Best Friends to the End

It all started in the small kindergarten classroom deep in a small town in Alabama.

Daryl wasn't new to the area, but given his home life, he felt new. He didn't know any of the other kids; even if he did he doubted they would want to play with him. Even in kindergarten Daryl could tell these other kids were better off than him. Sure, there were other kids from the same neighborhood as Daryl, but their parents had jobs and at least provided the minimum. Daryl's mother wasn't allowed to work, it made his dad think she would meet someone else and leave.

Daryl's dad wasn't good. he wasn't a good father, good husband, good provider... The list went on. The only thing he was good at was disappearing for days on end and drinking.
According to his father, Daryl wasn't good at anything either. Before school started Daryl used to stay home with his mother, watching soaps and generally try to stay out of the way. Sometimes he would wander out into the woods. His older brother Merle was teaching him to hunt and fish, when he was home anyway. Merle was 10 years older and never seemed to be around much. Daryl didn't blame him, he didn't want to be there either.

Daryl sat in the corner of the room, occasionally glancing up to see the other kids running around playing. He was mostly trying to stay out of the way. If he didn't bother anyone else they wouldn't bother him. A lesson he learned as soon as he could. He went back to picking at the hole in the knee of his dirty jeans. Most of the kids had new clothes to start school in. Daryl was lucky his mom remembered to have him take a bath. he couldn't remember the last time he had new clothes. His shoes were a little big, but they were the only thing he could find in Merle's hand-me-downs.
"Good! Room to grow", his mother had said when he mentioned it to her. Daryl wasn't sure they would last long enough to be grown into.

A shadow appeared over him and Daryl glanced up to see a girl in a frilly pink dress with pigtails smiling at him.
"Hi!" She said to him, not seeming to notice how scared he looked. "What's your name?"
Daryl paused for a moment before saying "Daryl Dixon", just louder than a whisper.
"I'm Sadie Montgomery" she said sitting down beside him and smoothing out her dress. Daryl was sure she was there to make fun of him somehow and glanced around to see if other kids were near by, waiting for the punch line. When he didn't see any he turned back around to see Sadie staring at him with that huge smile still on her face.
"Do you have a best friend yet, Daryl?"
Daryl didn't know what she was getting at. He shook his head no. All the while wondering why on earth this girl had sat down beside a dirty little redneck and started talking like they knew each other.
"My family just moved here from Florida so I don't have a best friends either" Sadie replied.
Daryl just stared at her, slowly realizing that she wasn't there to make fun of him.
"Well Daryl, will you be my best friend?"
That was the moment Daryl and Sadie became inseparable.