Tropes Mutual Pining Epic

Best Epic Mutual Pining Fanfics

Mutual Pining fanfics over 100,000 words — the long-form treatment of the trope. Curated from AO3, ranked by kudos.

Mutual Pining 20 epic fics Avg 233,857 words over 100,000 words

Top 20 Epic Mutual Pining Fanfics

Ranked by AO3 kudos. Each fic is tagged with mutual pining and falls in the over 100,000 words range.

1

The Way You Used To Do

by edema_ruh

"We're really sorry," his father says, in a teary-eyed, wobbly way. "But your friend, Izuku, he's... He's gone, son."Katsuki can do nothing but blink up at them for moments that feel like an eternity, eyes darting between both his parents in obvious confusion, disbelief, and, more than anything, ind

72,220 kudos 670,180 words 30/30 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
2

All the Young Dudes - Sirius's Perspective

by Rollercoasterwords

this is an ATYD fanfic first!!! and a harry potter fanfic only by necessity. this is literally just me rewriting each chapter of atyd but from Sirius's perspective bc i love this story so much and can't get enough of it. all credit for the original work goes to MsKingBean89 and if for some reason yo

47,973 kudos 628,178 words 188/188 chapters Mature Complete
3

frequently, secretly fond of each other.

by milominderbinder

Shrugging one shoulder far more casually than he possibly feels, Ilya says, “I like both. Is secret, okay?” “Okay,” Hollander says, voice cracking. He doesn’t say anything else. The air’s so heavy around them that it feels like being in the middle of a scrum, the weight and heat of all those bodies

45,340 kudos 222,222 words 28/28 chapters Explicit Complete
4

(the first time) he kissed a boy

by buzzcut__season

Reki is insecure about his lack of kissing experience. Langa just wants to help him feel like he's good enough, even if teaching Reki to kiss means breaking his own heart. (yet another practice kissing au)

44,104 kudos 169,722 words 19/19 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
5

And like the cycle of the year, we begin again

by katherynefromphilly

Set after the Merlin Series 5 Finale "Diamond of the Day".Canon Compliant. In Character. Arthur Pendragon Returns.Cover art by Lao-Pendragon------For many long years Merlin waited.For the other part of his soul, for the other half of his life. He was born to serve Arthur. So that meant he was al

39,048 kudos 207,580 words 39/39 chapters Mature Complete
6

Remain Nameless

by HeyJude19

How did it feel? It felt like he was barely holding it together. She, of all people, should shun him. Or yell at him. Curse him. Spit at him. Take out her wand and blast him off the face of the earth. It was crushing guilt and relief and confusion all at once when he looked at Hermione Granger.The m

37,563 kudos 312,286 words 51/51 chapters Explicit Complete
7

I Was Screaming Your Name Through The Radio

by ElectricSplatter

“Four months from now will be the seven year anniversary of when you and Osamu Dazai released your hugely successful first and only album Double Black and its diamond single Corruption. After performing with Dazai earlier this year, are you planning anything special to celebrate?”“Corruption is insa

35,031 kudos 256,709 words 10/10 chapters Mature Complete
8

Meet Your Match

by morriganmercy

After the war, Draco Malfoy seeks refuge from infamy in the Muggle world. A friendly Muggle couple takes him under their wing, but there’s a problem: they are intent on setting him up with their best friend, Hermione Granger. Or, in which the Muggle friends Hermione Granger undoubtedly would have ha

22,002 kudos 121,611 words 26/26 chapters Explicit Complete
9

Through The Fire

by SongAngel

Minerva McGonagall checks up on little Harry Potter and finds that not all is as it should be. She makes a decision that will change everything for the Boy Who Lives.

19,072 kudos 212,551 words 50/50 chapters Mature Complete
10

just say you do

by biblionerd07

Steve just wanted a job. He wasn't expecting a marriage proposal. And he certainly wasn't expecting to accept.

14,597 kudos 173,153 words 26/26 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
11

Spite

by wellitcouldbeworse3

You wake up in a hospital bed with plenty of injuries and no memories, and the only person that seem more upset about it than you are is a short, angry man named Levi. Takes place directly after A Choice With No Regrets.

