Who: Cole & @willthewize​

zccming​:

cole stirred and max jumped up, gasped even. “i’m not fucking crying.” she said, defensive, but the wetness on her cheeks was undeniable. she didn’t care to argue the point though. cole was awake, he was fine as he could be, and that was enough. shuffling on her knees down closer to his head, max gingerly maneuvered her way into a hug, while somehow also avoiding adam. she didn’t apply any pressure, knowing the state he was in, but her arms fell limply and her head hovered above his chest as she explained, “you were so stupid i finally fucking snapped and beat this shit out of you.”

believe it or not, his jokes were appreciated. it was a sliver of normalcy amidst all the chaos, so, she figured, why not try to return the favor? “doc told me you weren’t gonna live.” max sighed. it wasn’t funny, there was nothing funny about any of this actually, but she wasn’t doing it to be funny, she was doing it to match cole’s energy, try to make him feel less alone with the burden of his injuries and the weight of some new trauma. “so thanks for saving me from a life sentence i guess.” she sighed, then finally lifted her body from it’s half hugging position, “how are you feeling?” max asked, then amended, “and don’t say like shit.”

xx.

Despite the pain and confusion, Cole smirked at Max’s defensive response. He looked at her tear-stained cheeks and rolled his eyes; this was always more comfortable than touchy-feely for them. As much as he could, Cole wrapped his free arm around Max to return the hug. “In that case... Fuck, Mayfield, you punch like a dude,” he pressed the ice pack to his sore ribs. 

Cole snorted at her continued antics. “Waking up and seeing you first thing? Not sure I’d call that living.” He reached over and swatted her arm, taking advantage of his status as unwell. At least now she couldn’t hit him back. Cole opened his mouth to respond and clamped it shut at her additional instruction.  “Rumor has it I’ll live,” he managed, before reaching for his water. His throat was dry, and he wasn’t sure the raspiness was sexy at this point. “You were there, too. Are you hurt?” he asked, inspecting her face as he took a long gulp. “What happened?” he asked, voice soft enough to indicate that he was done joking. 

Eyes of Timothée Chalamet

@zccming

“I sorta spent the last few days hangin’ out with Elliot.”

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET

© Carl Timpone for TimesTalks

backtowheeler​:

— ✎ —

Nancy made room on the blanket by scooting over just a tad more, ensuring that she wasn’t hogging all of the space from Cole. “Not great, huh?” She scrunched her nose, the corners of her mouth turning up as she thought back to the night at the mall. Cole had bravely crashed his car to distract them into getting Max, which didn’t end up helping in the long run since Max had to stay in their jail for a night anyway. “I’m sorry you did that for nothing,” she apologized, as if she had been the one to tell him to wreck it or had caused it herself.

“How did you know?” Nancy asked, bemused that Cole could even clock that. She wasn’t a girl scout for long, but Karen Wheeler had forced her into it for a few years until Nancy ultimately fought her long enough to quit. “Did it until 7th grade,” she admitted, pulling out another sandwich for herself. Although Nancy would chalk up her knowledge of being prepared to her intrepid sense as a journalist or the over preparedness of a girl that got roped into saving the world on multiple occasions. “It’s a Karen Wheeler specialty. I’m surprised she even gave me the recipe,” she explained, taking a bite from the sandwich.

“So, two weeks? I mean, was it even broken?” She asked, suddenly interested by his injury. “I’m pretty sure I just taped mine once and I lived,” granted, it’s harder to go to a doctor if you sustain injuries from an outside force.

xx.

“Let’s just say Maggie Montgomery is not very thrilled with me right now,” Cole laughed. His mom was strange; she wouldn’t come out and say that she was upset with him or even that she didn’t believe the road rage story, but he could tell. Cole shook his head, dismissing Nancy’s comment. “It was my pea-brained idea. Why I was even driving after combining weed and alcohol, I don’t know,” he laughed. There was no sense in being upset about something that had already happened. 

Cole grinned as Nancy confirmed his suspicion. “Guess you’re not the only sleuth in town, Nancy Drew,” he quipped. Part of him had always been jealous of Nancy’s certainty-- the fact that she seemed to know exactly what she was doing and what role she would play in every situation. Cole, on the other hand, was existing almost entirely off of guess work; he picked Literature as his focus because he was good at it, he got a job at the Music Center because it sounded easy, he came back to Hawkins for the summer because he didn’t want to be alone in a college town. No strategy, no certainty. He used to know what he wanted, but with that gone... he pushed the thoughts away and took another bite of the sandwich. “Karen Wheeler can make a damn good sandwich,” he declared.

