A/N: I know a majority of you want to kill me right now. A year...seriously...almost an entire year. And I'm so, so very sorry. I haven't had a computer for a majority of that year. Let me tell you just how much that sucked. My kiddo's took care of that for me. Luckily the computer person we took it to was able to retrieve the files...thank God for that or I would have had a serious breakdown. So after that was taken care of, without any funds to purchase a new one...I was out a computer for a very long time until my mom offered to give me theirs since they never use it. Got it...but no power cord. So again, it was a waiting game for the funds to come in to purchase a power cord. I know...they're not that much. But daycare, bills and a mortgage are and had to come first. So there you have it! I'm happily with computer now and back to doing what I didn't even realize I missed so much. Writing!
Thank you all for hanging in there, for your understanding, and everything else. Much love!

The Path to Understanding

"It's awfully quiet down there."

"Mmhm."

"Maybe they all left."

"Mmhm."

"Modo…are you sleeping?"

"Mmhm."

Charley shifted slightly and Modo's head moved from her shoulder to just above her the swell of her breast. They'd been lying in bed for quite some time. Ever the gentleman, Modo had put a gradual stop to their heated make out session so what had started out with the promise of clothing being removed at break-neck pace had turned into something far more high school and over the clothing, each kiss slowing as their heart rates did until the rush of sexual adrenaline calmed. She hadn't said anything, but she'd appreciated his level of control. It brought her back to a time that should have been simple and full of naïve exploration instead of shrouded in sympathy and solitude.

Modo reached for her hand, stopping it from tracing slow patterns over his upper arm, and brought it to his mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist.

"Thought you were sleeping," she murmured.

She felt his smile against her skin as he placed another kiss just on the right of the first. Her pulse jumped from the intimate contact and her breath hitched.

"You always smell like fall, Charley-girl."

She hummed softly and twisted onto her side, sliding out from under him and snuggling up against his chest. "Is that a good thing?"

"Ain't nothin' ever wrong with apple cider and pumpkin pie. Never had things like that on Mars." Another kiss, soft and slightly open mouthed, landed on the opposite side of her wrist and she gasped softly, resisting the initial urge to jerk her hand back. She was a grown woman, not a teenager. There was no reason to deny him anything. And she didn't want to. "Makes a man want to eat you right up."

"As long as that man is you," she pulled her hand up, catching his gaze and smiling, "I have no problem with that."

He came over her, bracing his weight on one elbow. The intensity in his gaze made her feel so womanly – not something she was accustomed to feeling at all. "You're a temptation that's impossible to resist, Charlene."

His fingertips grazed her temple and she leaned into the simple caress. "But you're going to. Aren't you?"

Modo grinned almost shyly. "My mama raised me not to be an impatient man, ma'am."

"Well, I can't promise I'll be patient. Maybe we could…well…no-."

"What?"

"Never mind. I'm not sure where I was going with that." Charley attempted to roll away and he pulled her back.

"You know right where you were goin' with that. What are you thinkin', Charley-girl?"

Sighing, she looked at his chest, avoiding his good eye. "What if…I give you a week. This week. And before we go back…we spend one night in a hotel?"

She was afraid that her forward manner would put him off. She was essentially asking if they could spend time closed up in a room doing things that weren't appropriate for under her parent's roof.

"I think I can wait that long."

She looked up, surprised by his response. Modo chuckled at her expression and ran his fingers back through her hair. "Been waitin' a long time, Charley-girl. What's a couple more days?"

He said it so calmly, so sure of himself, that it sparked a sense of mischief in her. If he was going to act like a few more days was nothing that he couldn't handle…she was going to make those next few days very interesting for him. Slowly, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, smiling as she watched his shoulders tense.

"Well, then I guess," she purred, running the tips of her nails up his arms and over his shoulders, "that I'll make the arrangements. A nice big suite, king size bed, maybe a Jacuzzi tub, room service…and no where we need to be. How does that sound?"

"Good," he muttered, his voice slightly strained.

She tightened her legs, pulling him closer.

"Just you…and me…and a whole lot of time-." Her lips brushed his on the last few words. "We could-."

