“We Met Before We Were Born” & Other Slow Burn Love Stories

Ah, the painfully tantalising slow burn romance. We’re obsessed with them: Will-they-won’t-they storylines have flooded our TV screens, theatre stages, and book pages since wayyyyyy before Shakespeare. Now, the most recent big hit on everyone’s lips is Netflix’s One Day. The series, which was released in February, chronicles two friends on the same day each year as their connection slowly develops into love. As Refinery29’s Alicia Lansom wrote in her essay about the series, it’s the waiting game that makes these stories worth it. “The ultimate romantic fantasy is a drip-fed, excruciatingly slow love story, feeding off mounting tension and emotional confusion.”

These romances aren’t just the stuff of fiction, either. Though less common perhaps than the more typical “tear our clothes off” dating trajectory, slow burn love stories are played out in real life every day.

We spoke to Refinery29 readers who experienced a new romantic connection in this way, leading onto long-term relationships. Read and weep — we did — as these people go to show that sometimes things do end up being worth the wait, and there is no need to rush.

If you have a slow-burn love story you wish to share, please email tanyel.mustafa@refinery29.com.