Tropes Mutual Pining One-Shots

Best One-Shot Mutual Pining Fanfics

Mutual Pining one-shots under 10k words — the trope distilled to a single complete read. Curated from AO3, ranked by kudos.

Mutual Pining 20 one-shot fics Avg 5,199 words short stories under 10,000 words

Top 20 One-Shot Mutual Pining Fanfics

Ranked by AO3 kudos. Each fic is tagged with mutual pining and falls in the short stories under 10,000 words range.

1

count your blessings, not your flaws

by PitViperOfDoom

Midoriya Izuku has never been asked out, confessed to, or flirted with, except as a joke.

70,831 kudos 7,457 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
2

True Love

by platonic_boner

AU where soulmates can’t lie to each other.(That’s okay, Merlin wasn’t planning to lie to Arthur anyways! Haha.. ha.. ha…)

55,021 kudos 6,927 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
3

What The Fuck Did You Just Call Me?

by reading_raindrop

“A-ah B-Bakugou! You dropped some pencils!”Katsuki stiffened. Kirishima and Kaminari froze. Basically, everyone within earshot stopped what they were doing to look at Izuku like he sprouted a second head. What did he just call him? “What the fuck did you just say to me?”Katsuki whipped his head towa

53,980 kudos 8,303 words 4/4 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
4

Woodash and iron and leather

by iffervescent

Jaskier is the only person Geralt's ever been around who doesn't smell of fearRussian Translation hereKorean Translation herePodfic here

35,677 kudos 9,874 words 1/1 chapters Explicit Complete
5

Fuck, Marry, Kill (or, how Usopp becomes the best matchmaker of the sea without really trying)

by adietxt

Everyone wants to marry Zoro. Hypothetically. Sanji can’t believe everyone would pick that useless patch of growing mold over him, and considers killing Zoro. Not hypothetically.He has a list on why Zoro would be the Worst Husband Ever, not that he spends a lot of time thinking of a (purely hypothet

21,146 kudos 4,836 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
6

should the pillars of memory topple out of my reach

by bleep0bleep

If Stiles didn’t know any better he’d say that look in Derek's eyes is adoring, but he does know better, and also amnesiac Derek thinks they’re married. Which is the only fact he hasn’t questioned so far, which is the weirdest thing.

17,333 kudos 4,391 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
7

A Dandelion By Any Other Name

by TabbyCat33098

Jaskier is throwing up flowers and refuses to tell Geralt who has afflicted him so. As Geralt grapples with Jaskier's impending death, he comes to terms with a few things himself. //“Who’s the unlucky woman?” Geralt asks, stepping into the firelight.  Jaskier starts, dandelions spilling from his ha

15,932 kudos 3,745 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences Complete
8

who knows how much further we'll go on (i'll take my chances)

by donutsandcoffee

When Zoro wakes up and finds himself in the same bed as Sanji, he expects a panicked cook, a whole lot of denial, and heartbreak.He definitely doesn’t expect Sanji to lean in, give him a morning kiss, and walk away like it was normal.

13,424 kudos 5,263 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
9

Translating Ennoia

by WerewolvesAreReal

Spock intends to resign his commission with Starfleet six months into the Enterprise's mission. Then he meets Captain Kirk – his t'hy'la – and everything becomes infinitely more complex.

12,207 kudos 7,671 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
10

fever

by adietxt

The world spins as soon Sanji opens his eyes.It feels odd, almost detached in a way, like a dense fog slowly filling his head. He pinches the bridge of his nose in an attempt to chase away the sensation, hoping his fever would subside soon, when he’s suddenly hit with a wave of heat deep in his bell

11,264 kudos 6,458 words 4/4 chapters Explicit Complete
11

not even work husbands, just regular husbands

by TheElevenOfSpades

If Viktor had kissed Jayce to avoid being caught by MelAnd then it gets worse

9,943 kudos 6,581 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
12

echo your name (call it love)

by treescape

“I mean, you kind of did the same thing yesterday,” Lucius tells him afterwards, when they’re reviewing the day’s adventure for the logbook. Ed’s somewhere out on deck, which is a very good thing, since Stede is having a bit of a panic. “And the day before, and the day before—”“Did I really?” Stede

9,553 kudos 1,675 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
13

tread softly (because you tread on my dreams)

by helenblqckthorn

His stomach drops though when he realises he’s still hard. Shit. Think of Gran, think of very unattractive old lady wrinkles, think of England—  Henry's point of view of the Red Room scene (or: the Hamilton portrait scene)

9,379 kudos 2,208 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
14

Rewards Program

by surveycorpsjean

Akaashi enjoys his normal life, as a normal grocery checker, at a normal grocery store. Of course, it all goes up in flames when two hot as hell college kids dump their items on the conveyor belt. Donuts. Glue. Donut holes.And that's only the beginning.

7,486 kudos 8,339 words 1/1 chapters Mature Complete
15

Four

by FoolArcanas

L gets kissed. He doesn't get an explanation. Confusion ensues - must investigate further.OR; Three times when Light kisses L, and one time when L does.

7,321 kudos 3,533 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
16

messages in broken bottles are all I can do (standin' here, hopin' it gets to you)

by machiavelLiterati

Anya sometimes forgets about Damian’s popularity. Specifically, his popularity with their fellow sixteen-year-old classmates (Alternatively: Anya Forger, fifteen years old, imperial scholar extraordinaire, experiences…jealousy? For the first time in her life when a girl from another class hands her

7,059 kudos 4,065 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences Complete
17

let's give 'em something to talk about

by ginnyweasleys

Whoever keeps spreading rumors of him and Jyn sleeping together every time she so much as stops by his room is going to get decked if Cassian ever finds them.(or, everyone thinks cassian and jyn are dating, and they're only half-wrong.)

6,656 kudos 3,382 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
18

you are a clan of three

by paramoura

Din stands quite still, polite-like, with his hands crossed at his waist. So does Luke. After a moment, the baby crosses his hands too.At last Din appears to relax completely and Luke turns away. ‘I’ll be back for him,’ he tells Din, his voice warm, ‘but first I must attend to my other Padawans.’‘Oh

6,637 kudos 1,495 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences Complete
19

But I’m Not There Yet

by sarahyyy

“Are you not going to read the article?” she asks, flopping onto his bed. “Look who ranked second, just after Phichit Chulanont.”Otabek reluctantly scrolls down, and oh.#2 - Yuri Plisetsky In the embedded Instagram photo just under that subheading, a very grumpy Yuri is cuddling a very grumpy-lookin

6,444 kudos 4,535 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
20

cops and robbers

by andreabandrea (orphan_account)

“Darling?” Kokichi snorted. “You love me that much, Shuichi?” “Well… yeah,” Shuichi said, giving a light laugh. “That’s why I married you.” And he froze. [Kokichi wins the Key of Love at the casino. He wakes up in Shuichi’s ideal fantasy. ]

6,298 kudos 3,233 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences Complete

More One-Shot 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

4,836
median words
100%
complete
70,831
top kudos
~19 minutes
median read time

This list of 20one-shot Mutual Pining fanfics spans 103,971 total words. Kudos range from 6,298 on the newest entries to 70,831 on the most established. Nearly all (100%) are complete, so you can start any of them without WIP anxiety. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (13 of 20 fics).

Recurring tags across this list: Mutual Pining · Fluff · Misunderstandings · Love Confessions · Angst with a Happy Ending.

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