Hey lovely reader!

This one-shot is an outtake for my bigger story "First experience." Events in this story come from chapter 6 when Carlisle calls all three of his sons into his home office because one of them has been looking at unholy websites on his computer. When none of them giveaway who was to blame Carlisle silently refers to the Sibling Code of Conduct. Edward begins to reminisce of the unlikely origin of The Sibling Code of Conduct.

As always, I portray the Cullen kids as teenagers. So at times their behavior as well as the situations they find themselves in, might be a little immature.

This is a wholesome brother/sister story. It's also pre Emmett.

Disclaimer: None of the Twilight characters belong to me. I'm just playing around with them.

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The Sibling Code Of conduct

Appalachia 1935

I walked into my room and went over to my window. Grabbing my wooden slingshot that laid on the windowsill I glanced outside the window at the wet trees and the pouring rain. For once the sun wasn't shining, it was cloudy and rainy, the perfect day to be outside during the day. Or it would have, if I wasn't stuck inside with her.

I placed the slingshot in my back pocket and turned around to walk out of my room and out into the hall.

With it being a nice day out in Appalachia, which we get so few of. My parents decided to go out on the town for a little time by themselves. Leaving me to stay with her. Which is not at all pleasant for me. I much rather be out and about in the small town exploring the shops or going to the Theater. But nope, can't do that. I'm stuck inside because my father insisted I stay home to keep an eye on her because she is still young. I protested, though he reminded me that when I was her age he never left me alone. Though that was completely different. I reminded him that when I was a two year old vampire I still needed him, where she does not need anyone. She proved that back in Rochester. She can hold her own, she's a great assassin. I believe we should hire her out to the mob, they would love to have her.

After all, she was only a four-month-old vampire when she executed the monster who had been her fiance, as well as his vile friends who brutally ended her human life, they more than well deserved it. If that incident had been during my vigilante days I would have done it, though at the time I was long over playing Judge, jury and executioner.

It amazed me that she tortured and killed them without drinking their blood, that's a great accomplishment for a newborn; not drinking human blood. When I had been a four-month-old vampire my greatest achievement had been not panicking when I saw how my own skin reacted in the sunlight. My father was not impressed with my assessment of her and made it very clear that I am not allowed to contact any mob bosses to see if they need a female assassin. What a pity. The mob is truly missing out on her skills. He also made it clear that I needed to stay home and keep her company, only leaving the house if she wanted to. Be a good brother, he had said.

I walked down the stairs and entered the sitting room where this blond female who is now my sister, sat reading a ridiculous romance novel. For once she's not verbally or mentally complaining about our half life. Though her thoughts were all on the weird stuff that's going on in that novel. It's rather...disturbing, disgusting, and very sickening. I blocked out her unnatural thoughts.

Feeling bored and having nothing to do I began walking inside the sitting room. Well technically, I could think of numerous things to do. I could play my piano, listen to my records, or a program on the radio, or even read a book. But each activity I could think of would annoy her. Each time we were alone and I tried to start a task to keep myself occupied, her verbal or silent complaints were always the same. That I played my piano too annoyingly, she didn't like the records I chose to listen to, I would get too animated and enthusiastic when I listen to a program on the radio. And let's not forget I breathe too loudly and turn the pages with too much force when I read a book. Nothing I do could please her and everything would result in an argument. After all, when she woke up to this half life of ours and she first heard the sound of my voice when I introduced myself, her thoughts made it clear that she could not stand the timber of my voice. I knew right then that was not the start of a beautiful sibling relationship. She really has complicated my existence.

"Why on earth do you have a slingshot in your back pocket?" Rosalie looked up from the book she was reading. 'What are you, like eight? Real mature, idiot.'

I rolled my eyes. Peering over my shoulder I gave her a smug look. I'm not about to waste my words on her and start an unnecessary disagreement, she isn't worth it.

A plan to beat boredom began to form in my mind. I turned around and changed directions and dashed out of the sitting room. In less than a second I was in the kitchen standing before the fridge. Despite having no need to eat food I opened up the fridge and looked inside.

Since my mother enjoys playing human and grocery shopping as well as making plates of food to take to the hospital for my father's co-workers, our fridge is fully stocked. I looked around, opening up the vegetable and fruit drawers. I knew there was one thing in here that I could use for my plan.

"Ah! There you are!" I said out loud to myself, as I rummaged through the fruit drawer and found the beautiful overly ripe cantaloupe.

'Who are you talking to, Edward? Your imaginary friend?' Rosalie's sarcastic thoughts came at me.

I didn't respond to her.

