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16[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phinabella.png]]]]
17[[caption-width-right:350:[[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow And it only took 221 episodes, 5 specials, and a movie!]]]]
18%%
19
20->'''Zazu:''' Oh, just look at you two! Little seeds of romance blossoming in the savanna. Your parents will be thrilled, what with your being betrothed and all.\
21[...]\
22'''Simba:''' I can't marry her, she's my friend!\
23'''Nala:''' Yeah, it'd be so weird.
24-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}''
25
26Childhood Friend Romance is a part of romantic plots, when characters develop romantic feelings for [[ChildhoodFriends someone who they spent their childhood years with]].
27
28Often the pair will see each other as JustFriends (and may even [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend deny]] accusations that they might have a different type of relationship); then, when puberty hits or when they meet again after being apart for some time, they will realize that the other is [[SheIsAllGrownUp all grown up]].
29If the pair goes through a PuppyLove phase from the very beginning, a {{Childhood Marriage Promise}} may be involved.
30
31Do beware, however, that the less fortunate side of a childhood romance also exists. Growing up involves more than just an upgrade to looks; the transitionary period from an impressionable child to a more-grounded teenager/adult takes years, and a lot can happen to the prospective couple during that time. Even if they spend those years staying in touch, both the sweethearts and the circumstances around them may change to the point that a true relationship between them may not last (or in some cases, can't even begin). This trope is about the sparks of a Childhood Friend Romance being in the air -- the romance ''working out'' is not a qualifying factor.
32
33Resistance to see a childhood friend as a potential romantic partner is known as the "UsefulNotes/WestermarckEffect", a theory that claims that people who grew up together before the age of 6 are likely to become hardwired to think about each other LikeBrotherAndSister, with a StupidSexyFriend {{squick}}ed reaction to the notion of romance. (Other studies question this on the basis that though few of the people they examined had major romantic relationships with childhood friends, many had crushes and romantic feelings that just didn't make it.)
34
35As an EndingTrope, '''spoilers ahead.''' Just the Title is a spoiler in this case!
36
37Subtrope of ChildhoodFriends.
38
39See also PatientChildhoodLoveInterest, a subtrope common in HaremSeries. Compare also with HighSchoolSweethearts. Often benefits from FirstGirlWins. It tends to overlap with HeartIsWhereTheHomeIs (turning down a foreign LoveInterest in favor of a local lover).
40----
41!!Example subpages:
42[[index]]
43* ChildhoodFriendRomance/AnimeAndManga
44* ChildhoodFriendRomance/FanWorks
45* [[ChildhoodFriendRomance/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
46* ChildhoodFriendRomance/{{Literature}}
47* ChildhoodFriendRomance/LiveActionTV
48* ChildhoodFriendRomance/VideoGames
49* ChildhoodFriendRomance/VisualNovels
50* ChildhoodFriendRomance/{{Webcomics}}
51* ChildhoodFriendRomance/WesternAnimation
52* ChildhoodFriendRomance/RealLife
53[[/index]]
54
55!!Other examples:
56[[foldercontrol]]
57
58[[folder:Comic Books]]
59* ''ComicBook/AfterEden'': Jon and Celine have been best friends since children, but drifted apart after Celine moved to another place. They quickly reacquainted and quickly fell in love.
60* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'':
61** In ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper are usually written as childhood friends who began dating by high school.
62** Betty and Archie are this in ''ComicBook/ArchieComics2015''. They began 'dating' [[PuppyLove as five year olds]] and stayed together most of their lives. The two breaking up in high school due to [[NoodleIncident the "lipstick incident"]] causes major drama at their school because they're known as a power couple.
63* ''ComicBook/BackToTheFuture'' establishes that Marty [=McFly=] and Jennifer Parker knew each other in fourth grade, fell out of contact for a few years, then fell in LoveAtFirstSight in high school in 1984 and began dating.
64* Lauren Stone was the [[{{girl next door}} girl next ship]] to ComicBook/NikolaiDante. When she comes back into his life after he becomes a {{pirate}}, Nikolai is definitely receptive to rekindling their romance, but unfortunately his relationship with Jena Makarov at the time is, ahem, complicated. Lauren is one of the few young women in the series who Nikolai ''doesn't'' [[TheCasanova have sex with]].
65* ''ComicBook/{{Bamse}}'' has the example of [[FaceHeelTurn former villain]] Vargen and his childhood crush Virginia, they meet up years later, but by then she is already married.
