Stevehharringtcns​:

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. 

jackforeman​:

Jack matched Cole’s laugh, and it was almost a relief to be able to just laugh about the whole thing, about going missing for years. It wasn’t funny, no, but there wasn’t much more he could do than laugh about it when there weren’t answers lying around waiting for him to find.·“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think I would really know how to react if one of my sisters went missing for that long, either.”

He nodded at Cole’s question.·“I walked out of the woods with Adam, we woke up together, and it was so weird. I figured if we had just woken up after a party or something that someone’s car would be there, or that it would be more than just the two of us, but it wasn’t. So, we walked here, actually,” he said with a chuckle, gesturing around the store,·“and used the phone, because we didn’t want to go to the police, in case it was because we were partying in the woods or something. I need to catch up with him again, though, you know, just make sure he’s adjusting okay. I’m glad you’ve been keeping an eye on him.”

xx.

Cole was taken aback at Jack’s statement. They had walked out of the woods together? Cole wasn’t sure how it worked-- dying and coming back to life-- but how was Jack there? Adam had died, that he was sure of... but everything else made no sense. Less than no sense. “Oh....” he started, brows coming together in confusion. “I didn’t realize you were together. That’s strange.” 

Realizing he was probably acting super weird, Cole pasted on a smile at Jack’s story. It was nice, actually, to know that Adam had a friend in his first few moments back in town. A pang in his chest said that he was sad Adam hadn’t called him from the store phone, but he understood why. “I’m glad he had you,” Cole said, with a genuine smile. He nodded, “Yeah. It would be nice if you did, just because you, like, get it more than I do. Plus, his parents are starting to get sick of me, I’m sure.” 

backtowheeler​:

— ✎ —

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

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

xx.

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

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

zccming​:

“everyone expresses their rebellion differently.” max rolled her eyes at the notion, then took a drag from the joint. this party was objectively stupid, but she was there anyhow. so who was she to judge?  “It’s just… do you ever feel like it should’ve been you? Like, why did all those people die and not me?” “heavy.” she replied. the effects of her indulgence throughout the night were hitting her all at once, so to hell with it. she’d be honest with cole. “yeah. i mean, paramedics pretty much saved me and a bunch of other people. pulled us out.” at least, that was the official police story. not the truth, but it was the closest max could get to saying she watched billy die here.

 “i…still don’t understand why it worked out that way.” she rubbed her temples with one hand, then handed cole the joint with the other. time felt heavy on her shoulders, so she wasn’t going to waste it. “i didn’t like, really know adam…” code for, i always thought he was just a dumb asshole jock. “but since he was your friend, i doubt he’d want you thinking like that.” she was confident in that at least. “what do you think he’d think of this party?” max didn’t know what had inspired her to ask such a loaded question, maybe it was something in the air, or maybe it was the hope that prompting cole to remember would help him feel better. 

xx.

Cole studied Max's face when she told her story. They hadn't ever talked about that night before, not explicitly. He knew the substances helped make the conversation easier. "But it was too late? For your brother?" he asked, the high making him bolder. He could probably still recite all of the names of people who'd died in the fire, and when he met Max he put two and two together. "Maybe we'll never know. But none of it makes sense to me," Cole admitted.

He took the joint and sucked in a deep breath, exhaling with a cough. Leaning back against the wall, Cole cracked a smile thinking about what Adam would say if he was here. Why are you pouting? You know it doesn't look good on you. "Yeah, you're probably right," he paused, passing the blunt back. "Though he was a selfish prick sometimes." His expression darkened, remembering the last days they spent together. The fight. "Hey, listen... was Billy... like, different, right before? Was he acting weird?" He shuffled, crossing a leg underneath him. 

“Just because Adam and I got into this huge fight right before. He kept saying that he couldn't be with me anymore. It's like it wasn't him, and... I don't know, I've felt guilty about it ever since." Cole trailed off. Did he just come out to Max? Maybe she was too high to catch it. Maybe he was too high to be talking about this.

