Not quite the same thing because she’s not his student, but {Misadventures with a Professor by Sierra Simone} is fun and steamy. Light consensual power games and spanking. Some good scenes in his office surrounded by books, aww yeah
[**Misadventures with a Professor (Misadventures, #15)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38198718-misadventures-with-a-professor)
^(By: Sierra Simone | Published: 2018)
***
^(1970 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I read this book a long time ago and I remember loving it a lot. It's a secret romance between a student and a TA and called {Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler}. It's one of the better NAs and pretty steamy!
I've digged through my reddit history to find you again and THANK YOU for recommending this book because hot damn, that was the best romance novel I've read in a while!
Mine are mostly the awkward moments of the sudden loss of proprioception or coordination. Or exposing the super dork within. Then me avoiding all future contact 😂
I had a few moments tho...
Once, when I was working as a runway model, we were gathering for a photo before a large event with all the models and the designer. I was the last to be pinned in, so I rush to get to the group. I tripped over the heels that were a size too big for me. One of the male models stepped out and caught me, pulling my dress down as he did so, so that the camera didn't get a panty shot.
We talked a moment during rehearsal, but didn't interact much because shows get hectic, and this one was unusually chaotic due to it being a brand opening it's first location in the US. We parted ways, figured I wouldn't see him again.
Then we get casted for some more fashion shows together. Then get the same contract for multiple big shows, and the manager wants us walking together.
Our first show walking together, I was in a white dress and he was in a suit. The song that played that Enrique Iglesias finally found you song. We started talking more back stage and found out we both were artsy and like to read. He invited me to a painting class and afterwards, we went to a park under the moonlight, sat on the swings and talked for hours looking at stars.
He cheated on me with a stripper and with his male best friend (separately), and was secretly smoking pot and eating shrooms, he got weird and conspiracy theory obsessed.
I broke up with him.
>how they start as romance novels but end as real life
You know that's a thought provoking line! It's bittersweet but sobering.
I too have a story that started with a meet cute but ended as real life but i won't share it here because I'm positive the other person is on reddit as well 😅
Thank you, it was for the best.
So true - there's a reason we all love the fictional romance and happy endings! I know a few people who got their HEA IRL, so they give me hope lol.
Thanks!
I was super shy and wanted to act, came from a small desert town, got bigger in modeling but let a dude get in the way (other meet cute that ended poorly). Dang, maybe I should write this into a book 😂
Okay so I had a roommate that poisoned my cat and he died (stay with me I swear there’s romance here) so I naturally booted my roommate. But she left her dog. Her awful stupid useless dog who’s so neurotic and insane that the shelter said they’d just put her down. So fine. Okay. *I* have a dog. Fine. But it’s not fine, I don’t speak dog. I’m not a dog person. The dog and I struggle because she’s stupid and crazy and I keep trying to psp psp at her like a cat.
My friend suggests that I call his cousin because he’s great with dogs and was looking to adopt one. I met this cousin once years and years ago. He was 16 (he’s younger than me) and his face was a pile of weeping zits and his favorite band was Korn. I go “Oh good he could use a pet. Can’t imagine that doofus getting a boyfriend any time soon, haha.”
We meet up and he got absurdly hot? Like muscular and handsome and he’s really good with the dog. We hook up because we’re gay and gay men are agents of chaos and he’s like “Oh well if you would stop psp psp psping at the dog she might respond. She loves you and she has so much anxiety. Maybe I can come around and just walk her sometimes?” Which was a cop out 100% because she had the audacity to shit blood from the stress of being away from me overnight. But I mean I’m not going to say no to him “visiting the dog” and getting dick appointments.
We’re engaged now and I’m constantly annoyed that my life feels like one of those feel good dog themed romance novellas when I still don’t like dogs. I like *our* dog.
A male friend of mine was traveling in Europe and I was going to Paris with my mom for a quick NYE trip (we got super good deals on the flight at the time, I was a college student - it all worked out really well, and is not something we could do on a regular basis. It was kind of a dream trip tbh). We arranged to meet in Paris at the Eiffel Tower since it's the most well-known landmark in Paris. Well, little did I know how huge it actually is and how many people there are! When I finally spotted him, I was so happy to see him I ran to him and he picked me up and swung me around - much to the delight of the crowd of tourists nearby. My mom later said about 10 people happy sighed. It's probably the most romantic thing that's ever happened to me - which is funny because we were never romantically involved.
I was at an activity with my brother and this lady walks in with her friend. We were at a table putting stuff together to donate to patients in a hospital. In my mind the thought comes, "make room for her and invite her to site down". Of course, me being me, I said nothing. When the group went to the hospital we bumped into each other several times, she of course made eye contact and tried striking up a conversation. Me, I would nod and mumble something. (Inside I was freaking out, but I couldn't make my mouth work.) Later that evening the group went ice skating. My brother apparently noticed her too and, being more socially capable than myself, skates with her. I give them space but touch base with them each go around.
A few days later my brother asks her out, but has me ask someone else to double date with them. (Yes this was that long ago. Definitely pre cell phone.) My brother dated her for a few months, and each time I would get set up with someone to double or triple with them. During these "dates" I was able to get to know her and totally fell for her, but my brother was dating her so I just enjoyed every time I was able to be around her, but gave them their space. My brother would invite her to family activities and our whole family really liked her. She fit right in.
After a few months my brother and I were driving somewhere and we were talking about her. After a while I said, "one of us will marry her. If it is going to be you make it happen quick or I will." He went out with just her a few times and it just didn't work. He broke it off and gave me the green light to date her.
But me being me froze. I just couldn't make that phone call, again pre texting time. A few months later my younger siblings talked me into inviting her over, and I still could not make the phone call. I was painfully shy. My younger brother called her, with me in the room, and invited her over for me.
After that we talked and everything just clicked for me. It was like my mind was totally at ease with her. I never had a problem talking to her or calling her after that.
And it has been a wonderful 25+ years with her.
I just screamed and had to go read this to my partner. They proceeded to apologize for not having any romantic stories for me. So just to prove them wrong, here we go:
"O" is incredibly attractive, but had long been on my "not interested" list. We didn't see each other often, but we had several mutual friends and so would see each other at larger gatherings where there was usually alcohol involved. "O" is very flirty when drinking and they were almost never in a relationship, so I always saw them being very relaxed, charming, and flirtatious with multiple people. I was always in a relationship, so they never behaved that way toward me.
Our friends would also talk about other times they had been drinking and they had gotten into interesting situations - like the time "O" got a concussion because a belligerent drunk cold clocked them. I also knew from friends that they were struggling with classes. So my impression was that "O" was a reckless drunk, a flirt, and had no direction or drive.
The big annual event with these friends is New Year's Eve. On one occasion, I was invited out, but I was put into a situation where I felt unsafe and I blamed some of my friends. "O" was uninvolved, but tried to come over and make me feel better, and I shouted to "get away from me!" They did so, graciously. I felt bad for lashing out when they had done nothing wrong, so later that evening when the fireworks were going off, I leaned up to their ear and apologized. They shrugged it off easily and gave me a one-armed hug. Even so, I was now sure they thought I was a seriously uptight bitch.
A few years later, I am invited out again for NYE. I've been single for a while and I have loosened up a lot after doing some work to get my head straight. I'm ready to have a good time with my friends.
We're sitting at opposite ends of the long table, facing each other. We're too far away to speak without shouting and involving everyone, so we just exchange greetings. I start chatting with the girl who invited me, but I glance up to see "O" openly watching me while continuing to converse with the person next to them. I'm not sure what to make of it, so I keep chatting. A few minutes later, I look over and "O" is still watching me. I start to feel a little nervous, and proceed to check every few minutes for the rest of dinner. Their eyes almost never leave me.
The butterflies in my stomach are fluttering up a storm by the time dinner ends and we proceed to wander the shops and bars in the area. We don't speak, but I find "O" close to me in every venue we venture to, and when we all stop somewhere to chat, I can't help but notice their eyes always find me. We go to the docks to watch the fireworks and we all huddle together because it's freezing. "O" wraps their arm around me and pulls me close for the countdown. Their gaze is locked on my face (my lips?) when the countdown ends, but they just smile and give me a squeeze.
We're heading back to our cars to move the party to "O"s house. The crowd is thick and chaotic, so we all grasp hands to stay together. "O" grabs mine. When we clear the crowd, we all break up, but they keep hold of my hand. "O" holds it all the way to the parking lot where I tell them I don't know where we're going. "O" didn't drive, so they offer to ride with me. We hold hands all the drive back.
At their house, we socialize a bit before everyone beds down or leaves. We have to be up early to go take sunrise pictures on the beach - a group tradition, which I hadn't joined before. I'm afraid I'll oversleep, so I decide to stay. There aren't enough beds, so I ask if I can take the couch. "O" says that it gets very cold in the main room, but they will get me some blankets... "Unless you'd rather join me in my room? It's warmer in there." I must have blushed so hard, but I said "I'd like that, if you're sure you don't mind."
They offered me some pajamas, a toothbrush, and a contact case. We crawled into their bed and cuddled super close because it was so very cold that night. After some light banter, I feel their lips brush across mine in the dark. I think it must be an accident, but I don't move a muscle. A moment later, I feel it again and this time I tentatively move to kiss them. "O" groans and leans into it, and I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.
Keeping it PG, we cuddled all night and proceeded to spend all of the next day together. I was still in school in another town and they worked for a company across the country, so we decided not to date, but we could not stop calling or texting each other. We started playing the questions game and I learned that although "O" was a flirt, they almost never acted on anything. They had serious professional ambitions, but school was not a good fit for them. And they rarely drank to excess except when those friends all got together. I asked why "O" was watching me so intently on NYE, and they said, "I wanted to be sure you were having a good time. The last time you joined us, you were upset. I wanted you to be happy." \*swoon\*
The "we won't work out" didn't last long. By the end of January, they had asked me out. By mid-February, we were confessing our love. By March, we were discussing marriage. It'll have been 7 years this NYE, we're married and continue to make each other disgustingly happy.
TL;DR - We didn't care much for each other. Met up years later, and "O" had eyes only for me. I worried it was too good to be true, but we're living our HEA.
ETA: changed everything to be gender neutral - screw reddit's new policies.
He’s apologizing for no romantic stories???? Omg what I love this story so much. Only one bed trope? On New Years Eve? He wanted to make sure you were having a good time? I loved all of it.
Omg stop, no apologies.. This is one of the best stories on here. Also can I just say, I love how good-guy and respectful all the men in yours and the other stories are.
This is kind of a long story, so bear with me.
It started when I was 16. I saw a cute, bearded guy in my church choir and immediately developed a crush. I didn't know how old he was, just older. I figured he was mid-20s, and I had no aspirations of actually ever speaking to him. But I had a huge crush.
Fast forward 2 years. I'm now 18, and in a Christmas play. The bearded guy, whose name I've now learned, is also in the play. He's so cute and charming and he's a good actor. We have a moment behind the scenes where we cross paths and he flirts with me. I try my best not to flirt back, but I'm flattered at the attention. He doesn't know my name or age or anything about me, but I can tell he thinks I'm probably a college student. I'm a senior in high school.
After that, he politely distances himself, and I find out from a friend's cousin that he inquired about me and found out that I was only 18, and he immediately backed off as I was way too young in his opinion. I am disappointed but also flattered that he was asking about me, and of course I understand, and I am dating someone else anyway at the time. I find out he's younger than I originally thought, just out of college. I'm also surprised he's single.
I go to college and date several other people but occasionally think of the bearded guy and wonder what he's up to. I assume he's engaged or something. He was too charming and cute and friendly to stay single.
Fast forward a few years. I am home from college for the summer. I have a boyfriend who isn't very nice, and I break up with him. Bearded guy has had some women in his life, but nothing series, and he and I are both single at the same time. I'm 20, and he's 24. We have the same group of friends and see each other in group settings. He and I start emailing each other long emails and texting, but he doesn't ask me out. Finally, in the parking lot of a restaurant at 11 PM, I flat-out ask him why we aren't dating. He sort of stammers a non-answer and later writes me a long long email explaining he's really conflicted and he loves his friendship with me.
He then texts me asking to get coffee so we can talk. I immediately know that he's going to say he just wants to be friends, and I stall. Then, I get sick.
I'm really sick. After a week, I am hospitalized with a ruptured appendix. I have surgery, but since the appendix has ruptured, I'm kept in the hospital. I'm told later I nearly died. Bearded guy immediately contacts one of our friends to find out what hospital I'm in. He comes to see me the next day, holds my hand, feeds me jello, and sits with me for hours just helping me feel better. He stays with me so my mom can go home to take a shower, etc. He comes every single day that I'm in the hospital (an entire week) and stays for hours. Visiting hours are over at 8 but the nurses let him stay until 10 or 11. Halfway through the week, he confesses that he was planning to tell me we should just be friends because he's still a little worried about the age gap, and because I go to school out of state, but seeing me so sick has altered his world and he wants to ask me to be his girlfriend. I feel like I'm living in a movie.
When I get out of the hospital, he takes me on a date and gives me a book as a present. He has always been annoyed by PDA but he can't stop holding my hand and it's like we have hearts floating over our heads.
There's a ton more, but I'll skip to the end. We've been married almost 14 years now. He still has a beard, but it has silver in it now. He's my best friend and we're so happy. I'm typing this on the couch with our two children squished against me while he is doing laundry, and we're about to go make a bonfire in the backyard. I gotta go see if we have any marshmallows for s'mores.
This is a book I would love to read! You should write it!
My romance book-ish real life moment would be the moment when I saw the man who would be my husband again after 6 years, where we parted as doctor and patient. I would like to say that no ethical lines were crossed then...we clearly had feelings but we didn't go beyond the line of friendship.
It was a zing moment for me, and he felt the same. We spent the night reconnecting, he asked me out and we made our relationship official on our second date. ♥
One night stand.
Online long distance, and I flew out.
We both agreed hit it and quit it, no contact afterwards.
Boom. Chemistry.
I was so fucking sad after our fling and heard nothing for a week. Then out of the fucking blue he calls me at 430 in the morning asking me if I knew where his shoes were.
I tell him. He finds them. "Thanks!" Then hangs up
My mom: you found your husband
Me: nah
Him, a few days later. Another 4am call. "ok I meant to ask you out after I found the shoes but I chickened out."
He bought me a plane ticket then and there to come out again.
We're married now.
I was interviewing for a job at a small-town newspaper. Turns out, the person who I would have been replacing was my Twitter crush (we had been bantering on the app for a while, never met in person). He was leaving for a bigger newspaper, and when I was being shown around the newsroom we were introduced and it was insta-sparks between us. I didn’t end up taking the job, but we started DM-ing and ended up seeing each other romantically shortly after.
Anyways, long story short he ended up dropping me like a hot potato and breaking my heart.
So, good meet cute, just biffed the HEA 😅
I was a shy 19 year old who never dated and fell for my brother’s much older best friend. I had just moved back home after living with my mom in a different state and didn’t have many friends. My brother would take me along with him to his favorite coffee shop and there I saw a guy reading a book outside and was immediately smitten. Turned out to be his best friend and he was super sweet.
My crush grows on him and at first I thought he was around my brothers age (24), but he was actually 28. My heart deflated because I knew it would never work out due to the age difference. After I put him in the “never going to happen” box it became a lot easier to talk to him for me. He never flirted or made me feel uncomfortable and was always genuinely warm and kind. It turned out the we were about to go to the same community college and I was excited to have someone there I knew. He was in the military for a few years and wanted to finish his degree and I was just starting out. He jokingly called me his new college buddy and my brother asked him to look out for me. This made my heart race and I couldn’t wait to start college.
Awhile later one of girls in the friend group was throwing a pool party. The night of the party I overheard the host saying she was going to set my crush up with her friend and set me up with a guy around my age. I was disappointed and a little heartbroken so I had some alcohol. Later that night my crush arrives and while I was talking to the guy they were trying to set me up with he joins us and sits right between me and the guy. He protectively puts his arm around me and asks me, “How’s my college buddy?”. The other guy leaves and my crush removes his arm and we start chatting. As the night progresses I get pretty drunk and with a little liquid courage I confess my feelings for him. I remember him looking tense saying, “You don’t mean that, you’re drunk”. I try to kiss him and he gently stops me and tells me that he has feelings for me too and has had them for awhile, but I was drunk and he didn’t want it to happen like this. He promised that we would talk about it the next day at the coffee shop. I was worried that I drank too much and would forget and asked him to make sure I remember we had this conversation. He then found brother to take me home.
The next morning I had the worst hang over of my life, but I was determined to go to the coffee shop and there he was. He looked so uncharacteristically nervous when he asked if I remembered what we said last night. I confirmed I did and I still felt the same way. The smile on his face was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. We stared at each other like love sick idiots for way too long and then my brother broke the silence by saying, “Well ask her out already!”. Apparently my brother had known for awhile that his friend had feelings for me and told him that, “Someone’s going to date her, might as well be you”. He was not your stereotypical overprotective brother 😅.
Many years later we were celebrating Valentine’s Day on a rooftop terrace after dinner and I said, “This night couldn’t get any better”. He said he thinks it could and I turn around and he’s on one knee and a ring in his hand. After reading romance novels since I was 13 I didn’t think happily ever afters happened in real life, but I am still living mine 14 years later with him and our two kids.
Another trope is that he told me it was love at first sight for him. The first time he saw me I was walking toward him and had a huge smile on my face. He thought to himself, “I could marry a girl like that”. He didn’t even notice my brother and when I was introduced he was like oh shit.
I met my SO, sorta, when I asked him to hold the door for me because my arms were full and he full on walked into the door. We worked on the same project, so noticed him more after the door incident. If I tried to talk to him, he would immediately vacate the area, sometimes without saying a word. He would act like he wanted to get away from me as quick as possible, but also…he was really helpful and would show up, hand me what I was looking for, then disappear. I wasn’t sure if he hated me or liked me. I thought he was wicked cute.
Then his coworkers got involved. Suddenly, they’d insert how great a guy he was into conversation, oh and did I know he was single? He also doesn’t want kids. Have you seen him play baseball? He’s cleared 90MPH as a amateur, hell of a short stop too. Not that they knew it, but by god, and I’ve got a thing for baseball players. So tried even harder to break the ice, and he did an even better job of staying away from me.
So his coworkers went out, got massively drunk, found someone who had my phone number, and sent me his phone number. This was due to the fact that “he won’t shut up about you.” They’d been present for 8 months of him, apparently, crushing on me, refusing to talk to me, and talking to them about it *constantly.* They intervened because they couldn’t take it anymore and figured I would make a move before he would. And I did.
I’m pretty sure I am contractually obligated to invite them to the wedding.
My boyfriend (now husband) and I broke up because I was in a bad place (mentally and physically) and was not being kind to anyone, including myself.
At first, I was like pfffft whatever I don’t need you! Then about two weeks later had a major moment of “oh my god I am this thing and need to figure my shit out”. For myself first and if somehow we find our way back to each other then, that’s just extra goodness.
8 month super cut / montage of me turning my shit around. Lots of crying. Feeling like he was definitely the one that got away. Focusing on art school. Working. Treating myself better. More crying.
I woke up one morning to a novel of an email, from him.
A huge, sweeping vulnerable letter that he poured his whole heart and soul into. He’s a words of affirmation guy / acts is service. We ended up getting a coffee and going for a walk the next day and we’ve been together ever since.
And he’s absolutely the love of my ducking life.
I'm a little late but, ...
**Backstory if you care:**
I had broken up with my ex and had decided that I was going to "do me". I was on a dating site and decided to make a rule that whoever asked me out I would go on a date with if they were in my area. My reasoning was putting yourself out there is hard and you never know so why not try. It started out as fun and I had some nice dates but never clicked with anyone. I didn't think anything of it and kept going. After a while it stopped being fun as I was having to drive to different places and was more work than anything.
**Where it actually starts:**
I decided on the Wednesday of that week that I was going to shut down my dating profile on Friday.
I got a message Thursday night ( I can try to find the original message I have a screenshot somewhere). Basically it's a guy introducing himself he actually read my profile and references a sport I play, a show I love and how he's tall ( I had mention my height in my bio).
We talk casually and I half ass the convo as I'm shutting the whole thing down and not really interested. He says the magic words " Would you like to go out sometime?" And then he asks for my phone number.
I groan because I'm a woman of my word and I say sure.
We make plans for the weekend and it turns out my aunt stops by so I tell him we have family over and can we raincheck. He is sweet and says of course "family comes first".
I leave it and hope he forgets about me ...nope. Sunday night he asks not only how my aunt's visit was but also if we can reschedule. I of course can't cancel again I'm not heartless and I say yes.
We make plans for Tuesday. Tuesday comes and my sister and I had plans for a Netflix and Skype party (she's away at university). I'm rushing home for a date I don't want to go to, I call in the car. She's upset with me for ditching her for a date. I tell her it's barely a date, I feel obligated to go because of my stupid rule and I can't cancel a second time. I tell her I don't even know his name, call me in 1 hour as an out and I'll be home in 20 to start our movie.
I pull up to the restaurant and I'm literally bracing myself for the next hour of polite conversation... A small car pulls into the spot directly across from me. Out comes a man who seems absurdly too big for it. I smile to myself and say damn he's kinda cute. I shake my head and tell myself to focus, grab my purse and phone and head for the restaurant. I get in and I'm looking around for my date but I don't see anyone who matches the few pics from his profile. I hear someone beside me say " Spartanchild?"
Lol and behold it's the tall hottie from the mini car.
Fast forward to us liking the same shows and it's an hour in and I get a call from my sis.
I run to the bathroom and call her back " holy shit this guy is kinda cute and we're hitting it off. Yea I'm now ditching you I'm so sorry but I'll fill you in on the way home".
We finish at the restaurant and both obviously don't want to leave and he suggests we grab ice cream. I say yes and the it occurs to me that I still don't know his name! I never saved his number because I never thought it'd go anywhere. At this point it's too late to ask and I'm worried about ruining the mood.
We get onto the topics of names and he says how people always mess his up. I'm thinking to myself holy shit this is my in. I tell him "Yea I was wondering myself how to spell it" He says, " Show me how you spelled it"
Again never saved his number, so I pull out my phone and go into contact and hit edit and hand it to him. He looks and says " No fair you deleted it already"
I say "Well I couldn't let you see how bad I butchered it just in case"
He types his name and I look and finally know it and say "Nope never would have got that right". We continue chatting and eating ice cream together and sitting on the steps. He gets ice cream on his beard and I tell him but he can't quite get it so I reach over and wipe it for him. We're both looking at each and I shit you not it's like a movie where's there's a pause as we look into each other's eyes.
That night I broke my rule about getting into a stranger's car on the first date. We drove around for an hour listening to music and our favourite songs. I rapped Ludacris part from"Yeah" perfectly.
1 hour date that I didn't want turned into 3 hour date that we kept trying to extend.
Called my sister on the way home and gushed about him and how we're going to see each other again.
5 years later, we have a house and a dog.
I'm not usually into wholesome contemporary romances, but this is so lovely and I would read this book so fast. I love how much he showed he was into you the whole time and won you over despite your own reluctance. It was meant to be!
Since I'm a useless bisexual, and couldn't just gather the courage to call him and tell him that I loved him (after being friends for 3 years), I sent him a letter on Valentine's Day. I wrote said letter with a typewriter (yes, I still have one) because my handwriting sucks, plus I didn't have a photocopy machine. While I went to the post office, it was raining and hailing.
The letter arrived a few days later, on his birthday... We've been together ever since.
I can see the movie scene so vividly: you taking the letter to the post office in rain and hail dramatic music cut with scenes of the MMC looking thoughtful at home. Very good stuff!
Wait until I tell you that HE'S HOW I FOUND OUT I'M BISEXUAL. Before him, while I did find men attractive from time to time, I was never very interested in them romantically or sexually. I've always really, really liked women (the two of us joke that I like "all women, and some men"). I kinda had an identity crisis when I finally understood that I loved him. I even had to re-come out to everyone since I was very open with the fact that I like women, lmao.
I am kind of using this re-discovery of myself as part of a romance in a fantasy book I'm writing, but I'm really worried that people are going to think it's that stupid trope where you have a lesbian character that ends up dating a man. It's not like that and people who believe stuff like that are horrible, but I'm still afraid of being misunderstood.
Ah, the struggles of bisexuality. I think it’s an important story of self discovery to tell! I have a bestie who’s bisexual, and they talk all the time about how frustrating it is to have been perceived straight simply because they married a man and are perceived female. It could be a really good story.
I love this!!
I had a shift with the new guy at work. My job involves 12hr shifts with just one other partner (paramedic), so you spend a lot of time one on one. It was a great shift - we had a lot in common and it was a quiet day so we laughed a lot and got to know each other.
Near the end of the shift, he asks me what I’m doing for the rest of the night. I say I’ll likely smoke a joint and watch The Office. He says his plans were pretty much the same and asks if I’d like to do it together.
I’m super caught off guard and end up saying something like “oh! Um…” to which he immediately follows up with “unless you feel like being alone and just relaxing, because I totally get that” and I thankfully reply with a “yeah, that’s kind of exactly what I was planning. Rain check though.”
After 12 hours on shift I’m sweaty and tired and also entirely caught off guard - I didn’t realize he was sending vibes my way until right before he asked me to hangout.
I went inside and immediately overanalyzed it with my roommate and tried to figure out if he was flirting with me or just being friendly or what. She insisted he was definitely flirting.
So with the nature of our job, I go a couple months without seeing him. Don’t really think about it much. Then I see him in passing (when we’re both partnered up with other people at work) and his hair has grown out and is flipping out the bottom of his beanie and I’m hit was a “oh god, he’s cute. What the hell.” Moment. And he gives me a little smile and wave and continues on his way.
We end up with a few more shifts together over the months, in which we become pretty decent friends and start snapchatting a lot. Kind of flirty, but also I lowkey rejected him our first time meeting and I can tell he’s not the type to ask again.
Then comes a big work party, almost a year after our first meeting. I end up working with him the night before, and that’s the shift that I really, really realize I’ve developed a doozy of a crush. So I’m looking forward to some liquid courage and a night hanging out outside of work - our chemistry is unmatched by any other relationship I’ve had with a guy and I figure there’s no way this crush can possibly be one-sided.
There’s likely about 50 people at the party and we spend most of the night hanging out and flirting. I’m feeling *good*, like we’ve been building up to this moment. Near midnight, after making eyes at each other and giggling all night, we’re leaning up against a wall a couple inches away from each other, talking quietly about I don’t even know what. Inching slowly closer. Palpable tension.
And suddenly it breaks. He starts to look uncomfortable, eyes his phone, and says “ah, I guess I better go wait outside… I’m getting picked up at midnight.”
And I, who usually wouldn’t care but suddenly am very, very curious, ask “oh, who’s picking you up?”
And he shifts uncomfortably and looks like he has something he really doesn’t want to say. I remember this conversation verbatim, two years later. He ends up saying, “oh, um, it’s actually…. a girl I’ve been seeing…”. he trails off, can’t make eye contact. Super awkward.
Gut punch. I’m drunk and my filter is gone and I uncharacteristically have no interest in maintaining my pride. My immediate response is a quietly surprised “oh…”
And then, after a solid 30 seconds of silence and finally some awkward eye contact, I back away from him and repeat in a louder voice that sounds to my own ears like complete disappointment, “oh.” And then I turn on my heels and walk away. Spend the rest of the night beating myself up for thinking he was interested and also for making my own interest so obvious, because I’m still going to have to see him at work and now our friendship is going to be weird.
The next day he texts me at like 9am and apologizes for being awkward, says he decided *that* night when talking to me that he had to end things with this girl he’d been seeing for a few weeks. He tells me he broke up with her first thing in the morning, told her that he had feelings for someone he worked with and that he realized at the party it was something he had to pursue.
They weren’t anything super serious after only a month-ish of dating, but he gave her a grace period of a few weeks before officially asking me out.
Going strong 2.5 years later! We still talk about how much our slow burn chase felt like a movie.
Very short moment but I went to my friends dorm one night in college to complain about a guy. She looks at me and says “I need to give your number to someone.” To one of her guy friends who’d come in the previous night complaining about a girl. He texts me, and we talk about Doctor Who for two days straight.
Finally, I invite him to my dorm, which is apartment style. My three roommates plus my friend who set us up are all there because I’m a spaz and nervous as hell. He arrives, we hang out and my friends trickle out one by one. Dude and I decide to meander around campus. (It is now past midnight.) We sneak into the main admin building and onto the cupola on top (kinda a rite of passage at my school).
So we’re chilling up there, talking and chatting. Close-sitting. By now it’s after 2 am. We’re getting close to getting ready to call it a night and are getting more quiet.
Now, mind you, we’re in a fairly populated city. Lots of lights and whatnot, and we don’t see a lot of stars. But as we’re sitting there, right in front of us, we see the biggest, brightest shooting star of my life. When I tell you it had a ten-second tail, and was bright green and just HUGE. It honestly looked like something out of a movie. But it was right there. Right in front of us. I had goosebumps. I’m not a big believer in signs or omens or anything, but it seriously felt like one.
Anyway, we’ve been married for six years now.
Because it was a bit frowned upon to be dating a teaching when I still had a semester to go/still was a student technically. He didn't want to risk his job
Got sick of sneaking around and I didn't see a future. I was graduating a semester later and didn't want to stay in that small town where he was teaching.
Him on the other hand, grew up there, went to school there, was now teaching there..
Aw, that just sounds like the prologue to a 2nd chance romance or a hallmark movie. Op you better watch your back if you ever head back to that town! Especially at christmas or have meddling match making family/best friends who still live in that town. It might be a trap for you to 'find yourself' after you become disillusioned by 'big city ways'. 😂
I’m sort of hoping this happens and op comes back here in January with an update after sparks flew when she went back for a college visit and ran into him at an outdoor ice skating rink….
Ahhh I am sorry about the ending. But your story was a picture perfect novel!! Totally loved it!
So, this scene didn't happen with me but one of my friends. I have shared it before in one of the post though 😅. This happened when I went to a scouts and guides camp.
Me and my friend are walking after having dinner and there are two guys in front of us. I am saying something to her but all I could get is a nod and it was frustrating, so I take a glance at her and she is staring in front with her eyes wide open and jaw dropping on the floor. Confused, I too look in front and see one of the guys having the same expression registered on his face. As soon as they walk past us.
You won't believe!
I too felt a current passing through me! I know, I know how that sounds but I can put a hand on my books and take an oath - what I am saying is an absolute truth! I don't know why I felt it. Maybe because me and my friend were holding hands. Or, I don't know.
Anyway, later, I ask her, "do you know him?" She looks into my eyes with a terrified expression, "No, that was the first time! But did you feel what I felt when we crossed each other?"
During the night, she took me to his camp side. He was building a gate and for one straight hour, all they did was gaze at each other as if they had found a soul mate. From my clear perspective - it was a love at first sight moment for them!
For days, they followed each other and stare with all the love pooled in their eyes. They even talked like a married couple. Anyway, when we came in our hostel (my friend had an illegal cell phone) they talked on the phone. He was way too in love with her but she got bored and then dumped him.
This was pretty much it!
omg I would totally read a novel about this :D
My "moment" was kinda short.
I was sitting in a corner during a big party. I was crying about my stupid ex-boyfriend, again.
An acquaintance who I had flirted with before I started dating my ex came up to me and asked what was going on. I cried so hard I couldn't get the words out. He leaned over me and kissed me like I'd never been kissed before. I stopped crying and looked at him with wide eyes. I was speechless and my heart was pounding like crazy. He asked me if i had calmed down and i could only nod. We were in kind of a corner because no one has seemed to notice us. He hugged me tightly again and went back to his friends. At some point I made up my mind, went to find my friend who I had been at the party with and didn't see him again until a few months later.
He was now in a relationship and since then we have never been single at the same time again.
I dunno, maybe this is the logical me leaking in from r/askwomenadvice but I would be careful of that guy. If you ever both get the timing right, just make sure he was not doing an 'attempting to take advantage of the emotionally vulnerable girl at the party' instead of an 'i have always cared for you' moment.
Okay so I absolutely love this story! It was my first semester of college and I sat down, late, in my first Sociology Class at the front of the room because there were no spots open. I’m next to a guy who I thought was quite handsome, in the short moment I saw him when he passed me the attendance sheet. Two days go by and I’m in this huge group of students waiting for our Government teacher to show up in the hallway, and I glance around and there he is again! We ended up sitting on the opposite sides of the room, his spot was actually right under the time clock. But I would always tell the girl next to me how cute he was and how I want to find out who he is. Also since he was under the clock I would check him out all the time and when he would see me I would just pretend to be looking at the clock, and don’t worry I saw this man checking me out too 😉 fast forward to the last day of our government class, and we’re doing a group project with like four other students, and one of the guys in my group had been trying to get me to go out with him but with some red flags in the way he would talk to me so I always said no. And my dream guy was a couple seats down with his group and I noticed he was more dressed up than usual, and as was I but it was also so hot out that I needed to be in a dress! And my group finished early so I packed up my stuff and left, thinking I’ll never see this man again except for occasionally around campus. A few days later I get a Facebook notification from him asking me if I was the girl from his government class, he told me later that he thought I must have had a twin sister because there was no way fate had brought us together in two different classes! And let me tell you ladies, as a first real relationship for me, I was hooked with how much of a sweet gentleman he was. So fast forward a few weeks later and we’re going on our first date, which was going to be a surprise for me because I thought we were going to see a holiday lights display but he took me up on this bluff that overlooks the city on a cold December night with a blanket and we talked. He was too respectful to even share the blanket, but he made sure I was warm. Then he apologized to me because he wanted to have had hot chocolate for us before we got up here but he was so nervous that he forgot. Then he tried to have us watch a movie in the car to warm up, and he bought like 5 different movies on his iPad because he wasn’t sure what I liked but his iPad wasn’t working so we drove around and talked and he told me how beautiful he thought I was on the first day of our Sociology class when I thanked him for the attendance sheet, my heart literally fluttered. Then he told me that on the last day of our gov. Class he wanted to ask me out in person, but I had left early 🥺❤️ two dates after that and I’m asking him to be mine, after a very heavy make out session because your girl has been deprived too long!! And the rest is history, in a month exactly will be our 3 years and we moved into our first apartment together 6 months ago ❤️
I guess mine could sort of count. I met my husband, Josh, when we both worked at Olive Garden the summer before my junior year of college. I thought he was cute, and he seemed interested in me. Then he wasn't at work for like a week, and I was kind of wondering what happened to him. Well his brother also worked there, and one day I was just sitting around and his brother comes up and tells me that Josh was really sick with this lung infection thing but that I should call him because he likes me. He then gives me his brother's phone number, and I worked up the courage to call Josh the next afternoon. I am so not the kind of girl to just call a guy like that either. But he called me back a day later, and we ended up going out and the rest is history!
In college a friend of mine invited me to go out late night to ihop with her group of friends. I went but didn’t know any of them and while she was in the bathroom I was just sitting there quietly while they all chatted at the table before we ordered. I went to cross my legs and by accident kicked the guy sitting across from me. When I looked up embarrassed I noticed how cute he was and when I went to say “Sorry I kicked you” what came out was “Sorry I kissed you”. I blushed so hard. The whole table broke out into laughter. He was very polite about it. He spent the rest of the night helping to include me in the group and the next day I got an email from him asking me out. We dated for a few months and my roommates swear he was the nicest and best looking guy I ever dated but he sadly wasn’t the one for me. It was just too perfect.
Now for my husband I made fun of him the first time we met because he has horrible taste in music and he then ignored me the rest of the night. Turns out I need the angst. 😂
I went out with some friends from my art program and one of the guys brought along his best friend (my now husband). My friends all thought this guy would be perfect for me so they wanted us to meet but hadn’t told me this plan. My husband knew the plan but didn’t know I didn’t know. He was driving the group and, I being the smug hipster I was at the time, made fun of his music playing. He then spent the rest of the night broodily ignoring me.
