Is he (21M) interested in me (21F) romantically?

I've known this guy for about 5 months now (due to a mutual hobby). He's quite reserved, shy and very polite. I've had a crush on him for about 4 months and my intuition tells me he's also interested in me. He makes eye contact (sometimes awkwardly), acts very shy and nervous around me (although he's not that shy with other people, but still reserved), does little favors (helping me or holding the door open), has nothing against physical contact etc. Once I caught him looking and smiling at me from the other side of the room and he usually stays close to me. He just seems to pay attention to what I do and how I interact with other people.

I decided to ask him out about three weeks ago (which I wouldn't have done if I hadn't sensed he might be interested in me too). We took a walk, had a great time, laughed and hugged in the end. The problem is that he shows signs of being interested in me while we see each other face-to-face (eye contact, smiling), but rarely initiates contact (although he texted once before the walk). After I asked him out, he became so much more confident, which was really surprising (I thought that he's going to back off but he did the exact opposite). When we saw each other after the walk, he was shy and one of my friends said he was scared to look me in the eye (although we made eye contact and smiled to each other).

I was quite sure he understood that I'm interested in him, but I'm starting to doubt that now. This Monday (we had a dance class) I sensed that he was somewhat sad. He made eye contact with me for a few seconds and was completely serious, but when I smiled at him, he also smiled and looked away quickly (this happened a few times). I have no idea where I got that confidence from, but I decided to start a conversation with him (we never do that when other people are around) and I ended up walking him home. I complimented him a lot and when there's just the two of us, he's perfectly fine talking with me, he's calm, makes jokes and seems to be okay with me being around. I asked him whether he wanted to hang out again and he said that we could do that. He then asked whether I liked going to the movies. I told him he can text me to make plans and he said he will do that. He hugged me (he was the one to initiate) when we said bye.

I don't know why I'm worried about it so much, but he's really hard to read. He probably has perceived my interest in him, but I would like him to initiate more if he's really interested. He really confuses me and I feel his behaviour and my interaction with him is starting to affect my emotions. I'm willing to put effort into it to make things work between us, but I tend to overthink and I'm scared it might ruin things.

What do you think is going on in his head? (I know only he knows that, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on it)

Submitted March 01, 2023 at 12:55PM

I've known this guy for about 5 months now (due to a mutual hobby). He's quite reserved, shy and very polite. I've had a crush on him for about 4 months and my intuition tells me he's also interested in me. He makes eye contact (sometimes awkwardly), acts very shy and nervous around me (although he's not that shy with other people, but still reserved), does little favors (helping me or holding the door open), has nothing against physical contact etc. Once I caught him looking and smiling at me from the other side of the room and he usually stays close to me. He just seems to pay attention to what I do and how I interact with other people.I decided to ask him out about three weeks ago (which I wouldn't have done if I hadn't sensed he might be interested in me too). We took a walk, had a great time, laughed and hugged in the end. The problem is that he shows signs of being interested in me while we see each other face-to-face (eye contact, smiling), but rarely initiates contact (although he texted once before the walk). After I asked him out, he became so much more confident, which was really surprising (I thought that he's going to back off but he did the exact opposite). When we saw each other after the walk, he was shy and one of my friends said he was scared to look me in the eye (although we made eye contact and smiled to each other).I was quite sure he understood that I'm interested in him, but I'm starting to doubt that now. This Monday (we had a dance class) I sensed that he was somewhat sad. He made eye contact with me for a few seconds and was completely serious, but when I smiled at him, he also smiled and looked away quickly (this happened a few times). I have no idea where I got that confidence from, but I decided to start a conversation with him (we never do that when other people are around) and I ended up walking him home. I complimented him a lot and when there's just the two of us, he's perfectly fine talking with me, he's calm, makes jokes and seems to be okay with me being around. I asked him whether he wanted to hang out again and he said that we could do that. He then asked whether I liked going to the movies. I told him he can text me to make plans and he said he will do that. He hugged me (he was the one to initiate) when we said bye.I don't know why I'm worried about it so much, but he's really hard to read. He probably has perceived my interest in him, but I would like him to initiate more if he's really interested. He really confuses me and I feel his behaviour and my interaction with him is starting to affect my emotions. I'm willing to put effort into it to make things work between us, but I tend to overthink and I'm scared it might ruin things.What do you think is going on in his head? (I know only he knows that, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on it)