Dropping those three words—I love you—can be quite a big deal. It really seals how serious the relationship is and to many people, saying I love you isn't something to take lightly. In a dire need of some cute love stories to gush at, I asked some people to share with me the story of how they are their partner first said I love you to each other.
Grab a couple of tissues and get ready to laugh, cry, and swoon at the adorableness. Love isn't dead, is it?
1. Shoutout to modern technology for this one.
"It's so stupid, we texted it to each other lmao." - Ella, 24. Her and her partner were 23 and 22-years-old when they first dropped "I love you" three months into their relationship! I wonder how many people will admit this is how they first said it?
2. In case something were to happen to my boyfriend, he needed to know how I felt.
"I told my boyfriend I loved him over FaceTime. It took me an hour to even get the nerve to call him. I was shaking, crying and pacing full of anxiety. Everyone around me was dying or were getting sick and I was scared that I would die not telling him how I felt. He knew I was going to tell him I loved him, but there's no denying love." - Callaghan, 22.
3. This one is simply precious. Who can deny young love?
"We were watching Dumbo, we were just cuddling and we made hot coco and snuggled up then all of a sudden he said 'I love you' and without hesitation, I told him I loved him too." - Female, 19. This couple was 16 when they first said I love you, but they had been together for TWO YEARS before they first said it. Being so young I'm surprised they waited so long!
4. This is exactly the kind of story I was hoping for.
"So funny story, my boyfriend actually said it first. I was afraid to say it first after stupidly saying it in past relationships without actually understanding what it really meant to love someone, so I decided I would wait until he said it first. He was about to leave from visiting me at my college (he went to college in Pennsylvania), and we were sitting in his car to say goodbye since it was February and COLD out. Those three little words just slipped out of his mouth, he didn't even mean to say it just then, and he instantly went "shit" because clearly this hadn't been how he planned to say it. I instantly leaned over, kissed him firmly and said it back with the dopiest grin on my face." - Female, 21. Now I'm grinning too. This is so stinking cute.
5. Alcohol may have been involved, but...
"It was actually him saying it first, but I had just been waiting. We were at a party and his friend started talking to me and was just like 'he really loves you, you know that.' So in a tipsy moment, I walked up to him and asked him about it. Then because he was totally white girl wasted, he started crying and said he did love me but he wanted to wait to say it in a super cute way." - Ashley, 22. The couple had been dating for three weeks before this happened.
6. It may have not been an elaborate gesture, but it still meant the world.
"In my mind, the first 'I love you' isn't something that should be rushed, but it also shouldn't be dragged out. I knew that I loved him around six months into our relationship, but I wasn't going to say it first. Fast forward four months (we've been together for ten months at this point) We were dating distance at the time, so he came up for a weekend visit and surprised me with flowers. We were relaxing on the couch about to go out to dinner and he took my hand, looked me in the eye, and said 'I love you.' It wasn't anything TOO special, but at the time after having waited for quite some time and worrying that he didn't love me, I was ecstatic." - Mikaela, 20.
7. S/o to the frat house kiddy pool for this one.
"My boyfriend and I were at a party together. I am a sloppy ass drunk, to say the least. The frat house had a kiddy pool in the front yard and people were swimming in it, even though it was only about 55 degrees outside. My drunk ass thought it would be a GREAT idea to jump in. My boyfriend stopped me and kept yelling 'Noooo! Nooo!' To which everyone in his frat started chanting 'Let her swim! Let her swim!' I was still trying to claw my way to the pool when my boyfriend went 'I love you but no please don't.' And I was so shocked that I started crying. I asked him 'You love me?' And he said of course and I gave him the sloppiest drunk kiss in the world. Pure happiness and him having to babysit me every time we drink ever since." - Kelsey, 20. She had been with her boyfriend for two months before he told her he loved her.
8. He thought a breakup was coming, but it was actually the exact oposite.
"My boyfriend and I went to the same college, and we spent hours upon hours together on the daily when we first began to date. I randomly said to him that I loved him in a simple manner while hanging in the dorm. I was afraid to express my feelings since this was my first time developing this phenomena. I think I originally scared my partner because I told him before his class that I had something to tell him later. He thought I was going to break up with him when I ended up doing the opposite. Luckily, he loved me and still loves me back!" - Ashley, 22. Thanks to going to the same college, this couple's relationship was 24/7, meaning Ashley had no problem saying I love you just a few weeks in.