9,499 kudos 307,122 words 50/50 chapters Explicit
12

White Lies

by cassisluna

Draco drinks a potion that makes him know if a person is lying, and Harry, apparently at fault that Draco is this way, is forced to 'help' him with the effects of the potion. For the first time, they deal with each other with no lies to hide behind. HPDM RWHG BZNL SSRL

8,743 kudos 171,013 words 32/32 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
13

Sha Ka Ree

by ThereBeWhalesHere

The year is 2258. Jim Kirk is a Lieutenant on the U.S.S. Farragut, Spock the science officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. When the ships come together for a priority landing party, these two strangers find themselves fighting against the odds for a chance at life in an alien world, and the only way the

6,233 kudos 180,505 words 18/18 chapters Explicit Complete
14

Painted Green, Covered in Red

by BSChocolatte

“I hate to say this, but it has to be you, Noceda. They would have never seen this coming."Amity Blight is tired of all the dinner dates her mother kept setting her up with. So she thought of a brilliant plan, something so flawless she was sure would work-fake date a person her parents would not app

6,084 kudos 108,768 words 10/10 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
15

Fidelity

by hrwinter

Presumed dead after her family is brutally murdered by Lionel Luthor, Kara Danvers begins her first year at Hogwarts with a new family and a new name. She encounters enigmatic and intelligent Lena on the train and immediately feels a fondness and fascination, but does the apple fall far from the tre

5,427 kudos 110,101 words 14/14 chapters General Audiences Complete
16

you think you're the ocean

by turbulentmoods

"Ah here!" she sings, turning the phone towards Giyuu, presenting what she had been working on. The color drains from his face, and he wonders why God continues to find more and more trivial ways to smite him. The phone screen shows a dating profile, and it takes Giyuu a moment to register that it's

4,561 kudos 178,229 words 30/30 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
17

You, Me, and the Midterm Curve

by touyascoffin

Step 1: Risk your spot on the basketball team by failing a class.Step 2: Flirt with your tutor to try to fix it.Step 3: Flunk the flirting and the quiz.Step 4: Accidentally fall for said tutor, who looks like he hasn't smiled since dinosaurs went extinct. Cheng Xiaoshi didn't plan on catching feelin

4,435 kudos 199,547 words 41/43 chapters Mature
18

Right Now, You're Smitten

by idratherhaveyou

Laurent's uncle insists he starts bringing a date (a serious one) to company events. In an effort to irritate his uncle, Laurent decides to ask Damen, Nicaise's babysitter, to be his date. Damen grudgingly agrees and goes to the company's annual Christmas party. And many parties after.There's fak

3,921 kudos 112,406 words 21/21 chapters Mature
19

Something New for Me and You

by sockablock

What do you get when you take an excitable blue tiefling, her dodgy human roommate, her quiet aasimar friend, her half-orc boyfriend, his weird tiefling roommate, and mix them together with a nervous wizard and a lovably scruffy goblin? They aren't sure either, but they're willing to find out.(or: a

3,834 kudos 226,643 words 38/38 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
20

With Him?

by qnon

Despite some of Usopp's more out-there crack theories, Zoro and Sanji are not, in fact, secretly in love. They really do just happen not to get along- which leads to what may appear as the bickering of an old couple and the close contact of two men trying to rip each other's heads off.That is, until

3,237 kudos 108,609 words 16/16 chapters Explicit Complete

More Epic Mutual Pining Fics on AO3

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About Mutual Pining

Both characters are in love with each other but believe their feelings are unrequited. Readers can see the truth while characters remain oblivious.

The delicious frustration of obvious mutual attraction, the anticipation of them finally realizing the truth, and the emotional payoff.

Common scenarios: Best friends both hiding feelings, colleagues thinking the other is out of their league, misreading signals.

About This List

199,547
median words
85%
complete
72,220
top kudos
~13.3 hours
median read time

This list of 20epic Mutual Pining fanfics spans 4,677,135 total words. Kudos range from 3,237 on the newest entries to 72,220 on the most established. Nearly all (85%) are complete, so you can start any of them without WIP anxiety. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (7 of 20 fics).

Recurring tags across this list: Mutual Pining · Slow Burn · Fluff · Alternate Universe - Modern Setting · Enemies to Friends to Lovers.

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