Daniel H. answered • 10/30/19
Over fifteen years as an Actor and Director in Film, Video and Theatre
I think what the person in literature would be doing would be staying in their head for fear of potential negative consequences should they act on instinct. Instinctually, if a person has feelings for someone else, they may start to run movies in their mind about all possible scenarios where the other person or those associated with that person finds out.
I'd say if this is how the story ends, the mood is one of regret. This is one of most people's biggest fears and one of the reasons some on their deathbeds might say over and over 'I wish, I wish, I wish...' they had done that one thing or things which there was really no good excuse or reason to at the time. If a literature character cannot act in the moment, it would be out of fear for repercussions and that is the central conflict, most likely, of the piece. You usually can't tell a good story without some sort of conflict, whether internal or external or both.