His mouth came down on hers hard and a tiny squeak escaped her before her eyes were sliding shut and she was melting beneath him, giving in to every wild desire she couldn't seem to tame when it came to him.

A knock interrupted them just as they were starting to work their way towards where they had initially started and Modo swore, breaking away from her and glaring at the door.

Charley slapped a hand over her mouth to stop the laughter that wanted to spill out. She'd seen Modo angry quite a few times in the face of his enemies. But hearing him cussing and angry at being interrupted when he was busy kissing her into oblivion…that was a different kind of angry that she found adorable and endearing.

"Yes?" she called, getting her giggles under control.

"Hey Charley, are you guys coming back down?"

It was Cassie. And now Charley wanted to swear. "Why?" she snapped, earning a concerned look from Modo.

"Mom's just wondering. Your food's cold and she's starting to put everything away."

With a sigh that stopped just short of growling, Charley dropped her legs and arms, looking up at the ceiling. "Yeah…we'll be down in a bit."

She waited until she heard the sound of footsteps retreating, then slid out from under Modo. "I guess we'd better make an appearance."

"Wait…Charley-."

She turned to Modo, arching a brow in question as she pulled her hair back and secured it with the band she'd slid around her wrist earlier that morning.

"I think you should take it easy on Cassie."

Her blood went cold and her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because all that downstairs at the table was an act. She said she was gonna do somethin' to help things along and that you might not like her too much for it. I didn't have any idea what she was up to but…well…it worked."

Charley went still. Cassie was behind all of that? She had wanted to get her alone with Modo?

"She said she loved you and she would never want to get in the way of a man who could make you happy." He took her hand. "So just…take it easy on her. I don't know what all happened when you were growin' up here. But it sounds like…there was a lot of misunderstanding on everyone's part. Maybe now would be a good time to get things sorted out."

He placed a kiss on her hand, stood and pulled her to her feet. Dropping her hand, he circled his around the back of her neck and kissed to top of her head. "It's somethin' worth puttin' some thought into," he said softly.

She nodded, closing her eyes and leaning into him. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what, darlin'?"

"I'm sorry I didn't notice you sooner. I'm sorry it took me this long to sort through…well, everything."

She felt him shrug. "Sometimes it takes us a while to see what's right in front of our faces. My mama once said that if love were that easy, people wouldn't be fallin' out of it all the time."

I'd never fall out of it with you, she thought, but couldn't say the words. There was still a small amount of fear surrounding that particular emotion. She guarded it carefully. Love had rarely done her any favors.

"Every time you talk about her all I can think is that she sounds like an amazing woman," she said instead.

"Yours reminds me of her. Warm hearted but serious when she needs to be. And that woman can cook."

Charley chuckled softly and moved away from him, tugging him towards the door. "Yeah, don't get too excited about that. It wasn't a gene that was passed on at all. I can screw up any recipe and Cassie can burn water. Nate might be able to cook good enough to keep his child fed, but no amount of mom's patience or any Home Ec class could help us."

"You make a mean hotdog, though."

"True…I can do that. Lucky you, you'll never starve." She threw him a quick grin over her shoulder and they started down the stairs.

Modo slipped ahead of her, giving her a look and intercepting Cassie as she started for the kitchen with an armload of dishes. "I've got those for you, ma'am."

Charley sighed and rolled her eyes. He was just as good as Cassie at manipulating situations though his intentions were far nobler. And he was right. She had an opportunity to fix a lot of gray areas. If she didn't attempt to, no one else would. As Cassie turned to grab more dishes from the table, Charley stopped her by placing a hand at her elbow. "Hey…can we talk outside?"

Cassie's brows knit and she glanced over her shoulder for no real reason before nodding. "Um, yeah…sure."

They grabbed their coats from over the entryway bench, pulled them on and stepped out into the cold air, their breath immediately visible. Charley wrapped her arms around herself, attempting to maintain some heat against the biting cold.

"So?" Cassie prompted, doing the same.

Charley took a deep breath. There were so many walls to knock down. Single handedly taking them down one conversation at a time was daunting. But so was the idea of allowing everything to remain the same between herself and her family.

"Modo told me what you did."

