Authors Note: These are oneshots focussed on the Dixon brothers childhood, but also features an OC from my other TWD story. You don't need to have read it, but chapters will probably alternate between her PoV and Daryl's.Someone requested it on my other story (if that was you - hi! I can't reply to you personally because you're signed out but I see and love all of your comments, so thank you!). I'll update these when I can and when an idea strikes me, but my main TWD story is my priority.I hope you enjoy these. Feel free to let me know what you think!

Naomi

Daryl wasn't at the school gates. We'd got split up coming out of the classroom, and it wasn't like he said he'd wait for me, but he'd been there every day since I'd moved to this school. I waited, trying to make myself as small as possible as bigger kids shoved past me. The crowds thinned out and there was still no sign of him.

Maybe he got detention again.

When I first moved here, Daryl was always getting into fights and I'd end up sitting on the wall by the gates for an hour or two until he was done. I didn't mind, it gave me time to read, but it looked like it might start raining soon and I didn't want to get caught in it. So, I walked back toward the building, scanning every face I passed for Daryl's. At the start of the day, that kind of staring would be enough to get your ass beat, but after the last bell most kids were too busy trying to escape the school grounds to bother about the weird kid hanging around in them.

The school corridors were empty and echoey, and I felt like I was doing something wrong just by being in them after hours. I knew my way to the detention room, not because I'd ever had to go there myself, but because I'd done this hunt for Daryl many times before. There was a small window in the doorway, but it was too high up for me to see in without being on my tip toes. I stretched up and peered through. Usually it took me a few seconds to find Daryl amongst the others, but I couldn't see him at all. A part of the room was slightly beyond my line of vision and I had to jump up and down to see into it properly. I only got flashes at a time.

No Daryl.No Daryl.Oh no.

Mr Anderson stared back at me through the glass on my third jump. Fear twisted up in my gut. I didn't know him all that well, he was usually a fourth grade teacher, but he also took detention after school, which must mean he was pretty strict, right?

Can you get detention for spying on the detention room?Will that go on your permanent record?

I turned and started walking away as fast as I could. My instinct was to run, but I knew you definitely could get detention for running in the corridors, so I didn't. I heard the door of the detention room open and Mr Anderson's voice carried into the corridor, "Naomi?"

I turned to face him and my heels squeaked on the shiny floor. "Yes, sir?"

"Can I help you with something?" he asked. "I haven't checked, but I'd be surprised if you were on the list for detention today."

"I'm looking for Daryl," I said and then just in case there were a lot of Daryls at this school, I added, "Daryl Dixon."

"I knew who you meant," he said with a slight chuckle. "I'm sorry, he's not here today. Haven't seen him for a few months actually, he must be keeping out of trouble."

"Yeah," I said, feeling a flash of pride for Daryl. He'd promised me he'd try harder at school and a teacher had noticed. Not even our teacher, but the one who taught a grade above us, somehow that felt even more special. "He's real smart, y'know. Some folks don't think he is because he gets in trouble a lot, but if you get our class next year, you'll see."

"Well, then, I hope I do," Mr Anderson said, and I decided I liked him after all. "Why are you looking for him? Has something happened?"

He got that concerned look in his eyes that teachers sometimes get. Doctors and nurses get it too. Then they start asking things like 'Did nobody pack you a lunch?' and 'Are you sure you got that from falling down the stairs?' and 'how are things at home?', and you'd have to start lying.

"We usually walk home together is all," I shrugged to hide the worry tying itself in knots in my stomach. "But I can't find him."

"Your parents ask you to do that?" he asked. "I know you two live close to each other."

I nodded, although I doubted either of our parents would be sober enough to know what time we were meant to be home from school. This was just something Daryl and I had started doing without thinking about it.

"Sorry, I can't help you," he said. "I'm sure he'll be around somewhere."

"Thanks anyway," I said. My feet were itching to get moving again. Daryl had only ever been late to walk home if he was here. He'd hadn't missed it otherwise, not once.

I walked fast, like I'd be able to outrun the dark, cold hole opening up in the pit of my stomach. How long did Daryl have to be missing before I could call the police? I'd called ambulances before, but I'd always been a little scared of the police when they'd come round. But, Daryl's Daddy sure wouldn't notice he wasn't home, so I was going to have to do it myself. Would they listen to me? Could they take a statement from an eight year old, or would I have to come back and get Mr Anderson to act like my guardian or something? Momma had been out of it for a few days, she'd be no help.

