Immediately recognizing the look on his face, Naomi shook her head and sought to clarify her statement with a reassuring-- if highly embarrassed-- smile. She would just say it now, and hope that the fever would make him forget most of it by morning, in case the awkwardness was too much.

"I didn't want to admit it-- more that I was afraid to-- that I felt this way about you. I wasn't sure what would happen if I felt anything differently, and said something about it... so I tried very hard not to see you as anything other than a friend." She sighed, adding ruefully, "I'm pretty sure that didn't work."