She closed her eyes on a soft sigh, that was content for all the tremble of fear that ran through her at the same time.

Her hand went back to gently stroking his shoulder.

*I think...* It was easier if she just let him in a bit, easier to share the feelings she couldn't quite give voice to. So, she dropped the shields that were generally around her mind, shared her emotions. Joy. Terror. Confusion, a bit. And warmth there, the seeds of love there, shooting its green stems, trembling, waiting to bloom, there on the brink, but a fragility around it surrounded by her own fear and confusion. A faint sense that to let it bloom would betray something else and yet it was ready to bloom on its own and that lack of control was as terrifying as anything else That she could, did, love him despite herself.