If he wasn't in detention and he wasn't waiting for me, I couldn't think where he'd be. The only thing left for me to do was walk the route he should have taken and look for clues. Problem was, I didn't really know what 'clues' looked like. A sign of a struggle, maybe? Something belonging to Daryl?

I kind of knew it was hopeless, but trying to look for clues stopped me thinking about how long the walk home would be without someone to talk to. And how I didn't really want to do it if I couldn't hang out with Daryl at the end of it. Maybe Daryl would be home when I got there. Maybe he'd just got sick or forgot and I could yell at him when I got there.

And then there he was - sitting at a bus stop across the street. We never got the bus home because we didn't have the money for it, and even if we did, he was on the wrong side of the street.

"Hey!" I yelled. Daryl tried to act like he hadn't heard me, but he was the only one at the bus stop who didn't look up to see who was hollering. He ducked his head a little, like that would hide him somehow. It didn't. I'd know his messy mop of hair anywhere.

"Hey!" I yelled again, louder this time and not caring who turned round to stare at me. I looked both ways and then dashed across the street to where he was sitting.

"Oh, hey," he said, but he didn't look up from his shoes.

"You know this ain't the right bus stop to get home, right?"

"Yeah, I know," he snapped. I hoped he didn't think I'd told him that because I thought he was dumb, I was only surprised that he was here.

"Oh, okay," I said. "Where you going?"

"Not home."

"So, we ain't walking together today?" I asked. The answer was obvious, it just didn't make any sense.

"I can't today, I'm busy."

"Busy getting the bus?"

"Yes."

"The bus to… not home?" I said.

"Butt out, will ya?" he said. He looked at me then. Glared. And he yelled so loud the little old lady sitting next to him gave him a look like he'd taken a dump in her handbag and moved up a seat. I blinked at him. I was used to Daryl yelling, but he didn't usually yell at me so I didn't know what to say. He obviously wanted me to walk away, but I knew if I did, that dark, cold hole in the pit of my stomach would open again and I'd lie awake at night feeling it grow until it swallowed me whole.

So, I sat down in the seat next to him that the old lady had been in and didn't say anything for a while. He didn't tell me to go away again. Sometimes when Daryl's angry it's better to let him work through it on his own until he's ready to say something. I like to sit close though, so he doesn't have to look too far if he needs someone to talk to.

"I'm going to see Merle," he said eventually.

"Ain't he in juvie?"

"Yeah. My Daddy says visiting days are Thursday."

I looked around the bus stop and couldn't see any sign of Mr Dixon. Maybe he was running late. "Your Daddy coming, too?"

"No."

Daryl didn't say anything else about it. I was a little bit relieved, I didn't much like Mr Dixon, but I also didn't think this was the kind of thing Daryl should do on his own. Juvie sounded scary, much worse than detention. It was a long way to go on the bus, and Daryl didn't go many places. School, the woods, and the trailer park we lived in, that was it. He didn't much like busy places and other people, either. Even now, at a bus stop with four or five other people, he was staring at his shoes and tapping his feet on the ground like he wanted to run anywhere else.

I'd been to more places than Daryl. Momma had moved us around from place to place every few months for as long as I could remember. This was the longest we'd stuck somewhere.

"You got enough money?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, and he unclenched his fists. A few scrunched up bills and an assortment of coins sat in his palm. I counted it, Daryl watched me. "What? Didn't I count it right?"

"Yeah, you did," I said. "But you know you've got enough money for two, right?"

"No. I got enough for one," he said, but he was counting it again. I did better in maths than Daryl so he always trusted me on these things.

"Yeah, but if you're under seven, you go half price," I said. "Which means you got enough for two."

"I'm eight," he said.

"I know that."

"So, I ain't seven anymore."

"Bus driver don't know that," I pointed out. "You don't look much different than you did when you were seven. Don't think he'd notice."

"Well, it don't matter because I ain't gotta pay for two," Daryl said, either annoyed I'd wasted his time or because I'd said he looked the same now as he did a few months ago. He was small. Scrappy as hell. But small for his age.

"But you could," I said, "y'know, if you wanted me to come with ya."

My offer hung in the air, and I looked away from him. Didn't want to see how he'd take it. Didn't want him to think I was pitying him or see that I was worried.

"Do you wanna come?" he asked.

"Got nothing else to do," I shrugged. "Plus, I ain't met Merle yet."

"You wanna meet Merle?"

"Yeah," I said, although I wasn't sure that was true. Juvie sounded scary and Merle sounded scarier for being in there. But, Daryl idolised him, and I wanted to see that the boy he looked up to was worth idolising.

