10 Stories About Unexpected Dates, Missed Calls, and Tiny Moments That Make You Believe in Love

• I met a guy on a dating app who seemed too good to be true. We arranged our first date at a restaurant. When I arrived, he called and told me to come outside. I stepped onto the street and saw him with a small kid. I immediately saw red. His profile had said he was single with no kids.
  Before I could turn away, he spotted me and waved. When I went over, he said, “I was waiting outside for you when I found this lost kid. He has his parents’ phone numbers and I’m just trying to contact them. Is that okay?” Relieved, I told him yes and we waited with the kid.
  Turns out his mom had frantically started driving around when she couldn’t find him and it took her almost 30 minutes to come get him. The restaurant had given up our table by this time and we missed our reservation.
  So we started walking, stopping at little street food stalls along the way. We shared dumplings, fries, and ice cream, sitting on a bench and talking until the restaurant we’d originally planned to go to had probably closed. That was our first date and honestly, the time waiting gave me a better glimpse into his personality than a normal dinner would have.
  Three years later, we’re more in love than ever. We still joke that maybe that little kid was cupid in disguise!

• In the pre-cellphone era, my friend asked me to accompany her for an acquaintance wedding. I had no interest in going but I owed her one so I bought a gift and turned up at the address she gave me. Except I ended up at the wrong hotel.
  I looked up the directions for Elanza Hotel instead of Elanza Plaza (both from the same hospitality group but located in different parts of town.) I realized my mistake when I saw the names on the wedding welcome sign.
  I was about to turn around and leave when a guy standing near the entrance asked if I was looking for someone. I explained what had happened, expecting him to let me disappear into the evening. Instead, he started laughing so hard that I couldn’t help joining in.
  He was the groom’s younger brother, and apparently, he’d been trying to escape the wedding preparations all afternoon. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well stay for dinner,” he said. “I could use someone to talk to who isn’t related to me.”
  I thought he was joking, but he actually found me a seat and introduced me to a few relatives. Since there was no way I could make it across town in time for the original wedding and I was already dressed up, I stayed.
  We spent the reception talking, and I discovered we had a ridiculous amount in common. At one point, his aunt even asked how long we’d been dating. We both burst out laughing.
  Before I left, he asked for my number. I gave it to him, assuming he’d probably forget about me once the wedding was over. The next morning, he called me and asked me on a real date. We went out the following weekend.
  That was over 30 years ago. We’re still together, and his family now tells everyone that I crashed their wedding on purpose because I liked him while my friend, who invited me for the first wedding, says she planned it all along!

• My sophomore year, I had a huge crush on a guy, but he was dating someone else and seemed super happy, so I forced myself to try to forget about him. We were friendly until he graduated the following year and I moved on with my life. I was awkward and shy and weird anyway; there was no way he’d ever have been interested in me.
  A few years later, in my senior year, I had a dream about hanging out with him and kissing him. I emailed him about it. I can’t remember if I told him about the kiss, but I basically just tried to reconnect. A few days after that, we made plans to hang out. Now we’re married!

• When I moved out, my ex and I didn’t speak for a couple of months. Then it started where we would send each other memes, and chat here and there. A little awkward at first, but we always got along really well and knew how to make each other laugh. My now husband knew this and was fine with it.
  Eventually I invited ex to a party, so there were many people so it would be less awkward. He and my husband are both genuinely nice people, and there were no romantic feelings left between ex and I.
  The funny thing is, my husband has occasionally expressed minor jealousy about other people, but never my ex. When I asked about it, he said that he knows I already dated my ex and it didn’t work out, and he could see why, so he never found him threatening.
  My ex was at our wedding, and recently got engaged to a nice girl and I’m very happy for him :) His fiancée has always been nice to me and is fine with our friendship. She even let him sleep over here when he had to do something in the area early the next morning before she had even met me which made me respect her a lot.

• For context, I’d had a crush on Ryan for about four months. We worked in the same office, sat on different floors, and mostly talked when we ran into each other at lunch. He was funny, easy to talk to, and annoyingly good-looking.
  I’d been trying to figure out whether he liked me, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. He’d remember little things I’d told him, save me a seat during team lunches, and sometimes message me about random things after work. But he never actually asked me out. My best friend said I was overthinking it. I disagreed.
  Anyway, one night I was scrolling through my contacts in bed, daydreaming about Ryan when I accidentally tapped his name. I didn’t even realize what I’d done until I heard the ringing. I hung up immediately. Then I checked the time. 2:03 a.m.
  I seriously considered throwing my phone out the window. What was I supposed to say if he asked about it? That I’d accidentally called him in the middle of the night while thinking about absolutely nothing suspicious? He didn’t call back, so I eventually fell asleep.
  At 8:46 the next morning, my phone rang. It was Ryan. I stared at the screen for a solid ten seconds before answering. “Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Hey. Everything okay?” he asked. “You called me last night.”
  “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. It was an accident. I was half asleep and pressed the wrong contact.” There was a pause. Then he said, “Oh. I was thinking you finally missed me.” I laughed nervously because I couldn’t tell if he was joking.
  “I’m serious,” he added. “I’ve actually wanted to ask you out for a while, but I couldn’t figure out if you liked me.” I sat up in bed. “Wait. What?” He laughed. “Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction when I realized you’d called me at two in the morning.”
  Apparently, he’d been hesitant because we’d become friends at work, and he didn’t want to make things awkward if I wasn’t interested. I told him I’d liked him for months but had assumed he was just being friendly.
  “Well, this is embarrassing,” he said. “We could’ve saved ourselves a lot of trouble.” Then he asked if I wanted to get dinner with him that evening. Obviously, I said yes.
  Our first date lasted nearly four hours. We discovered we’d both been waiting for the other person to make a move, and we’d each interpreted the other’s nervousness as disinterest.
  We’ve been dating for nine months now. Ryan still tells people that I called him first. I keep reminding him that it was an accident, but he insists it counts. Honestly, I’m just glad he didn’t answer that night. I don’t think I could’ve survived an actual conversation at 2 a.m.

• Just went through a break up and all I wanted to do was stay at home and be alone. I swore to myself that I do not need another man in my life for a long time. Then a friend forced me to come meet an online friend who was on vacation in our country; my friend was too afraid to go alone.
  We waited for this guy at the train station. I saw him walking towards us from far away, and as they approached my eyes got fixed on his. We shared a hug to say hello, even though we did not really know each other. I fell in love. He did too. We did not even talk.
  Many months later, we are fighting through this long distance relationship, hoping to close the distance soon. Thank you dear friend for forcing me to come and fall in love at first sight with this wonderful man. If I had been stubborn and stayed at home, I would have never met him.

• After a string of Tinder and Bumble dates, I was starting to give up on finding someone. At first I wasn’t taking dating too seriously, but after a while I got bored and felt like something was missing. I quit using dating apps for about a month until one day I decided to open it up again out of boredom.
  I talked to one guy that I matched with periodically throughout the day. Again, I wasn’t really interested in diving deep into dating again so I wasn’t taking it seriously. That night I went to the pub and that same guy, by pure coincidence, was standing 4 people behind me in line.
  Our conversation kind of stopped mid day and we didn’t discuss any plans for the rest of the night so it was really weird that we both happened to be there at the same time. We said hello, he bought me a drink and made plans for an actual date the next day.
  After going on that date, I think we both realized there was something special between us. We have been together ever since and I’m going to marry him one day :)

• This might be the most insane story but I swear it’s true. Last year, my boyfriend of three years had just broken up with me on the same day my company announced there would be job cuts. I was devastated and didn’t want to go home so I bought a coffee and went to a park nearby.
  I was sitting on a park bench trying not to cry when a little girl walked up to me and asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?” I shook my head. “Good! You can marry my daddy!” I laughed so suddenly that I nearly spilled my coffee.
  The little girl pointed toward the playground, where a man was helping another child climb onto the slide. “That’s my daddy. He makes pancakes!” “That sounds nice,” I said. “Sometimes he burns them,” she added. “But he puts chocolate chips in them, so it’s okay.”
  Her dad turned around, noticed she’d wandered over to me, and hurried across the grass. “Lucy, what have I told you about talking to strangers?” “But Daddy, she doesn’t have a boyfriend!” He looked at me apologetically. “I’m so sorry. We’ve been having a conversation about this, and apparently, she thinks I’m never going to find a girlfriend unless she helps.”
  I laughed. “How’s the search going?” “Terribly. She asked our cashier last week.” Lucy folded her arms. “She was married.” I couldn’t stop laughing. For the first time that day, I wasn’t thinking about my breakup or the possibility of losing my job.
  Her dad introduced himself as Daniel, took one look at my red eyes, and asked if I’d had a rough day. I admitted I had, though I didn’t explain everything. He didn’t press me for details. Instead, he asked if I’d mind keeping him company while Lucy played.
  She’d been trying to learn to ride her bicycle without training wheels, and he could use an extra pair of hands. I ended up cheering Lucy on while Daniel jogged beside her bike. She managed about three seconds before falling onto the grass, then declared that bicycles were stupid.
  We spent another half hour at the park. Before leaving, Daniel thanked me for keeping Lucy entertained and asked if I’d like to get coffee with him sometime. “Are you asking me out, or is this another one of Lucy’s schemes?” I asked. He grinned. “I’m asking. Lucy doesn’t know about this part.” I gave him my number.
  A few days later, he texted to ask if I was free that Saturday. We met at a little café near the park while Lucy spent the morning with her grandparents. We talked for two hours, and by the end of it, I was looking forward to seeing him again. We started dating a few weeks later and we’re still together!

• We’ve known each other since 9th grade, ran in the same friend group but never really spoke. We were in the same homeroom in 11th and 12th grade even. We dated separate people in high school.
  Our mutual friends went on a beach trip after we graduated called senior week. We both went and were the only ones who could/would stay up super late. We’d stay up until like 7am talking. We played what we dubbed as the question game. No question was off limits, you had to answer honestly.
  He still had his girlfriend at the time so we didn’t take anything further. They had plans to break up mid summer though but I didn’t expect anything to happen because... college. We were supposed to go to different colleges in just a couple months.
  He broke up with her the day we got back from the trip. I didn’t find out for a few weeks. We hung out and planned a road trip for us and some friends. He asked me on a date, and I was somehow surprised by it.
  It was still only going to be a summer fling. Longest summer fling ever cause here we are, 6 years later. We made it through the distance and hardships of college and have since moved to a different state, and even purchased our first home together.

Love has a way of turning ordinary moments into stories worth sharing. Whether two people meet by chance, through friends, or in the most unexpected circumstances, every relationship has a beginning. And sometimes, the story of how it all started is just as lovely as what came after.