saw that?” 

thequeenofhawkins​:

— ♔ —

Chrissy never considered herself as someone who had close friends. She always kept fellow jocks and cheerleaders at arms length, but there were two people who she kept at elbow’s length. Cole Montgomery and Adam Richards. Maybe it was because they never wanted anything from her, other than a little bit of trust. “It’s totally crazy. I was like, in this forest commune?” Chrissy tried to explain, but she came up rather vague. She had two years ripped away from her and she couldn’t even remember what it was like on the commune. “Kinda gives me the heebie jeebies if I think about it for too long.” 

So, instead of thinking about it, she was more than content to move the conversation to a more pressing topic. Adam. “Yeah, yeah, I have. I think we were like, together the entire time? I don’t know, it’s all fuzzy,” and she left it at that. It sounded like a bitchy move, so she didn’t want to linger on how she had allegedly been with Adam the entire time. It was like they deliberately left Cole out, but that just didn’t make sense to Chrissy because she knew that she’d invite him, and the same could probably be said to Adam.

“So… where does that leave you and Adam?” She asked, resting a hand on one of the racks. Chrissy had a habit of holing herself into Adam and Cole’s relationship business, whether she did it on purpose or not. Either with one of them coming to her for advice or Chrissy seeking it out herself whenever she noticed something was up. “You’re not like, mad at him or anything, right?” 

xx.

Cole frowned ever so slightly when Chrissy mentioned that she was in the forest commune, too. He knew she’d been out of town, but if he really thought about it, he couldn’t remember any details or any goodbye. It was strange; he and Chrissy were close enough that he definitely would’ve wanted to say goodbye to her if she was leaving for a long time. But everyone wrapped up in the forest commune business had hazy memories attached to them. Maybe the drugs, if he were to guess. “Right. I totally get it if you don’t want to talk about it,” he offered, a genuine look of concern in his eyes.

While the forest commune was fuzzy for everyone else, Cole knew what had happened to Adam. He’d gone to the funeral, he’d checked in on Adam’s sisters every week for the past three years. Adam had died. And now he was back, and Chrissy claimed she was with him this whole time? None of it made sense... but maybe it didn’t need to. Maybe he was tempting fate by asking questions and should just shut up and accept it. “Yeah... it’s fuzzy for him, too. I guess we just hadn’t really talked details, yet,” Cole lied. “But, you’re here now. Why not pretend everything is normal for a while?” Cole asked with the biggest smile he could muster.

If he had any doubt about this really being Chrissy Cunningham standing in front of him, the glint in her eye when she asked about Adam confirmed it. Cole had seen that same look in her eye every time she asked about Adam; some cross between fondness and amusement and concern. Honestly, Chrissy was as much a part of their relationship as they were-- besides the obvious bits, anyways. Cole shook his head at her question, a content smile smoothing out his features. “You know I’m shit at being mad at him,” he said. “It wasn’t his fault, you know? Like, he didn’t want to leave... so how can I be upset?”

“Everything’s just... weird right now. Not because of him. Because of me, I think,” he sighed. Cole knew Chrissy would never let him get away with such a vague answer, so he continued speaking and absentmindedly picking through the same t-shirt in ten different colors. “I just mean... I feel like I’m bracing myself. Like I’ll lose him again? And he’s obviously fucked up about it all, the leaving thing. So we’re good-- like, sometimes it feels like nothing has changed-- but it’s like this thing is lurking.” He threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Stop me if I sound insane, please.” 

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.

cassieconrads​:

The name wasn’t one that Cassie had heard when Nancy had given her a rundown of the people she should know to avoid in Hawkins, so she figured the boy who had approached her was safe enough to trust. He stopped on his skateboard, which wasn’t the most popular form of transportation in California, but one that she’d seen among the rollerbladers near the water. Pulling off his headphones, Cassie was reminded of hers that she’d left behind, and how embarrassed she was to have to ask a stranger where to get new ones.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she said with a wave of her hand as she began to fold the map up. The last thing Cassie wanted was for any of Nancy’s friends to think she was completely useless. “It looks like you were headed somewhere, I’m sure I could find it,” Cassie assured him, but there was a lack of confidence in her voice after she’d spent the past hour looking for the store. “I’m Cassie. I’m staying with the Wheelers, just visiting.”

Cole waved his hand, dismissing her comment. "It's no problem, really. I just got off of work and I'm trying to avoid the house for a little bit," he laughed to himself. "I kind of, um, wrecked my mom's car and she's not too happy with me." He shrugged, taking his skateboard in his hand so he could walk alongside Cassie.

"Right! Nancy mentioned she had a friend from college coming to stay. It's nice to meet you, Cassie," he stuck out his hand for a dramatic handshake. "Don't take this the wrong way, but Hawkins isn't exactly a vacation destination so... what brings you here?"

mmuscles​:

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

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

xx.

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

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

END.

who: cole & @joycefm​​

where: the byers residence

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

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

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

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

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as HARRY STYLES on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE