Tropes Childhood Friends Short

Best Short Childhood Friends Fanfics

Childhood Friends novellas — 10k to 50k words, polished and contained. Curated from AO3, ranked by kudos.

Childhood Friends 20 short fics Avg 29,492 words 10,000–50,000 words

Top 20 Short Childhood Friends Fanfics

Ranked by AO3 kudos. Each fic is tagged with childhood friends and falls in the 10,000–50,000 words range.

1

I'm Reading Your Lips (You're Speaking My Language)

by some1_around

Rozanov cocked his head. “You speak Russian? Or just the curse words?” “Yes, I speak Russian,” he snapped, defensive and angry. He knew that it had been a mistake to even try to be friendly with Rozanov. “Why? Do I not look Russian to you?” He scoffed. “No, not really,” Rozanov said. Some of his tea

52,890 kudos 30,455 words 4/4 chapters Mature Complete
2

your heartbeat, across the grass

by fakeplasticlily

To his unbridled horror, Wei Wuxian sees his face up on the giant screen in real time for the entire stadium to see. Still laughing as his face takes a moment to catch up with the sheer mortification he’s feeling, A-Yuan perched on his shoulders as the Lan Wangji cape drapes over them.There’s also c

25,360 kudos 44,278 words 1/1 chapters Explicit Complete
3

How Kuroo Found Kenma

by SuggestiveScribe

"Oh my God," Kuroo said, eyes growing wide. He slowly turned to fully face Oikawa, "I'm in love with Kenma."Oikawa brought his tea to his mouth. "Yeah," he said, smiling through the steam rising in front of his face, "I know."

21,932 kudos 37,641 words 5/5 chapters Explicit Complete
4

under the sky in room 553 i discovered you and i

by spellfire

“Have you ever heard about the origami hearts tradition in the hospital?” Taking the heart, the child excitedly inspected it, nodding in glee. “Yes! My mama told me that when someone leaves the hospital to go to heaven, we all fold a paper heart for them! Like this, like this!” “That’s right,” chuck

18,265 kudos 28,825 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
5

Paper Planes

by annie_vi

As springs ebbs into summer, Park Jimin unexpectedly spots a familiar face at a pool party - Jeon Jeongguk, his childhood best friend and first love, who disappeared without explanation five years ago and left Jimin heartbroken.

8,121 kudos 49,289 words 2/2 chapters Explicit Complete
6

Down Bad

by usuallysunny

Penelope drunkenly confesses her love to her best friend’s brother, leaving her mortified come morning.Two months later, in a desperate attempt to move on, she brings her new boyfriend to the Bridgerton’s annual weekend away.But if Colin Bridgerton doesn’t love her back, why does he look like he wan

5,674 kudos 21,720 words 5/5 chapters Explicit Complete
7

Catch A Falling Star

by hoshruba

“Oh, darling, do you remember… what was his name? Makoto, was it?” Haru freezes in place, his breath catches in his windpipe like cloth on brambles. He feels Makoto stifle a gasp and try to shrink into himself. “I asked if you ever saw him again.”

5,007 kudos 14,758 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences
8

sting of a wasp

by brightbolt

"You’re a virgin,” Gideon said, testing it out. "Huh." Harrow didn’t like the sound of that huh. She knew Gideon’s noises, and that was a thoughtful, sinister huh. That was the same huh she’d made before putting canned tuna in Crux’s work boots. Her eyes narrowed. “What.”Gideon cocked her head to th

4,621 kudos 42,138 words 2/2 chapters Explicit Complete
9

One Escape to I Do

by Anonymous

Shane flees to the cottage four hours before his marriage to his biggest hater, Ilya Rozanov. He doesn’t expect to find Ilya, who thought of jilting him first, at his destination.

3,564 kudos 40,026 words 6/6 chapters Explicit Complete
10

Oh God...She's Hot

by Mikotyzini

Having moved away from Vale years ago, Weiss isn't thrilled when a job relocation sends her back to the city of her youth. While searching for an apartment, however, she reconnects with a childhood friend who...aged extremely well - so well that Vale's weather isn't the only thing hotter than Weiss

2,517 kudos 41,468 words 8/8 chapters Mature Complete
11

Husband Material

by serendipityswan

Jungkook has been secretly loving his best friend Jimin since they were teenagers. Even after Jimin became a single dad, he longed for him but still couldn’t motivate himself to pursue anything. That was until he gets uncle-zoned and he finally decides to prove he is husband material.

