I accidentally fell for the guy who kept “borrowing” my usual seat… but I don’t know if he feels the same

So this started months ago, completely by accident.

I take the same bus to work every morning, and I always sit in the same seat, second row, window side, because the sunlight makes me feel less like a zombie. One day I get on, and some guy is sitting in my seat. Not a big deal, but you know how it throws off your whole routine?

He looked up at me, smiled, and said, “Oh, sorry, is this yours?”
I laughed and said no, but inside I was like… yes. Yes it is.

The next day, he was there again. Same seat. Same smile.
And somehow we ended up sitting together, talking about random things, music, the weather, how both of us pretend to like mornings.

This turned into a regular thing.
Same bus.
Same seat.
Same guy.

He started waiting for me at the stop. I don’t know if he meant to, but every time I arrived he’d look relieved, like he wasn’t sure I’d show up. We didn’t exchange numbers. We didn’t even know each other’s last names. But the conversations became the best part of my day.

Then… he disappeared.

Three days. No him. No smile. No seat thief. I felt stupid for noticing, but I caught myself checking every stop, every face, hoping he’d get on.

On the fourth day, he rushed onto the bus out of breath, saw me, and said:

“I’m sorry. I thought you might think I just stopped caring.”

Stopped caring.
Not “stopped talking,” not “stopped sitting with you”, caring.

My heart did something I’m pretty sure wasn’t medically safe.

We ended up getting off at a coffee shop instead of going straight to work. And we talked for over an hour. He told me he had wanted to ask for my number for weeks but didn’t want to “mess things up.”

We finally exchanged numbers… but here’s the part I need advice on:

He’s sweet. He’s gentle. He makes me laugh without trying.
But he’s also a little shy. And I can’t tell if he wants something real or if this is just a cute bus thing we both romanticized too much.

Has anyone else fallen for someone in the quiet ways?
How do you know when to take the next step without ruining what you already have?