Best Friends to the End

Sadie could tell if she was going to hang out at Daryl's house by what truck was in the driveway when they walked up.
Old beat-up Buick meant she and Daryl turned and walked back to her house.
No vehicle at all or not quite as old Ford pick-up meant she and Daryl were staying there for the afternoon.
Sadie liked being at Daryl's house. Sure, it wasn't as big or fancy as her own house, they never had snacks, and you could still smell the stale cigarette smoke lingering on the dilapidated furniture where his mom had smoked inside for many years; but it was comfortable to her. They were usually left alone at his house, unless Merle was feeling like they needed quality time with him. At Sadie's house her little sister was usually pestering them to play house or fashion show or something else Sadie knew Daryl would never do. Sadie's mom would pester them with questions about what happened at school, if they wanted snacks, did they finish their homework, and so on. Sadie's dad worked a lot. He was almost never home. But when he was he would ask Daryl to help him around the house; doing stuff the girls flat out refused like raking leaves or fixing the roof. Sadie complained that he was there to be her friend, not her dad's. She knew Daryl didn't mind though, he liked having someone to look up to as a father figure.

As they walked up the dirt road Sadie tried to peak over the small hill to be the first to see what vehicle, if any, was there. They had stopped at the grocery store on the way home; she made up the excuse she needed tampons but really it was to buy food for Daryl's house; and she didn't want to carry her bag all the way back to her house.
"Yes! Green pick-up!" She exclaimed, walking a little faster.
Daryl nodded in agreement, "Merle's home."

Inside Sadie put her grocery bag on the counter and began unloading the contents.
"Thought you were gettin' lady stuff" Daryl said, eyeing the loaf of bread and sandwich stuff she was pulling onto the counter.
"I was", she answered, pulling out a small box of tampons and shaking them at him, "but then I got hungry because I didn't eat lunch, remember?"
"Mmhm" Daryl grunted, swatting the box of tampons away from his face.
That was when Merle decided to appear from his room in back of the trailer.
"Well well well! Darlene and sweet cheeks!" he exclaimed walking in and kissing Daryl on the temple, which caused a shoving match between the two.
"Hi Merle" Sadie said, working on sandwiches for them all.
"Sadie my dear, you's grownin' up quite nicely... " Merle said eyeing her from behind, causing a scowl to pull on Daryl's face. He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and continued "when ya gonna be eighteen so we can run away 'gether?"
"In your dreams, Merle!" Sadie said, not looking up from the counter. She was used to Merle's antics. He'd been up to them since he thought she was old enough to get away with the comments.
"You guys'll be sixteen soon, sounds old 'nough to me!" Merle laughed.
"Shut it, Merle" Daryl said and moved to stand beside Sadie.
"Merle: cheese? Lettuce? Mayo?" Sadie asked, bumping Daryl with her hip to get him to lighten up.
"Be still my heart! She cooks too!" Merle said grabbing his chest, "don't let her get away Dare Bear, no woman's ever cookin' fer me!"
"That's cuz you don't let them stick around long enough, Merle-y bird!" Sadie said handing him a plate with two sandwiches.
Merle laughed, "too true gorgeous, too true." With that he accepted the plate and went to sit outside.
Daryl watched his older brother until he was out the door, "annoyin' ass".
"He's just messin' with us" Sadie said handing him his plate with two sandwiches as well.
"If only ya knew how he wudn't" he replied before taking a large bite.

Once Sadie made her sandwich they went outside to sit with Merle. The weather was starting to get cooler in the evenings so when the sun got low Merle lit a fire in the make shift fire pit he had set up for when he threw parties.
"So how's ya'll's first day of tenth grade?" Merle asked when everyone finished eating and he had downed his second beer.
"I can't believe you know what grade we're in!" Sadie exclaimed, moving a little closer to Daryl on the bench they sat on. It was cooler than she expected and the fire hadn't gotten very large yet.
Merle faked shock, "I know all 'bout the two of ya."
They laughed at this. Merle was lucky he remembered himself most of the time. He was going down a similar path as he and Daryl's father with the drugs and drinking. He however, still remained somewhat friendly.
Merle went back inside and came out with three bottles of beer. He handed one to Daryl and one to Sadie. Daryl accepted his. He didn't drink, but occasionally had a beer with his brother. Sadie shook her head no.
"Ya don't drink?" Merle asked, tucking the beer beside him for later.
"Just don't see the point", Sadie replied honestly, "besides, I'm only fifteen." She didn't care that Merle drank, she had never known him not to. It did bother her a little that Daryl did, especially after seeing what it did to their dad. But, like Merle said, he was almost sixteen and pretty much an adult.
"Ah yes" Merle said. "We needa plan ya'll a big birthday bash."
"NO" both Said and Daryl said at the same time.
A large smiled crawled across Merle's face, "why not?"
"Ya know why!" Daryl said.
Merle did know why. His "birthday" party for Sadie and Daryl would end up being all of his friends over drinking, listening to loud music, doing drugs and eventually a fight between two people resulting in the cops being called.
"Nah, it's settled. We're having a birthday bash" Merle said sitting back in his lawn chair and smiling up at the night sky before finishing off his fourth, or was it fifth, beer.
Daryl snuggled a little closer to Sadie, not because it was cold but because the beer was letting him loosen up a bit, and hoped that Merle would forget the party plan by him and Sadie's birthdays. It was two months away and Merle wasn't exactly known for his clarity of mind.

They sat in the yard making small talk for a bit longer, letting the fire die down. Daryl had gotten a blanket for him and Sadie since his arm wasn't working against the cold much anymore and the warm glow from the dwindling fire and snuggling under the blanket next to Daryl was making her tired. She tried to fight a yawn but it didn't work.
"Ya ready for bed?" Daryl asked when he noticed and she shook her head yes.
They stood up to head inside and noticed Merle had passed out in his chair, snoring.
"Should we wake him?" Sadie asked.
"Nah, let him sleep off the beer" Daryl said.
Sadie placed the blanket over him and followed Daryl inside to his room. She called her mom and told her she was sleeping over. When Sadie was younger her mother used to say "Sadie! What on earth will the people in this town say if they find out I'm letting you sleep over with a boy?!"
Sadie's response had always been "well don't tell them, and it's Daryl, mom."
Eventually her mother gave in when she realized they weren't sleeping together and told them not to go spreading it around. Sadie's parents were well know in their small community and they didn't want people talking. Sadie never cared much about it but tried to abide by her mother's wishes. She wasn't sure if her mom knew they actually slept in the same bed, but like she had said before, it was Daryl- there was no reason to worry.
"You remember the plan?" Daryl asked.
Sadie nodded, yawning again before climbing into Daryl's bed. One of the first times they had a sleepover Daryl devised an escape plan in case his dad came home while Sadie was staying over. He did it more so she wouldn't see him in a drunk rage than anything else. Daryl did not want anything to happen to her, or for her to see what happened to him when his dad came home.
"Go over it with me" he said climbing in beside her.
"Daryl, I'm tired." Sadie said, almost asleep.
"Sadie" he said trying to be stern.
"Climb out the window over the bed, you have a block there for me to step on, run down the road and don't stop until I'm home, you will call me when he's asleep" Sadie repeated for what seemed like the millionth time in her life.
"Good" Daryl replied. But Sadie didn't hear him, she was already asleep. Daryl watched her until her breath was even and he knew she was in a deep sleep. He brushed some hair from her face and laid his head down on the pillow beside hers. He fell asleep hoping they would never have to use the escape plan.