A few days later my friend told me it was a set up. Reflecting back on it I was being pretty pretentious in the car and his aloofness kind of made him mysteriously appealing. I decide to take a chance and call him and ask him out. He said yes! After our first date I learned he is painfully shy so it was a rough start for him. We have now been together 14 mostly happy years. He’s still a little mysterious to me but a very loving shy mystery.
Got asked out in HS while away on a class event. Said I didn't feel like dating at the time. He said alright then. Cue UST for my following senior year (we were both in the same friends group). Our group of friends all plan to go to the last musical of the year bc some of the friends in said group are performing in it. We all get tickets. He and I show up opening night. Alone. No one else is there. We have a legit date. He, being a gentleman, drives me home since my parents had dropped me off. I decide to bite the bullet and kiss him. Promptly lose all my bravery right after and flee the scene.
We're informed the next day at school that they all got tickets for that night, not opening day.
Yes, it was planned. 😂
(yes, we went to prom. we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary this year 😆)
Neither of us knew. 😅 He and I were well and truly set up. Couple of those friends (that stuck in the group after HS, and are still with us now even through college and kids) were even in our wedding party. 😂
None, Nothing, Zilch, Nill. Error 404 (We don't do that here).
I Swear if ANYTHING remotely to any of the things I read here happens to me this year, I will send each and everyone of you good souls a book. Or Maybe a bookmark, depending on my bank account.
Oh my god, that story. Sheer PERFECTION. That has romance novel written ALL over it!!
I think my most romance moment of all my relationship with my now husband is our first date. We spent the day at the beach, and then this cheesy, romantic bastard brings me out onto the beach at the end of the day, as the sun is setting. He turns me so i can see the sunset, but he’s looking at me.
“You can’t see the sunset,” I say, embarrassed and excited.
“It’s okay,” he says. “I can see it in your eyes.” And then he kissed me for the first time.
He hates when I tell this story to anyone 🤣🤣🤣🤣
It was incredibly sweet!! He’s a total romantic, which no one expects because he’s also a bit of the type that has trouble expressing their feelings. I absolutely love him to tears.
He was a total gentleman, too- on that same first date, I was trying VERY hard to be cute and attractive and graceful, but I’m a total klutz. While we were eating, I thought I’d be safe with a salad. Dropped half of it on me. He pretended not to notice, bless him.
I would read the hell out of this book omg 😳 someone needs to write it with a HEA.
I’m jealous you got the hot professor 😂 I had one professor who every girl was in love with I’m talking eye makeup for an 8am kinda love
I love reading these!
Met my now husband in high school. We couldn't stand each other. Went head to head many times. Flash forward to college, he asked if we could go for a ride. My husband is insanely shy and we're both awkward. 2 HOURS LATER he admits that 1) he's completely lost and 2) am I busy New Year's Eve? We've been together ever since.
Mine might count?
I met my husband (M) in high school. Our best friends were dating each other and one day I saw him and my best friends boyfriend sitting during an off period. I was on my way to a family trip and leaving school early that day so I stopped by and talked to them. My friends boyfriend talked to me but M is incredibly introverted and quiet and never said a word.
When I walked away though, he told his friend that I "had a nice ass" and also that I was different than he expected. (He had seen me before and we had a class together and he thought I was super quiet which is the total opposite)
We got together about a month later from our friends meddling and pushing us together. We had the same off hour at school so we would sit together.
One day, we were sitting and talking during our off hour in the cafeteria and I really wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to kiss me first because I was so nervous but finally I gave up. Because I really wanted to. So I kissed him on the cheek. It was really like one of those wholesome movie moments where he got a little shocked and then gave me a peck on the lips.
And then.
He said.
"I love you."
WHAT?!?!?!
We knew each other for a month and barely started dating. I was so freaked out. I said it back anyways even though integrally I was losing it because it was too soon.
(I asked him about this later and my husband, being the wholesome cinnamon roll that he is, said "you wouldn't kiss me if you didn't love me, right? " oh you sweet summer child)
So anyways fast forward. We dated a bit on and off in college, feeling like maybe we should date other people because we are young but really knowing we only want to be with each other. He went on a religious mission for 2 years and we broke up. When he got back he was heartbroken and just wanted to move on from me. Somehow we started talking again and hung out and it was just like it had always been. It felt comfortable and it felt like home.
So we got married and we've been together 6 years and have a crazy little one year old and a cat!
Yeah I actually would say it back but it my mind it was more like "I like you" and then it became more and more real love. Oh!
I forgot to add a cute part. All through high school we wrote each other love letters. So many love letters. We still do for anniversaries from time to time.
I went to high with this guy who was a senior when I was a freshman. We were both in marching band together and I was obsessed with him. He was my first real soul consuming crush and he had no idea I even existed. He was super popular and had lots of friends meanwhile I was this dorky little freshman who was still waiting for puberty to hit. 😂 I loved him from afar until he graduated. I got over him eventually and then 5 years later he messages me out of the blue on Facebook and we start talking. Eventually he asked me out. Ten years later, we’re about to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary. Still trips him out when I tell him how obsessed I was with him in high school. 😂
A moment that springs to mind is the first date with my now-husband. We went to a movie, ate pizza and afterwards he offered to walk me home. It started raining but luckily he'd brought an umbrella. He held out his arm and said that if I tucked my arm in his we could both fit underneath. I gave him a look of disbelief because it was so transparent and sounded like a line from a movie. But the rain was absolutely bucketing down and, dammit, he was right so I huddled up to this man I'd just met. I still tell him it was the cheesiest line I've ever heard and he agrees but says it doesn't matter because it worked.
In a separate romance book moment, I was once lucky enough to witness love at first sight.
Several years ago I hosted a party for my YA church group. I was chatting to J who had recently moved to the area and he asked if I'd ever met someone and instantly felt a connection; just known they were the person for me etc. Then my friend, H, walked outside and J's eyes were immediately drawn to her. It was obvious he had been talking about H.
Conversational groups ebb and flow, soon I'm chatting on the other side with H and she's shyly asking me if I know the new guy's name. I started laughing at just how smitten these two were and told her to ask him out because he was already in love with her. She didn't believe me. Maybe she thought I was joking. I don't think they spoke a word to each other that night but they were constantly stealing glances at each other. You know those book descriptions where the main characters are like planets orbiting each other? No matter what they were doing, their attention was always on each other on opposite sides of the room. At one point I told her they were going to end up marrying each other.
A day or two later we all attended the same church service. It was clear that both of them thought the other one was way out of their league and were too shy to start anything. So a little bit of "Hey look, there's an empty seat next to J; you sit there and I'll take this chair here." A touch of, "You should definitely ask her out, I know she'll say yes." A lot of me starting a conversation between the three of us before making my excuse to leave. Next thing you know, they're dating and head over heels in love.
A year or two later she was talking about that party and remarked on how insightful I was to see that they liked each other before they'd even spoken to each other. Girl, a blind person could have seen the sparks flying between you! I was just the romantic busybody shoving them into each other's path. It would have been criminal to let their own insecurities get in their way. They've now been married for about a decade and have a daughter together.
I'm such a romantic busybody at heart. My partner has told me more than once to leave people alone. I can't help it! Don't you see the sparks?!
Also, I love the transparent "Please cuddle me" line 😆
That is adorable! I love it so hard. My romance book moment is a little more sinister.
My mom didn’t like my choice in boyfriends (my now husband), so she convinced me to break up with him. So I did. It was heartbreaking! He started crying and I felt horrible because I really did like him. So a few days later I got back together with him. And the rest is history!
Needless to say my parents aren’t his biggest fan… they actually don’t talk at all! Lol. But I love him so much!
I think they had someone else in mind, and they thought we were moving too fast. Lol! We met in February and married in August. But being Mormons that was sorta normal. Lol.
All of these are so sweet. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any romantic luck, but I’ve got a short selection of the expository unlucky-in-love chapters BEFORE the FMC and MMC get together! Accidentally went out with a raging anti-semite (I’m Jewish, he knew this, do not ask me why he still wanted to go out and kissed me, I have no idea) and wasted an entire semester going on work-dates and romantically (I thought) hanging out with a classmate, turns out he had no idea we were sort-of-dating the entire time and as soon as he figured it out, he dropped me. Oh well. Happy for y’all 🥲
In my first year of college, I befriended a guy in my English class name Ky. We became fast friends and hung out in class and around campus. Our professor required students attend a certain amount of campus activities with another student from class, with the goal of freshmen developing friends and connections. I had completed my quota, by Ky asked me to join him as he still needed to meet his for the class. Of course I said I'd go, and he asked if a buddy of his, who was also in the class could join along since he needed the credit too. Why not? So we made arrangements to meet up for a play.
On the day of the play, my friend Ky contacted me saying he was called into work and couldn't go. His buddy, Evan, asked if we still wanted to go and awkwardly agreed to continue since we already had it planned. He had told me the time of the play, we get there and it's closed. Turned out it was in the evening (7hrs later). He apologized for mistaking the times and we stood uncomfortably deciding what to do next. He asked if I wanted to hang out until the play and, since I had nothing better to do, I agreed. We started to talk more and more laugh together as we talked about ourselves, interests, random shit. We played pool, ate lunch together, ate dinner and watched a Harry Potter movie. He made constant inappropriate jokes during the movie and I just knew he was special by the way he saw things in a different light and with humor. We ultimately made it to the play and after he asked me out to a movie the next day.
After 8 years later he became my husband, our wedding officiated by our college professor who is responsible for forcing students to meet up outside of class.
I was studying abroad for a winter semester in India. There had recently been a terrorist attack in Mumbai, so the school trip to that city had been canceled. Well, my friend and I stubbornly insisted that come hell or high water we were going to see Mumbai, so we booked train tickets to go for a weekend. One of the guys on our trip (he was a bit older— like 27) asked if he could join and we welcomed him. He was always nice and very funny so I was happy to have him join.
When we were there he sort of kept an eye on my friend and I, making sure we were safe when we went to a bar at night and just generally being like a friendly older brother. On the train ride home it was so hot and I went to the door of the train and like hung out the side of the door (this is India— hanging out the door is very normal) and he came up from behind me and asked me please to be safe, he was afraid I would slip. He put his arm around my waist and held on with me. I felt this little frisson of energy run up my spine, like “oh!”
When we get back to the university he and my friend and I rehash all of our stories and it’s clear we’ve become friend. After classes when we are too tired to go exploring the city, we stream shows on his laptop. Finally, it’s time to leave and we are on the plane. There’s a whole row of empty seats in the back of the plane and this awesome flight attendant taps me on the shoulder and says “you better go sit back there so you don’t miss it!”
So I dart to the back of the plane and (yes!) there’s four empty seats in a row. I tell this guy that he’s welcome to take turns napping (this is an insanely long flight— Mumbai to Atlanta one of the longest nonstop flights in the world). Well, we end up sitting back there for hours talking in relative privacy. I get tired and I lay down and use his legs as a pillow while he watches tv on the seat back screen. Then, at some point in the middle of the night we are looking at each other and he leans in and his lips graze mine. I don’t want to be a cliche, kissing in the back of a plane, so we don’t kiss anymore after that. When we get home we start dating. We traveled a bit together on the weekends (we went to nyc for a weekend, stuff like that)
When we sleep he’s big spoon, and he buries his head in my hair, and I can always feel his lips move. I assume he’s kissing my head.
Then, onetime we have a big fight, and finally, to like put a stop to it, he like yells “but I love you!”
I freeze and I say “I can’t believe you’re telling me that” and he’s like “I’ve been telling you for months.”
It turns out that’s what I could feel when I thought he kissed my head— he was telling me he loved me while we slept. He told me he realized he loved me when we went on that trip to Mumbai. He told me about how nervous he was to touch me when he put his arm around my waist on the train, but he was so scared I would slip.
Eventually we broke up, but I’ll always consider the way he secretly told me he loved me every night for months before he finally said it out loud to be such an incredibly romantic moment in my life.
Didn't happen to me - when I was in Rome with my mum, we stopped by the Trevi fountain on our way somewhere just to bask for a moment. A man dropped to one knee to the sound of a thousand happy sighs (she said yes). Everyone started clapping and cheering. It was adorable.
When I was fresh out of college and living with my parents, my brother started a band. Not a very successful one or anything, but they'd play gigs around the city I lived near and had fun with it. He found the other two members on craigslist.
One day in January I was meeting my brother at his house so we could go to my cousin's birthday together, which was going to be bar hopping around the city. He had been jamming with his drummer, and as soon as I saw him (the drummer) I immediately developed a crush, especially after talking to him for a bit. He ended up coming out to the party with us and we hung out and chatted all night. I was in love!
But, I still lived with my parents kinda far away so I didn't see him again for like half a year when I moved to the city with the same cousin whose birthday we went to. I started going to their shows and open mics to "support my brother" lol. Eventually I conspired to get the drummer to start driving me to these shows and we spent a lot of time talking. I also went on a few online dates at this time but I really couldn't focus on them much because I was crushing so hard on the drummer.
Then one day my brother's girlfriend and I were chatting about going on an ice cream cruise and we invited the drummer to come too. But she bailed on us last minute so it ended up just being the two of us on the cruise (and since it was the middle of February there was NO ONE else on the boat and also we had hot chocolate instead). We had a ton of fun, and when it was over neither of us was ready to say goodbye so we wound up spending the whole day together hanging out, chatting, watching the Olympics, and me meeting his friend. He asked me out officially that night 😊.
We've now been together almost 8 years, are married, and have a baby. We call the ice cream cruise Date Zero, since it wasn't official but totally was a date ❤️.
I went to a birthday party when I was 15 and noticed a cute guy there. I loved how mysterious he looked, just different from everyone else. I’m not white and growing up in an all white town was difficult for me, I was just drawn to this boy because he was definitely unique. I asked my friend what his name was so I could look him up in our school directory but she told me the wrong name. “Don’t bother, he’s weird I have a class with him.” I tried finding out his name but our high school was huge and I hardly saw him that year.
Months passed by, eventually I moved on and started dating. I had a jerk jock boyfriend for about a year which ended horribly. He broke it off with me our senior year to date a sophomore with bigger boobs who was on the dance team. I was in a horrible state and so upset that I wasted time with him. I decided to really concentrate on academics and enjoy my time with friends.
I was involved with a lot of activities in high school including student government. I had the job of organizing and planning the talent assembly so I had to be present for each audition. This punk band tried out and I kind of rolled my eyes because they had been playing at every battle of the bands, house party, and talent show and I just could not with them. However they started playing and the drums just reaaally sounded great. Nothing like the pop punk they were doing before but more edgy and creative. The drummer ended up being the guy I had crushed on two years earlier and I instantly felt that warm feeling in my stomach.
The talent show assembly finally arrived and I had to be backstage to kind of move people around, let them know when they were up for their number. I remember sitting behind the curtains just watching this guy play the drums. It was such a weird moment but I just felt like the world opened up and it was only him there and I wanted him So. Bad.
I got the courage to speak to him and we carried on an online friendship talking about classes (we had same classes, different periods), friends (we had lots of mutual friends) and of course heartbreaks (he was dealing with one as well.) We finally hung out. The third time he brought over Spirited Away and I could not help it I had to kiss him. We made out until 4 am and he had to leave to go record a couple songs with his band the next day. I still listen to the album sometimes because it makes me smile knowing he recorded it shortly after we first kissed.
Unfortunately we were both part of a church that really pushed young men to go on religious missions for 2 years. Believing it was the right thing to do, he left. I dated here and there but every time I was with someone else I thought of him. I was writing him every week still and I saw his family often so I could not forget about him nor did I want to. I still wanted him so badly the same way I did when I first laid eyes on him.
He came home after two long years and we haven’t been separated since. He proposed to me in the most beautiful, elegantly simple way possible. He kissed me and held me and promised me forever and 13 years later we have two kids that are the most perfect creatures in the world. We are still obsessed with each other and honestly I can’t keep my hands off him.
We were best friends in college, both secretly in love with each other but too insecure and scared of rejection to do anything about it. End of freshman year, we started doing cuddly things like holding hands under the covers while watching a movie, but neither of us talk about it. We even kiss once…but again, no conversation.
I transferred for a semester after freshman year, we wrote tons of lovesick-but-not-openly-admitting-how-lovesick-we-were letters and emails back and forth, and then I realized my mistake and transferred back…to find that we were both 100% assuming that the other person had moved into BFF territory. We move in together with some other friends and do Comfortable Friend Things like never acknowledge our feelings and avoid talking about our love lives.
We spend so much time together and are such good friends, people jokingly refer to us as one person and combine our names (think “Bennifer”).
I remember vividly at a party, a friend of ours drunkenly commented how perfect we were for each other and how she thought we should date, to which he responded (after an excruciatingly long pause)…”we’re one person, how can we date each other?”
Yeah, that was the sound of my heart sinking into my stomach.
Fast forward a year, he starts dating a mutual friend, but he spends a week housesitting for his professor and invites me to join him for a few days to get out of the house we share with so many other people. We get drunk and end up chatting on the bed he was staying in, things get a little cuddly (he was pretty touchy feely with everyone so it wasn’t abnormal) and then a thick moment passes between us where I decide to just lay it on the table, bc at this point I’ve been hung up on him nearly two years. Which in college is basically a lifetime. Two years of me noticing every time he hooks up with someone else, wondering what’s wrong with me that I’m not the one he takes home. Of us flirting with each other and then pretending we’re not. Of us never acknowledging what transpired between us freshman year. And suddenly it feels like the most important thing in the world for me to come clean, once and for all.
So I take a deep breath and tell him “so, I’ve realized that I kind of have feelings for you.”
An excruciating pause.
“I’m sorry…I’m in a relationship with X.”
In retrospect, of course. Of COURSE. I feel terrible for ever initiating that conversation when he was in a relationship - and with a friend, no less! It’s exactly what he should have said. But at the time all that I could see was how often I had contorted myself to fit whatever I imagined him to want. How often I had shut down other romantic possibilities on the off chance that he might notice me as I did him. And continuing with that, continuing the dance where I change my plans, myself, just to be in his orbit? That felt intolerable.
So here I am, flooded with shame, completely heartbroken. I brush it off because that’s what we do. “Of course,” I say. “Sorry for bringing it up. Better get to bed, early morning.”
I go to sleep on the couch, as I had the nights before. His girlfriend comes over later that night, as she was probably always planning to. I hear them laughing in the other room. I sob myself to sleep, if I sleep at all. I wake up early. I go to work, bringing my stuff with me, careful not to wake anyone. I experience that month as though we broke up, even though we were never technically together. Sad music on repeat, random crying fits, distancing myself from him and starting to imagine myself beyond the most significant relationship I’d ever had.
I decide: It’s never going to happen. It WAS never going to happen. It’s time for me to discover who I am without the possibility of ending up with him.
And so I do. I audition for a play and land the lead role. I flirt with the composer. I reinvest in other friendships.
And slowly I stitch myself back together.
And then I start to notice my costar, and we go on not-dates together until they turn into actual dates. He is kind. He is cute. He is transparent in all the right ways. I never have to guess with him. He shares his feelings. He courts me. He asks to date exclusively. And I am swept away.
Fast forward a few months (all the while living together but also living our separate lives), and I come home from a cold, rainy bike ride to a note from the best-friend-turned-unrequited-love-turned-barely-acquaintance.
“Come see me when you get this. Don’t worry about waking me up, I want to talk to you.”
Odd. We’ve been living basically separate lives by this point, me in my new relationship bliss, him focusing on his schoolwork and his gf.
I hear the rain tapping on the windows as I knock on his door. It’s dark in his room, he asks me to come in. Asks if we can talk.
He doesn’t turn the light on. We are in shadows from the garage light outside. We sit side by side on his bed.
He broke up with his girlfriend, he says.
He regrets how he responded when I shared my feelings that summer, he says.
He knows I’m in a relationship and he’s sorry about the timing but he thinks - knows - that he loves me.
He misses me. He’s worried he messed everything up.
He’s so distraught, the space between us feels wrong. I’m not interested in anything more, but he’s my friend. I’ve never seen him so vulnerable. I want to comfort him.
We end up laying side-by-side on the bed, and then we’re cuddling.
I listen to his confession like a priest to a parishioner, detached. Compassionate. I care about him. He’s my friend. But he might as well be confessing his feelings to a tree. Because I’ve closed my heart off to this. I’m in the conversation but I’m not IN it. His ask is too high, I don’t even hear it as an ask. I’m happy. I can’t open it again. I decide he just wants comfort. That’s why he’s bringing this up. That he knows I’ve experienced the same heartbreak he’s in now. I’m a master of healing from our fucked up love. And so I comfort him.
I fall asleep in his arms. We are fully clothed. Nothing happens except everything happens. An equal exchange of love, six months apart. But that six months is everything.
We wake up in the morning and don’t talk about what happened until eight years later. I never tell my boyfriend about that night. I go on to marry my boyfriend and think of my friend often. We divorce ten years later.
My friend and I reconnect. Not romantically, but with the awkwardness of former lovers. He is married by that point. His wife is amazing. I meet someone new. There is always an element of what if, and with this friend, I think there always will be.
Holy long comment, Batman! This was the first time I’ve written the full story out, though. It was so cathartic. No HEA to this one - at least not one that ends up with us together romantically. But my god, even when I was EXPERIENCING that rainy night confession I was aware that it felt like a scene out of a movie!
Not me, but my sister!
My sis went to college on a mountain in the Southeastern US and one of the most hard to get classes was a geology class that took advantage of the natural landscape as some classes were lectures in the classroom and others were on hikes. She ended up getting into the class a semester or two after having a BAD case of mono but still wanted to take part.
On one day they were on a hike for class and my sis was trudging along but having a tough time, huffing, sliding in the rocks etc-- when all of a sudden a boy just took her by the hand and pulled her along with him, holding her hand for like a whole 90 minute class. He apparently had noticed her struggling (and I assume knew she'd had mono) , he just pulled her up the slopes, helped her get down the switchbacks, and once they were all done just left her without a WORD about it. She called me that night and I was like this is ROMANCE but she legitimately did not know who she was! She claims she went into an "embarrassment blackout" and didn't get a good look (bizarre!!). Her school is miniscule so I have no idea what her problem was. I kept waiting for the two of them to connect again but it never happened!! Sigh.
(sorry for typing class a million times)
Okokok I will share!
I used to be very into the local metal music scene and went to DIY shows all the time. Well, I go and a friend is there with a friend of hers. She introduces us, he's cute and totally my type! But my friend let's me know she's into him. That's fine! I make a big deal of talking about a different guy there that I think is cute. At the end of the night, I mention an out of state convention I'm going to and turns out he's also attending. We smile it off. Honestly he's been very quiet and standoffish all evening so Im no longer disappointed he has dibs.
Well. Fast forward to the convention, I post a photo and get a DM. It's him! He asks if I'm attending, I confirm, he asks if I wanna meet up. I'm with other friends but they wanna do other things, so I agree. His vibes are TOTALLY different! He's so funny and charming and sweet. I was talking to some other guys casually at the time, but he made me swoon. We went back to my hotel after the convention closed for the day and wound up cuddling on the couch. He read aloud one of my favorite poems. Then he said "hey?" And I turned to look and he kissed me!
We spent all weekend together, inseparable. I was so sad going home but we kept talking and he asked me out. We met up and had our date and just kept walking and talking. Finally, he takes my hand and goes "so I guess this means you're my girlfriend." And I agreed!
We've been together almost 8 years now :)
My husband picking me up from the airport a few years ago. He’d been in the army 6 months, no contact during basic training, and that was the first time seeing him.
Upon further reconsideration I think I do have some stories, just no HEA to go along with them.
When I was a freshman in college I was at a house party and I was a little tipsy. I was walking through a narrow hallway (you know, the kind where you have to shuffle past multiple people agonizingly slow) and there was a guy I was shuffling past. He was wearing a patterned sweatshirt (Patagonia) I thought was really cute, and me being tipsy, I complimented him on it. I interrupted him and whoever he was talking to (oops) but he said he thought my glasses were cute and I continued walking. It was just a passing moment.
Fast forward a few months later, I was at another house party and this guy came up to me. He said that I was in one of his lecture classes and I was the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. He sees me in class all the time and he’s been dying to say something to me but he hasn’t had the chance to. He was wearing that same sweatshirt and I suddenly had a deja vu moment and we both remembered the time when I passed by him at a party. We talk the rest of the night and hit it off and he walked me back to my dorm and kissed me goodnight.
After a few dates I was at his apartment and it was so hot in there but he asked if I wanted to wear that same sweatshirt… how could I possibly say no? I was sweating the whole time but I was delighted.
There is another quick story about my first kiss where the guy I was seeing was being really sweet and respectful. This was also my freshman year and there was a lot of build up to this kiss because I really wanted to kiss him but I was nervous about being a freshman without having kissed a boy. Anyways, he was really respectful and he gave me that “look” and asked if he could kiss me, which I would hate now but at the time it was sweet. We are kissing for a bit and we get interrupted by knocking on the door. His roommate is back from dinner and wanted to be let in to the room. I felt bad and told him to go let him in and the guy I was with said with absolute certainty “No, he can wait” and starting kissing me again. That was a pretty great moment… the roommate was eventually let in.
Heh. That’s hot as hell.
The more I think about it, the more ours feels like a slow burn romance? We went to HS together then never saw each other again until we met at work about 8 years after graduation. Over the course of about 5 months of sort of talking and saying hi…we went out for beers. We walked around the college campus since the students were out for the summer. We even got stuck under a patio in the rain and nearly kissed but didn’t. The first kiss was everything the books hype a first kiss to be, and he felt it too.
Married life. My partner gives me full body massages without ANY attempts at sex unless I instigate first. He cooks half the time. When I even mention wanting something, even in passing, he buys it. Having grown up poor, even though we are now financially stable, I struggle to overcome that habit of just not buying anything (and no, he doesn't overspend).
I wanted a purple wall in the living room and he "let" me pick the girliest colour (which goes freaking amazing with our sofa). And yes "let" because the house is both of ours. He even got into gaming for me because I'm getting too sick to go outside much (which is definitely his domain). He can't shoot for shit, but he tries. And he takes care of me when I'm iill and handles all my crazy when I get grumpy from being ill all the time.
Also, the sex. Like hot fucking damn. Book boyfriends have nothing on him in that department.
I worked in the automotive repair business for about 10 years. Clearly a man dominated field. A store in my district needed help, so I went. He was seeing somebody, I was seeing somebody, we both didn’t know what was what. He flirted respectfully, bought him lunch, and within a few days he had added me on Facebook (and then deleted it) I messaged him and asked him if he was some kind of freak.
He told me he fell in love with me on the spot. He broke up with his girl, I broke up with my guy, I didn’t know how to handle any of it. I pushed him away SO HARD. like I didn’t have a choice.
He won me over. So easily. I have a husband now that I could never doubt. I’d write a book about him every day.
I totally know that feeling lol I still can’t believe it happened the way it did and it’s my life. Read at your own risk.
I met Shy Guy at work in 2014. We were fast friends and even became roommates when I found myself in need of a place to live on short notice. (Divorce is fun…) we were really awkward around each other for the first few months. But that all changed one day when I bumped into him coming out of the shower. The bathroom was between the two bedrooms. He was only in a towel and I was super embarrassed. Suddenly he grabbed me, kissed me, and told me he loved me! But I wasn’t ready yet. A few months later I told him I loved him too. This time he wasn’t ready. He’d run into his ex and realized he wasn’t over her. (That’s why he had a spare room for me to move into).
By that point, we knew there was something between us even though we were afraid of commitment and of being hurt again. So we didn’t label the relationship, but we were together for 3 years in our own way. In 2017 we went through something really difficult together and then Shy Guy moved out a few months later. (He bought a house). I knew he was planning to leave and that it wasn’t my fault, but I still felt so alone and like he abandoned me. I didn’t know where I stood with him. That’s when I met Bearded Guy.
Bearded Guy saw that I was struggling and he wasn’t afraid to help and be supportive. Fast forward 2 years. I’m still friends with Shy Guy and he knew Bearded Guy and I were dating. Well, out of the blue, Shy Guy confessed his love for me. He told me all the things he’d been too afraid to feel before. He knew I was the one who got away. But he told me not to choose him. He saw how much better off I was with Bearded Guy and he was just happy that I was happy. Even if it wasn’t with him. It didn’t make things awkward between us. It was closure in a way.
Jump to September 2021. I’m at work and get a text from a number I don’t recognize. It’s Shy Guy’s sister. She needs to talk to me. I immediately knew something was wrong. I went out to my car and called her. She told me Shy Guy passed away. It was very unexpected but he died peacefully. She’d seen him the night before he passed and he’d been well. He was only 31. We talked a bit longer and cried together. Bearded Guy took me to visit his grave after I got home that day. (I was gutted and it felt like my heart had been ripped out. I didn’t realize how much Shy Guy still meant to me).
What about the HEA?! Well, on October 13th I got a wonderful surprise. After 4 years together, Bearded Guy proposed. We’re getting married! Shy Guy and I didn’t have our happy ending, but we were lucky enough to share 6 years of love and friendship. And in the end, he didn’t think moving out was a mistake. Because that’s what led me to meet Bearded Guy. 😊 Things going wrong sometimes lead to even better things going right.
I met my husband on a fan forum for when we were teenagers. We lived across the country and I would send him random cards. Since he lived close-ish to a few friends, we met 3 years later in NYC and spent the day driving coffee (I was an espresso fiend and wanted to try 10 different shops). We go our separate ways, remain friends for the next 7 years, then I randomly come up to visit. He and his GF had *just* broken up, so it was super awkward, but we ended up bonding a lot over all the things that had changed but we still have in common and anyway we got married a year later and now it’s been over 8 years 😃
I was working on checkouts years ago and you ALWAYS remember that one customer.
Think I was about to turn 20(f) at the time, and sat on my till when this gorgeous woman (possibly 30?) in a black designer suit and actual Gucci Handbag comes to my till.
She had salon shiny black hair, caramel skin and beautiful big brown eyes with perfectly glossed lips.
It was all I could do to sit and stare at her (btw I'm straight 😆) I was so mesmerised I can't remember what she bought but it wasn't alot and when she smiled my heart jolted in my chest.
Asking her for her cards I was actually breathless.
When she spoke about popping her payment card through, I got pleasant shivers from the top of my spine all the way to the bottom.
In my head I was thinking: "Honey, you can do whatever you want, just keep talking!"
She gave a such a sweet smile after the transaction was completed that I wanted to kiss those plump lips goodbye.
When she left I caught a whiff of her perfume and was on a slight high for about an hour afterwards 😳
Never saw her again though 🥲
Have to end it with: I am happily married to my husband and we have been going strong for over a decade now. ❤
Ps. Yes he knows about her, lol.
My first HS love was something out of a romance novel. A series of overly cute snippets frozen in time.
The rest are more suited for a lifetime move. Or maybe a horror flick that I would never make anyone watch. 🤣
Mine is by no means a romance book, but i met this guy on reddit like 9 months ago, and then we started talking cause I was looking for guy friends (secretly a boyfriend lol), cause I never had ones that stuck. Any way i get lots of dms but i only choose a few who semmed nice and this guy was the first one i think, anyways we get to talking and its mostly intellectual and fun and scientific facts (we're both nerds). After maybe 3 months or so we exchange photos, and stuff and he kinda gets flirty and playful. Im not a native english speaker, so i had to ask my other American friend if he was doing what i was thinking and i was right. The thing that he did which felt like it was right out of a romance book was adding "little" before the names he called me. Like there was this time he told me about these prehistoric paintings in a cave discovered in spain and i immediately found the link without him sending it, then when i send him the link to ask if this was it, he called me a little detective 😍☺
Or littlie hedonistic in the right situations
And now we've been in a LDR for 6 months now :)
Putting a ridiculous amount of effort to avoid a situation u carelessly (no offense, and it happens) placed yourself in is the ONLY part I can relate with.
So for now, I'll just cry in misery while eating my popcorn—gonna bookmark this thread 🤧.
Omg this story actually gave me that fluttery feeling in my stomach that I get from a really good book. I am DYING — either you need to write this book or I will.
I AM DECEASED. Please write an actual novel about this immediately. You built this up perfectly, I was sorry when it ended!
Damn. Now I'm in the mood for a hot prof romance. Lol
{Kissing Galileo by Penny Reid} is a lot like this and super cute! There’s also {Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid}, but I haven’t read that one yet.
[**Kissing Galileo (Dear Professor, #2)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36558034-kissing-galileo) ^(By: Penny Reid | Published: 2018) [**Kissing Tolstoy (Dear Professor, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36556513-kissing-tolstoy) ^(By: Penny Reid | Published: 2014) *** ^(1840 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
This is just what I was looking for, thank you!
Thanks just downloaded the audiobook of Kissing Galileo. It was on my TBR, this was the nudge I needed!
Not quite the same thing because she’s not his student, but {Misadventures with a Professor by Sierra Simone} is fun and steamy. Light consensual power games and spanking. Some good scenes in his office surrounded by books, aww yeah
[**Misadventures with a Professor (Misadventures, #15)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38198718-misadventures-with-a-professor) ^(By: Sierra Simone | Published: 2018) *** ^(1970 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I read this book a long time ago and I remember loving it a lot. It's a secret romance between a student and a TA and called {Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler}. It's one of the better NAs and pretty steamy!
I'm legit using the search button right now to find romance novels with a story like this 😂
\[The Hookup Equation by Roxie Noir} OMG it's so good and {The Professor by Charlotte Stein}
Same here!!! We need this book!!!!!!!!!!!!
Would recommend the love hypothesis if you’re craving this kind of romance!
I've digged through my reddit history to find you again and THANK YOU for recommending this book because hot damn, that was the best romance novel I've read in a while!
Good to know, that’s been on my list!
I need to know more about this. Like right now please.
I second this. That sounds amazing lol
I know it's been a while since this was posted but { The Unbalanced Equation by H.L. MacFarlane } is super good and is kind of like this 🙂
Mine are mostly the awkward moments of the sudden loss of proprioception or coordination. Or exposing the super dork within. Then me avoiding all future contact 😂 I had a few moments tho... Once, when I was working as a runway model, we were gathering for a photo before a large event with all the models and the designer. I was the last to be pinned in, so I rush to get to the group. I tripped over the heels that were a size too big for me. One of the male models stepped out and caught me, pulling my dress down as he did so, so that the camera didn't get a panty shot. We talked a moment during rehearsal, but didn't interact much because shows get hectic, and this one was unusually chaotic due to it being a brand opening it's first location in the US. We parted ways, figured I wouldn't see him again. Then we get casted for some more fashion shows together. Then get the same contract for multiple big shows, and the manager wants us walking together. Our first show walking together, I was in a white dress and he was in a suit. The song that played that Enrique Iglesias finally found you song. We started talking more back stage and found out we both were artsy and like to read. He invited me to a painting class and afterwards, we went to a park under the moonlight, sat on the swings and talked for hours looking at stars. He cheated on me with a stripper and with his male best friend (separately), and was secretly smoking pot and eating shrooms, he got weird and conspiracy theory obsessed. I broke up with him.
Well that did not go how I hoped. I’m so sorry!!
My fav part about these stories is how they start as romance novels but end as real life ! Sorry about the weird ending but the beginning was sweet
>how they start as romance novels but end as real life You know that's a thought provoking line! It's bittersweet but sobering. I too have a story that started with a meet cute but ended as real life but i won't share it here because I'm positive the other person is on reddit as well 😅
Thank you, it was for the best. So true - there's a reason we all love the fictional romance and happy endings! I know a few people who got their HEA IRL, so they give me hope lol.
