“i didn’t want to say that crashing weddings was below me, cause if it was your wedding i had to crash, i’d do it.” that’s his way of saying that she still belongs to him, not only that. but that he hadn’t given up on her. of course she would find plenty more of that in the letters. baker hadn’t even began to get over her, let alone love somebody else. baker lets out a laugh. “god that makes so much more sense. he looks like a little bible thumper – just their type.” he clears his throat feeling a bit out of place now. honestly, he always struggled with figuring out where he belonged in her life. he knew he had a piece to her puzzle, finding the perfect fit had always been a struggle. baker reaches forward, wrapping his hand around her neck lightly, really just brushing her throat as if he’s massaging it. “it’s a beautiful invisible necklace. amazing. why don’t you wear these?” he reaches around his own neck, grabbing his dog tags and wrapping them around her neck. “might not go with your outfit, but you can remember to breathe when you read my name on them.” all he does is nod his head, grateful that she’ll read the letters. he never doubted that she would. baker sees her father out of the corner of his eye, pulling riley in for a tight hug before whispering into her ear. “always listen to your heart, i did – and i ended up here tonight, looking at your pretty face.” his lips press to the spot behind her ear. baker smirks as he pulls away from her turning to shake her fathers hand. “what a beautiful exhibit she’s got here, eh? long time no see, sir. long time, no time at all for you to try and replace me. he looks like a keeper, i was just telling riley how happy i am for her.”
“how romantic.” riley teased, part of her believing that he was just joking about crashing her wedding if she ever had one, and he wasn’t the groom –- but then she looked at him, gaze getting softer in the moment she realised he wasn’t joking around. “oh... you –- were being serious.” and the fact this almost let her know that he hadn’t given up on her was something that restored a little hope within her system. but the fact it restored some hope to her in that moment made her realise that god she wasn’t over him, was she ?? she loved him. “they probably love him more than i do.” but then she frowns, surprised that that string of words had left her mouth, tilting her head slightly, “forget i said that, okay.” and she had to distract herself from the eyes on her by looking away from baker and more towards her art. but when she looked back, his hand was around her neck and riley’s heart was beating faster and faster again. he’d noticed how she made up the necklace, her awkwardness and insecurities seeping through obviously. though, when he placed his own around her neck, she’s looking down at them, letting one hand look at what’s on it before riley’s looking back up at him. “thank you. honestly. thank you for coming here. i missed you.” her thumb is running over the tag, letters in her other hand, though they’re soon to be tucked under her arm. “i would have never of let you leave all those years back if i did listen to it, know that. it wasn’t my choice.” she finally said before the hug was over, her dad was standing beside her, arm wrapping around her shoulder, almost pulling her away from standing close to baker. and then her father was speaking to baker, and she was silent, the tension building made her grip on the dog tags tighter. ‘i can’t say i’m particularly glad you’re here, in the nicest way possible, of course. but zack? he is a keeper, yes. a perfect match for our riley. it’s just a pity he didn’t get to her before you did. because then, we’d probably wouldn’t be here, we’d be at a law school graduation and i wouldn’t be asking you to leave the gallery right now.’ and as she listened to the words her father spoke, her body god tense, and she was looking at baker with obvious hurting feeling inside at the words he was speaking, unsure of what to say. “i –- uh,” she paused, eyebrows furrowed as she looked at her dad. “this is my gallery –- he can stay if he wants to. it’s not your choice.”