WORD by xXChiasaHimuraXx: Ambivert – n. An ambivert is moderately comfortable with groups and social interaction, but also relishes time alone, away from a crowd.


~AMBIVERT~

Gray liked parties.

He liked the multi-colored lights that danced around the room. He liked the music at full blast and the way it seemed to beat his heart for him. He liked the food and the liquor. He liked the people, their ideas and the way they always seemed to want to talk about something. He enjoyed the exchange of words and the gaining of new acquaintances. He becomes addicted to the sound and the way he can dance around on the floor without a care in the world.

Gray also liked fan meets and interviews. He liked the way the people were so eager to know him. Their questions, their reactions to his answers—it was an endless show of human facial expression. He would never get tired of smiling at them, laughing with them, taking pictures and talking to them.

To an onlooker, the twenty-three-year-old was a social butterfly. But there just are times when even he prefers to be left alone. Just like today...

"Gray-kun, would you like to go clubbing with us tonight?"

"No, thank you..."

"Eh? Why not?

"I want to rest..." he said, giving his senior a humble bow. "I haven't had proper sleep all week."

"Ah, it must be hard on you." The woman said. "You've been working so hard, you and your band."

"Thank you for taking care of us... Next time, maybe we'll be available."

Gray bowed respectfully and went on his way. Clubbing would have been fun but his body and his mind have been so tired that he just wanted to collapse. For the past week, he had been to social gatherings, press conferences, filming, interviews—he was at his limit! He'd had enough of seeing humans. He wanted to be alone. He wanted to sleep.

So he got on his bike, helmet on, and sped past the early evening traffic.

He hurried, feeling his eyes get heavier, and turned left at a fork road. He stopped at a tall building, went up a few floors by the elevator and dragged his sore feet toward the hall.

Upon his final moments of consciousness, he was able to get the key to the unit, open the door and go up a flight of stairs to a room where he collapsed, almost lifeless, on a bed not his own.

"Hey, hey!" Lucy protested when Gray made himself comfortable beside her. "Don't break into people's homes so casually...!"

"It's not called breaking in if I have the key..." he mumbled. He crawled up and made a pillow of Lucy's stomach. "I'm so tired..."

"Go home, then...!"

"I've been exhausting my social powers, I need to be alone—"

"So why are you here?" she asked, sounding annoyed. But her fingers were tangling themselves in his hair. Gray smiled.

"I haven't seen you in days," he stifled a yawn. "I at least want to enjoy my private time like this..."

A few more moments and the idol did not make any more sound. Lucy continued to play with his hair silently; he felt her gentle gaze on him. He could hear her heartbeat steadily hitching.

"You've lost weight, haven't you? Don't push yourself too hard," she said.

"I don't," he said as if half-awake. He nuzzled his nose on Lucy's stomach. "But maybe I am enjoying both worlds too much..."

"I really don't get you guys... You want to be alone and yet you tire yourselves with such an active social life..."

Gray heard Lucy close the book she was reading. Then, she moved his head to the pillow to make him more comfortable.

Gray lousily put an arm around her torso. "We like it... Well, I do anyway... I like parties and—" a yawn, "—the people... But times like these are just times when I get to enjoy my own company..."

"Should I leave you to your own company, then?" she asked.

"No," he yawned, "It makes me feel bad that I get to spend time with others... and I can't even spend time with my girlfriend..."

Her silence met his; this meant that she was embarrassed. But that she didn't talk back meant that she was slowly getting used to his words.

"Wait here..." she said and the weight on his left side was lifted.

Gray, with no strength to go after her, waved his arms around until he caught the hem of her shirt. "Where are you going?" He spoke with his head buried in the pillow.

"Giving you privacy... Come on, now... You can't sleep like that..." She swatted his hand away, pointing out his bizarre sleeping position.

"I can... And I will..." he replied lazily; then he patted the space beside him. "Now, come back here..."

Gray stopped talking and Lucy became silent, as if waiting. The young man had very little strength left to get up so he pretended to sleep, even letting out a few soft, tired snores.

"At least take your shoes off," he heard her hiss under her breath. With her feminine strength she took them off and dragged him across the bed until he lay on his back.

The girl reached for the switch of her bedside lamp to turn it on but then Gray jolted to life with his final ounce of strength and pulled the girl down on the bed beside him, one arm trapping her there by his side.

"Hey!" He could hear her sheepish retort; her skin was becoming hotter. "Get off!"

"Can't... Too tired," he said and as he felt himself drift off to sleep, her protests died. The last thing he could remember was Lucy calling him an idiot before she finally gave everything a rest.

Gray relaxed.

He liked parties. He liked the lights, the music, the food and the people. He also liked the fan meets and the interviews.

But he liked being alone with his girlfriend the most.


xXChiasaHimuraXx: I'm a Psychology student, see? So I really like your word… So… me! I hope you like it! It would mean the world to me if you did… ^ ^s