9. Parked car conversations for the win.
"We were sitting in the car after going on an ice skating date in February and he told me he was in love with me. I said it back. All the feeels! It was one of the happiest moments of my life." - Female, 19. This young couple first said I love you three months into their relationship.
10. BRB, I need a tissue for this one.
"So we had only been officially dating for three months which is early to most...and I've always been that person to be totally against saying I love you too early. Valentine's Day comes and I couldn't hold it in any longer. My feelings for him are so strong. I had my plan to write it all out for him how I felt and give it to him. So I gave it to him and him being the forgetful bee he is...he didn't read it. Which didn't bother me but I really wanted to tell him I loved him. So I told him he needed to read it because I wrote something important in there. And after countless times of bugging me asking me to just say it, I finally spit it out...he looked me straight in the eyes and said he's known he's loved me from the moment we first danced together (we're dance partners) the tears fell and we clung to each other the whole rest of the night...I couldn't love anyone more than I love him." - Becca, 21.
11. Young love at its finest.
"We were in the sixth grade (yes, we've been together for almost eight years) and it was right before winter break. I was really sad about not being able to see him over break and so I told him that I loved him and kissed his cheek right as we were leaving the building. I blushed the entire bus ride home." - Kelly, 19.
12. It may have slipped out, but we both felt the same.
"He dropped me off at my doorstep. His parents were in the car since we just came from their extended family picnic. I hugged him and we had an awkward kiss but I couldn't stop smiling. He said bye and I went to close the door and said 'love you.' Buuuut three seconds later he opened the door at the same time I did and we looked into each other's eyes like uhhhhh what did you just say? And being the procrastinator I am, I said 'we're not going to talk about this right now bye.' Two hours later he left me a voicemail when I was sleeping saying that he loved me too." - Kris, 19. These 19-year-olds had been together for 11 months officially before the first "I love you" came out, but had known each other for over a year.
13. This is highkey relationship goals.
"My boyfriend and I had been out drinking and celebrating a friend's birthday and it was a little after 2 a.m. when we were walking home together, looking for drunchies, and being silly. We got back to my apartment with all of drunk food treasures and as we were sitting in bed with copious amounts of pad thai, pizza, and halal, he looked at me and said, 'there's no one else I would rather be doing this with.' And we both proceeded to tell each other we loved each other in between bites of greasy noodles." - Female, 23.
14. I might not know what love is, but I know I love you.
"I was goofing around, talking to my boyfriend and he said 'What do you want from me?' and I said 'For you to love me.' He replied 'I do,' and later I asked him if he was actually serious or if he was just following along with the joking bit and he said "I do love you. At least I think I do. I don't really know what love is, but I think I love you.'" - Emily, 20.
15. This is everything I ever wanted in high school, and everything I still want now.
"My boyfriend (of almost five years) and I were at our high school homecoming dance. We were dancing and 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri started playing, and he was getting all sappy and emotional, and he babbles and his voice gets soft when he's nervous, so I knew he was about to tell me something big. He finally said, 'I think I'm in love with you, is that okay?' And I looked at him and smiled and said, 'I hope it's okay, because I'm in love with you too.' I haven't stopped smiling since." - Olivia, 22. The young couple had been together for four months before this swoon-worthy moment happened.
16. Those half-asleep texts got it.
"He pretended that he was falling asleep texting and said I lozxv ypyu so I knew he was trying to say it so I left a note in his pillow case saying I loved him and when we went to bed he heard it crinkle and opened it up." - Female, 20.
17. Alcohol seems to be a common factor when it comes to confessing your feelings.
"I got super drunk on the 4th of July and called him crying confessing my love for him. He was the sweetest human being on the planet and kept saying 'Soph, let's talk about this when you're sober. These aren't words we throw around lightly.'" - Sophie, 19.
18. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, it just happens.
"Hahah right after sex. Not swoon-worthy but true. I had been wanting to say it for a long time and it just came out." - Female, 20.
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