A/N: A little look at Daryl and Juliet growing up together.

2001- age 8

He sat with Glenn Rhee every day for lunch and sometimes Rick Grimes sat with them, but they all agreed, no girls. Girls had cooties and nobody wanted that. They were able to keep their table together for the first month of school, but then Maggie Greene and her friend Juliet Holder parked themselves at the table and declared that the boys couldn't hog the table by the window any longer.

Soon Lori Walker joined in and there was no getting them to leave after that. Daryl had a feeling that this year was going to be a doozy.

Juliet parked herself right next to him and stole one of his potato chips, and before he could object she handed him a vanilla Oreo from the baggie in her lunch. Juliet didn't like the chocolate ones, although he would learn that she did love chocolate, but on her terms and not in cookies.

Daryl accepted the cookie and pushed his bag of chips toward her without looking at her, because she was a girl after all.

He didn't really like girls.

Juliet didn't seem to notice, she just ate the chips happily and talked the entire time about "Sailor Moon" and some TV show about Zombies that her older cousin watched.

Daryl would learn through the years, about her likes and dislikes and she would learn his. In the years to come he would teach her how to shoot a gun, how to fish and how to drive. She would help him pass US History and English Lit, his two worst classes ever. He would punch out the first boy to break her heart it their senior year of high school.

And protect her like a brother.

Juliet would help him stay calm, when things went crazy in his life, she would become his anchor and touchstone and his favorite person in the world. No one would ever mess with her either, not as long as he was around.

He would never leave he side, no matter what happened and who moved in and out of their lives. But on that day they were just two kids sharing their snacks and wondering if they were going to like the second grade at all.

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2003- age 10

Daryl hadn't been in school for three days and they didn't have a phone so she couldn't call him. On the third day, Juliet walked to his house after school and banged on the door. She had walked almost ¾ of a mile from his house to hers and she was not leaving until she saw him.

She heard a gruff voice through the door saying "Go away" but it wasn't Daryl, it was a teenager. Daryl mentioned a brother before a few times, that must be Merle she supposed.

She kept banging because now she was worried. Where could he be? Daryl never missed school. He always said it was better than staying home and she didn't really get that but he wasn't the type to elaborate much.

Finally, the door was opened by a surly looking teenage boy, who looked a lot how she imagined Daryl would look one day. He had the same blue eyes and raggedy blonde hair. He was an older version of him and they were definitely related.

"What do ya want?" The boy growled.

"You Merle?" She asked, holding her hand up to her eyes to keep off the glare from the sun over the house.

"Who wants ta know?" The boy answered as he looked down at her.

Juliet squared her shoulders up and faced the boy. "I'm looking for Daryl."

"He aint here."

She put her hands on her hips, not taking his explanation at all. "Where is he? He missed school three days."

"Who are you, the truant officer." Merle replied.

'I'm Juliet." She said. "He's my friend."

"That so?" Merle replied, raising an eyebrow. Juliet was struck because, Daryl did the same thing when he was teasing her, which he did often. "Like in Romeo and Juliet?"

"Pfftttt, you think you're the first person to make that joke? Where is he?"

Merle looked at her, his eyes assessing her. She was a damn little spitfire. She did walk all the way over from god knows where and had banged on a stranger's door. That wasn't so smart for a little girl really, Merle supposed she really was his friend and he was glad of it.

Daryl needed a friend.

She had a set on her for a little kid to do that and get into his face this way. A little spit fire was what she was.

"He's in the hospital, got some broken ribs."

"What?" She bellowed. "How did he do that?"

Juliet was scared, Daryl was her friend and she knew he was seriously hurt, her mother was a nurse in the ER. Maybe she could ask her if she had seen Daryl.

"I'll tell him you were here; he should be back in school Monday. Go on home now Juliet."

And he slammed the door in her face.

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Later that day Merle went to see Daryl with a chocolate milkshake, like he had done every day since he was hospitalized. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Daryl's face, healing from the beating he took. He still had a shiner and a cut on his cheek.

