Chapter 14:

Haley padded barefoot into the kitchen, knowing that at this time of day it was where she would find her mother, alone. "All the kids are starting a water fight, mom, you should come out and take pictures."

Erin straightened abruptly in surprise from where she had been loading the dishwasher. "You startled me."

"Sorry." Haley apologized, shifting her weight uncomfortably. "Can I ask you something?"

Erin picked up a dish towel and dried her hands. "If you must."

"Are you just going to ignore me for the rest of my life?" Haley finally came out with it. "Every time I do something you don't agree with the gap between us gets further and further apart. And it's not my doing. I've tried to include you in my life more times than I can remember and each time you shut me down. Do you have any idea how much that hurts me?"

Erin sniffed. "Do you have any idea how much having a daughter, whose line of work is something akin to prostitution hurts me?"

"Mom, I've apologized for hurting your feelings long enough." Haley strengthened her backbone for this one. "I love my life. I love my job. I have little girls coming up to me telling me that I'm their hero because I stood up for myself and fought for what I believe in. I have the love of man who has made me the happiest I've ever been. So I can't apologize for it anymore because I'm happy."

"He's not good enough for you." Erin shook her head. "You should have held on to Ethan while you had the chance."

"Ethan couldn't support me!" Haley burst out angrily, as her mother brought up an age old argument. "Ethan wanted a girlfriend that went on his every whim. That's not who I am! Dave is ten times the man Ethan ever was!"

"Dave is a brainless body builder. You might as well be dating a gorilla!" Erin retorted. "He's a wrestler for god's sake; you can do so much better!"

"There is no one better! And in case you've forgotten, I'm a wrestler too. He's a good man, who treats me with respect, loves me without question and supports me in everything I do. This is more than I can say for my own mother!" Haley's words were cutting now. "I think you can cross me off your guest list for your Fourth of July party. If you're going to shut me out, I can certainly do the same!"

She was huffing and puffing when she made it back outside, emotions she had let build up went off like a geyser inside and it went off on its intended target. She still couldn't believe she had just snapped at her mother like that. Granted, she had deserved it, but Haley had never once yelled at her that way.

Dave, being the attentive boyfriend that he was, paused in the middle of conversing with her brothers and could immediately tell something was wrong. Excusing himself, he crossed the yard to her.

"Haley, what's wrong?" He placed two large hands on her shoulders. "Come on baby, talk to me."

"I yelled at her. I just went off." She shook her head in shock. "Can we get out of here?" Her eyes pleaded to him.

"Sure." He nodded swiftly. "We'll say our goodbyes and leave."

It took them fifteen minutes to bid her family goodbye assure her brothers and her father that she was all right. She told them that she and Erin had exchanged words and now she needed to leave and clear her head. But, she promised to call them tomorrow and get them tickets to the next show in the vicinity.

The tears didn't come until they were safely in the truck and partway down the road she had grown up on. She wordlessly moved across the seat and burrowed into Dave's shoulder while he drove them back to Boston.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked once her sobs had tapered off.

"I was the same argument. You're ruining your life, Haley. You're dating the wrong man, Haley. You should have hung onto Ethan!" Haley bristled at the thought of her college boyfriend. "Ethan was a jerk! I love my life and I love you, and I just lost it. I yelled at her, for everything."

"Sounds like it was a long time coming." Dave commented lightly.

"It was." She nodded guiltily. "I hate this!"

"I know you do." He kissed the top of her head. "I wish there was something I could do to make it better. All I can say is that I'm sorry and I'm here for you."

"And she said you weren't good enough for me." She snorted sarcastically. "You're the best thing for me."

"Thank you, Haley." He frowned at the thought of her mother's disapproval. After all, the woman had only spoken to him for a minute, if that. "I'm always going to love you. You know that right?"

"Yes, thankfully." She sighed. "I love you too. I would have gone insane if you weren't there with me today. I would have just freaked out and possibly do something stupid."

"Like sleep with Randy Orton?" He suggested with a playful glint in his eyes, hoping she'd laugh at his joke.

It did. It managed to get a chuckle out of her. "Yeah, like sleep with Randy Orton. I was thinking car crash, not the crash and burn with Randy."

"Well, I'd rather you sleep with Randy than get into an accident." He kissed the crown of her head again. "That's the only time I'd rather you sleep with Orton, life or death situations."

"You really are the best for me, Dave." She nuzzled against him. "Only you can make me laugh during something like this."

He pointed to her purse. "As much as I'd love to comfort you through this entire ordeal, baby, you need something else too. Go ahead and make the call, I'll still be here to hold you when you're done."

She smiled gratefully. This was why she loved Dave. He was always there for her, but he knew when she needed support from someone else too. She reached in for her cell phone and punched number two on her speed dial.

"Hello?" A familiar voice picked up after the fourth ring.

"Hey." She greeted him heavily.

"Haley baby?" Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson immediately picked up on sadness in her tone. "What's wrong? Who do I need to kill? Is it Dave? I swear to God, if that Jabroni…"

"It's not Dave!" She cut him off, while the man in question chuckled at the Rock's first conclusion. "We're leaving my parent's actually."

"Aw, Haley." Dwayne's voice shifted from outrage to sympathy. "What happened, baby?"

"I snapped, Dwayne. I yelled at my mom." She admitted. "She just made me so mad and I called her out on almost everything."

"Good." Was Dwayne's first response. "Not good that you both fought, but I'm glad you stood up for yourself."

"I told her I was cutting her out the same as she did to me." She added.

"Maybe that's what she needs to jumpstart her, Haley baby." Dwayne soothed. "Just remember you're the victim here. Did anything else happen?"

"Well, my Dad and my brother's are coming around." She confessed.

"See, now there's good news!" Rock exclaimed jovially, happy to hear that something was going right for his girl.