Carefully taking out the squishy cantaloupe that smelled horrible and was completely perfect for my scheme, I closed the fruit drawer and the refrigerator. With the cantaloupe behind my back I bolted to the sitting room to have a little fun.

Without a word I stood opposite the couch looking at Rosalie with a mischievous smile upon my face. I held the cantaloupe behind my back with the slingshot still in my back pocket.

"Ewww! What's that God awful smell?" Rosalie complained, looking up from her book.

"This beauty." I moved closer to her, revealing the cantaloupe that I had been hiding behind my back. I proudly held it up, showing the squishy produce to her.

'Gross.' She wrinkled her nose and gave me a disgusted look. "Only you would be dumb enough to play with human food."

I grinned my crooked smile. I know how much human food bothers her. Actually, anything and everything bothers her, especially me. Since she's taking up my Saturday I'm going to have a little fun annoying her and maybe she'll stop thinking about all the strange things the main characters are doing in her romance novel.

I extended my hand and held the cantaloupe out to her face. "Get a whiff of that wonderful smell." I said with a sarcastic laugh. The produce really did smell disgusting, there was no denying that.

"Stop being such a child. Go away and let me read my book in peace!" Rosalie irritatedly tried to swat the cantaloupe from my hand, but I pulled it back just in time. She then attempted to continue to silently read her book.

Seeing that I was annoying her I laughed. I stood next to the couch, spinning the cantaloupe on one finger like it was a basketball. Each time the cantaloupe spun around Rosalie became even more irritated. She's so annoyed with me she was getting to the point where she couldn't concentrate on her book. Which I was so thrilled about because she was getting to a very, very gross part in that chapter.

I don't normally go out of my way to annoy her. This is a first for me. I'm just tired of her always being overbearing to me and silently complaining about how I annoy her, when I'm doing nothing but being me. I can't stand her sometimes. Well, most of the time. She's not really a pleasant person to be around. It's very unfortunate she's a part of our family. She's very domineering. Just because she is frozen as a "mature eighteen year old woman" and I am forever as an "immature seventeen year old boy", as she has so rudely put it, many times to me. She believes that gives her a right to boss me around and call me "idiot" all the time. She often calls me that silently or behind our parents backs so they won't scold her for it.

I stopped spinning the cantaloupe and balanced it on my finger. Rosalie tried to ignore me and began fiercely concentrating on her romance novel. She was silently reading it, unfortunately I could hear her thoughts. I didn't want to know what the characters were going to do once they reached the bedroom and took their clothes off.

In an attempt to both distract and annoy her I held the cantaloupe in my left hand. With my right hand I dug my fingernails into the squishy fruit, picking out a little chunk and tossing it in her direction. It hit her shoulder and fell to the floor.

Rosalie immediately stopped reading her disgusting book and glared up at me, a fierce look on her face. "If you get that in my hair you'll regret it. I'm warning you, idiot. If a crum touches my hair you'd better start running." She warned. Her thoughts matched her spoken words. She was not playing around. For some reason she's always so worried about her hair.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. She could chase me all she wanted to. She would never catch me. I'm too fast. With my free hand I quickly retrieved the slingshot from my back pocket.

'Why did Carlisle have to create a child? Isn't there supposed to be an age limit on vampire creations?' Rosalie thought in annoyance to herself. As she stared at me watching to see what I would do next with the cantaloupe and my slingshot.

"Will you quit referring to me as a small child?" I spat out. I held the cantaloupe in my hand like a ball as I positioned it on the slingshot. "I'm a grown man!" I'm not lying about being an adult. Even though I stopped aging seventeen years ago, at the age of seventeen. I have existed on this Earth for thirty-four years and that's the age I would be if I could grow old.

Rosalie laughed like that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. "Grown man!" She threw her head back laughing. I glared at her. "Grown men don't play with slingshots and cantaloupes. And they sure as hell don't prevent somebody from reading a very good book!" She held up the book, waving it angrily in the air for me to see.

"It's a disturbing book. You shouldn't be reading that anyways. It's bad for your thoughts." I clarified.

She shook her head and disagreed. "It's a beautiful book about two people falling in love."

I did not make an attempt to hide my revulsion.

Rosalie ignored what she thought of as my kiddish behavior toward the idea of love. 'So strange how physically he appears to be almost fully grown but mentally he is far from it.'

