.... What?

I think he's realizing that she's a kind of ideal--does things he admires. But when they call her his girlfriend and tease him, I think he starts to think: "Wait, is it her that I like, or is it just that I like the things she does and admire her?"

At least she wasn't emotionally invested. :P

I've had people pull that stuff on me, and it's much worse to be jerked around when you actually care.