They had told the nurses he fell out of a tree, but Merle figured they didn't believe them. Still they had no proof otherwise. For now, anyway.

"You had a visitor today." He said as Daryl sipped his shake.

Daryl had taken a bad beating from their Dad over the weekend when he was drunk and Merle had taken him to the hospital when he got home and found him. He also beat the crap out of the old man for the first time when he got back home. The fight ended up outside when Travis pushed Merle out the front door and the neighbors called the cops. Travis was in jail at the moment. For now, they were both safe from his rage, for a while anyway. Until the next time.

"Little girl, Juliet." And Daryl looked up at the mention of her name.

He sipped his shake waiting for Merle to tease him for being friends with a girl, but he didn't.

"She's got balls too, marched right up to the door and banged on it till I answered, even after I told her to go away." Merle laughed. "You tell her she can't do that, you know why."

"She didn't know."

"Just tell her, cause if her was home and she woke him up…" Merle trailed off and Daryl nodded.

They were silent again. Travis was a bastard and he wouldn't like someone coming over that he didn't know. It could get ugly.

Then Merle spoke again. "Did you ever kiss this Juliet."

"Ew." Daryl said with total disgust. "No, it aint like that."

Merle looked at him and smiled, the kid had no idea.

"Someday, brother, kissing her is all you're going to think about."

"Ew." Daryl replied as he drank his shake.

When he went back to school the following Monday and Juliet ran to him on the playground, so happy to see him back. She knew to be careful and not trample him, her mother had said that his injuries would take a long time to heal up. But she had missed him and made no secret about it.

He pulled her over to a bench, so that it was just the two of them and sat down then he told her what he never told people and she started to cry. It was then that he knew for sure that she was the very best friend he would ever have.

But he was never going to kiss her, or any Merle was as crazy as a shit house rat about that.

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2006 age 13

"Why don't you just ask Jules?" Merle said to Daryl as they sat on the porch of their broken down house watching Juliet walk up the long driveway to their house. Merle was the only person she allowed to call her anything but Juliet, not even Daryl. He started calling her Jules when she started coming over to help Daryl study. "You two's together all the time anyway."

At thirteen years old Daryl was faced with the crisis of the first school dance and if he should ask a girl to go or not. Rick had asked Lori Walker and Glenn was going with Maggie, but they liked them that way. There was no one he liked that way. Not really.

"It aint that way with us." Daryl replied and Merle gave him the eye." Gimmie a smoke before she gets here and starts yelling at us."

Merle laughed and lit them each a cigarette, because sure as shit, Juliet would lecture them if she saw them smoking. She did every time.

"She's a girl aint she?" Merle said. "You telling me you aint ever tried with her."

"Fuck no, I don't wanna piss her off."

"Oh, but you do think about it." Merle said with a grin.

"Merle, I'm a guy, aint that what we do?" Daryl said. "Don't mean nothing, it aint ever gonna happen."

"Oh, shit here comes the old man." Merle pointed to the beat up old truck coming down the road in the distance. "Go on and make ya'self-scarce Daryl you and Jules go fishin or something."

Merle stood up on the porch and waved Juliet to hurry up and he scooted them both out the back yard and towards the woods before their father saw them. It was times like these that he was glad they lived out in the middle of bumfuck, Georgia and had such a long driveway. Daryl and Jules were out halfway to the woods before the old man pulled up and he didn't even see them.

It was better that way.

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2009- age 16

They drove like a bat out of hell down the dirt road, Juliet's brown hair flying in the breeze out the window. Her hair was long now, almost to her waist and it always blew out the car window. Daryl was teaching her how to drive his truck and she was doing good considering it was a stick shift and it was her first time behind the wheel.

Neither of them were supposed to be driving, but they were literally out in the middle of nowhere and no one ever came down the old road, by Maggie's house, so they were safe. Merle would have a fit when he found out but Juliet would charm him into not grounding Daryl. She was able to get Daryl out of even the biggest jams he got into with Merle.