I rolled my eyes at her thoughts. She was thinking about the theories my parents have about me. Since I am still quite innocent in some ways, Esme is convinced that I was still a bit too young to be interested in females when Carlisle created me. My father's opinion is similar to my mother's. He's medical hypothesis is that even though my body was close to being fully mature when he transformed me into a vampire, my brain hadn't caught up and wasn't fully developed. Therefore, I hadn't mentally reached were I desired the opposite sex. Unfortunately, they shared that information with Rosalie who questioned them of why I act so juvenile when she reads her disgusting romance novels.

I do not believe I act immature with such things. I just really don't enjoy the second hand thoughts that go through my sister's mind when she reads about romantic encounters. Her thoughts are uncanny and I don't understand them, nor do I wish to.

While she went back to reading her book I began using the slingshot to toss the cantaloupe straight up in the air, catching it before it could splatter on the floor.

"Watch," Rosalie hissed, not taking her eyes off her book. "You're going to break something."

I ignored my sister and continued shooting the cantaloupe up in the air with the slingshot.

Simultaneously while Rosalie silently read a very disturbing part in her book I shot the cantaloupe up into the air with the slingshot. While she silently read in grave detail about the disgusting act that the man was doing to the woman before they could even reach the bed, I was caught off guard by her thoughts and did not catch the cantaloupe. I saw it all in slow motion. The cantaloupe lightly touched the ceiling, spiraling down and ended up making contact with the elegant lamp from Paris that my father had gifted my mother. The cantaloupe ended up getting caught on the lamp shade, the elegant lamp tipped over knocking into the grandfather clock that was next to it.

Bong... Bong... Bong… Bonk... The grandfather clock chimed for the last time as it went crashing to the tan tile floor with the lamp shattering into a million pieces. The cantaloupe came in contact with the tile, splattering all over the floor and the wall.

I stood there shocked in silence, a sharp pain shooting through my chest where my un-beating heart is. Taking in this sight of the broken clock and lamp as well as the splattered remains of the produce that was all over the side of the wall and floor. My chest hurt badly as if the aftermath of a blow. My parents were not going to be pleased.

'Nice going, idiot.' Rosalie thought with a laugh."What did I tell you? You were going to break something.'' Her voice was a sneer.

I didn't focus on what my sister said or what she was thinking. In an instant I fell to my knees, thinking about the punishment that Carlisle might give me for being so stupid and playing with my slingshot in the house, which he had warned me not to do.

Rosalie let out one short laugh. "You're going to be in so much trouble. That was Esme's favorite lamp."

I groaned and rubbed the heels of my hands hard against my eyes. What should I do now? I knew I was going to be in so much trouble.

I remained on the floor sitting on my knees, my hands pressed against my eyes. "What do I do?" My voice was a heavy whisper that sounded strangely robotic and caught my sister's attention.

"What's the matter with you?" Rosalie questioned.

"Esme's going to be disappointed with me. Carlisle is going to be so upset with me." I spoke the words more to myself than to Rosalie, as I ran my shaky hands through my messy hair.

My sister's thoughts were of confusion. She didn't understand why I appeared scared. She was not around the first and only time our father dealt out a punishment that I never forgot and never wanted him to repeat. Though, I was sure what happened today with my stupidity, he would surely give me a whooping.

"What are you so worried about?" Rosalie wondered. "What's the worst thing Carlisle could do? Give you a stern talking-to?" There was a hint of a laugh in her voice as she thought about how passive Carlisle is. How she believes he should be firmer with me.

Rosalie is convinced that I am The Golden Child. She believes our parents are too soft on me. Though that couldn't be further from the truth. There's a difference when it comes to Rosalie and I. Since she is a girl and has been through alot, when they discipline her they are as soft as a cupcake. On the other hand, with me when I get out of line my parents are as tough as boulders.

"It'll be much worse than a talk, Rosalie." I sighed, the sound that escaped my lips was very close to a sob. I did not look at her. I couldn't. I was too ashamed.

'This is strange,' Rosalie thought to herself. 'He's acting like Carlisle's a human father and can whip him.'

My head jerked up, my golden eyes catching Rosalies.

The expression on my face did not go unnoticed by my sister. She made the connection while thinking of two little blonde boys - her human brothers. She was thinking of how similar their facial expressions were to mine just before her biological father would take them over his knee when they were in trouble.

I broke eye contact with her and looked at the floor. It wasn't only the punishment that my father would most likely give me, that had me acting fearful. It was also the fact that I knew my parents would be very displeased with me and I did not like that. I want them to be proud of me not hear in their thoughts about what a disgrace I am.

Suddenly Rosalie laid her book down on the couch and came to sit beside me on the floor.

