AN: Thank's to everyone for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Reviews are welcomed. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead, It solely belongs to AMC and Robert Kirkman. I only own my own my character Shadow.

I Hate Goodbyes

It's been two and a half years since I've moved to my grandparent's trailer home. Sure it was a bumpy road during those two years, but I managed to make an awesome friend and grow close with my grandparents. Today though, I was losing my one and only friend. Daryl finally made a little bit of money to go on the road with his brother. He didn't know what they'd be up to, but he needed to leave his dads home before things took a turn for the worst. I understood that, but I still hated that the friend I came to know and love over the past two and half years was leaving.

Sure he was twenty years old and he couldn't spend his whole life living with his asshole dad and hanging with a young girl, but I wish he could. Anyway, Daryl got a hold of his brother a few weeks ago and they've been planning his departure. Apparently Daryl's dad was going to go on a hunting trip with some buddies and Daryl was going to stay home. So he let his older brother know and they decided when to leave. Sadly the day finally came and that day was today. I was watching Daryl and Merle load a few of Daryl's things into the back of his truck along with Merle's bike.

Daryl really didn't have a lot of things to take, but he took what was the most important to him, like his clothes, a few personal items, and of course his beloved crossbow. As I leaned against the side of my grandparent's trailer, I couldn't help the strong pang inside my heart, knowing that Daryl was leaving for good. I have no clue if I'm going to see him again and it really made me emotional inside. Maybe someday we'll cross paths again, but that was a long shot. Who knows what we'll be doing so many years from now. Hopefully he's able to stay out of trouble because from what I've learned from meeting Merle a handful of times, he's great at getting into trouble.

"Is that everythin' baby brother?" Merle asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Daryl said as he looked at the items in his truck.

"All right, guess we should be headin' out then."

"Give me a minute all right."

"Ya gettin' all sentimental on me now Darylena. Ya've been hangin' with that little pipsqueak to long."

"Leave 'er alone. Five minutes that's it."

"Fine, five minutes or I'm takin' ya damn truck and leavin' ya here."

Daryl glared at his brother as he got into the passenger seat of Daryl's truck. Daryl turned his attention on me and said, "Don't look so sad Shadow."

"It's kind of hard to do that when your best friends leaving," I said.

"Yeah, I know."

"I can't believe this is goodbye.

"It came up so damn quickly, didn't it?"

"It sure did. I wish we could have another year or two."

"So do I Shadow, but I have to get away. Ya know that."

"Yeah, I know. And I'm happy for you. I know you're close to your brother and you're going to have fun with him."

"Don't know about fun, but it's definitely going to be better than this."

I nodded and said, "I'm going to miss you Daryl."

"I'm gonna miss ya too, Shadow. Never thought I'd be sayin' that to anyone."

I smiled up at him and said, "Guess we grew on each other."

"Yup, we definitely did."

It was quite between each other as we shuffled in our spots. Goodbyes were hard and we were both feeling that unwanted pressure of finally saying goodbye for good. I hope it's not for good, but deep down, I have a feeling it actually is.

"I guess you should get going before your brother gets annoyed," I said.

"Pfft… Ain't worried about him. He just has to wait," Daryl said with a smirk.

I chuckled and said, "Okay."

"I got this for ya Shadow."

Daryl pulled a sheath out of his back pocket and handed it over to me. I pulled out the medium sized hunting knife that was just a little smaller than Daryl's and quirked a brow.

"You're giving me a knife," I asked.

"It's one of my extra huntin' knives that I had around. I usually used it when I couldn't find my other one, but I want ya to have it. So, ya can remember me," he said with a small shrug.

"Thanks, Daryl. This is an awesome gift. But I'll never forget you."

"I know, I'll never forget ya either. I still got my Christmas present and picture we took, so I can remember ya."

"That's cool. I really appreciate this."

"It's nothin'. I don't want ya to forget anythin' I taught ya."

"I won't. I'm going to go out whenever I can and put all my hunting skills to the test."

"Good, don't want my lessons goin' to waste."

"I won't let you down."

We chuckled and then Daryl's horn blew. Daryl glared at his brother and Merle said, "Come on ya two love birds. Speed this up, so we can get on the road."

Daryl flipped his brother off and Merle returned Daryl's glare from earlier. Daryl turned to me and said, "Guess this is goodbye."

"I guess so," I said.

"Gonna miss ya."

"I'm going to miss you too."

"Take good care of yaself Shadow and ya folks."

"I will."

Daryl pulled me into a small and awkward hug, but I embraced him tightly. He patted my head and we pulled away from each other reluctantly.

I sniffled back my tears and said, "Goodbye Daryl."

"Goodbye Shadow," he said with a disheartening look.

He hopped into his truck and turned it on, making it rumble to life. I backed away from it and Daryl started pulling out of the dirt driveway. Both of the brothers gave me a tight nod as they started leaving, and I stood in the drive way, watching the truck get farther and farther out of sight. Once the truck was fully out of view, my arms dropped and I tried to keep the tears from pouring out. I went into my trailer and as soon as I got to my room, I wept more than I ever had. My best friend was gone and I was never going to see him again. I may only be twelve years old, but this has been the best friendship I've ever had. It's definitely going to be hard to find someone who'll ever compare to Daryl, but I'm willing to try to find someone close enough.

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and put the knife Daryl gave me in my dresser drawer. I don't think my grandparents would approve of me having a knife, so I have to keep it hidden as well as I can. After I put my new knife in a secure spot, I pulled out my scrapbook with all my photos in it. I looked through all of the photos with Daryl and I, and decided to put some up on my cork board. I set it up to how I saw fit, now every day I can see my best friend smiling back at me.