Shrugging, Cole slipped off the finger brace the doctor had given him. “He said it was fractured. It’s really not even that bad-- it’s just annoying. Honeslty, I keep wearing the brace because I don’t want to fuck it up and have to change the way I play piano.” He set the brace aside, letting his sad little finger breathe for a moment. “But enough about me. What’s going on in the Wheeler household? Any big summer plans?”

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

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.

jackforeman​:

It was a loaded question, but all things considering, Jack supposed that he was as about okay as he could’ve been. No one really knew any answers, which would have probably helped the several lingering questions that would’ve settled his anxiety about why he had been gone for so long. “Yeah, yeah. You know, just trying to get back to the way things were as much as I can. What about you, though? I feel like I need someone to write me a manual of everything everyone’s been up to for the past couple of years,” Jack laughed, “I assume everything’s relatively okay with you, too?” he asked.

Everyone seemed to have a lot of questions, that much was a recurring theme. “Yeah, Jo might as well have put me in an official interrogation with how much she wants to know, but Julie I think is still getting over the shock of it. I guess her questions will come later. My parents are trying to get me legally un-dead, so that’s a bit of a process.”

xx.

Jack’s answer helped Cole breathe a little easier. If Jack could adjust, even just a little, then maybe this thing would wear off-- maybe Adam could have a normal life. And all of them, but mostly Adam. Cole grimaced, “I hadn’t even thought about that. Everyone’s like completely different now. Maybe that would be a better use of that Keith guy’s time-- putting out updates for those of you who were... gone.” He shrugged, gave Jack a halfhearted nod. “Can’t complain. I ended up going to Indiana State. Got two years left and then... who fucking knows,” he shook his head. He’d originally intended to come home this summer, save up some spending money, and figure out what his big plan was. But, for obvious reasons, he hadn’t found the time to think about it much. 

Cole nodded as Jack spoke; from what he knew about the Foreman sisters, that checked out. He wasn’t surprised that Jo was at the heart of trying to figure it out, and he especially wasn’t surprised that Julie was a bit calmer. "Legally un-dead?” Cole questioned, his expression darkening. “What does that... mean?”

zccming​:

“yeah, and you were only able to fracture it because i saved your ass first.” max huffed. now she understood how dustin felt all the time, no credit paid where credit was due. it wasn’t like she was expecting to be met with high praises or anything, but she had been anticipating a few more thank yous and a few less lectures. cole, at least, wasn’t going to lecture her. he was only going to be whiny, like always. “i’m surprised it isn’t already healed.” max snickered, then condescendingly sympathized, “must be real bad.” then as he made fun of her request for him quiet down, she smiled mockingly at him, “it’ll be quiet enough when you shut the fuck up.” 

despite the hostile words tossed around, max shuffled over to her dresser, grabbed her baggie, and got to rolling. following the mall, she was relieved to find that things seemed to remain normal between them. there wouldn’t be anything weird from her end, but it made her quietly pleased to see cole stand by his choice to share his truth with her. in time, she’d produced a joint for them. moving mostly in silence, max laid staring at her ceiling as they passed the j back and forth until she was lost in her thoughts, the sounds of the radio, and the bugs chittering outside of her thin walls.

cole had shared with her about adam, and all max could think about was how she couldn’t stop relating it to her feelings about eleven. of course, they had skimmed the surface over the billy of it all, but this was a new, equally difficult, perspective. it was horrible of her, but that didn’t mean anything weird, did it? maybe cole would know… thoroughly baked, max distantly asked, “do you ever think about how el has like, the perfect face?” did he even know what she looked like? “or how she’s like, the perfect girl. or perfect person even. it’s… crazy.” it wasn’t exactly explicitly emotional, but in her altered state, max was holding out hope that cole might just read her mind about what she was trying to convey. “i really missed her.” with even less tact than usual thanks to the weed, max somehow brutal and awkward, prodded at cole, “how does it feel when you think about adam? like …what does missing someone…like that…feel like…to you?” then she rasped, “it’s different from…my experiences.”

xx.

“It is real bad, thanks for your sympathy,” Cole retorted sarcastically, cradling his finger in his other hand. “I can’t play the piano with this shit. What else am I supposed to do at work?” he sighed, though his eyes twinkling with laughter. Cole blew Max a kiss with his good hand, playing along. “What, did you invite me over here to sit quietly in the corner? You got a dunce cap I can wear while I’m at it?” he teased, though he wouldn’t put it past her to actually sit him in the corner with a dunce cap, for the bit.