"Hey, I think you're forgetting we're vampires and nothing can hurt us. Why are you so worried about physical punishment?" Rosalie's voice was unusually soft as her arm wrapped around my shoulders.

With her touch my body slightly trembled. The close proximity between us was unnatural, yet oddly comforting.

I turned my head just enough to see her face. "Sticks and stones cannot break our bones, like the saying goes, kinda." My voice was a whisper and my words were rather childish. Though I could not think of another way that I could explain this. "What's the one thing that could hurt us?" I asked, not waiting for her to answer my question. "Another supernatural force, like a vampire with equal or greater strength. Therefore, getting spanked by our father does hurt."

Rosalie was silent as she thought about my words. The whole time she was still thinking about her human brothers. Her thoughts began to drift off to the broom and metal dustpan that we keep in the kitchen.

I did not focus on her thoughts for long as I closed my eyes and saw a face in my mind of the man I admire and wish to be like. For the last seventeen years I've been trying so hard to resemble but obviously never will. Not just because we are not biologically related but because I will never be as kind, caring, compassionate, protective and especially as level-headed as my father. He would never make such an infantile mistake as goofing around in the house and breaking the furniture.

Without a word or another thought Rosalie retracted her arm from my shoulders. She was on her feet and out of the sitting room in one nimble move. She quickly returned with a towel, as well as the broom and dustpan.

I opened my eyes. In silence I sat not moving on the floor. I watched her move at a speed no human would be able to see. She gathered up all the broken pieces of the grandfather clock and the lamp, taking them outside and destroying the evidence. Once all the big pieces were removed she swept up the broken glass and the splinters of wood from the grandfather clock. When she tossed those out, all that was left for her to do was wipe up the splattered pieces of cantaloupe that were on the floor and the wall which she quickly did. With everything clean she rearranged the furniture in the sitting room making that corner not appear empty.

With the sitting room all clean Rosalie stood before me. Her features were soft as she reached out her hand. 'I'm going to need your slingshot.'

I frown, slowly I stood up, handing her the slingshot that was still in my hand. I saw her intent on what she was going to do with it - destroy the evidence like she did with everything else. But I didn't understand why she was doing this. She didn't even like me. I'm just a nuisance to her.

With the slingshot held tightly in her hand she began to glide out of the sitting room.

I stared at her. "Rosalie, why?" I asked before she could exit the sitting room.

Rosalie quickly turned around, her hair whipping the side of her face. "The slingshot makes us look suspicious." She explained.

I shook my head, that was not what I meant. "No." I said, I moved and was in front of her in an instant. "I mean why are you doing this?" I gestured my hand to the corner of the room where the elegant lamp and the grandfather clock once sat. "Why are you helping me?"

She raised an eyebrow. 'Do you really have to ask?'

I nodded my head. I may be able to read minds but I could not see her intent behind her actions. Maybe this was going to be her ammunition to blackmail me. Or perhaps, seeking out a favor since she just did me one without me asking.

'For a mind reader you can really be insensible at times.' Her thoughts, though insensitive, were not malicious. Her "voice" was kind and so was the way she looked at me.

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

With a small smile Rosalie looked at me. "Your mess is mine." She simply said. "You're my little brother and I love you. I won't let you get in trouble, you just have to trust me and do as I do when our parents come home."

I was dumb struck by her spoken words as well as her thoughts. Never before had she shown any love toward me. All this time I assumed she hated me. I never knew there was a caring side of Rosalie that existed.

Without a thought in her mind she wrapped me in a hug. The gesture was nice though unfamiliar since she and I had never embraced. Awkwardly, I put my arms around her waist and embraced her. Our gesture of affection ended just as rapidly as it began.

In mere seconds Rosalie had disposed of the slingshot and grabbed a deck of cards from the small shelf where we kept our board games. Rosalie and I went to the dining room table and began to play a game of Rummy.

Every now and then while we played I would catch a flash of memories of her little brothers from her mind, mixed up with images of me. Her thoughts were tanged with guilt.

"You miss them?" I questioned when I saw another memory from her mind, as I discarded my card.

With a small frown she drew a card. "It's strange to miss people you never got to know."

I made no attempt to hide my confusion. I didn't understand what she meant by that.

Seeing the perplexed look on my face Rosalie began to piece together her thoughts to explain it correctly. I patiently waited.

"You know how Carlisle and Esme are always finding new situations to put you and I in? In hopes that we will become acquainted with one another to be siblings and not just two strangers who live together?" Rosalie questioned, her voice sounding sad.

"Yes." I was more than aware of our parents intentions when I was made to go hunting or stay home alone with Rose, no matter how well Esme and Carlisle tried to conceal their thoughts. Though, I couldn't understand how this was connected to her past.

