She pressed her lips together and didn’t look at him. “It’s /not/ you. It’s … ” She struggled with words for a moment. “Please don’t be mad at me for this. I — you’re really cute, okay, and I’m having a hard time ignoring that. I’m not going to hit on you or anything.” A sick feeling settled in her stomach as she waited for him to get up and leave.
Isaac blinked, jaw dropping then at the unexpected explanation spilling from her lips, the words rendering him speechless. Nobody had ever said that to him before, and he eyed her almost suspiciously, clearly trying to decide whether or not she was joking. “You…you think I’m cute?” he finally echoed and cocked his head to the side, before settling back in the chair. “Okay.”
Her gaze jerked to him. “You’re not — you’re not going to leave? I mean, I just — and you don’t want that, you just … wanted to be friends, and I just ruined that.” How do they manage to keep feeling the same things at the same time, even if for different reasons? They’re both shocked, and she can’t understand how he’s never heard that before.