Part 7

Charlie had been right when she had told Rosalie that she had no grasp on life as an immortal, or how life as a vampire would be. She came to that realisation when Rosalie recounted the conversation, Charlie unable to bring up the memory by herself.

Even after months upon months of this life, it was hard to remember much about her life as a human.

Because that was what she had been before.

Human.

She had vague memories, recalling her family, who they were. Their faces were harder to pull from behind the veil in her mind, but luckily she still had her phone and all the pictures on it. There had been a weird sense of déjà vu the first time Leah had scrolled through the pictures, showing her family photos and selfies her human self had taken.

It had taken a while before she had had the patience and focus to sit through that slideshow, though.

Those first few months of this new existence had mostly been contained by her need to feed, and her need to be around Rose. Rational thoughts had been far in between, instinct taking over on most occasions. This new beast inside of her, this creature that she was, needed to acclimatize to the surroundings, the people and this body that had been built up with venom.

Much of those first months were spent outside, in the forest. Feeding, running, playing around.

It was only once rational thought finally balanced out her more primal side, that she learned of how she had almost died on that second day. The haunting look in Rose's eyes as she described how she and Carlisle got her heart to start beating again made Charlie want to yell at her human body of the past.

Slowly but surely, Charlie was starting to feel more like she had a grip on her emotions and feelings. She started making jokes that made Rosalie's eyes light up, even though she scoffed in attempt to hide it.

Every new day came with a new victory.

And slowly but surely, they rebuilt their broken relationship.

-x-

"How does it feel to live in a house again?" Emmett asked with a big grin when Charlie had managed to stay inside the house for the majority of the week without going batshit crazy.

Charlie pulled a face. "Weird. It's a lot more fun to run outside."

"At least you don't look like a cavewoman anymore."

Charlie stuck her tongue out. "I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between caveman you, and you now."

"Got any big plans for your immortal life? Setting up a business? Getting laid?"

"I already do plenty of that last thing," Charlie informed him, matter-of-factly, a big grin on her face. "Other than that, I'm just going to stay close to Rosalie and follow her every move until she gets sick of me. Which, considering I'm her mate, should take at least a few decades. Anyway, when are you going to find your soulmate?"

"I'm fine on my own for now," Emmett told her, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table after a quick glance around to see if Esme was nearby. "I'll find them when I need to find them."

"That's cool," Charlie nodded. "Well, I'm sorry to say I have to leave you, but I do. Rose is working in the garage, and I don't want to miss that."

"I'm surprised she hasn't kicked you out of there before," Emmett said, picking up the controller that lay beside him on the sofa. "She used to hate anyone coming in."

Charlie smiled. "Being her mate has its advantages."

-x-

Getting to know her new family, and learning to love them, was an experience that made Charlie feel blessed. Even though she had had to leave her human family behind, a family of immortals had been ready to catch her and care for her, taking her in as their own. And now that she was one of them, it was easier to create connections.

These were the people she would get to spend eternity with.

It warmed her heart.

It warmed her heart to know that she would have infinite opportunities to play games with Emmett, hang out with Alice, learn how to fight from Jasper. To playfully annoy Edward, to have long and intense discussions with Carlisle, to hug Esme and bask in the vast amounts of love that woman possessed.

And she considered herself one lucky son of a bitch to be allowed to spend eternity with her Rose.

-x-

"Please?" Charlie was now full-on pouting, looking around the family – her family – with puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry Charlie, dear, but it's too risky," Esme said with a sigh.

Charlie turned to Alice. "I know I'm going to be fine! I just want to have a look! Can't you tell them I'll be alright? That I won't mess anything up?"

"My gift doesn't work like that," Alice protested, but Charlie could see cracks forming in her resistance.

"We could make it our first big trip as a family!" Charlie said, fully playing the family card now. "I'll even sit next to Edward on the plane! He can read Bella's mind, tell me how my family is doing, and then we can leave again! Easy peasy."

Alice gave in. "I'll have a look. Just a look, mind you, this doesn't mean anything." She pointed a finger at Charlie. "Focus on the decision, think of as many details as you can."

Charlie grinned internally, but tried her best not to show any of her victorious feelings on the

\outside. Closing her eyes, she pictured everything. Packing her suitcase, helping the others close up the house, stepping into the airplane, sitting down next to Edward, with Rose on her other side, getting off the plane, finding her sister's college in Seattle (Leah had been the one to inform her of that move), waiting outside, hiding, Bella would come outside-

Alice's gasp shook her out of her thoughts and Charlie's eyes flew open. Alice was grinning widely, joy radiating from her entire being.

"Alice, why are you blocking me?" Edward asked, annoyance plain on his face. "What did you see?"

Alice ignored him in favour of turning towards the others, grin still very much present. "Pack your bags! We're flying to Seattle tonight!"

SSFTL - Finale

A/N: ...okay, I'm going to be very honest with you and tell you that this story has opened up a few doors of inspiration that might very well lead to a third installment of this series. I'm not going to promise anything, because life is crazy lmao, but I'll keep yall updated ;)

(And no, don't worry, a potential third installment would not be a Bella/Edward fic lmao, I'll stay with my lovely Charlie)

I know I said there would be one part left, but I kind of ended up cutting that part in to three parts because of the way they were written, and this just made sense to me. And I am also aware that I summarise/skip over pretty much Charlie's first few years of being a vamp, but I honestly did not have the inspiration or patience to come up with scenes that made sense, so I left it at this because it felt right to me!

Either way, here is the end to Soul Searching for the Lost, aka The Sequel That I Did Not Plan to Write But Wrote Anyway! I hope you enjoyed going on this ride with me again, I certainly enjoyed writing this fun project. Thanks to all who have supported me/will support me in the future, I really appreciate it! If you have some time, please leave me a review because they make me happy 3

See you later (maybe)

- Laura