"My parents...the ones that I was born to." Rosalie began. "Didn't do that. Not only was I so much older than my brothers but it wasn't a priority to my parents to have me act like an older sister to them. I was also caught up in my own life, too busy to even think about bonding with my brothers. My parents didn't even care about that. They were too concerned about flaunting me off as their trophy of beauty and trying to marry me off to…"

"That's very unfortunate." I said before she could finish her sentence and say the vile man's name that raped and beat her, almost killing her. I knew what happened from her memories. I didn't need her to say it nor did I want her to relive and dwell on it.

It was a shame how her natural parents encouraged her to be so vain. Had they not done that, she might have been a very compassionate person. I didn't realize that was even a part of her, but I was seeing it now.

Rosalie played with a card that she held in her left hand, flicking it back and forth on the fingers of her right hand. "My brothers were merely little noisy nuisances to me. I wish I hadn't viewed them that way, but I did." She confessed looking at the card in her hand instead of up at me. 'Maybe if I would have been taught to be their sister I might know how to be kind to you. I don't know how to change that and since our personalities are frozen from when we were created, I doubt I can.'

I caught all the remorse, guilt and love in her thoughts. I had no idea she felt any of this; she did such a good job hiding it from me.

Rosalie grew silent as I heard the sound of my father's car pulling up the driveway. My sister, who has many regrets, began to cry tearless sobs.

For the first time since Carlisle created her I truly felt that Rosalie was my sister. Seeing her cry made me feel sad and regretful. For I had not been the best brother to her, certainly not today. Setting my cards down, I heard the front door open and my parents walk into the house as I got up from my chair. I walked around the table and put my arms around her. She welcomed my hug, placing her hands on mine, keeping me there.

Rosalie had stopped crying but silently insisted that I continue to hug her. I complied. We were still in our embrace when our parents entered the room. They were astonished to find us hugging. We had never done that before.

Rosalie and I greeted our parents as she let go of my hands. I ended our embrace as I went around the table and sat across from her as we continued our card game. My parents were so excited for this turning point in our sibling relationship that they almost didn't realize the absence of the grandfather clock in the elegant lamp when they walked into the sitting room. "Almost" is the key word here.

"What happened to my lamp that was next to the grandfather clock?" Esme's voice called to us when she and my father entered the sitting room. "And where is the grandfather clock?"

"Children, I need both of you in here now." Carlisle called us in a stern voice.

I looked questionably at Rosalie. I was getting nervous. My parents noticed what was missing. It was only a matter of time till they figured out that I was responsible.

'Don't look so panicky.' Rosalie thought compassionately at me. 'Follow my lead.'

I gave her one tight nod. I made up my mind to trust her and follow her suit.

Before our father could call us into the sitting room again. We got up and exited the dining room. We stood before him, Rosalie was still as a statue and not speaking as my parents questioned where the missing furniture was. I did the same as Rose, I didn't proceed to make a move or utter a word.

Our mother stood before us with her hands on her hips, giving us that icy withering stare she gives when we are in trouble or about to be. "What happened here while we were out?"

Without moving I turned my eyes to my sister. She looked back at me and we shared a look of understanding as she silently told me to keep my mouth shut. Our little silent conversation did not go unnoticed by our parents. Once more our parents asked us what we did with the grandfather clock and the lamp, neither of us said anything. Seeing how we were working together and getting along for once, neither Carlisle or Esme wanted to discourage that. My father mumbled something about the Sibling Code of Conduct and our mother agreed. Since they were unable to prove which one of us did what, neither of us got punished.

"I'm glad you're working together." Carlisle said to Rosalie and I, his thoughts were joyful that after all this time Rosalie and I were finally getting along like siblings should. "Just please don't let this become a habit where furniture goes missing when we go out."

Rosalie nodded her head and so did I. She still didn't think it was safe to speak yet.

My Mother took a deep breath. She would rather have Rosalie and I be peaceful with each other than to know what happened to the missing furniture. We were more important than material items.

Esme inhaled, sniffing the air in the room. "Why does this room smell like cantaloupes?"

"That's strange." My father registered the odd odor that lingered in the room. "I smell cantaloupe too." He said, running his hand through his golden hair that's a few shades lighter than his eyes.

Rosalie and I shared a look. Immediately she let a giggle slip from her lips and I could not hide my laughter. Only the two of us shared that knowledge and neither of us we're going to explain.

The End

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So that's the story of the Sibling Code of Conduct.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading. :)