Merle had taken a liking to her, from the moment she banged on their door six years ago and demanded to know where Daryl had been. She cared about Daryl and Merle knew it. Merle didn't quite understand their relationship, it was totally platonic and Merle didn't do that with girls. Girls were for fucking and he knew for a fact that Daryl had never laid a hand on Juliet.

Her parents loved him too, Daryl was a regular at her house and sometimes Merle was too. Juliet had a sister that was eight years younger than her, Bella. They had the same mother but different father's, Juliet's father had dipped out long ago. But Bella's father, was really her father too. He treated he as if she was his own.

The radio was blaring "Goes Down Easy" and it was a sunny beautiful day. They were sixteen and life just didn't get any better. Travis was gone, in jail for a while. He had gotten into a bar fight and injured a man severely. Merle was eighteen by that time and he became Daryl's guardian.

The sign on the wall says no dancing on the tables, she never lets the rules get in her way, no she don't.

There just wasn't anything better then signing out of school, walking home and going out joy riding with your best friend.

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2010- age 17

"I'm going to the prom with Shane and you're going with Karen, its perfect." Juliet said as they walked along the dirt road towards his house. It was May now, and the senior prom was in three weeks.

They carried fishing poles and Daryl also had a bucket of bait as they made their way to the pond behind her house. "We can all sit together

"Yeah, it's gonna be a good time, you getting a hotel room after?" He asked and she stopped short in the middle of the road.

Juliet put her hand on her hip and Daryl stopped and looked at her, she jutted one hip out and scowled at him.

"What?" He said

"I don't bang everyone I date; unlike some people I know."

"OH please, spare me the innocent look, I'm the one that took you for plan B when you accidently slept with, what was that guy's name? Philip, from what's that town that starts with a W." Daryl laughed. "How do you sleep with someone by accident anyway? Hmmm."

"Kiss my ass, he was charming and…"

"He charmed your pants right off, did he?" He laughed as she kicked her foot at him, but he jumped out of the way.

"Whatever, I couldn't go to my Mom you know."

"Yeah Marcy would have a cow for sure."

"I'm on the pill now, so you don't got to worry." She grinned at him.

"Well, thank God for small favors."

"You know what Merle always says though Dar, wrap it in latex or she's gonna get your paychecks." She laughed as they walked down the street, soon he was laughing with her too. They had an easy friendship and they teased each other like siblings. But they would defend each other to the death from anyone who would even think about hassling the other. "Hope your wrapping it up."

"I don't bang everyone I date either." He said as they started walking again.

"That's not what I heard." She replied and they kept walking along the road together, shoulder checking each other along the way.

That September she would catch Shane at the drive in movie with some girl no one knew, someone from out of town. Juliet would cry for days, feeling like she would never get over it. Daryl would go to the hardware store where Shane worked for his father and punch him in the nose for hurting her.

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2016- Age 23

"Look who's fucking talking." Daryl said to Juliet as he handed her a bottle of apple juice. "Drink this, it's good for the baby."

They had been having a tiny tiff, which they often did, about nothing. Mostly just trying to get on each other's nerves and tease each other.

She took the bottle from him as they sat on her front porch, she held a bunch of pink balloons in her hand. Daryl had taken her to the doctor's that day for her ultrasound and she had found out the sex of the baby. It was a girl and she wanted to name her Emily.

Gareth couldn't take time off from work to go with her, and as of yet he hadn't been to any of her appointments, but she expected him any minute.

Actually he was late, very late. She looked at her watch and Daryl noticed.

"When is he getting here?" Daryl asked.

"I don't know, he's usually not this late, go on home if you need to. I'm fine." Juliet replied.

"Nah, I aint got nowhere to be yet." He said pushing off the porch and walking a few feet away from her. He lit a cigarette and inhaled it slowly. "He text you back?"

She shook her head. "It's really weird."

Daryl took another drag on the cigarette.

"He's been acting all sketchy…"

Thoughts?