Despite his attempt to speak honestly about his feelings, Connell can’t quite make himself clear—and this, of course, is because he doesn’t even know what he wants. Although he thinks his strong romantic feelings for Marianne are “obvious,” Marianne points out that nothing could be further from the truth. Even though he tries to communicate openly, their relationship is so complex and ambiguous that it’s impossible to arrive at any sense of clarity. In the end, their strong romantic feelings rise to the surface, as they start kissing even though Connell
just said that it would be better if they had a purely platonic relationship.