2,073 kudos 32,175 words 11/11 chapters Explicit
12

Sun and Moon

by Moonlight_Hearts

Ed and Ling knew each other before the promised day, they were best friends and had significant impacts on each others lives. Everyone is confused about how Ed knows the Emperor of Xing though. Or: Ed gives no fucks and saves the country while stealing the heart of a prince he's finally reconnected

1,862 kudos 14,386 words 3/3 chapters General Audiences Complete
13

to find your half-orange

by neverlander (littledewdrops)

encontrar su media naranja in which a certain madrigal tries to figure out who his best friend is pining after, all the while trying to hide his all-consuming love for her. alternatively... the five times camilo asks who she's in love with and the one time someone asks him

1,795 kudos 15,926 words 6/6 chapters General Audiences Complete
14

Boundless Enthusiasm

by Flakeblood

Adrian is just wandering the woods when a boy only a little older than him calls out. --- Adrian stood still, ears perked, watching the boy in front of him. “Puppy?” the boy repeated. Adrian sneezed, shaking his head. He wasn’t a puppy--he was a big, fast wolf!

350 kudos 16,753 words 9/11 chapters Teen And Up Audiences
15

Wide Open Spaces

by tobefearfulofthenight

A year after going on the run, Neil and Mary settle in Oakland. Neil strikes up a friendship with Andrew Doe. OR “If you quit wavering and come on, I will make sure you get back fine. Deal?” Like a bodyguard, Neil thinks. His father has one of those. But Neil doubts this kid can protect him from wha

173 kudos 34,063 words 6/8 chapters Teen And Up Audiences
16

little do you know

by aeterisks

Taehyung has been running away from Jeongguk for seven years. Now is the time to be brave.(Or, Taehyung is a producer who goes back to his hometown to find a new artist to give his song to. What he didn't expect was for it to be Jeongguk, his first love.)

99 kudos 17,652 words 1/1 chapters Explicit Complete
17

THE BOND THAT BINDS US- LEGOLAS X OC (GWENDOLYN)

by Lucyycat38

Two heirs from two different realms are forced to part for centuries after a fatal mistake. Even so, neither can ever truly forget the other. Time passes, and both grow into who they were meant to be. Legolas becomes an exemplary heir—cold, calculated, lethal—everything the Elves would define as per

40 kudos 36,514 words 9/? chapters Teen And Up Audiences
18

EMBERCROWN

by itsreggie09

It’s been a long time coming… welcome to Embercrown 🔥 This fic takes place after the events of Firebound and is the fourth book/part of the We Burn series. If you haven’t read the previous books yet, this is your sign to go do that first because we are officially entering the “everything is on fire

39 kudos 37,651 words 5/28 chapters Mature
19

Story of my Dreams

by Darlingtea2_a

“The way this will work is that each of you will pick a person at random, I have their names and addresses here with me,” he said as he finally made his way back to the front of the class, George mindlessly inspecting the empty envelopes and four stamps he had been handed. “You will make the first m

35 kudos 23,874 words 7/? chapters General Audiences
20

Milise Mou

by adoreflowerzz

Patroclus left Phthia years ago. He doesn’t expect to see Achilles— who has made a name for himself as a beloved actor in the country— ever again. He accepts that he’ll only ever see him behind a screen. That is until Achilles walks into the little taverna he manages on a random afternoon.

29 kudos 10,238 words 2/? chapters Explicit

More Short Childhood Friends Fics on AO3

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About Childhood Friends

Characters who knew each other as children and have a deep, long-standing bond. Romance may develop as they grow up or reunite later in life.

The deep emotional foundation, shared history, and the sweetness of love that grows from innocent beginnings.

Common scenarios: Next-door neighbors, summer camp friends, family friends who grew up together, playground promises kept.

About This List

32,175
median words
60%
complete
52,890
top kudos
~2.1 hours
median read time

This list of 20short Childhood Friends fanfics spans 589,830 total words. Kudos range from 29 on the newest entries to 52,890 on the most established. 60% are marked complete — check the status flag before committing to a longfic. The most common rating is Explicit (9 of 20 fics).

Recurring tags across this list: Childhood Friends · Friends to Lovers · Alternate Universe - Modern Setting · Mutual Pining · Alternate Universe.

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