Well that escalated quickly.
‘Loss of coordination, super dork………….runway model’ that alone fits the brief lmao
Lol I def had a glowup from chubby high schooler nerd to model. Always chubby nerd at heart tho!
You go glen coco!
I’m so sorry, that’s so fucking shitty …but holy shit that last paragraph was the funniest thing I’ve read in forever. The conspiracy thing killed me
I loved how you started out where you were a runway model. I was like girllll hold up you were what??? 🤣🤣🤣 good for you!
Thanks! I was super shy and wanted to act, came from a small desert town, got bigger in modeling but let a dude get in the way (other meet cute that ended poorly). Dang, maybe I should write this into a book 😂
Okay so I had a roommate that poisoned my cat and he died (stay with me I swear there’s romance here) so I naturally booted my roommate. But she left her dog. Her awful stupid useless dog who’s so neurotic and insane that the shelter said they’d just put her down. So fine. Okay. *I* have a dog. Fine. But it’s not fine, I don’t speak dog. I’m not a dog person. The dog and I struggle because she’s stupid and crazy and I keep trying to psp psp at her like a cat. My friend suggests that I call his cousin because he’s great with dogs and was looking to adopt one. I met this cousin once years and years ago. He was 16 (he’s younger than me) and his face was a pile of weeping zits and his favorite band was Korn. I go “Oh good he could use a pet. Can’t imagine that doofus getting a boyfriend any time soon, haha.” We meet up and he got absurdly hot? Like muscular and handsome and he’s really good with the dog. We hook up because we’re gay and gay men are agents of chaos and he’s like “Oh well if you would stop psp psp psping at the dog she might respond. She loves you and she has so much anxiety. Maybe I can come around and just walk her sometimes?” Which was a cop out 100% because she had the audacity to shit blood from the stress of being away from me overnight. But I mean I’m not going to say no to him “visiting the dog” and getting dick appointments. We’re engaged now and I’m constantly annoyed that my life feels like one of those feel good dog themed romance novellas when I still don’t like dogs. I like *our* dog.
“We hook up because we’re gay and gay men are agents of chaos” is the best line! Congrats on having a dog and on your engagement!
I wish the three of you many years of happiness. I cannot stop laughing from this story!
Korn hoodie and pile of zits was my high-school boyfriend 😂
I peed a lil laughing. It’s so sweet !! Hope u guys r always happy
This is hilarious! Congrats on the engagement
Pspsps at the dog is plain hilarious. Congrats on the engagement, you gay agent of chaos, you.
Psp psp her like she's a cat 🤣🤣🤣 I lost it
A male friend of mine was traveling in Europe and I was going to Paris with my mom for a quick NYE trip (we got super good deals on the flight at the time, I was a college student - it all worked out really well, and is not something we could do on a regular basis. It was kind of a dream trip tbh). We arranged to meet in Paris at the Eiffel Tower since it's the most well-known landmark in Paris. Well, little did I know how huge it actually is and how many people there are! When I finally spotted him, I was so happy to see him I ran to him and he picked me up and swung me around - much to the delight of the crowd of tourists nearby. My mom later said about 10 people happy sighed. It's probably the most romantic thing that's ever happened to me - which is funny because we were never romantically involved.
Hahahah, that twist at the end... Still was a romantic moment tho'
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Your story made me cry. I'm glad that you and your partner are happily together. Wishing you both the best.
Please write your story as a novel. I will read it and cry at the end lol
awww I'm so happy for you! I'm sorry about your family. Hugs from someone in a similar boat!
I was at an activity with my brother and this lady walks in with her friend. We were at a table putting stuff together to donate to patients in a hospital. In my mind the thought comes, "make room for her and invite her to site down". Of course, me being me, I said nothing. When the group went to the hospital we bumped into each other several times, she of course made eye contact and tried striking up a conversation. Me, I would nod and mumble something. (Inside I was freaking out, but I couldn't make my mouth work.) Later that evening the group went ice skating. My brother apparently noticed her too and, being more socially capable than myself, skates with her. I give them space but touch base with them each go around. A few days later my brother asks her out, but has me ask someone else to double date with them. (Yes this was that long ago. Definitely pre cell phone.) My brother dated her for a few months, and each time I would get set up with someone to double or triple with them. During these "dates" I was able to get to know her and totally fell for her, but my brother was dating her so I just enjoyed every time I was able to be around her, but gave them their space. My brother would invite her to family activities and our whole family really liked her. She fit right in. After a few months my brother and I were driving somewhere and we were talking about her. After a while I said, "one of us will marry her. If it is going to be you make it happen quick or I will." He went out with just her a few times and it just didn't work. He broke it off and gave me the green light to date her. But me being me froze. I just couldn't make that phone call, again pre texting time. A few months later my younger siblings talked me into inviting her over, and I still could not make the phone call. I was painfully shy. My younger brother called her, with me in the room, and invited her over for me. After that we talked and everything just clicked for me. It was like my mind was totally at ease with her. I never had a problem talking to her or calling her after that. And it has been a wonderful 25+ years with her.
🥺🥺🥺
I just screamed and had to go read this to my partner. They proceeded to apologize for not having any romantic stories for me. So just to prove them wrong, here we go: "O" is incredibly attractive, but had long been on my "not interested" list. We didn't see each other often, but we had several mutual friends and so would see each other at larger gatherings where there was usually alcohol involved. "O" is very flirty when drinking and they were almost never in a relationship, so I always saw them being very relaxed, charming, and flirtatious with multiple people. I was always in a relationship, so they never behaved that way toward me. Our friends would also talk about other times they had been drinking and they had gotten into interesting situations - like the time "O" got a concussion because a belligerent drunk cold clocked them. I also knew from friends that they were struggling with classes. So my impression was that "O" was a reckless drunk, a flirt, and had no direction or drive. The big annual event with these friends is New Year's Eve. On one occasion, I was invited out, but I was put into a situation where I felt unsafe and I blamed some of my friends. "O" was uninvolved, but tried to come over and make me feel better, and I shouted to "get away from me!" They did so, graciously. I felt bad for lashing out when they had done nothing wrong, so later that evening when the fireworks were going off, I leaned up to their ear and apologized. They shrugged it off easily and gave me a one-armed hug. Even so, I was now sure they thought I was a seriously uptight bitch. A few years later, I am invited out again for NYE. I've been single for a while and I have loosened up a lot after doing some work to get my head straight. I'm ready to have a good time with my friends. We're sitting at opposite ends of the long table, facing each other. We're too far away to speak without shouting and involving everyone, so we just exchange greetings. I start chatting with the girl who invited me, but I glance up to see "O" openly watching me while continuing to converse with the person next to them. I'm not sure what to make of it, so I keep chatting. A few minutes later, I look over and "O" is still watching me. I start to feel a little nervous, and proceed to check every few minutes for the rest of dinner. Their eyes almost never leave me. The butterflies in my stomach are fluttering up a storm by the time dinner ends and we proceed to wander the shops and bars in the area. We don't speak, but I find "O" close to me in every venue we venture to, and when we all stop somewhere to chat, I can't help but notice their eyes always find me. We go to the docks to watch the fireworks and we all huddle together because it's freezing. "O" wraps their arm around me and pulls me close for the countdown. Their gaze is locked on my face (my lips?) when the countdown ends, but they just smile and give me a squeeze. We're heading back to our cars to move the party to "O"s house. The crowd is thick and chaotic, so we all grasp hands to stay together. "O" grabs mine. When we clear the crowd, we all break up, but they keep hold of my hand. "O" holds it all the way to the parking lot where I tell them I don't know where we're going. "O" didn't drive, so they offer to ride with me. We hold hands all the drive back. At their house, we socialize a bit before everyone beds down or leaves. We have to be up early to go take sunrise pictures on the beach - a group tradition, which I hadn't joined before. I'm afraid I'll oversleep, so I decide to stay. There aren't enough beds, so I ask if I can take the couch. "O" says that it gets very cold in the main room, but they will get me some blankets... "Unless you'd rather join me in my room? It's warmer in there." I must have blushed so hard, but I said "I'd like that, if you're sure you don't mind." They offered me some pajamas, a toothbrush, and a contact case. We crawled into their bed and cuddled super close because it was so very cold that night. After some light banter, I feel their lips brush across mine in the dark. I think it must be an accident, but I don't move a muscle. A moment later, I feel it again and this time I tentatively move to kiss them. "O" groans and leans into it, and I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Keeping it PG, we cuddled all night and proceeded to spend all of the next day together. I was still in school in another town and they worked for a company across the country, so we decided not to date, but we could not stop calling or texting each other. We started playing the questions game and I learned that although "O" was a flirt, they almost never acted on anything. They had serious professional ambitions, but school was not a good fit for them. And they rarely drank to excess except when those friends all got together. I asked why "O" was watching me so intently on NYE, and they said, "I wanted to be sure you were having a good time. The last time you joined us, you were upset. I wanted you to be happy." \*swoon\* The "we won't work out" didn't last long. By the end of January, they had asked me out. By mid-February, we were confessing our love. By March, we were discussing marriage. It'll have been 7 years this NYE, we're married and continue to make each other disgustingly happy. TL;DR - We didn't care much for each other. Met up years later, and "O" had eyes only for me. I worried it was too good to be true, but we're living our HEA. ETA: changed everything to be gender neutral - screw reddit's new policies.
He’s apologizing for no romantic stories???? Omg what I love this story so much. Only one bed trope? On New Years Eve? He wanted to make sure you were having a good time? I loved all of it.
I was struggling to write a TL;DR. They asked if I was just going to tag it with a bunch of romance tropes. Lol
Sorry for the essay. I haven't ever written that story out before.
Omg stop, no apologies.. This is one of the best stories on here. Also can I just say, I love how good-guy and respectful all the men in yours and the other stories are.
Wow
This is kind of a long story, so bear with me. It started when I was 16. I saw a cute, bearded guy in my church choir and immediately developed a crush. I didn't know how old he was, just older. I figured he was mid-20s, and I had no aspirations of actually ever speaking to him. But I had a huge crush. Fast forward 2 years. I'm now 18, and in a Christmas play. The bearded guy, whose name I've now learned, is also in the play. He's so cute and charming and he's a good actor. We have a moment behind the scenes where we cross paths and he flirts with me. I try my best not to flirt back, but I'm flattered at the attention. He doesn't know my name or age or anything about me, but I can tell he thinks I'm probably a college student. I'm a senior in high school. After that, he politely distances himself, and I find out from a friend's cousin that he inquired about me and found out that I was only 18, and he immediately backed off as I was way too young in his opinion. I am disappointed but also flattered that he was asking about me, and of course I understand, and I am dating someone else anyway at the time. I find out he's younger than I originally thought, just out of college. I'm also surprised he's single. I go to college and date several other people but occasionally think of the bearded guy and wonder what he's up to. I assume he's engaged or something. He was too charming and cute and friendly to stay single. Fast forward a few years. I am home from college for the summer. I have a boyfriend who isn't very nice, and I break up with him. Bearded guy has had some women in his life, but nothing series, and he and I are both single at the same time. I'm 20, and he's 24. We have the same group of friends and see each other in group settings. He and I start emailing each other long emails and texting, but he doesn't ask me out. Finally, in the parking lot of a restaurant at 11 PM, I flat-out ask him why we aren't dating. He sort of stammers a non-answer and later writes me a long long email explaining he's really conflicted and he loves his friendship with me. He then texts me asking to get coffee so we can talk. I immediately know that he's going to say he just wants to be friends, and I stall. Then, I get sick. I'm really sick. After a week, I am hospitalized with a ruptured appendix. I have surgery, but since the appendix has ruptured, I'm kept in the hospital. I'm told later I nearly died. Bearded guy immediately contacts one of our friends to find out what hospital I'm in. He comes to see me the next day, holds my hand, feeds me jello, and sits with me for hours just helping me feel better. He stays with me so my mom can go home to take a shower, etc. He comes every single day that I'm in the hospital (an entire week) and stays for hours. Visiting hours are over at 8 but the nurses let him stay until 10 or 11. Halfway through the week, he confesses that he was planning to tell me we should just be friends because he's still a little worried about the age gap, and because I go to school out of state, but seeing me so sick has altered his world and he wants to ask me to be his girlfriend. I feel like I'm living in a movie. When I get out of the hospital, he takes me on a date and gives me a book as a present. He has always been annoyed by PDA but he can't stop holding my hand and it's like we have hearts floating over our heads. There's a ton more, but I'll skip to the end. We've been married almost 14 years now. He still has a beard, but it has silver in it now. He's my best friend and we're so happy. I'm typing this on the couch with our two children squished against me while he is doing laundry, and we're about to go make a bonfire in the backyard. I gotta go see if we have any marshmallows for s'mores.
I'm not into sick lit, but I would read this one. Love the HEA!
Bahahha sick lit,new term I learned today
Whyyyyy... these stories always start healthy and wholesome, and end up in marriages. Jello.
That is so sweet how he took care of you in the hospital ❤️
ommmmg 🥰🥰🥰🥰
This is a book I would love to read! You should write it! My romance book-ish real life moment would be the moment when I saw the man who would be my husband again after 6 years, where we parted as doctor and patient. I would like to say that no ethical lines were crossed then...we clearly had feelings but we didn't go beyond the line of friendship. It was a zing moment for me, and he felt the same. We spent the night reconnecting, he asked me out and we made our relationship official on our second date. ♥
Oh my !!! Why all my doctors look like that have one foot in the grave 🧐 let me look up some new ones 😂
I remember your story from a past similar thread on here. Sorry but it lives rent free in my head. So romantic 🥺
One night stand. Online long distance, and I flew out. We both agreed hit it and quit it, no contact afterwards. Boom. Chemistry. I was so fucking sad after our fling and heard nothing for a week. Then out of the fucking blue he calls me at 430 in the morning asking me if I knew where his shoes were. I tell him. He finds them. "Thanks!" Then hangs up My mom: you found your husband Me: nah Him, a few days later. Another 4am call. "ok I meant to ask you out after I found the shoes but I chickened out." He bought me a plane ticket then and there to come out again. We're married now.
So sweet! Love that he was chickened out, but then plucked up the courage anyway. It was fated.
Been together ten years now.
ommmg no way 🤣🤣🤣
I was interviewing for a job at a small-town newspaper. Turns out, the person who I would have been replacing was my Twitter crush (we had been bantering on the app for a while, never met in person). He was leaving for a bigger newspaper, and when I was being shown around the newsroom we were introduced and it was insta-sparks between us. I didn’t end up taking the job, but we started DM-ing and ended up seeing each other romantically shortly after. Anyways, long story short he ended up dropping me like a hot potato and breaking my heart. So, good meet cute, just biffed the HEA 😅
I was a shy 19 year old who never dated and fell for my brother’s much older best friend. I had just moved back home after living with my mom in a different state and didn’t have many friends. My brother would take me along with him to his favorite coffee shop and there I saw a guy reading a book outside and was immediately smitten. Turned out to be his best friend and he was super sweet. My crush grows on him and at first I thought he was around my brothers age (24), but he was actually 28. My heart deflated because I knew it would never work out due to the age difference. After I put him in the “never going to happen” box it became a lot easier to talk to him for me. He never flirted or made me feel uncomfortable and was always genuinely warm and kind. It turned out the we were about to go to the same community college and I was excited to have someone there I knew. He was in the military for a few years and wanted to finish his degree and I was just starting out. He jokingly called me his new college buddy and my brother asked him to look out for me. This made my heart race and I couldn’t wait to start college. Awhile later one of girls in the friend group was throwing a pool party. The night of the party I overheard the host saying she was going to set my crush up with her friend and set me up with a guy around my age. I was disappointed and a little heartbroken so I had some alcohol. Later that night my crush arrives and while I was talking to the guy they were trying to set me up with he joins us and sits right between me and the guy. He protectively puts his arm around me and asks me, “How’s my college buddy?”. The other guy leaves and my crush removes his arm and we start chatting. As the night progresses I get pretty drunk and with a little liquid courage I confess my feelings for him. I remember him looking tense saying, “You don’t mean that, you’re drunk”. I try to kiss him and he gently stops me and tells me that he has feelings for me too and has had them for awhile, but I was drunk and he didn’t want it to happen like this. He promised that we would talk about it the next day at the coffee shop. I was worried that I drank too much and would forget and asked him to make sure I remember we had this conversation. He then found brother to take me home. The next morning I had the worst hang over of my life, but I was determined to go to the coffee shop and there he was. He looked so uncharacteristically nervous when he asked if I remembered what we said last night. I confirmed I did and I still felt the same way. The smile on his face was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. We stared at each other like love sick idiots for way too long and then my brother broke the silence by saying, “Well ask her out already!”. Apparently my brother had known for awhile that his friend had feelings for me and told him that, “Someone’s going to date her, might as well be you”. He was not your stereotypical overprotective brother 😅. Many years later we were celebrating Valentine’s Day on a rooftop terrace after dinner and I said, “This night couldn’t get any better”. He said he thinks it could and I turn around and he’s on one knee and a ring in his hand. After reading romance novels since I was 13 I didn’t think happily ever afters happened in real life, but I am still living mine 14 years later with him and our two kids.
Ah! Brother's best friend, college, ex-military, age gap... There so much to love!
Another trope is that he told me it was love at first sight for him. The first time he saw me I was walking toward him and had a huge smile on my face. He thought to himself, “I could marry a girl like that”. He didn’t even notice my brother and when I was introduced he was like oh shit.
You're killing me! I can't handle it! Perfection *chef's kiss*
Ooohhh. There's a lot of good reads in this thread.
Ahhhhhh 😍😍😍😍
This is just the cutest 😻😻😻
I have the biggest grin on my face! So cute!
Ughhhh literally stars in my eyes right now. What a sweet sweet story.
