Not Realizing Romantic Attraction
If your characters are romantically attracted to each other but don’t know it yet, whether or not they’ve hung out together doesn’t impact what stage they’re in. If physical attraction and/or emotional interest is just beginning to develop, they would still be in stage one. However, if that interest is causing them to think about each other constantly and make excuses to be together constantly, that would put them more in stage two:
Preoccupation – they know they’re interested in each other, and now they can’t stop thinking about each other. They want to be together all the time and make constant excuses to interact or spend time together. This is where bonding begins.
It’s important to know that “knowing they’re interested in each other” isn’t the same as “knowing they’re romantically attracted to each other.”
If they’re thinking about the other person constantly, love spending time with them and try to do that as often as possible, and are interested in learning more about them, they have to know that they are interested in the person, but that doesn’t mean they realize they are romantically interested in them. 🙂
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog and are finding it to be helpful! <3