beta
Eh I kinda like the conflict. He's trying to protect her and keep her at arms length until he can be sure they can be together. She interprets the distance as him not being in love with her so she wants to prove she's strong and capable to win him over. He just wants her to be safe, she feels snubbed. I get the intentions from both of them and it makes for an interesting, understandable conflict for me. I understand both sides. I think if he was honest we'd miss out on the jealousy, chasing arc trope, which I quite enjoy.
Though the tension of 'do nothing and be safe, I don't want you getting hurt' vs 'don't talk down to me I'm perfectly capable, let me help' would still exist even if he told her he loved her! It's a tough conflict. Reminds me of under the oak tree with maxi and riftan ╮(￣▽￣)╭