"Don’t be self-conscious; if I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I’m not ashamed of it."
He’s not entirely sure if self conscious is the proper label for how he’s feeling, but he’s not brave enough to correct her. As it is, he’s trying to take deep breaths to stop the blush that’s surely rising to his face, because he can feel heat creeping into his ears.
She’s beautiful, really, and imaginative and bubbly and spunky, and he thinks maybe he loved her when he first set his eyes on her. She’s nothing like anyone he’s ever known, all courage and heart and longing, haunted looks when she thinks no one is watching. And maybe no one has watched her before. The thought alone is a crime in itself.
She’s wonderful. She’s mysterious, and probably went through a really bad punk phase when she was a teenager (well, more of a teenager) than she is now, all goth outfits and Evanescence and even that one really bad fanfiction that everyone talks about. The thought makes him smile a little bit, because it’s hard to think of this weirdly illusive and otherwise mysterious girl as anything other than perfectly clever and still aloof to her own turn of phrase.
Really--- if she could dream at all. Only nineteenth century poets spoke like that. ( And maybe, just maybe he’s guilty of loving poetry when he was younger, of the stories about young women slowly falling for withdrawn, deep gentleman, for that ache that builds between them until finally they realize the depth of their feelings for one another. )
( ... So he’s a romantic. Sue him. )
So... he doesn’t know if all of this is just because he’s self conscious, or if maybe it could be because he’s also head over heels in love with her.
It’s a good thing she doesn’t read minds, he thinks as he smiles at the ground and tries to come up with something witty to say so that he doesn’t spill the beans on all the thoughts going on inside his head, and how desperately he wants to watch Pride and Prejudice with her.