In answer to your initial questions, yes? To all of them?<p>If you&#x27;re sitting close to someone you&#x27;re attracted to and you turn to stare into their eyes and they <i>don&#x27;t</i> smile back or snuggle closer or lick their lips or do <i>something</i> to indicate that they appreciate the increased attention, it seems like a no-brainer that the right move at that point is to back off at least to the level of interaction that they last seemed happy about. If you&#x27;re not sure about the signals you&#x27;re getting, <i>that&#x27;s</i> when you need to ask out loud.<p>To put that another way, yes, many non-verbal cues <i>are</i> easily misunderstood. Many others aren&#x27;t. (Most behaviors involving eager smiles and reciprocated action are unambiguously positive. Most behaviors involving uncomfortable frowns or attempts to reduce contact are unambiguously negative.) When there <i>is</i> ambiguity, you absolutely need to ask for clarification verbally before continuing what you&#x27;re doing or escalating anything. That&#x27;s especially common with a new partner: you&#x27;ll probably learn each others&#x27; main cues pretty quickly, but nobody&#x27;s going to complain about extra care to avoid misunderstandings under those circumstances.