This was a little idea I came up with a couple weeks ago, but never got around to writing it. Most likely because I was too busy writing something else, but that doesn't matter. It's here now, so be happy.

Disclaimer: IMAA is not - who am I kidding, you already know what I was going to say!

"This is a cute one." The redhead said, holding up the picture.

Her friend smiled as he looked at it. "I remember that!"

It was a picture of himself when he was younger. He was standing next to a woman who was obviously his mother, and even his dad was there. The one person there that the redhead hadn't recognized, was the little girl that sat beside her best friend. She had strawberry blond hair and light grey eyes.

"Who's that?" The redhead asked. "Is that Whitney?"

The boy laughed lightly to himself. "No at that age, she didn't like hanging out with me. She thought I was too boyish to hang out with."

"Then who is it?"

He smiled at her. "No one, just a childhood friend."

She didn't push the subject, for she could see he didn't want to talk about her. She didn't let his light atitude and smiles get to her. She could in his eyes that he really didn't want to be there. It must have brought some painful memories up for him.

She just wished he didn't have to hide it from her.

xXx

"So, how'd it go?" James Rhodes aka Rhodey, asked of his friends.

Both teens shrugged their shoulders, the redhead being the first to respond. "As good as packing can go. I don't see why you're bringing it up."

Rhodey shrugged his own shoulders. "I don't know, I think packing is fun. You always get to find stuff you haven't seen in forever. It's always fun finding something from when you were younger."

"Yeah, well I wasn't packing my stuff. I was helping Tony pack up his house." Pepper, the redhead, replied.

"So, that makes it all the more fun. What you find out about him?" Rhodey questioned.

"I am right here you know." Tony said waving a hand.

Pepper shook her head. "Nothing more than I already know about him."

"You're lying," Rhodey said, smirking. "You found out about something and you just don't want to tell me."

"I'm not lying!" Pepper protested.

"You're the worst liar ever...besides Tony of course."

"Hey! I'm still here you know!'

Pepper laughed, "Still not telling you."

Rhodey sighed, he had hoped she'd tell him what it was. It wasn't like he didn't know it already, he just wanted to know what she knew! Was that too much to ask?

"Come one, please?"

"Why do you want to know so bad?"

"I want to know what you learned about Tony!"

"Can you seriously not see me?" Tony asked annoyed from being ignored.

"Shh, we're talking." Both Rhodey and Pepper said.

"Fine be that way," Tony replied pulling out his ringing phone. "Dad want's me home anyways."

As Tony walked away, Pepper nudged Rhodey on the arm and whispered, "Tell you about it when we get your house."

xXx

"You want to know about Jules?" Rhodey asked, looking at the picture.

Pepper glanced down at the picture as well. "Jules?"

Rhodey pointed to the strawberry blond haired girl. "Yeah, her name was was Julie Farah. She was Tony's first friend."

"I thought you were his first friend." Pepper said.

"Nah, I met him when he was 7. Though, I was his first friend since his mom...you know."

Pepper looked down. She knew the death of his mother was a sore subject. Even when Tony wasn't with them.

"I mean Whitney and him knew each other since they were born, but they just hung out because their dad's were always busy. Plus Whitney had a weird phase when she didn't want to hang out with Tony because he was a boy."

Pepper rolled her eyes. Though, she didn't remember Tony saying something like that to her the other day. "So what about this Jules girl."

Rhodey sighed, as if he was about to go into a long story. "It's not an easy topic to talk about."

"I figured that, Tony didn't want to talk about her either." Pepper propped her chin on her palm. "What happened to her?"

"To put it simply," Rhodey paused as he averted his eyes. "She's dead."

xXx

Strawberry blond hair blew in the wind. Giggles rang in the air. Her hands were tightly gripped around the chain. Her feet kicked forward. "Higher!"

"I'm trying sweetheart," Her father said. "You're already going so high!"

"Higher, higher higher!" She cheered as he gave her another push. "I want to go as high as him, daddy!"

Two swings away, swung a boy with ebony colored hair. A woman was pushing him, and he was going so high.