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.” 

cassieconrads​:

Cassie wanted to laugh at the demise of Cole’s car, but she had just met the guy. Instead, she kept her reaction to wide eyes and a bit of a smile. “Oh, that’s–unfortunate,” she commented, leaving it at a small laugh. “So, I guess your skateboard is now your preferred mode of transportation? What happened?”

She took his hand to shake, imitating his theatrics. “Well, I’m from California, near the San Francisco area, and I didn’t really want to go all the way home for the summer. That, and Nancy always has crazy stories to tell about this place, so I figured it might be a fun time. I had to see all the Hawkins commotion for myself.”

xx.

Cole laughed at the memory, shaking his head. What kind of crossfaded had he been to decide that wrecking his car was the best course of action? “So, my friend Max got herself arrested for vandalism-- even though it was, like, all of us vandalizing, even Nancy, if you believe it!-- and my... bright idea to free her was to crash my car into a cop car. I was the distraction, basically, while the rest of us tried to jail break her,” he explained, ignoring the fact that he sounded like a complete idiot.

“You may be the first person ever to choose Indiana over California, so that makes me think you might just be deranged enough to fit in here,” he teased. “There is always something insane going on, it seems,” Cole paused a beat, navigating them through the empty parking lot. “Have you heard that some people think Hawkins is cursed? Not saying I do, but not saying I don’t.”

Keeping his head low so strangers (or worse, friends) wouldn’t see the dopey grin on his face, Cole ducked into Melvald’s. Since Adam had gotten back, he and Cole had been spending every waking minute together, switching from Cole’s room to Adam’s room every other day. It was bliss, and Cole truly believed he could stay there, in Adam’s arms, for the rest of his life. But, nature calls, and so do the Richards. They parted ways for a few hours, so Cole could stock up on snacks and beer and Adam could go to family dinner. 

Cole was a mix between stupidly happy and incredibly on edge. Happy for obvious reasons and on edge because he was afraid that if he wasn’t with Adam, something would happen or he would disappear again. As he fast-walked through the aisles, indiscriminately picking up cereal boxes and chip bags and beer, Cole stopped short when a vaguely familiar voice called out to him. Turning, Cole struggled to not spill the contents of his arms onto the floor. He really should’ve gotten a cart. “Foreman, yeah. Hey,” he smiled easily, remembering Jack as the football team captain. Cole quirked an eyebrow when he mentioned he’d been away with Adam. Had he been? Cole didn’t remember Jack leaving, but why would he make that up? “You were... uh, out of town? Or...?” his voice trailed off, the question hanging in the air. 

WHO: jack foreman & @colemontgomeryx​ WHERE: melvald’s 

After getting his greetings and affairs in order, Jack decided to head to Melvald’s to get some basic life things now that he had no toothbrush, deodorant, or anything essential, really, since his parents had rightfully thrown everything out upon his disappearance. His mother had offered to go do it for him, but Jack declined, thinking that it might be good to get out of the house. His parents had sworn to never let him leave Hawkins again, and he was certain that that was at least half true, but he’d promised to go straight to the store and back home. No going near the woods any longer, that was for sure.

He kept his head low as he entered the store, careful to not make eye contact with anyone who might recognize who he was. Jack was sure that his face had been in the newspapers back when everyone had apparently gone to this commune in the woods, and he wasn’t ready to start answering questions about any of that yet. He wasn’t sure he even knew why he would’ve gone in the first place. As he walked through the aisles, though, Jack recognized an unmistakable head of hair, and he brought down his hood from his head. “Cole?” he asked, dropping a tube of toothpaste from his hand into his basket. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bother you, it’s just … I’m Jack. Foreman? You were on the football team, the manager, right? I don’t know if you remember, but I’m, um, back in town, I guess, with Adam Richards, he … you guys were friends, I think. Anyway, it’s, uh … nice to see you.”

stevehharringtcns​:

.

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

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

xx

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

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