Cassie rocked back on her heals, watching an old car roll down the street. "He did, hm?"

"Yeah." She tried to piece together something to say. But where could she even start?

"Listen Charley…I don't really understand what happened when we were younger but I've been able to piece together what I do think happened. After Andrew died…you became someone I don't think…I don't think you wanted to be."

Charley nodded, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth and biting down, hoping the slight pain would stop the rush of tears.

"Everyone felt sorry for you. Even that group of girls that never would have given either of us the time of day suddenly wanted to be your best friends. And you shut down. You pushed everyone as far away as you possibly could which…honestly Charley…only made it worse. I watched you alienate yourself from everyone, even us, and unless someone really knew who you were, they saw it as you sinking into this horrible depression. But that wasn't what was happening, was it?"

With a sigh, Charley leaned back until her back touched the house. "Andrew and I talked before he died. He told me not to grieve. Too young to spend all my time crying over him when I could be living my life. I just…I felt like no one would let me. Like everyone just expected me to be in this constant state of mourning."

"Not everyone, Charley. And for whatever part I played in making you feel that way…I'm sorry. I'm older now and I can understand it better…but back then-." Cassie lowered her head. "Back then I just wanted my sister back."

"Cass-."

Cassie turned to her and the years of misunderstanding melted away as they Charley wrapped her arms around the younger woman, holding her tightly.

"I'm sorry I didn't get it then. I should have tried harder but it was all so scary and I felt like we'd lost both you and Andrew. It sucked, Charley."

"I know it did," Charley muttered, shutting her eyes tightly and trying to reign in some of her emotion. It was helpless and she knew it. She and Cassie had been so distant to one another for so long and to hear her say that she had just wanted her sister back broke her heart. Until that point, Charley didn't realize how selfish she had been. She hadn't thought past herself to see how Andrew's death had affected others. "I'm so sorry for pushing you away, Cass."

They clung to each other for a bit longer before coming to the silent mutual agreement to pull back, both smiling and scrubbing the tears from their cheeks. "And I'm sorry about coming onto Modo so hard at first. But damn, Charley!"

Charley released a watery chuckle and shrugged. "It's okay. I don't blame you. And…thanks. For putting on the whole act and opening my eyes up a bit. I didn't see how much I was missing with him."

"How could you not?! Seriously…for a Martian…that guy is amazingly easy on the eyes. Lucky you figured it out or I would have made a move."

"You probably wouldn't have gotten far, seeing as how he's had a thing for me for a while apparently."

"Lucky." Cassie's smile brightened. "You should totally go in and make out with him right in front of Bernie."

Feeling much lighter than she had in years, Charley rolled her eyes and turned to go back inside, ready to be out of the cold. "Right. That would go over well."

"Exactly. I bet she'd be out that door and off to a church to pray for your soul within three minutes."

"I'm not doing that, Cass."

"Bummer." Leaning close to her, Cassie bumped her with her shoulder, a sly smile curving her lips. "Is he a good kisser?"

"Cass!" Charley exclaimed, not really surprised by the question. "I'm not answering that."

"I'm going to take that as a melts you to goo just by thinking about kissing him then."

The blast of warm air welcomed them back inside and Charley slid out of her coat, shooting a look at Cassie as she hung it back up on the coat rack. "You see it however you want to see it." She hesitated then added with a grin of her own. "But that's pretty dead on." As almost an afterthought, and knowing she was going to regret her decision to open her mouth the second the words were out but unable to resist teasing her sister just a little, Charley tacked on, "Modo has friends, you know?"

Cassie immediately perked up, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. "You have to introduce me."

"We'll see," Charley said with a chuckle. She could easily see her sister and Vinnie hitting it off great. That, or killing each other. It would be interesting to watch either way.

Nate was coming down the stairs as the two started towards the kitchen. He came to a slow stop, watching them warily. "Well, don't you two look cozy."

"We do, don't we?" Cassie returned, her smile bright.

Nate's eyes narrowed. "Did I miss something? Is it cocktail hour already?"

Any further conversation was abruptly stopped as Katrina came careening around the corner, a game clutched tightly in her hands. "Where's Modo?"