"You're not scared anymore?" Her dad questioned the little girl.

She shook her head. "Nope! I'm a brave girl, daddy!"

Her dad shrugged his shoulders and gave her a great big push. She giggled and cheered as she swung big and high. She did it! She swung as high as that boy!

"I did it! Did you see daddy? I did it, I really did it!" She cheered as she swung.

"I saw, sweetie, you really are a brave girl." Her dad smiled. "Maybe one day you'll be just as brave as your mother."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

xXx

"So they met at a park?" Pepper said.

"Yeah, apparently she made a goal to go as high as Tony was going. it was later that day when he was leaving that she stopped him to say hi."

"She wanted to go as high as Tony was going? That's all?"

Rhodey shrugged. "Well, yeah. She was only five years old."

xXx

"Hey, don't go!" The strawberry blond haired girl said, waving her arms.

The ebony haired boy from the swings, let go of his mothers hand to turn around. "Huh?"

"Don't go!" She repeated.

She ran up to the boy and smiled. "I'm Julie!"

The boy looked to his mother, as if asking permission. She nodded and he smiled back. "I'm Tony."

"You were really good on the swings." Julie said, her arms behind her back, sheepishly. "I went just as high as you!"

"Oh, you did?"

"I did!"

"Cool."

"Sweetheart, don't be talking to strangers!" Her dad ran up to her, panting as he looked from Julie to Tony. "Oh it's the boy you wanted to go as high on the swings."

"Dad, shh!" Julie said stomping her little foot.

The boy, Tony laughed. "I saw you! You were going pretty high!"

"You think so?"

"Yeah!"

The girl smiled widely and looked to her dad. "Can he come to our house?"

"Sweetie, you don't know him?"

"Yes I do!" She protested. "His name is Tony!"

"I know who his is, I mean, you just met him." Her dad said, grabbing her hand.

"But I want him to play with me!"

Her dad looked apologetically at the boy's mother. "I'm sorry for my daughters behavior, she gets excited sometimes. My name's James."

"Maria," The two adults shook hands. "And don't apologize, I'm sure if my son wasn't so shy, he'd be just as excited. He's never had a friend before."

"Never?" Julie asked of the mother, Maria.

Tony shook his head in answer for his mom. "Nope."

She smiled at the two in front of her. "Then that's why I'll be your first!"

The boy's bright blue eyes lit up excitedly. "Really?"

"Yep, we'll be best friends!"

The boy looked to his mom. "Can I go to her house? Please?"

Maria looked to James, silently asking him if it was okay with him. He sighed, but smiled before he nodded.

The two kids smiled and jumped up and down, excitedly.

xXx

"How do you know all this stuff?" Pepper asked of Rhodey when he paused.

"Tony told me all of it. In lots of detail."

"You said she was dead…?"

Rhodey looked down. "Yeah, she is. She was 10 years old."

"So then, you met her?"

"Yep. She's the one who introduced me to Tony. Of course that was after his mom...yeah…." Rhodey bit his lip.

Rhodey's phone rang, so he pulled it out of his pocket. "Hello?"

Pepper's mind spun around the story she was just told. It wasn't her business about who Tony's childhood friends were, but she was so fascinated by this Julie Farah girl. And the thought that she was dead, made her feel so bad for Tony. He'd lost his mother, then his best friend, and he thought he lost his father. It was horrible how life treated him.

"That was Tony, he's on his way over."

"Oh," Was all Pepper could say.

She wanted to hear more of the story.

I've decided to end it there. So, what do you guys think? A little different to my other stories, don't you think? And please don't dislike it because it's not only Pepperony, there is a bit of Tony/OC, but there is Pepperony, so yay!

Fun Fact: I've lived in 9 different houses with my mom, and 5 different houses with my dad. (their divorced) So, in total I've lived in 14 different houses.

I'm sorry, I haven't really posted my other stories, high schools hitting me hard, and I've already gotten sick, so I haven't been able to write much more than this or the stories I'll make for my friend. But despite that, I will take on requests! So if you have any, just know I'll take 'em!

Hugs and Love, SilverPedals!