[Kieran's cheeks, nose, and the very tips of his ears immediately heat up at that first question; he averts his gaze away from Ben's and rubs at the nape of his neck, unsure about how to answer.]

[Then the rest of Ben's words come and he's reminded even more about Mary-Beth's fascination with books--how she used them to escape into her mind, away from the harsh realties of the kind of life they and the rest of the outlaws lived. Kieran can't quite find the strength to avert his gaze from the ground back to Ben's face just yet, but he does finally respond after a few moments.]

Sh-she... yeah. I guess you could say she's someone special. Least-least to me. I dunno if she, uh, if she...

[...if she reciprocated those feelings. Mary-Beth had been the kindest to him in all of that camp since the beginning, and she seemed like she genuinely enjoyed his company, but he couldn't allow himself to think that highly of himself or the situation to make any confident assertions about her feelings.]

[He clears his throat. That's a lot to reveal, so he pulls back.]

W-What I mean is... this someone back home, she, uh, she said a lot of the things you did just now. About how her books helped with dealin' with all the hardships the lot of us went through. If they helped you with the same thing, too, then that's a good thing. I'm glad fer ya!

It's just, uh, it's not somethin' I think I can join in on, though. N-Never really learned how.