Charley reached down, ruffling the child's hair and smiling affectionately. She loved the innocence of children, especially when it came to Modo. Katrina had no reservations as an adult would. She saw Modo, she liked him and it was as simple as that. It was a shame adults couldn't be more open minded.

"I think he's in the kitchen baby. Why?"

"Will he play connect four with me?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?"

"Ask him what?"

Charley smiled at Modo, drinking in the sight of his impressive figure framed by the kitchen doorway. He had the sleeves of his sweatshirt pushed up, exposing the muscular forearm on one side and his bionic arm on the other. Just minutes ago those arms had been around her. She started to feel a little breathless just remembering it. Turned to goo just by thinking about kissing him. Yes, Cassie had been dead on.

Charley cleared her throat. "Kati was going to ask you to play Connect Four with her."

Katrina bounced up to him, the pieces of the game rattling against the thin cardboard. "Will you, Modo? Please?"

Modo chuckled, easily catching her when she threw herself at him and propping her on his arm. "Sure thing, kid. You gonna teach me how to play?"

"Uh huh. You just gotta put the pieces down in a row," she started to explain.

It was unfortunate that the moment was ruined by Bernadette entering the room, her judgmental gaze quickly falling on the pair. "Katrina, please. I hardly think that's sanitary, playing with a rodent."

The giddy fluster of nerves Charley had been feeling quickly vanished, replaced by seething anger at her aunt's bigotry. The fierceness of it startled her. She had been angry with her aunt before, embarrassed by her treatment of Modo but now….now it seemed like her tolerance had vanished entirely. It didn't help that Modo was now gently putting Katrina down, his gaze hooded and his jaw set firmly.

Fueled by the rush of fury, Charley went to Modo and took his hand, squeezing it slightly. It was the only warning she gave the poor guy before she was up on her tiptoes, reaching around his neck with her free hand to balance herself and catching his mouth with her own.

Several second passed, seconds in which Modo didn't lose any of the tension riding his shoulders. And she felt slightly ashamed by what she had done, catching him off guard and engaging in such an intimate public display of affection so shortly after they'd shifted the dynamic of their relationship. She hoped it would be worth it.

Breaking the kiss, her hand sliding over Modo's shoulder and down his chest as she stepped back, Charley quickly turned to her aunt before she could lose her nerve. "I supposed that wasn't very sanitary either, hm?"

Bernadette spluttered, her face flushed with a mix of humiliation and anger. Charley had to remind herself of every narrow minded barb she'd shot at Modo that day to maintain a feeling of justice in her little display.

With an audible "snap" Bernadette closed her jaw and spun on her heel, storming out of the room and barking in a horribly shrill voice for her husband.

"I would high five you but I feel like that would be entirely inappropriate right now," Cassie muttered. "Maybe later?"

Bernadette came through the living room again, face still blazing red, her footsteps comically close to being a slow run. She yanked her coat from the coat rack, jerked the door open and left, slamming it behind her. Harlow wasn't far behind. He had his head down and was muttering something that sounded suspiciously like an apology. He cast a woeful look at the television before removing his coat from the stand and following his wife out.

And then Charley's mother joined them. Her mouth was set in a firm line of disapproval that would have made Charley feel quite guilty…if it hadn't been for the brightness in the older woman's eyes that clearly said just how happy she was to have the other woman out of her home.

"Would someone like to explain to me what that was all about?"

"Difference of opinion," Cassie answered simply, walking over to Modo. She took the game from Katrina, hooked her arm through Modo's and guided the two to the couch.

"Charley?" her mom prodded.

Charley just shrugged, giving her mother a helpless look. "Don't know what to tell you, mom."

Her mother's gaze narrowed, shifting between Nate and Charley now, searching for the answers they weren't giving her. "Mmhm. I'll let it go…but you two are on dish duty."

Damn, Charley thought, her silent curse accompanying her brother's groan. She cast a look at Modo who was now settled on the couch, Katrina on one side of him and Cassie sitting on the floor on the other side of the coffee table. It was worth it. If all she had to do was dishes to stand up for what she believed was right, to stand up for Modo…it was worth it.