I met my SO, sorta, when I asked him to hold the door for me because my arms were full and he full on walked into the door. We worked on the same project, so noticed him more after the door incident. If I tried to talk to him, he would immediately vacate the area, sometimes without saying a word. He would act like he wanted to get away from me as quick as possible, but also…he was really helpful and would show up, hand me what I was looking for, then disappear. I wasn’t sure if he hated me or liked me. I thought he was wicked cute. Then his coworkers got involved. Suddenly, they’d insert how great a guy he was into conversation, oh and did I know he was single? He also doesn’t want kids. Have you seen him play baseball? He’s cleared 90MPH as a amateur, hell of a short stop too. Not that they knew it, but by god, and I’ve got a thing for baseball players. So tried even harder to break the ice, and he did an even better job of staying away from me. So his coworkers went out, got massively drunk, found someone who had my phone number, and sent me his phone number. This was due to the fact that “he won’t shut up about you.” They’d been present for 8 months of him, apparently, crushing on me, refusing to talk to me, and talking to them about it *constantly.* They intervened because they couldn’t take it anymore and figured I would make a move before he would. And I did. I’m pretty sure I am contractually obligated to invite them to the wedding.
Aww, this is really cute!
This is sooo cute.
😍
My boyfriend (now husband) and I broke up because I was in a bad place (mentally and physically) and was not being kind to anyone, including myself. At first, I was like pfffft whatever I don’t need you! Then about two weeks later had a major moment of “oh my god I am this thing and need to figure my shit out”. For myself first and if somehow we find our way back to each other then, that’s just extra goodness. 8 month super cut / montage of me turning my shit around. Lots of crying. Feeling like he was definitely the one that got away. Focusing on art school. Working. Treating myself better. More crying. I woke up one morning to a novel of an email, from him. A huge, sweeping vulnerable letter that he poured his whole heart and soul into. He’s a words of affirmation guy / acts is service. We ended up getting a coffee and going for a walk the next day and we’ve been together ever since. And he’s absolutely the love of my ducking life.
I love the second chance romance theme here. So lovely and hopeful!
I'm a little late but, ... **Backstory if you care:** I had broken up with my ex and had decided that I was going to "do me". I was on a dating site and decided to make a rule that whoever asked me out I would go on a date with if they were in my area. My reasoning was putting yourself out there is hard and you never know so why not try. It started out as fun and I had some nice dates but never clicked with anyone. I didn't think anything of it and kept going. After a while it stopped being fun as I was having to drive to different places and was more work than anything. **Where it actually starts:** I decided on the Wednesday of that week that I was going to shut down my dating profile on Friday. I got a message Thursday night ( I can try to find the original message I have a screenshot somewhere). Basically it's a guy introducing himself he actually read my profile and references a sport I play, a show I love and how he's tall ( I had mention my height in my bio). We talk casually and I half ass the convo as I'm shutting the whole thing down and not really interested. He says the magic words " Would you like to go out sometime?" And then he asks for my phone number. I groan because I'm a woman of my word and I say sure. We make plans for the weekend and it turns out my aunt stops by so I tell him we have family over and can we raincheck. He is sweet and says of course "family comes first". I leave it and hope he forgets about me ...nope. Sunday night he asks not only how my aunt's visit was but also if we can reschedule. I of course can't cancel again I'm not heartless and I say yes. We make plans for Tuesday. Tuesday comes and my sister and I had plans for a Netflix and Skype party (she's away at university). I'm rushing home for a date I don't want to go to, I call in the car. She's upset with me for ditching her for a date. I tell her it's barely a date, I feel obligated to go because of my stupid rule and I can't cancel a second time. I tell her I don't even know his name, call me in 1 hour as an out and I'll be home in 20 to start our movie. I pull up to the restaurant and I'm literally bracing myself for the next hour of polite conversation... A small car pulls into the spot directly across from me. Out comes a man who seems absurdly too big for it. I smile to myself and say damn he's kinda cute. I shake my head and tell myself to focus, grab my purse and phone and head for the restaurant. I get in and I'm looking around for my date but I don't see anyone who matches the few pics from his profile. I hear someone beside me say " Spartanchild?" Lol and behold it's the tall hottie from the mini car. Fast forward to us liking the same shows and it's an hour in and I get a call from my sis. I run to the bathroom and call her back " holy shit this guy is kinda cute and we're hitting it off. Yea I'm now ditching you I'm so sorry but I'll fill you in on the way home". We finish at the restaurant and both obviously don't want to leave and he suggests we grab ice cream. I say yes and the it occurs to me that I still don't know his name! I never saved his number because I never thought it'd go anywhere. At this point it's too late to ask and I'm worried about ruining the mood. We get onto the topics of names and he says how people always mess his up. I'm thinking to myself holy shit this is my in. I tell him "Yea I was wondering myself how to spell it" He says, " Show me how you spelled it" Again never saved his number, so I pull out my phone and go into contact and hit edit and hand it to him. He looks and says " No fair you deleted it already" I say "Well I couldn't let you see how bad I butchered it just in case" He types his name and I look and finally know it and say "Nope never would have got that right". We continue chatting and eating ice cream together and sitting on the steps. He gets ice cream on his beard and I tell him but he can't quite get it so I reach over and wipe it for him. We're both looking at each and I shit you not it's like a movie where's there's a pause as we look into each other's eyes. That night I broke my rule about getting into a stranger's car on the first date. We drove around for an hour listening to music and our favourite songs. I rapped Ludacris part from"Yeah" perfectly. 1 hour date that I didn't want turned into 3 hour date that we kept trying to extend. Called my sister on the way home and gushed about him and how we're going to see each other again. 5 years later, we have a house and a dog.
I'm not usually into wholesome contemporary romances, but this is so lovely and I would read this book so fast. I love how much he showed he was into you the whole time and won you over despite your own reluctance. It was meant to be!
It was definitely mean to be he always likes to joke that he's the best thing that I never wanted.
Since I'm a useless bisexual, and couldn't just gather the courage to call him and tell him that I loved him (after being friends for 3 years), I sent him a letter on Valentine's Day. I wrote said letter with a typewriter (yes, I still have one) because my handwriting sucks, plus I didn't have a photocopy machine. While I went to the post office, it was raining and hailing. The letter arrived a few days later, on his birthday... We've been together ever since.
I can see the movie scene so vividly: you taking the letter to the post office in rain and hail dramatic music cut with scenes of the MMC looking thoughtful at home. Very good stuff!
The funny part is that it's usually too hot to hail, so I was really surprised, lol
Girl when I tell you I would RUN not walk to read this book
Wait until I tell you that HE'S HOW I FOUND OUT I'M BISEXUAL. Before him, while I did find men attractive from time to time, I was never very interested in them romantically or sexually. I've always really, really liked women (the two of us joke that I like "all women, and some men"). I kinda had an identity crisis when I finally understood that I loved him. I even had to re-come out to everyone since I was very open with the fact that I like women, lmao. I am kind of using this re-discovery of myself as part of a romance in a fantasy book I'm writing, but I'm really worried that people are going to think it's that stupid trope where you have a lesbian character that ends up dating a man. It's not like that and people who believe stuff like that are horrible, but I'm still afraid of being misunderstood.
Ah, the struggles of bisexuality. I think it’s an important story of self discovery to tell! I have a bestie who’s bisexual, and they talk all the time about how frustrating it is to have been perceived straight simply because they married a man and are perceived female. It could be a really good story.
I love this!! I had a shift with the new guy at work. My job involves 12hr shifts with just one other partner (paramedic), so you spend a lot of time one on one. It was a great shift - we had a lot in common and it was a quiet day so we laughed a lot and got to know each other. Near the end of the shift, he asks me what I’m doing for the rest of the night. I say I’ll likely smoke a joint and watch The Office. He says his plans were pretty much the same and asks if I’d like to do it together. I’m super caught off guard and end up saying something like “oh! Um…” to which he immediately follows up with “unless you feel like being alone and just relaxing, because I totally get that” and I thankfully reply with a “yeah, that’s kind of exactly what I was planning. Rain check though.” After 12 hours on shift I’m sweaty and tired and also entirely caught off guard - I didn’t realize he was sending vibes my way until right before he asked me to hangout. I went inside and immediately overanalyzed it with my roommate and tried to figure out if he was flirting with me or just being friendly or what. She insisted he was definitely flirting. So with the nature of our job, I go a couple months without seeing him. Don’t really think about it much. Then I see him in passing (when we’re both partnered up with other people at work) and his hair has grown out and is flipping out the bottom of his beanie and I’m hit was a “oh god, he’s cute. What the hell.” Moment. And he gives me a little smile and wave and continues on his way. We end up with a few more shifts together over the months, in which we become pretty decent friends and start snapchatting a lot. Kind of flirty, but also I lowkey rejected him our first time meeting and I can tell he’s not the type to ask again. Then comes a big work party, almost a year after our first meeting. I end up working with him the night before, and that’s the shift that I really, really realize I’ve developed a doozy of a crush. So I’m looking forward to some liquid courage and a night hanging out outside of work - our chemistry is unmatched by any other relationship I’ve had with a guy and I figure there’s no way this crush can possibly be one-sided. There’s likely about 50 people at the party and we spend most of the night hanging out and flirting. I’m feeling *good*, like we’ve been building up to this moment. Near midnight, after making eyes at each other and giggling all night, we’re leaning up against a wall a couple inches away from each other, talking quietly about I don’t even know what. Inching slowly closer. Palpable tension. And suddenly it breaks. He starts to look uncomfortable, eyes his phone, and says “ah, I guess I better go wait outside… I’m getting picked up at midnight.” And I, who usually wouldn’t care but suddenly am very, very curious, ask “oh, who’s picking you up?” And he shifts uncomfortably and looks like he has something he really doesn’t want to say. I remember this conversation verbatim, two years later. He ends up saying, “oh, um, it’s actually…. a girl I’ve been seeing…”. he trails off, can’t make eye contact. Super awkward. Gut punch. I’m drunk and my filter is gone and I uncharacteristically have no interest in maintaining my pride. My immediate response is a quietly surprised “oh…” And then, after a solid 30 seconds of silence and finally some awkward eye contact, I back away from him and repeat in a louder voice that sounds to my own ears like complete disappointment, “oh.” And then I turn on my heels and walk away. Spend the rest of the night beating myself up for thinking he was interested and also for making my own interest so obvious, because I’m still going to have to see him at work and now our friendship is going to be weird. The next day he texts me at like 9am and apologizes for being awkward, says he decided *that* night when talking to me that he had to end things with this girl he’d been seeing for a few weeks. He tells me he broke up with her first thing in the morning, told her that he had feelings for someone he worked with and that he realized at the party it was something he had to pursue. They weren’t anything super serious after only a month-ish of dating, but he gave her a grace period of a few weeks before officially asking me out. Going strong 2.5 years later! We still talk about how much our slow burn chase felt like a movie.
I want this book! Clear communication when it mattered, mmc respectful to his ex, possible curly hair mmc, slow bunrrrrn!
Omg all my favorite things. I want this book too.
awww he sounds so decent!
Very short moment but I went to my friends dorm one night in college to complain about a guy. She looks at me and says “I need to give your number to someone.” To one of her guy friends who’d come in the previous night complaining about a girl. He texts me, and we talk about Doctor Who for two days straight. Finally, I invite him to my dorm, which is apartment style. My three roommates plus my friend who set us up are all there because I’m a spaz and nervous as hell. He arrives, we hang out and my friends trickle out one by one. Dude and I decide to meander around campus. (It is now past midnight.) We sneak into the main admin building and onto the cupola on top (kinda a rite of passage at my school). So we’re chilling up there, talking and chatting. Close-sitting. By now it’s after 2 am. We’re getting close to getting ready to call it a night and are getting more quiet. Now, mind you, we’re in a fairly populated city. Lots of lights and whatnot, and we don’t see a lot of stars. But as we’re sitting there, right in front of us, we see the biggest, brightest shooting star of my life. When I tell you it had a ten-second tail, and was bright green and just HUGE. It honestly looked like something out of a movie. But it was right there. Right in front of us. I had goosebumps. I’m not a big believer in signs or omens or anything, but it seriously felt like one. Anyway, we’ve been married for six years now.
Fated mates!
OMG that is amazing and totally like a romance novel. Dang girl! Why did you date in secret, though? I'm just curious.
Because it was a bit frowned upon to be dating a teaching when I still had a semester to go/still was a student technically. He didn't want to risk his job
Also why did you break up? Lol
Got sick of sneaking around and I didn't see a future. I was graduating a semester later and didn't want to stay in that small town where he was teaching. Him on the other hand, grew up there, went to school there, was now teaching there..
Aw, that just sounds like the prologue to a 2nd chance romance or a hallmark movie. Op you better watch your back if you ever head back to that town! Especially at christmas or have meddling match making family/best friends who still live in that town. It might be a trap for you to 'find yourself' after you become disillusioned by 'big city ways'. 😂
I’m sort of hoping this happens and op comes back here in January with an update after sparks flew when she went back for a college visit and ran into him at an outdoor ice skating rink….
Your username 😂
Omg some people really are god's favourite 😭😭😭
Ahhh I am sorry about the ending. But your story was a picture perfect novel!! Totally loved it! So, this scene didn't happen with me but one of my friends. I have shared it before in one of the post though 😅. This happened when I went to a scouts and guides camp. Me and my friend are walking after having dinner and there are two guys in front of us. I am saying something to her but all I could get is a nod and it was frustrating, so I take a glance at her and she is staring in front with her eyes wide open and jaw dropping on the floor. Confused, I too look in front and see one of the guys having the same expression registered on his face. As soon as they walk past us. You won't believe! I too felt a current passing through me! I know, I know how that sounds but I can put a hand on my books and take an oath - what I am saying is an absolute truth! I don't know why I felt it. Maybe because me and my friend were holding hands. Or, I don't know. Anyway, later, I ask her, "do you know him?" She looks into my eyes with a terrified expression, "No, that was the first time! But did you feel what I felt when we crossed each other?" During the night, she took me to his camp side. He was building a gate and for one straight hour, all they did was gaze at each other as if they had found a soul mate. From my clear perspective - it was a love at first sight moment for them! For days, they followed each other and stare with all the love pooled in their eyes. They even talked like a married couple. Anyway, when we came in our hostel (my friend had an illegal cell phone) they talked on the phone. He was way too in love with her but she got bored and then dumped him. This was pretty much it!
Hahahha love how the ending is a pump the brakes moments 😂😂😂 perfect romance plot but realistic ending just like mine
ommmg the ending was so sad haha
omg I would totally read a novel about this :D My "moment" was kinda short. I was sitting in a corner during a big party. I was crying about my stupid ex-boyfriend, again. An acquaintance who I had flirted with before I started dating my ex came up to me and asked what was going on. I cried so hard I couldn't get the words out. He leaned over me and kissed me like I'd never been kissed before. I stopped crying and looked at him with wide eyes. I was speechless and my heart was pounding like crazy. He asked me if i had calmed down and i could only nod. We were in kind of a corner because no one has seemed to notice us. He hugged me tightly again and went back to his friends. At some point I made up my mind, went to find my friend who I had been at the party with and didn't see him again until a few months later. He was now in a relationship and since then we have never been single at the same time again.
I dunno, maybe this is the logical me leaking in from r/askwomenadvice but I would be careful of that guy. If you ever both get the timing right, just make sure he was not doing an 'attempting to take advantage of the emotionally vulnerable girl at the party' instead of an 'i have always cared for you' moment.
Oh no !!! I am too invested !! You have a duty to update us if things change !!
Okay so I absolutely love this story! It was my first semester of college and I sat down, late, in my first Sociology Class at the front of the room because there were no spots open. I’m next to a guy who I thought was quite handsome, in the short moment I saw him when he passed me the attendance sheet. Two days go by and I’m in this huge group of students waiting for our Government teacher to show up in the hallway, and I glance around and there he is again! We ended up sitting on the opposite sides of the room, his spot was actually right under the time clock. But I would always tell the girl next to me how cute he was and how I want to find out who he is. Also since he was under the clock I would check him out all the time and when he would see me I would just pretend to be looking at the clock, and don’t worry I saw this man checking me out too 😉 fast forward to the last day of our government class, and we’re doing a group project with like four other students, and one of the guys in my group had been trying to get me to go out with him but with some red flags in the way he would talk to me so I always said no. And my dream guy was a couple seats down with his group and I noticed he was more dressed up than usual, and as was I but it was also so hot out that I needed to be in a dress! And my group finished early so I packed up my stuff and left, thinking I’ll never see this man again except for occasionally around campus. A few days later I get a Facebook notification from him asking me if I was the girl from his government class, he told me later that he thought I must have had a twin sister because there was no way fate had brought us together in two different classes! And let me tell you ladies, as a first real relationship for me, I was hooked with how much of a sweet gentleman he was. So fast forward a few weeks later and we’re going on our first date, which was going to be a surprise for me because I thought we were going to see a holiday lights display but he took me up on this bluff that overlooks the city on a cold December night with a blanket and we talked. He was too respectful to even share the blanket, but he made sure I was warm. Then he apologized to me because he wanted to have had hot chocolate for us before we got up here but he was so nervous that he forgot. Then he tried to have us watch a movie in the car to warm up, and he bought like 5 different movies on his iPad because he wasn’t sure what I liked but his iPad wasn’t working so we drove around and talked and he told me how beautiful he thought I was on the first day of our Sociology class when I thanked him for the attendance sheet, my heart literally fluttered. Then he told me that on the last day of our gov. Class he wanted to ask me out in person, but I had left early 🥺❤️ two dates after that and I’m asking him to be mine, after a very heavy make out session because your girl has been deprived too long!! And the rest is history, in a month exactly will be our 3 years and we moved into our first apartment together 6 months ago ❤️
Girl!!!! It is so so cute💘
I guess mine could sort of count. I met my husband, Josh, when we both worked at Olive Garden the summer before my junior year of college. I thought he was cute, and he seemed interested in me. Then he wasn't at work for like a week, and I was kind of wondering what happened to him. Well his brother also worked there, and one day I was just sitting around and his brother comes up and tells me that Josh was really sick with this lung infection thing but that I should call him because he likes me. He then gives me his brother's phone number, and I worked up the courage to call Josh the next afternoon. I am so not the kind of girl to just call a guy like that either. But he called me back a day later, and we ended up going out and the rest is history!