"Okay, you can come meet Merle," Daryl said. I looked back at him now it had been decided and thought maybe he looked a bit brighter than he had before. I smiled at him and we sat in silence until the bus came.

"You two are a bit young to be travelling on your own, aren't ya?" The bus driver peered down at us when Daryl tried to hand over his money.

"Our Daddy's meeting us at the other end," I gave him the fastest lie I could think off before Daryl blew his lid at me for making him pretend to be younger. "We've just been visiting our Granny."

As I said this, I turned and waved through the window at the old lady who was still sitting at the bus stop waiting for a different bus. I've learned that if you smile big enough, most folks will wave back to a kid. Sure enough, she waved back almost on impulse and slightly confused.

"Alright, then," he said, seemingly buying my story. "As long as you've got someone meeting you at the other end."

He handed us our return tickets.

"You take 'em," Daryl said. "I'll lose 'em if it's me."

"Alright," I said, folding them up real neat and slipping them into my back pocket. I wanted to ask him what his plan had been for not losing his ticket if I hadn't been here, but given I'd almost got us kicked off the bus, I thought it best to keep my mouth shut.

The bus juddered to life and Daryl's eyes fixed on the floor again, but that's not what he's looking at. He's looking at something much farther away. His fists are clenched in his lap and I know he won't be doing much talking. Every now and then the bus driver checked on us through his rearview mirror and I'd give him a smile so he wouldn't regret letting us on. I kept an eye on the stops that passed and the ones that were coming up. We passed through parts of town I hadn't ever seen before. Houses with big gardens and neatly cut grass. Shiny cars in the drive. Kids with bikes and scooters and parents who'd fix their knees if they skinned them. Alarms fixed to their houses so strangers couldn't bust in during the night. Daryl let my have the window seat and I pressed my nose up to the glass.

"One day we're gonna live somewhere like this," I told him, and I didn't much care if he was really listening. "With one of those big security systems so nobody can get in, and Aircon in every room. Heating for the winter, too, so we don't gotta light so many fires."

"I don't mind lighting fires," Daryl mumbled. "Bet the neighbors here are just as nosy as back home."

"Yeah, maybe," I said. "But they probably ain't getting the cops called on them as much."

"Maybe," Daryl said, but he didn't look convinced.

"Hey, we'll just build it out in the woods," I said. "That spot by the creek we like. No neighbors. Ain't nobody can bother us then."

"Yeah. That sounds good."

Daryl was too nervous for me to tell whether or not he meant it, but I liked to think he did. The bus moved out of the nice part of town again. Houses got shabbier. More spaced out. Gardens had beer cans in them instead of gnomes. And then we were back out in the sticks. It was just like the sticks we lived in but on the other side of town.

Then the houses became fewer and far between. The bus driver's glaces at us got more frequent and Daryl got quieter and quieter. When our stop came up I nudged him. He gave a start and looked up at me like he'd forgotten I was here.

"This is our stop," I said. But Daryl lookee lost and on the edge of something I wanted to keep him away from. Maybe we shouldn't get off. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

"We don't have to," I said. "I think if we stay on the bus it'll turn back around again at the end of the route."

"No," he shook his head. "I gotta see Merle."

"Okay," I stood up. "Then get moving, dumbass."

Daryl stood up and the bus came to an unsteady stop. I could feel the driver staring at us while we waited for the doors to open up. There was very clearly no one waiting for us. The bus stop was empty and the road it was on was pretty empty too. I pretended like I was looking for someone who might be running late, but the doors had already opened so there wasn't much he could do.

The road was dusty when we stepped off. Felt like it took forever for the bus to leave again, so I kept acting like I was looking for someone who cared where Daryl and I were until he drove off. I watched it shrink, clouds of dirt and dust flying up behind the wheels.

"That it?" I asked, although there was only one building on this road. It was sprawling and square, surrounded by a high chain link fence with loops of barbed wire across the top. It felt like the biggest building I had ever seen. Big enough to swallow us both without anyone noticing.

Daryl nodded and we walked toward it. I don't know if I reached for him or he reached for me, but as we stepped into the long shadow of that dark place, I found my hand in Daryl's. We squeezed tight and didn't let go.

There was a gate through to a full parking lot. Rows of cars sat out in the fading sun. Visiting time was clearly in full swing. We followed a path away from the parking lot that lead around the side of the building to the main door. There was a buzzer I could only reach by standing on my tip toes. I heard it crackle on the other side of the door and a few minutes later, a guard came to open it up for us.

He looked over over our heads first, like he was expecting an adult just behind us.

"You two alright?" he asked.

"Um. We're here for visiting hours," I said when Daryl said nothing.

