You can prefer a flattering uncertainty to an answer that would let you move on.

Not knowing can be more comfortable than a definite no. While it is unresolved, the flattering interpretation is still available, and asking directly would replace a hopeful uncertainty with a fact you would then have to act on. The ambiguity is doing something for you.

Where something has been unresolved for a long time, ask whether you are waiting for information or avoiding it. If it is the second, the question you have not asked is usually short and specific. Closure is worse briefly and better for a long time afterwards.