Best Short Unrequited Love Fanfics
Unrequited Love novellas — 10k to 50k words, polished and contained. Curated from AO3, ranked by kudos.
Top 20 Short Unrequited Love Fanfics
Ranked by AO3 kudos. Each fic is tagged with unrequited love and falls in the 10,000–50,000 words range.
this city bleeds its aching heart
by renne_archive
The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.
slipfast
by ummrys
"You're supposed to smoke over there." Someone said from behind Ilya. Ilya almost dropped his cigarette. His English was shitty, but he had studied that sentence enough times over the years to understand it immediately. He didn't even think about his words much anymore, but it was impossible to avoi
Batting in the Wings
by PlotsOfCoffee
Love is an amazing thing, so when the Justice League believes that their resident paranoid isolationist has found it, they’re happy for him, even if Wally was hardcore crushing on the lover boy. Or another Justice League thinks Batman and Nightwing are dating.
Delivery Girl (DISCONTINUED)
by NeonDemise (RedVelvetDemise)
You just want to make your final delivery to the ghost town and then go home. You're literally just trying to do your job. So why are you being attacked by this ninja? Why is the ninja kind of cute? And why does he want to take you?
Tunes Without Words
by foxy_mulder
The plan is this: He will note all the things that annoy Geralt, and he will stop doing them, and then Geralt will want him around. It will work. It has to work, because Jaskier cannot be left behind.
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
i'm tearing you asunder
by smoosnoom (moonsooms)
“Did I do something wrong?” Mike questions, mouth twisted in a frown, eyes less wide than they were a few moments ago, sleepiness gone. His arms stay at his sides, although his fingers fiddle with his sleeves. “What did I do wrong?”Will frowns back. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”Mike doesn’t look l
Roses are red and they taste like shit
by Unbreakable_Red_Riot
Katsuki was really fucking sick of the smell of flowers. Español / Türk
burn, pine, perish
by kindaopps
Three things dawned on Izuku, as he stared at the slick flower petals scattered over the black words of his book: he has fallen in love with his husband, his husband did not love him back, and he is going to die.
Peace And Good Luck To All Men
by KismetJeska
Christmas in the Milton household was difficult enough without the added complication of guests- and if Luke and Gabriel placing bets on who can get with Sam first wasn’t bad enough, then Cas developing a ridiculous crush on his sister’s boyfriend definitely is.
you win some you lose some(facing the inevitable)
by luffysolosurbloodline
Despite all challenges, Isagi has managed to survive and make his way to the pinnacle of the soccer world; even with the secret that puts his entire livelihood at risk. But it seemed that fate wouldn't let him have his way anymore... Follow Isagi as his physical/emotional limits are broken, he cries
What it Takes To Pass a Bill
by Midnigtartist
The amount of work it takes to get a bill on the congress floor is appalling, even for someone as astute and persuasive as Alexander Hamilton. He only need as handful of signatures now, unfortunately, one of those happens to be Jefferson's. Hamilton had a feeling that getting it wouldn't be easy, bu
I'm a Doctor, Dammit, Not Casper the Friendly Ghost
by Bethalous
Leonard McCoy is dead. Don't worry, he's fine with it. But after over 200 years, Earth starts to get a bit boring so it's time for an adventure. And what better place than the USS Enterprise? It's got a cute Captain, a dashing First Officer, and plenty of opportunities for pranks. So what if somethi
Moonshot
by aliceinwonderbra
When she finds herself with a shiny new case of telepathy, Buffy knows she needs to use this to her strategic advantage. They need info on the ascension, and Faith has it. She isn't prepared for how the aspect of the demon will interact with the slayer connection or what she learns from Faith's mind
No Chance
by Tirainy
Sonic has fallen in love with Shadow. He knows there is no chance that Shadow will ever return his feelings and so he does everything in his power to forget about those feelings—even going as far as inviting Amy on a date. But even that doesn't stop his mind from throwing what-if scenarios at him...
downstream
by unsungillumination
perhaps such a great human mystery as love might be described in comparison to a river, because they've known it only to flow in one direction. or perhaps love is like a big heavy hammer because it smacked sylvain really hard in the head and now everything just kind of hurts.
Seed 47 by R0808: Eclipsed By Immortality
by Sphyiaa
Isagi Yoichi is just a college student in his early twenties, grinding through his Bachelor's in History-late-night notes on ancient myths, group projects on fallen empires, and a quiet life with his protective mother, Anri. He has no idea why certain stories about betrayed cupbearers and jealous go
Passkey Login Bypass
by bluebellescent
It was 1.0 that had told me, while teaching me to hack, that one of the easiest ways into a system was faking having passkeys and permissions even if you didn’t. “It’s a lock with one key,” it had said. “So just pretend you have the damn key.” The concept was sound, so I used it.
Gravity Between Us
by KadyDTameka
Left behind by his best friend’s new romance, Trunks turned to Gohan—the one heʼs secretly in love with. As his quiet affection deepened, Gohan found himself caught between denial and desire, struggling to make sense of feelings he hadn’t even known were there. As misunderstandings mount and words r
【贝莱】第二种束缚
by BanYu_01
关于莱纳·布朗的胸围最终引发了怎样的集体事故身为训练兵团里身材最壮硕的候补生，有天莱纳无法独自扣紧立体机动装置的深棕色皮带，在被阿尼粗暴协助并于白皙皮肤上勒出满身红痕的后来，贝尔托特无声接过了那根紧绷的皮革……最后一章是车，正在努力自己写得更好一点 暗恋提及、身体伤痕提及、性暗示提及、隐晦的性虐提及预告：番外 野外+捆绑+骑乘！犬塑提及。干个昏天黑地吧！
More Short Unrequited Love Fics on AO3
AO3's search bar accepts custom word-count ranges. We've pre-filled the 10,000–50,000 words range for you. Then read offline with Fanfict Reader.
About Unrequited Love
One character loves and the other doesn't — or can't, or won't, or never finds out. Some fics resolve the imbalance; the bravest ones don't, and let the loving character carry it, survive it, or finally set it down.
Almost everyone has wanted someone they couldn't have, and this trope turns that universal bruise into art — exquisite when it resolves, devastating when it doesn't.
Common scenarios: A best friend giving the toast at the wedding of the person they've loved for a decade, or a confession made safely to someone asleep.
About This List
This list of 20short Unrequited Love fanfics spans 571,582 total words. Kudos range from 14 on the newest entries to 28,935 on the most established. 70% are marked complete — check the status flag before committing to a longfic. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (8 of 20 fics).
Recurring tags across this list: Unrequited Love · Angst · Angst with a Happy Ending · Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence · Humor.
Read short unrequited love fanfiction on the go
Fanfict Reader is the best way to browse, search, and read AO3 fanfiction on your iPhone. Download for free and start reading your favorite stories today.