Top 19 Short Meet-Cute Fanfics
Ranked by AO3 kudos. Each fic is tagged with meet-cute and falls in the 10,000–50,000 words range.
Stiles Stilinski, Boyfriend Extraordinaire
by MereLoup
“Beacon County Sheriff's Department, this is deputy Mahealani speaking.” “Oh thank god!”“Stiles?” “I, uh, I need some advice.” “Advice?” “Yeah. So, hypothetically, say you met your boyfriend’s mother and sister for the first time ever. Completely by accident. In the grocery store. And they convin
Like Real People Do
by third_crow
“Could I get a name for the order?” Marlene asked.“Serious,” the man replied. “Like the star,” he clarified, and Remus mentally scratched out 'Serious' and rewrote 'Sirius' in his head.“The… star?” Marlene asked, her pen hovering over the cup as she hesitated.“S-I-R-I-U-S,” Remus said. He stocked cr
rose garden filled with thorns
by galactictsukki
“I’m sorry, but my answer is no. Someone else might be willing to switch if you ask.” “I can’t believe—this is unacceptable! I’m going to call the flight attendant over and get this sorted out right now!” Flustered and cornered, Shane injects his Captain Voice into the conversation. “Ma’am, I unders
Night Changes
by proseandpulse
Shane is drunk, concussed, and hiding in a phone booth when he calls the only number he knows by heart. The man who answers is not Hayden Pike.
this time it's a tweet cute
by Owlwinter
Sapnap: Damn, even I think that is one dry-ass trending descriptionSapnap: How much do you get paid to write those again?George: none. this is an unpaid internship and I hate it here.--Or: in which George is the Twitter Description Man, and Dream is the perpetually-trending Minecraft youtuber he has
Quack (Stiles Stop Calling It That)
by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)
“Stiles, I’m serious, I need a favour.” “That sounds like a trap,” Stiles Stilinski muttered sleepily into both his pillows. “You know,” he continued when the man in his room made no move to leave, “you’d think I’d be used to this. My dad, coming into my room, smacking my ass to get me out of bed, w
Natural
by withered
Derek goes grocery shopping, and somehow walks out with a kid, a pack and a mate.
Trade the Game You Know for Shelter
by irisbleufic
“Finish it,” Armand says abruptly, reaching out to touch the bottom of the glass. He tilts it up to Daniel’s lips, the words an imperious command. Daniel barely opens his mouth in time. He chokes on what’s left of the watery crème de menthe and crème de cacao, but Armand doesn’t lower the glass
be my mirror, my sword and shield
by kybelles
Ash Lynx finds the love of his life on a quiet night after he trips on sidewalk and harshly bumps his face against it when he exits from library.Ash lets out a long-suffering sigh and prepares to take out his phone when he hears a sharp inhale and feels someone approaching him in a hurry. He defensi
Celestial Bodies
by pixelated (prettyremus)
When his attractive new neighbor asks him to pose for some paintings, Remus Lupin reluctantly agrees—but he doesn’t expect to find truth, trust, confidence, and maybe even love in the middle of it all.
You Could Be My Only One (I've Gotta Let You Know)
by Elisabeth13
Darcy's always trying to set Charlie up with guys that come into his practice. It literally never works. Until it does.
Extra Insurance
by ghostlygoose
When Grian was informed that he would be given a bodyguard for his journey to the Rift he was… well let’s just say displeased would be putting it mildly.Unsurprisingly, nobody in his family would listen to his very reasonable objections.“Grian, mate,” Mumbo had said exasperatedly in response to his
bunny followed back
by bloodlessbyers
“Are you going to share your art or should I just sit here and wait until you’re done reading my smut?” or An epistolary-style fic in which Mike is a fanfic writer and Will is a fan artist for Cleradin as Baldur’s Gate 3 OCs.
if it’s quite alright
by ShowMeAHero
“You… like it?” Irving asks, vulnerable, pitched halfway between a statement and a question.And Burt thought he was a stranger.“Of course, I like it,” Burt replies, automatic, honest. “I love it, it’s— It’s me!”This time, there’s a touch of a laugh in Irving’s voice when he repeats, “Yes, it— it is.
Couple: Marine One Piece
by Buggy_Croccy_Hawky
Couple : Marine One Piece !!
A head on a shoulder
by A_dancer13
After a weekend away, Manon blackbeak finds herself falling asleep on plane. Her head just so happens to fall on the shoulder of the stranger next to her. The rest is history. (Single dad AU, Isla is the cutest!)
College? I Don't Know How to Deal With College?
by Whoopty
A College AU set in the real-ish world. Maka meets and befriends Crona, a lanky awkward person, and helps to navigate them through DWMA, a prestigious college, as Crona tries to come to terms with their past, and with help, maybe they can have a chance at happiness. (Not abandoned, just been busy! T
The Blooming Pot Cafe
by kfnye98
How a cafe in Rexxentrum ends up being the home of several romances.
Found Family
by fantasywishes
Erik is used to being alone—until Christine enters his life and refuses to treat him like anything less than normal.Between quiet moments, chaotic friends, and a growing sense of belonging, Erik begins to realize that maybe… he doesn’t have to hide anymore.And maybe, just maybe, love is something he
More Short Meet-Cute Fics on AO3
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About Meet-Cute
Two strangers collide in a charming, embarrassing, or absurd first encounter that all but guarantees a second one. The trope is the romcom opening distilled: wrong coffee orders, shared umbrellas, dogs with better instincts than their owners.
A great meet-cute makes the romance feel fated from the first paragraph, and the format's compactness has made it a favorite for one-shots and prompt fills.
Common scenarios: Grabbing the identical suitcase at baggage claim and exchanging numbers to swap them back, or a florist and a tattoo artist who keep mis-delivering each other's mail.
About This List
This list of 19short Meet-Cute fanfics spans 441,744 total words. Kudos range from 27 on the newest entries to 27,100 on the most established. 74% are marked complete — check the status flag before committing to a longfic. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (8 of 19 fics).
Recurring tags across this list: Meet-Cute · Alternate Universe · Alternate Universe - Modern Setting · Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence · Fluff.
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