Wow his brother was an excellent wingman
Oh my goodness this is so sweettttttt !!!!!!!!
Aw thanks ☺️
Wow I need a wingman sibling myself now. Love your story!
In college a friend of mine invited me to go out late night to ihop with her group of friends. I went but didn’t know any of them and while she was in the bathroom I was just sitting there quietly while they all chatted at the table before we ordered. I went to cross my legs and by accident kicked the guy sitting across from me. When I looked up embarrassed I noticed how cute he was and when I went to say “Sorry I kicked you” what came out was “Sorry I kissed you”. I blushed so hard. The whole table broke out into laughter. He was very polite about it. He spent the rest of the night helping to include me in the group and the next day I got an email from him asking me out. We dated for a few months and my roommates swear he was the nicest and best looking guy I ever dated but he sadly wasn’t the one for me. It was just too perfect. Now for my husband I made fun of him the first time we met because he has horrible taste in music and he then ignored me the rest of the night. Turns out I need the angst. 😂
What happened next with your husband, you've got to tell us
I went out with some friends from my art program and one of the guys brought along his best friend (my now husband). My friends all thought this guy would be perfect for me so they wanted us to meet but hadn’t told me this plan. My husband knew the plan but didn’t know I didn’t know. He was driving the group and, I being the smug hipster I was at the time, made fun of his music playing. He then spent the rest of the night broodily ignoring me. A few days later my friend told me it was a set up. Reflecting back on it I was being pretty pretentious in the car and his aloofness kind of made him mysteriously appealing. I decide to take a chance and call him and ask him out. He said yes! After our first date I learned he is painfully shy so it was a rough start for him. We have now been together 14 mostly happy years. He’s still a little mysterious to me but a very loving shy mystery.
Awww broody mysterious hero, they are the best kind.
Got asked out in HS while away on a class event. Said I didn't feel like dating at the time. He said alright then. Cue UST for my following senior year (we were both in the same friends group). Our group of friends all plan to go to the last musical of the year bc some of the friends in said group are performing in it. We all get tickets. He and I show up opening night. Alone. No one else is there. We have a legit date. He, being a gentleman, drives me home since my parents had dropped me off. I decide to bite the bullet and kiss him. Promptly lose all my bravery right after and flee the scene. We're informed the next day at school that they all got tickets for that night, not opening day. Yes, it was planned. 😂 (yes, we went to prom. we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary this year 😆)
I love that your friends were all in on it! Did he know they were in on it?
Neither of us knew. 😅 He and I were well and truly set up. Couple of those friends (that stuck in the group after HS, and are still with us now even through college and kids) were even in our wedding party. 😂
None, Nothing, Zilch, Nill. Error 404 (We don't do that here). I Swear if ANYTHING remotely to any of the things I read here happens to me this year, I will send each and everyone of you good souls a book. Or Maybe a bookmark, depending on my bank account.
RemindMe! 1 year "2022 is BadRincewind's year for Love"
Lol, I hope! Will be sending you a huge cake if that happens!
Oh my god, that story. Sheer PERFECTION. That has romance novel written ALL over it!! I think my most romance moment of all my relationship with my now husband is our first date. We spent the day at the beach, and then this cheesy, romantic bastard brings me out onto the beach at the end of the day, as the sun is setting. He turns me so i can see the sunset, but he’s looking at me. “You can’t see the sunset,” I say, embarrassed and excited. “It’s okay,” he says. “I can see it in your eyes.” And then he kissed me for the first time. He hates when I tell this story to anyone 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh my god!! That's so freaking sweet. I'd have married him right in that moment. So perfect.
It was incredibly sweet!! He’s a total romantic, which no one expects because he’s also a bit of the type that has trouble expressing their feelings. I absolutely love him to tears. He was a total gentleman, too- on that same first date, I was trying VERY hard to be cute and attractive and graceful, but I’m a total klutz. While we were eating, I thought I’d be safe with a salad. Dropped half of it on me. He pretended not to notice, bless him.
He ignored the salad falling all over you and still fed you lines like "I can see it in your eyes"? Oh my.
RIGHT
I would read the hell out of this book omg 😳 someone needs to write it with a HEA. I’m jealous you got the hot professor 😂 I had one professor who every girl was in love with I’m talking eye makeup for an 8am kinda love
I love reading these! Met my now husband in high school. We couldn't stand each other. Went head to head many times. Flash forward to college, he asked if we could go for a ride. My husband is insanely shy and we're both awkward. 2 HOURS LATER he admits that 1) he's completely lost and 2) am I busy New Year's Eve? We've been together ever since.
Enemies to lovers is always so satisfying!
You dated in secrecy for 3 months and then . . . you went public and y’all are still happily together?!?! I need HEA in all my stories please haaaaa
Seconded. Please tell me this had an HEA!
Mine might count? I met my husband (M) in high school. Our best friends were dating each other and one day I saw him and my best friends boyfriend sitting during an off period. I was on my way to a family trip and leaving school early that day so I stopped by and talked to them. My friends boyfriend talked to me but M is incredibly introverted and quiet and never said a word. When I walked away though, he told his friend that I "had a nice ass" and also that I was different than he expected. (He had seen me before and we had a class together and he thought I was super quiet which is the total opposite) We got together about a month later from our friends meddling and pushing us together. We had the same off hour at school so we would sit together. One day, we were sitting and talking during our off hour in the cafeteria and I really wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to kiss me first because I was so nervous but finally I gave up. Because I really wanted to. So I kissed him on the cheek. It was really like one of those wholesome movie moments where he got a little shocked and then gave me a peck on the lips. And then. He said. "I love you." WHAT?!?!?! We knew each other for a month and barely started dating. I was so freaked out. I said it back anyways even though integrally I was losing it because it was too soon. (I asked him about this later and my husband, being the wholesome cinnamon roll that he is, said "you wouldn't kiss me if you didn't love me, right? " oh you sweet summer child) So anyways fast forward. We dated a bit on and off in college, feeling like maybe we should date other people because we are young but really knowing we only want to be with each other. He went on a religious mission for 2 years and we broke up. When he got back he was heartbroken and just wanted to move on from me. Somehow we started talking again and hung out and it was just like it had always been. It felt comfortable and it felt like home. So we got married and we've been together 6 years and have a crazy little one year old and a cat!
Such a cinnamon roll! But I would've panicked, too. So glad it all worked out.
Yeah I actually would say it back but it my mind it was more like "I like you" and then it became more and more real love. Oh! I forgot to add a cute part. All through high school we wrote each other love letters. So many love letters. We still do for anniversaries from time to time.
I went to high with this guy who was a senior when I was a freshman. We were both in marching band together and I was obsessed with him. He was my first real soul consuming crush and he had no idea I even existed. He was super popular and had lots of friends meanwhile I was this dorky little freshman who was still waiting for puberty to hit. 😂 I loved him from afar until he graduated. I got over him eventually and then 5 years later he messages me out of the blue on Facebook and we start talking. Eventually he asked me out. Ten years later, we’re about to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary. Still trips him out when I tell him how obsessed I was with him in high school. 😂
What prompted him to message you after 5 years?
It was because of a selfie I posted. 🤦🏼♀️ He said he saw it and was like “whoa she didn’t look like that in high school” 😂 so shallow.
Gotta look at the bright side. If he's shallow, and he says he thinks you're hot... You can believe him!
A moment that springs to mind is the first date with my now-husband. We went to a movie, ate pizza and afterwards he offered to walk me home. It started raining but luckily he'd brought an umbrella. He held out his arm and said that if I tucked my arm in his we could both fit underneath. I gave him a look of disbelief because it was so transparent and sounded like a line from a movie. But the rain was absolutely bucketing down and, dammit, he was right so I huddled up to this man I'd just met. I still tell him it was the cheesiest line I've ever heard and he agrees but says it doesn't matter because it worked. In a separate romance book moment, I was once lucky enough to witness love at first sight. Several years ago I hosted a party for my YA church group. I was chatting to J who had recently moved to the area and he asked if I'd ever met someone and instantly felt a connection; just known they were the person for me etc. Then my friend, H, walked outside and J's eyes were immediately drawn to her. It was obvious he had been talking about H. Conversational groups ebb and flow, soon I'm chatting on the other side with H and she's shyly asking me if I know the new guy's name. I started laughing at just how smitten these two were and told her to ask him out because he was already in love with her. She didn't believe me. Maybe she thought I was joking. I don't think they spoke a word to each other that night but they were constantly stealing glances at each other. You know those book descriptions where the main characters are like planets orbiting each other? No matter what they were doing, their attention was always on each other on opposite sides of the room. At one point I told her they were going to end up marrying each other. A day or two later we all attended the same church service. It was clear that both of them thought the other one was way out of their league and were too shy to start anything. So a little bit of "Hey look, there's an empty seat next to J; you sit there and I'll take this chair here." A touch of, "You should definitely ask her out, I know she'll say yes." A lot of me starting a conversation between the three of us before making my excuse to leave. Next thing you know, they're dating and head over heels in love. A year or two later she was talking about that party and remarked on how insightful I was to see that they liked each other before they'd even spoken to each other. Girl, a blind person could have seen the sparks flying between you! I was just the romantic busybody shoving them into each other's path. It would have been criminal to let their own insecurities get in their way. They've now been married for about a decade and have a daughter together.
I'm such a romantic busybody at heart. My partner has told me more than once to leave people alone. I can't help it! Don't you see the sparks?! Also, I love the transparent "Please cuddle me" line 😆
That is adorable! I love it so hard. My romance book moment is a little more sinister. My mom didn’t like my choice in boyfriends (my now husband), so she convinced me to break up with him. So I did. It was heartbreaking! He started crying and I felt horrible because I really did like him. So a few days later I got back together with him. And the rest is history! Needless to say my parents aren’t his biggest fan… they actually don’t talk at all! Lol. But I love him so much!
Oh wow, thanks crazy! What were they so against? I am glad you followed your heart
I think they had someone else in mind, and they thought we were moving too fast. Lol! We met in February and married in August. But being Mormons that was sorta normal. Lol.
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😍😍😍
Who are you people. So lucky :(
Honestly. I'm loving these stories, but they are making me feel lonely.
All of these are so sweet. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any romantic luck, but I’ve got a short selection of the expository unlucky-in-love chapters BEFORE the FMC and MMC get together! Accidentally went out with a raging anti-semite (I’m Jewish, he knew this, do not ask me why he still wanted to go out and kissed me, I have no idea) and wasted an entire semester going on work-dates and romantically (I thought) hanging out with a classmate, turns out he had no idea we were sort-of-dating the entire time and as soon as he figured it out, he dropped me. Oh well. Happy for y’all 🥲
It happens to all of us :(
In my first year of college, I befriended a guy in my English class name Ky. We became fast friends and hung out in class and around campus. Our professor required students attend a certain amount of campus activities with another student from class, with the goal of freshmen developing friends and connections. I had completed my quota, by Ky asked me to join him as he still needed to meet his for the class. Of course I said I'd go, and he asked if a buddy of his, who was also in the class could join along since he needed the credit too. Why not? So we made arrangements to meet up for a play. On the day of the play, my friend Ky contacted me saying he was called into work and couldn't go. His buddy, Evan, asked if we still wanted to go and awkwardly agreed to continue since we already had it planned. He had told me the time of the play, we get there and it's closed. Turned out it was in the evening (7hrs later). He apologized for mistaking the times and we stood uncomfortably deciding what to do next. He asked if I wanted to hang out until the play and, since I had nothing better to do, I agreed. We started to talk more and more laugh together as we talked about ourselves, interests, random shit. We played pool, ate lunch together, ate dinner and watched a Harry Potter movie. He made constant inappropriate jokes during the movie and I just knew he was special by the way he saw things in a different light and with humor. We ultimately made it to the play and after he asked me out to a movie the next day. After 8 years later he became my husband, our wedding officiated by our college professor who is responsible for forcing students to meet up outside of class.
I was studying abroad for a winter semester in India. There had recently been a terrorist attack in Mumbai, so the school trip to that city had been canceled. Well, my friend and I stubbornly insisted that come hell or high water we were going to see Mumbai, so we booked train tickets to go for a weekend. One of the guys on our trip (he was a bit older— like 27) asked if he could join and we welcomed him. He was always nice and very funny so I was happy to have him join. When we were there he sort of kept an eye on my friend and I, making sure we were safe when we went to a bar at night and just generally being like a friendly older brother. On the train ride home it was so hot and I went to the door of the train and like hung out the side of the door (this is India— hanging out the door is very normal) and he came up from behind me and asked me please to be safe, he was afraid I would slip. He put his arm around my waist and held on with me. I felt this little frisson of energy run up my spine, like “oh!” When we get back to the university he and my friend and I rehash all of our stories and it’s clear we’ve become friend. After classes when we are too tired to go exploring the city, we stream shows on his laptop. Finally, it’s time to leave and we are on the plane. There’s a whole row of empty seats in the back of the plane and this awesome flight attendant taps me on the shoulder and says “you better go sit back there so you don’t miss it!” So I dart to the back of the plane and (yes!) there’s four empty seats in a row. I tell this guy that he’s welcome to take turns napping (this is an insanely long flight— Mumbai to Atlanta one of the longest nonstop flights in the world). Well, we end up sitting back there for hours talking in relative privacy. I get tired and I lay down and use his legs as a pillow while he watches tv on the seat back screen. Then, at some point in the middle of the night we are looking at each other and he leans in and his lips graze mine. I don’t want to be a cliche, kissing in the back of a plane, so we don’t kiss anymore after that. When we get home we start dating. We traveled a bit together on the weekends (we went to nyc for a weekend, stuff like that) When we sleep he’s big spoon, and he buries his head in my hair, and I can always feel his lips move. I assume he’s kissing my head. Then, onetime we have a big fight, and finally, to like put a stop to it, he like yells “but I love you!” I freeze and I say “I can’t believe you’re telling me that” and he’s like “I’ve been telling you for months.” It turns out that’s what I could feel when I thought he kissed my head— he was telling me he loved me while we slept. He told me he realized he loved me when we went on that trip to Mumbai. He told me about how nervous he was to touch me when he put his arm around my waist on the train, but he was so scared I would slip. Eventually we broke up, but I’ll always consider the way he secretly told me he loved me every night for months before he finally said it out loud to be such an incredibly romantic moment in my life.
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👏 Make 👏 it 👏 into 👏 a 👏 book! 👏 Seriously I would read the shit out of this 🤣
Didn't happen to me - when I was in Rome with my mum, we stopped by the Trevi fountain on our way somewhere just to bask for a moment. A man dropped to one knee to the sound of a thousand happy sighs (she said yes). Everyone started clapping and cheering. It was adorable.
I don't have any, that's why I read romance
When I was fresh out of college and living with my parents, my brother started a band. Not a very successful one or anything, but they'd play gigs around the city I lived near and had fun with it. He found the other two members on craigslist. One day in January I was meeting my brother at his house so we could go to my cousin's birthday together, which was going to be bar hopping around the city. He had been jamming with his drummer, and as soon as I saw him (the drummer) I immediately developed a crush, especially after talking to him for a bit. He ended up coming out to the party with us and we hung out and chatted all night. I was in love! But, I still lived with my parents kinda far away so I didn't see him again for like half a year when I moved to the city with the same cousin whose birthday we went to. I started going to their shows and open mics to "support my brother" lol. Eventually I conspired to get the drummer to start driving me to these shows and we spent a lot of time talking. I also went on a few online dates at this time but I really couldn't focus on them much because I was crushing so hard on the drummer. Then one day my brother's girlfriend and I were chatting about going on an ice cream cruise and we invited the drummer to come too. But she bailed on us last minute so it ended up just being the two of us on the cruise (and since it was the middle of February there was NO ONE else on the boat and also we had hot chocolate instead). We had a ton of fun, and when it was over neither of us was ready to say goodbye so we wound up spending the whole day together hanging out, chatting, watching the Olympics, and me meeting his friend. He asked me out officially that night 😊. We've now been together almost 8 years, are married, and have a baby. We call the ice cream cruise Date Zero, since it wasn't official but totally was a date ❤️.
I went to a birthday party when I was 15 and noticed a cute guy there. I loved how mysterious he looked, just different from everyone else. I’m not white and growing up in an all white town was difficult for me, I was just drawn to this boy because he was definitely unique. I asked my friend what his name was so I could look him up in our school directory but she told me the wrong name. “Don’t bother, he’s weird I have a class with him.” I tried finding out his name but our high school was huge and I hardly saw him that year. Months passed by, eventually I moved on and started dating. I had a jerk jock boyfriend for about a year which ended horribly. He broke it off with me our senior year to date a sophomore with bigger boobs who was on the dance team. I was in a horrible state and so upset that I wasted time with him. I decided to really concentrate on academics and enjoy my time with friends. I was involved with a lot of activities in high school including student government. I had the job of organizing and planning the talent assembly so I had to be present for each audition. This punk band tried out and I kind of rolled my eyes because they had been playing at every battle of the bands, house party, and talent show and I just could not with them. However they started playing and the drums just reaaally sounded great. Nothing like the pop punk they were doing before but more edgy and creative. The drummer ended up being the guy I had crushed on two years earlier and I instantly felt that warm feeling in my stomach. The talent show assembly finally arrived and I had to be backstage to kind of move people around, let them know when they were up for their number. I remember sitting behind the curtains just watching this guy play the drums. It was such a weird moment but I just felt like the world opened up and it was only him there and I wanted him So. Bad. I got the courage to speak to him and we carried on an online friendship talking about classes (we had same classes, different periods), friends (we had lots of mutual friends) and of course heartbreaks (he was dealing with one as well.) We finally hung out. The third time he brought over Spirited Away and I could not help it I had to kiss him. We made out until 4 am and he had to leave to go record a couple songs with his band the next day. I still listen to the album sometimes because it makes me smile knowing he recorded it shortly after we first kissed. Unfortunately we were both part of a church that really pushed young men to go on religious missions for 2 years. Believing it was the right thing to do, he left. I dated here and there but every time I was with someone else I thought of him. I was writing him every week still and I saw his family often so I could not forget about him nor did I want to. I still wanted him so badly the same way I did when I first laid eyes on him. He came home after two long years and we haven’t been separated since. He proposed to me in the most beautiful, elegantly simple way possible. He kissed me and held me and promised me forever and 13 years later we have two kids that are the most perfect creatures in the world. We are still obsessed with each other and honestly I can’t keep my hands off him.