"There's only half an hour left," he said. "Who are you here to see?"

"Merle," I said. "Merle Dixon."

Something in the way the guard's eyebrows raised told me that nobody had come to see Merle Dixon while he'd been in here. I squeezed Daryl's hand a little tighter, and felt him squeezing back.

"I'm not supposed to let you in without a parent or guardian," the guard said. "Who are you with?"

Beside me, I felt Daryl bristle and I glanced at him. His eyes were on the floor but I knew the look on his face. Same one he got when he was about to start fighting at school. I didn't want to see him take on this fully grown prison guard. You probably got time for that.

"My Daddy's parking," I said quickly. "It's just...we were runnin' late, and we ain't had a chance to see Merle since… Daddy said we could go in ahead because there weren't no parking spaces left so he's gone to fine one… but we don't wanna miss Merle. He's been gone so long and we… we just-"

I could feel Daryl getting upset. I hate when Daryl's upset and it made it real easy to let my eyes fill with tears.

"Oh, hey, it's okay," the guard said before I could start fully bawling. "You can come in, I'll go get him."

"Thanks, mister," I wiped my eyes on the back of my sleeve and he let us in.

It wasn't what I expected, but I think I'd been picturing rows of inmates in stone cells either yelling abuse at us when we walked past or staring at us in violent silence. But, the entrance looked more like a hospital than anywhere else I'd been. Shiny sterile floor. Neutral paint on the walls. Pin boards with pamphlets about anger management and drug addiction.

The guard led us to a big hall, where other kids in prison uniforms were sitting at tables and talking to their families. He showed us to an empty table where we could sit and wait for Merle.

"Merle's just coming," he said, kindly. "I gotta say, it's nice to see him get some visitors. I sure hope your Daddy makes it in time."

"Thanks, mister," I said. "Me too."

He left us to wait. Daryl shrank in his seat, staring at the floor. I was too nervous not to look around. It could have been a school cafeteria, if it wasn't for the prison uniforms and armed guards at the door.

I had no idea what Merle looked like. There were no pictures of him up at Daryl's house. There were no pictures there at all. And he'd been in here since I'd met Daryl. When they brought him in, sandwiched between two guards, I only knew it was him because of the way his eyes locked on Daryl. He was taller than I thought, broader too, and I knew he was only a kid but he seemed grown. It was probably just because we were so young, but it might have been something about the way his hair was cut real short, close to his scalp. Or that his face was set in a glare that made him look older than he was. I tried to find a trace of Daryl him. His eyes when they slid over to me, they were blue too. Colder, but still blue. He frowned for a moment, scanned the area around us and then glanced back at Daryl.

"Hey, little brother," he said. Daryl looked up and then back down again. Merle sat down in the seat opposite us with a thud. I swallowed.

"Is Dad here?" he asked, looking around us again.

"It's just us," I said, since it didn't seem like Daryl would be speaking any time soon.

Merle looked over at me again. Sized me up. "Thought they weren't supposed to let kids in by themselves."

"They ain't," I said. "But I told them my Daddy was trying to find a parking space and cried until they let us in."

"Wait," Merle frowned again. "Your Daddy brought you?"

"No. We got the bus," I said. "They let you go half price if you tell 'em you're under seven."

Merle stared at me for what felt like a full minute, and then looked back at Daryl. "Who the hell is this kid?"

I looked at Daryl, too, and Daryl looked at the table in front of us. When the silence carried on, I stuck my hand out for Merle to shake.

"Naomi Payton," I introduced myself. "I'm Daryl's friend from school."

Merle shook my hand across the table. "That's a good handshake you got there."

"Thanks."

"Didn't know Daryl had a friend," he said.

"He does."

Now Merle was studying my face. I wished he'd look back at Daryl, his eyes were so cold. "Don't remember seeing you around before."

"I only moved in a year ago," I said.

"Where you staying?"

"The Miller's old place."

"Oh yeah, what happened to them?"

"Mr Miller shot his missus so now he's in jail," I said, hoping I'd got the details right. Daryl had only told me that story once. "Real jail, not like… y'know, this."

"So, what does your Daddy do?" Merle asked, trying to find something else to make small talk about while his brother stayed silent. "Does he work or is he an asshole like ours?"

He laughed then, like he'd made a joke he expected Daryl to be in on but Daryl stayed mute.

"I don't know," I said. "I never met my Daddy."

I think that's why I found it easy to lie about him. In my head he'd been everything from an astronaut to a zoo keeper.

"So everything you told that guard was a lie?"

"Yeah."