Cole gratefully took the joint and lifted it to his lips. “Cheers,” he breathed out, releasing a cloud of smoke. He still couldn’t believe he’d come out to Max. He hadn’t regretted it-- the opposite, he felt an ongoing sense of relief-- but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad on edge, waiting for any sign that Max treated him differently. He passed the joint to her and turned onto his side, studying her face. She acted like something was on her mind.

The mystery only lasted a few seconds more, until she started going on about El. Chuckling, Cole took the joint back from her, “I hadn’t really thought about her face. She’s nice enough, but not really my type.” The two grew quiet and Cole dared not vocalize his thoughts, his suspicion that Max maybe liked El as more than a friend. Maybe he was projecting, hoping that she could relate to him in that way. Then, to his surprise, her questions all but confirmed it. He took a drag of the joint, and then another, turning his response over in his head. “Not to be dramatic, but I think it felt like... I was missing part of myself. The part that only he knew, you know?” he looked down at his hands. “It still feels like that. Like I’m a fraud, like everything I do without him is just pretending.” Cole looked back up at Max, wondering, but not wanting to pressure her. “Maybe I need a shrink.”

goldenboyrichards​:

Adam couldn’t wrap his brain around Cole’s words. There was no way. No way he had… because how could he be here now? If that had happened, why didn’t his family say anything? How could they just not remember? 

They had left his room exactly the same, down to the dirty clothes littering the floor and the half-drunk can of New Coke on his bedside table. At first, when he’d come home and seen that, he’d felt odd about it. Like he was a ghost, returning to the place he’d felt most comfortable haunting. Maybe… maybe there had been some truth to that feeling. But that was just impossible. Right? How could someone be dead for three years, then just come back like nothing had happened? 

Adam stopped that train of thought in it’s tracks. “No, I… no.” He said more firmly, shaking his head again. His hands let go of Cole briefly, only for his balled up fists to scrub at his eyes. “I didn’t die, Cole. I didn’t…” Adam repeated, voice pleading with Cole. Because he didn’t die. He couldn’t. What did that mean if he did? And what did it mean if he didn’t? “I left. I was in a commune. I’m sorry.” Adam repeated, voice breaking on his apology. 

And then Cole was kissing him, and the distress he’d just felt melted away slightly. It wasn’t gone. It was just shoved away to the back of his mind, deep in a dark place where Adam could hold on to it until he felt ready to process something that huge. Adam’s arms returned to Cole, wrapping around him and pulling him close. For the first time ever, Adam didn’t really care that they were in a semi-public place. Mrs. Sanders be damned. He kissed Cole sweetly, making up for the three years they’d been apart as best as he could. Adam ached for that time back, but he would take what he could get now. As they pulled away, Adam leaned his forehead against Cole’s, sighing at how right it felt. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” 

xx.

Cole’s heart leapt into his throat at Adam’s pleading tone. He wished he hadn’t said anything, and just let Adam go on believing that he’d gone away to a commune. But Cole had never been able to lie to Adam, nor did he ever want to. He knew that, although it was entirely too much to understand, Adam would want to know. Maybe he even needed to know, so he could stop punishing himself for ‘leaving Cole.’ But only when he was ready, only on his own terms-- Cole felt a pit in his stomach as he remembered Max’s description of the Mindflayer and how it possessed its victims. Something akin to rage flared up in Cole’s body thinking about it hurting Adam, but he buried the feeling for now. That was something to ask Max about later.

Meeting Adam’s eyes, Cole shook his head. “Please stop apologizing,” he said, brushing a stray tear off of Adam’s cheek. It made his chest physically ache to hear the pain in his voice.  “I don’t blame you. I know it wasn’t your fault.” Cole’s eyes welled up again as he offered Adam a smile. “I’m just so glad you’re here, that you’re okay. I love you. I always will.”

Cole paused again, barely resisting the urge to kiss away his questions. “I might have some answers... about what happened. We can talk about it, whenever you’re ready,” he promised, taking Adam’s hands and squeezing them for comfort. Distantly aware that they were still on the Richards’ front porch, but unwilling to leave Adam, Cole tugged on his hand. “Want to come over to my place?” he asked, knowing that his house afforded them more privacy, as it was only him and his mom.