Drawn to You

Chapter 6

Fang sat down, taking in his surroundings. Tan's shop. He had tried to delay visiting until he really had no more excuses to offer Tan. He knew he was being ridiculous about his reluctance, but he couldn't help it. It had been hard enough to let Tan into his shop, to let him become, what he hoped, was a permanent fixture there. But, this was him officially entering into Tan's personal space, the one Fang didn't know much about, which was his own fault really. If Tan had been bothered by his somewhat obvious avoidance of visiting, he hadn't said anything. But then, Tan was the kind of person that probably wouldn't comment for fear of making whatever was bothering Fang worse.

So now he sat on one of the stools that sat along Fang's counter, feeling bad for all the times he had not asked about Tan's shop. His passion. He'd been content to talk about his flowers and whatever small things Tan led their conversations around. But he'd never really asked much about how and why Tan even became a tattoo artist. He could see it now, though. Art covered the walls, most of which he assumed were drawn by Tan. Some of the drawings he'd done in Fang's shop were taped to a corner wall, forming a small mural, adding to his increasing guilt.

But he hoped that the surprise he had arranged for Tan tonight would make up, just a tiny bit, for all the times he'd made Tan do all the work in their relationship. While he knew Tan would argue and say dealing with his personal demons so he could even be in a relationship with Tan was work, Fang really wasn't so sure.

"Can you give me a tour?"

Tan shook his head up and down excitedly, looking much like a puppy handed a ball for the first time. His face had lit up with a smile the second Fang had walked through the door and hadn't relaxed since. Listening to Tan talk about the ink lining the walls, the various leather chairs and beds, which of his employees worked at each station, and the various tools that filled rolling metal cabinets near each chair, he felt relief overtake his guilt. Knowing how happy he'd made Tan by something as simple as showing interest in his shop helped him imagine a life where he could make Tan happy and not just be a project that constantly needed fixing.

As Tan was telling Fang about why he chose to work with a particular brand of ink, they were both startled by a knock on the door.

His smile slipping for the first time that night, Fang walked towards the door, grumbling, "Seriously? I have a closed sign up. Who the hell is knocking? The other artists all know I'm shut down for tonight." Earlier, when he'd discovered Tan had closed the shop during one of their busier times just so he and Fang could be alone, he'd marched right over to Tan, grabbing his face between his hands, kissing him firmly on the mouth.

"Hey Tan? That's probably my surprise knocking on the door."

Tan's feet halted as he turned around, "Surprise? You got me a surprise?"

"Well, kind of. I mean, I hope you won't be disappointed. It's not like a gift or anything. But it's something, well, someone, I thought you'd like to meet."

Tan's eyes widened, "Some one? Like a friend?"

He shrugged his shoulders as another knock was heard, "Just .... can you open it? Ugh, I hope you don't think it's stupid."

"I'm sure I won't think it's stupid. I never think anything you do is stupid."

"I know. Just, c'mon Tan. Please? Go open it?"

Opening the door, Tan was met with a simple "Hey" followed by nothing. Tan stood there, clearly not knowing what to say back, unsure of who it even was, finally responding with a "Hey" back to the stranger.

"Ugh, seriously Phum?" He pushed Tan gently to the side, dragging his brother in by the hand as Tan shut the door behind them. "Can you not at least introduce yourself? Who shows up at someone's door they don't know and just says hey?"