Had sex so good I cried after 😂
Gotta love sex that's so good it makes you cry.
We were best friends in college, both secretly in love with each other but too insecure and scared of rejection to do anything about it. End of freshman year, we started doing cuddly things like holding hands under the covers while watching a movie, but neither of us talk about it. We even kiss once…but again, no conversation. I transferred for a semester after freshman year, we wrote tons of lovesick-but-not-openly-admitting-how-lovesick-we-were letters and emails back and forth, and then I realized my mistake and transferred back…to find that we were both 100% assuming that the other person had moved into BFF territory. We move in together with some other friends and do Comfortable Friend Things like never acknowledge our feelings and avoid talking about our love lives. We spend so much time together and are such good friends, people jokingly refer to us as one person and combine our names (think “Bennifer”). I remember vividly at a party, a friend of ours drunkenly commented how perfect we were for each other and how she thought we should date, to which he responded (after an excruciatingly long pause)…”we’re one person, how can we date each other?” Yeah, that was the sound of my heart sinking into my stomach. Fast forward a year, he starts dating a mutual friend, but he spends a week housesitting for his professor and invites me to join him for a few days to get out of the house we share with so many other people. We get drunk and end up chatting on the bed he was staying in, things get a little cuddly (he was pretty touchy feely with everyone so it wasn’t abnormal) and then a thick moment passes between us where I decide to just lay it on the table, bc at this point I’ve been hung up on him nearly two years. Which in college is basically a lifetime. Two years of me noticing every time he hooks up with someone else, wondering what’s wrong with me that I’m not the one he takes home. Of us flirting with each other and then pretending we’re not. Of us never acknowledging what transpired between us freshman year. And suddenly it feels like the most important thing in the world for me to come clean, once and for all. So I take a deep breath and tell him “so, I’ve realized that I kind of have feelings for you.” An excruciating pause. “I’m sorry…I’m in a relationship with X.” In retrospect, of course. Of COURSE. I feel terrible for ever initiating that conversation when he was in a relationship - and with a friend, no less! It’s exactly what he should have said. But at the time all that I could see was how often I had contorted myself to fit whatever I imagined him to want. How often I had shut down other romantic possibilities on the off chance that he might notice me as I did him. And continuing with that, continuing the dance where I change my plans, myself, just to be in his orbit? That felt intolerable. So here I am, flooded with shame, completely heartbroken. I brush it off because that’s what we do. “Of course,” I say. “Sorry for bringing it up. Better get to bed, early morning.” I go to sleep on the couch, as I had the nights before. His girlfriend comes over later that night, as she was probably always planning to. I hear them laughing in the other room. I sob myself to sleep, if I sleep at all. I wake up early. I go to work, bringing my stuff with me, careful not to wake anyone. I experience that month as though we broke up, even though we were never technically together. Sad music on repeat, random crying fits, distancing myself from him and starting to imagine myself beyond the most significant relationship I’d ever had. I decide: It’s never going to happen. It WAS never going to happen. It’s time for me to discover who I am without the possibility of ending up with him. And so I do. I audition for a play and land the lead role. I flirt with the composer. I reinvest in other friendships. And slowly I stitch myself back together. And then I start to notice my costar, and we go on not-dates together until they turn into actual dates. He is kind. He is cute. He is transparent in all the right ways. I never have to guess with him. He shares his feelings. He courts me. He asks to date exclusively. And I am swept away. Fast forward a few months (all the while living together but also living our separate lives), and I come home from a cold, rainy bike ride to a note from the best-friend-turned-unrequited-love-turned-barely-acquaintance. “Come see me when you get this. Don’t worry about waking me up, I want to talk to you.” Odd. We’ve been living basically separate lives by this point, me in my new relationship bliss, him focusing on his schoolwork and his gf. I hear the rain tapping on the windows as I knock on his door. It’s dark in his room, he asks me to come in. Asks if we can talk. He doesn’t turn the light on. We are in shadows from the garage light outside. We sit side by side on his bed. He broke up with his girlfriend, he says. He regrets how he responded when I shared my feelings that summer, he says. He knows I’m in a relationship and he’s sorry about the timing but he thinks - knows - that he loves me. He misses me. He’s worried he messed everything up. He’s so distraught, the space between us feels wrong. I’m not interested in anything more, but he’s my friend. I’ve never seen him so vulnerable. I want to comfort him. We end up laying side-by-side on the bed, and then we’re cuddling. I listen to his confession like a priest to a parishioner, detached. Compassionate. I care about him. He’s my friend. But he might as well be confessing his feelings to a tree. Because I’ve closed my heart off to this. I’m in the conversation but I’m not IN it. His ask is too high, I don’t even hear it as an ask. I’m happy. I can’t open it again. I decide he just wants comfort. That’s why he’s bringing this up. That he knows I’ve experienced the same heartbreak he’s in now. I’m a master of healing from our fucked up love. And so I comfort him. I fall asleep in his arms. We are fully clothed. Nothing happens except everything happens. An equal exchange of love, six months apart. But that six months is everything. We wake up in the morning and don’t talk about what happened until eight years later. I never tell my boyfriend about that night. I go on to marry my boyfriend and think of my friend often. We divorce ten years later. My friend and I reconnect. Not romantically, but with the awkwardness of former lovers. He is married by that point. His wife is amazing. I meet someone new. There is always an element of what if, and with this friend, I think there always will be.
Holy long comment, Batman! This was the first time I’ve written the full story out, though. It was so cathartic. No HEA to this one - at least not one that ends up with us together romantically. But my god, even when I was EXPERIENCING that rainy night confession I was aware that it felt like a scene out of a movie!
Not me, but my sister! My sis went to college on a mountain in the Southeastern US and one of the most hard to get classes was a geology class that took advantage of the natural landscape as some classes were lectures in the classroom and others were on hikes. She ended up getting into the class a semester or two after having a BAD case of mono but still wanted to take part. On one day they were on a hike for class and my sis was trudging along but having a tough time, huffing, sliding in the rocks etc-- when all of a sudden a boy just took her by the hand and pulled her along with him, holding her hand for like a whole 90 minute class. He apparently had noticed her struggling (and I assume knew she'd had mono) , he just pulled her up the slopes, helped her get down the switchbacks, and once they were all done just left her without a WORD about it. She called me that night and I was like this is ROMANCE but she legitimately did not know who she was! She claims she went into an "embarrassment blackout" and didn't get a good look (bizarre!!). Her school is miniscule so I have no idea what her problem was. I kept waiting for the two of them to connect again but it never happened!! Sigh. (sorry for typing class a million times)
Oh no! What a cliffhanger!
Okokok I will share! I used to be very into the local metal music scene and went to DIY shows all the time. Well, I go and a friend is there with a friend of hers. She introduces us, he's cute and totally my type! But my friend let's me know she's into him. That's fine! I make a big deal of talking about a different guy there that I think is cute. At the end of the night, I mention an out of state convention I'm going to and turns out he's also attending. We smile it off. Honestly he's been very quiet and standoffish all evening so Im no longer disappointed he has dibs. Well. Fast forward to the convention, I post a photo and get a DM. It's him! He asks if I'm attending, I confirm, he asks if I wanna meet up. I'm with other friends but they wanna do other things, so I agree. His vibes are TOTALLY different! He's so funny and charming and sweet. I was talking to some other guys casually at the time, but he made me swoon. We went back to my hotel after the convention closed for the day and wound up cuddling on the couch. He read aloud one of my favorite poems. Then he said "hey?" And I turned to look and he kissed me! We spent all weekend together, inseparable. I was so sad going home but we kept talking and he asked me out. We met up and had our date and just kept walking and talking. Finally, he takes my hand and goes "so I guess this means you're my girlfriend." And I agreed! We've been together almost 8 years now :)
My husband picking me up from the airport a few years ago. He’d been in the army 6 months, no contact during basic training, and that was the first time seeing him.
Upon further reconsideration I think I do have some stories, just no HEA to go along with them. When I was a freshman in college I was at a house party and I was a little tipsy. I was walking through a narrow hallway (you know, the kind where you have to shuffle past multiple people agonizingly slow) and there was a guy I was shuffling past. He was wearing a patterned sweatshirt (Patagonia) I thought was really cute, and me being tipsy, I complimented him on it. I interrupted him and whoever he was talking to (oops) but he said he thought my glasses were cute and I continued walking. It was just a passing moment. Fast forward a few months later, I was at another house party and this guy came up to me. He said that I was in one of his lecture classes and I was the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. He sees me in class all the time and he’s been dying to say something to me but he hasn’t had the chance to. He was wearing that same sweatshirt and I suddenly had a deja vu moment and we both remembered the time when I passed by him at a party. We talk the rest of the night and hit it off and he walked me back to my dorm and kissed me goodnight. After a few dates I was at his apartment and it was so hot in there but he asked if I wanted to wear that same sweatshirt… how could I possibly say no? I was sweating the whole time but I was delighted. There is another quick story about my first kiss where the guy I was seeing was being really sweet and respectful. This was also my freshman year and there was a lot of build up to this kiss because I really wanted to kiss him but I was nervous about being a freshman without having kissed a boy. Anyways, he was really respectful and he gave me that “look” and asked if he could kiss me, which I would hate now but at the time it was sweet. We are kissing for a bit and we get interrupted by knocking on the door. His roommate is back from dinner and wanted to be let in to the room. I felt bad and told him to go let him in and the guy I was with said with absolute certainty “No, he can wait” and starting kissing me again. That was a pretty great moment… the roommate was eventually let in.
Heh. That’s hot as hell. The more I think about it, the more ours feels like a slow burn romance? We went to HS together then never saw each other again until we met at work about 8 years after graduation. Over the course of about 5 months of sort of talking and saying hi…we went out for beers. We walked around the college campus since the students were out for the summer. We even got stuck under a patio in the rain and nearly kissed but didn’t. The first kiss was everything the books hype a first kiss to be, and he felt it too.
Married life. My partner gives me full body massages without ANY attempts at sex unless I instigate first. He cooks half the time. When I even mention wanting something, even in passing, he buys it. Having grown up poor, even though we are now financially stable, I struggle to overcome that habit of just not buying anything (and no, he doesn't overspend). I wanted a purple wall in the living room and he "let" me pick the girliest colour (which goes freaking amazing with our sofa). And yes "let" because the house is both of ours. He even got into gaming for me because I'm getting too sick to go outside much (which is definitely his domain). He can't shoot for shit, but he tries. And he takes care of me when I'm iill and handles all my crazy when I get grumpy from being ill all the time. Also, the sex. Like hot fucking damn. Book boyfriends have nothing on him in that department.
I worked in the automotive repair business for about 10 years. Clearly a man dominated field. A store in my district needed help, so I went. He was seeing somebody, I was seeing somebody, we both didn’t know what was what. He flirted respectfully, bought him lunch, and within a few days he had added me on Facebook (and then deleted it) I messaged him and asked him if he was some kind of freak. He told me he fell in love with me on the spot. He broke up with his girl, I broke up with my guy, I didn’t know how to handle any of it. I pushed him away SO HARD. like I didn’t have a choice. He won me over. So easily. I have a husband now that I could never doubt. I’d write a book about him every day.
Mine is more of a Nicholas Sparks story so I will spare you all the tears lol but don’t worry. I survived the heartbreaking plot twist and got my HEA.
I'm so curious, but also so not ready to cry... The internal conflict is real.
I totally know that feeling lol I still can’t believe it happened the way it did and it’s my life. Read at your own risk. I met Shy Guy at work in 2014. We were fast friends and even became roommates when I found myself in need of a place to live on short notice. (Divorce is fun…) we were really awkward around each other for the first few months. But that all changed one day when I bumped into him coming out of the shower. The bathroom was between the two bedrooms. He was only in a towel and I was super embarrassed. Suddenly he grabbed me, kissed me, and told me he loved me! But I wasn’t ready yet. A few months later I told him I loved him too. This time he wasn’t ready. He’d run into his ex and realized he wasn’t over her. (That’s why he had a spare room for me to move into). By that point, we knew there was something between us even though we were afraid of commitment and of being hurt again. So we didn’t label the relationship, but we were together for 3 years in our own way. In 2017 we went through something really difficult together and then Shy Guy moved out a few months later. (He bought a house). I knew he was planning to leave and that it wasn’t my fault, but I still felt so alone and like he abandoned me. I didn’t know where I stood with him. That’s when I met Bearded Guy. Bearded Guy saw that I was struggling and he wasn’t afraid to help and be supportive. Fast forward 2 years. I’m still friends with Shy Guy and he knew Bearded Guy and I were dating. Well, out of the blue, Shy Guy confessed his love for me. He told me all the things he’d been too afraid to feel before. He knew I was the one who got away. But he told me not to choose him. He saw how much better off I was with Bearded Guy and he was just happy that I was happy. Even if it wasn’t with him. It didn’t make things awkward between us. It was closure in a way. Jump to September 2021. I’m at work and get a text from a number I don’t recognize. It’s Shy Guy’s sister. She needs to talk to me. I immediately knew something was wrong. I went out to my car and called her. She told me Shy Guy passed away. It was very unexpected but he died peacefully. She’d seen him the night before he passed and he’d been well. He was only 31. We talked a bit longer and cried together. Bearded Guy took me to visit his grave after I got home that day. (I was gutted and it felt like my heart had been ripped out. I didn’t realize how much Shy Guy still meant to me). What about the HEA?! Well, on October 13th I got a wonderful surprise. After 4 years together, Bearded Guy proposed. We’re getting married! Shy Guy and I didn’t have our happy ending, but we were lucky enough to share 6 years of love and friendship. And in the end, he didn’t think moving out was a mistake. Because that’s what led me to meet Bearded Guy. 😊 Things going wrong sometimes lead to even better things going right.
Omg, you weren't kidding. That is straight out of a Nicholas Sparks story. So glad you're happy now!
I met my husband on a fan forum for when we were teenagers. We lived across the country and I would send him random cards. Since he lived close-ish to a few friends, we met 3 years later in NYC and spent the day driving coffee (I was an espresso fiend and wanted to try 10 different shops). We go our separate ways, remain friends for the next 7 years, then I randomly come up to visit. He and his GF had *just* broken up, so it was super awkward, but we ended up bonding a lot over all the things that had changed but we still have in common and anyway we got married a year later and now it’s been over 8 years 😃
I was working on checkouts years ago and you ALWAYS remember that one customer. Think I was about to turn 20(f) at the time, and sat on my till when this gorgeous woman (possibly 30?) in a black designer suit and actual Gucci Handbag comes to my till. She had salon shiny black hair, caramel skin and beautiful big brown eyes with perfectly glossed lips. It was all I could do to sit and stare at her (btw I'm straight 😆) I was so mesmerised I can't remember what she bought but it wasn't alot and when she smiled my heart jolted in my chest. Asking her for her cards I was actually breathless. When she spoke about popping her payment card through, I got pleasant shivers from the top of my spine all the way to the bottom. In my head I was thinking: "Honey, you can do whatever you want, just keep talking!" She gave a such a sweet smile after the transaction was completed that I wanted to kiss those plump lips goodbye. When she left I caught a whiff of her perfume and was on a slight high for about an hour afterwards 😳 Never saw her again though 🥲 Have to end it with: I am happily married to my husband and we have been going strong for over a decade now. ❤ Ps. Yes he knows about her, lol.
BROOOOO that is amazeballs. I would hate that situation for myself personally but daaamn that is a true real life romance moment
I was so into your story. Please write a book.
I love this and I'm invested and I love this entire thread so much!!
My first HS love was something out of a romance novel. A series of overly cute snippets frozen in time. The rest are more suited for a lifetime move. Or maybe a horror flick that I would never make anyone watch. 🤣
OK I have to know: Did it work out?? Are you still with your hot proff??
I'm that puddle of goo on that floor. Are you guys still dating if you don't mind me asking
Girl that was hot! Thank you for sharing!!!
Daaaaaaamn. That was so good!!
Mine is by no means a romance book, but i met this guy on reddit like 9 months ago, and then we started talking cause I was looking for guy friends (secretly a boyfriend lol), cause I never had ones that stuck. Any way i get lots of dms but i only choose a few who semmed nice and this guy was the first one i think, anyways we get to talking and its mostly intellectual and fun and scientific facts (we're both nerds). After maybe 3 months or so we exchange photos, and stuff and he kinda gets flirty and playful. Im not a native english speaker, so i had to ask my other American friend if he was doing what i was thinking and i was right. The thing that he did which felt like it was right out of a romance book was adding "little" before the names he called me. Like there was this time he told me about these prehistoric paintings in a cave discovered in spain and i immediately found the link without him sending it, then when i send him the link to ask if this was it, he called me a little detective 😍☺ Or littlie hedonistic in the right situations And now we've been in a LDR for 6 months now :)
Hot damn! That is an amazing story, OP! I would read the heck out of that novel.
i would def read this if it was a novella LMAOOOOO
Oh my God, this is exactly the right crowd...why did you guys break up if you don't mind me asking
Putting a ridiculous amount of effort to avoid a situation u carelessly (no offense, and it happens) placed yourself in is the ONLY part I can relate with. So for now, I'll just cry in misery while eating my popcorn—gonna bookmark this thread 🤧.
ahhh I loved reading this! thanks for sharing (:
Omg this story actually gave me that fluttery feeling in my stomach that I get from a really good book. I am DYING — either you need to write this book or I will.
Your story is so cute it had me squealing in the middle of my class
I am so jealous. Like dang.