"And he believed you?"

"If you cry hard enough, most people don't question it," I shrugged.

"You'd make a good con man, little lady," Merle said like I'd impressed him. "You ever need a job when you're older, you come to me."

"No," Daryl said before I could think of anything to say back.

"What?" Merle looked at him, surprised he'd finally spoken.

"No," Daryl said again. "Naomi's gonna be President or some shit, she don't need no job from you."

"Is that so?" Merle looked amused. I'd seen that look before a million times. People gave me it every time I talked about the future. Like I was doomed to the circumstances I'd been born into and was stupid for thinking I could change them. But I would. I'd show all of them.

"No," I said, because I didn't want Merle thinking I was stuck up or anything. "I never said nothing about being President."

"'Course you will be," Daryl said. "Or maybe a doctor or a lawyer or something. She's the smartest kid in our whole school."

"That ain't true, either," I said.

"Sure it is," Daryl said.

"What you doing hanging around with a dummy like my brother, huh?"

"Daryl ain't dumb," I said and Merle laughed.

"He ain't!" I protested. "He got full marks on the last spelling test we did. And he can track a squirrel better than a bloodhound."

"Don't think bloodhounds are looking for no squirrels," Daryl muttered.

"Well, I tell you what, little lady," Merle said. "If you do grow up to be some fancy ass lawyer, I'll be expecting you to keep me outta places like this."

"Could keep yourself outta places like this," Daryl said. I thought I saw a flicker of something cross Merle's face but he smoothed it over before I could read what it was.

"Hey, full marks on a test," he said. "That's pretty great. Guess one of us had to be the brains in the family, huh?"

Daryl smiled a little then. His shoulders were more relaxed than they had been. Hands no longer clenched into fists. Sensing this might be a good time to let the brothers catch up, I slid down from the chair.

"I'm just gonna take a leek," I said. Merle nodded, and I was careful to talk to a different guard from the one who let us in. I didn't want him asking any more questions. The second guard wasn't as nice, but did point me in the direction of the ladies room.

It was quiet there, and I did kind of need to go. It was a long bus ride back. I sat by myself for a while, the same way I had done at my other schools. I'd moved around too much to make real friends, and spend a lot of time hiding in bathrooms with books. There hadn't been kids like Daryl there, or if there had, I hadn't been there long enough to get to know them before Momma moved us on again. Usually in the middle of the night. Usually without warning.

On my way back to the main room, I passed a vending machine and my stomach rumbled. I checked the corridor around me and found it was empty. There were probably security cameras, but I was willing to bet most of the attention was on the inmates and their families than here.

My hand is small enough to fit through the flap, and if I twist my arm in just the right way, I can reach almost anything on the bottom two rows. Momma taught me that. For a time, we moved from one motel to another, and if I could reach enough good snacks, we didn't have to fork out for dinner. Momma also taught me that if you cry enough, men will sometimes let you get away with things. Not all of them, some of them hit you when you cry too much. She didn't teach me to spot the difference because I'm not sure she knew herself.

I reached in and grabbed two bags of chips, stuffing them in the waistband of my sweats, knowing my jumper was baggy enough to hide them. When I got back, Daryl and Merle were laughing about something. I didn't know what but it made me smile like it was contagious.

A whistle rang out in the hall as I made my way back to their table.

"Visiting hours are now over," one of the guard's announced. Mere got to his feet.

"Good to see you, little brother," he said. "And nice to meet you, President Payton."

"Nice to meet you, too, Merle," I said.

"Hey, Merle?" Daryl called as two guards came to take him away. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, kid."

Daryl stood and watched until his big brother disappeared behind a closed door.

"We can come back sometime," I said. "Now we know when visiting hours are and how to get here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

As the other inmates' families started filing out through the doors, I pulled Daryl into the middle of the crowd so that we'd be hidden from any nosy guards with questions about guardians. We walked over to the bus stop in silence to wait for a return bus driver who'd hopefully care less than the first guy. The seat at this bus stop was broken, so we sat crisscross applesauce in the dirt.

"Hey, Naomi?" Daryl said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I think you might be the best friend I ever had," he said. "Is that lame?"

"Nah, that's okay. You're mine, too," I said. I pulled both bags of chips out from under my shirt and held one out to him. "Want one?"

"Where'd you get those?" he asked suspiciously, but took one all the same.

"Vending machine," I shrugged. I didn't mention how my hand is small enough to take things without paying. But I think he knew, because he didn't ask where I got the money for them. Knowing there'd be nothing waiting for either of us when we got home, he ate them in silence while we waited for our bus.