66* In 2007, Franchise/{{Batman}} and Zatanna were {{retcon}}ned into ChildhoodFriends. The two have a WillTheyOrWontThey dynamic with a lot of ShipTease, but Zatanna has never been as major a LoveInterest as Catwoman.
67* ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' invokes then averts this trope. Nakia, one of the Dorae Milaje (Beloved Ones, sworn bodyguards that were historically also potential brides for the King of Wakanda, though T'Challa does not practice that aspect of the tradition) believes this is what is going on, having grown up around T'Challa. He is tricked into kissing her by an opponent who makes him believe he is reliving an embrace with a (now) ex-lover, confirming (in Nakia's mind) T'Challa's intent to marry her. Her unrequited romance devolves into StalkerWithACrush territory, to the point that she tries to murder his ex-lover and eventually betrays him entirely, pledging herself to [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Killmonger]] and becoming the anti-Wakandan terrorist [[MeaningfulName Malice]].
68* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'':
69** Rayek grows up with Leetah, first starts communicating with her magically before she's even born, shares his life with her, and on the day he asks her to stay with him forever... the hero shows up and claims her for himself. (They eventually settle it with a good old fist fight. 10000 years later.)
70** Mender spends his very early years around TheChiefsDaughter Ember, eventually takes her virginity after they reunite, and is promptly forgotten when he goes off to fight in the war and Ember meets a ProudWarriorRaceGuy stranger. Elves have no concept of cheating -- all sex is good sex -- but Ember treats him horribly.
71** Cutter and Skywise are just enough years apart for Skywise to hit puberty first and Cutter to be left behind wondering why his friend spends so much time in the bushes with Foxfur. By the time Cutter is 16, he loses both of his parents and Skywise loses Foxfur, and it's implied that they spend some time together as mates after that before Cutter ends up with Leetah. They're still occasionally seen sharing a bed together from that point on, but they're never as close again as they were before Leetah came along.
72* [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] and his most prominent love interest, Carol Ferris aka Star Sapphire. They meet as kids through their fathers (Hal's was a test pilot for the Ferrises' aviation company), and stay in each others' lives by taking on the family businesses, nursing a mutual attraction for years.
73* ''ComicBook/HaloBloodLine'': It's eventually revealed that two members of SPARTAN-II Black Team were in a relationship when they were teen cadets (having known each other in boot camp since they were six). The side effects of their augmentations implies that they don't feel this way about each other anymore, but some of the tension still remains.
74* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The story of America Jara and Bennett Beeny in "America". They both grew up in the same city block, but America always had a rebellious spirit while Beeny always considered himself a coward. They moved apart as America joined the democratic movement to end the Judges' totalitarian rule and ended up destitute, while Beeny tried to play it save and ended up a succesful but ultimately unhappy musician. They find each other years later and have a one-night-stand, but [[spoiler:America is soon killed during an arrest. Beeny transfers his brain to America's comatose body so they can still be together.]]
75* Envy and Todd from the ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' series were friends since they were eleven, but ended up parting away and growing up seperately. After meeting up again post-college, they hooked up and started a band. Unfortunatlely, both of them have changed and not for the better, though with Todd, this led to him being unfaithful and cheating on her with the drummer, resulting in this subversion.
76* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
77** In the Silver Age, Dick Malverne grew up at the Midvale Orphanage during the same time that Linda Lee alias ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} did, and he had a crush on her. Although [[ComicBook/TheUnknownSupergirl the two dated]] [[ComicBook/TheUntoldStoryOfArgoCity for a while]] they grew apart after college. ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1982 They met again as adults]]'', and Dick confessed he always loved her and and knew of her secret identity [[spoiler:before dying]] in ''ComicBook/YoungLove''.
78** In most of versions of the Superman mythos, Lana Lang is Clark Kent's childhood friend who had a huge crush on him. Usually Clark liked her back, but after leaving Smallville, he falls for Lois Lane, and he and Lana become JustFriends.
79** In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingStoryOfSupermanRedAndSupermanBlue'', Superman gets split into two identical Supermen. Superman Red is in love with Lois, but Superman Blue still has feelings for Lana Lang, so he gets married to his childhood crush.
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder:Comic Strips]]
83* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'':
84** Michael Patterson and Deanna Sobinski went to elementary school together, were parted when Deanna moved away, and reunited in university. Then they got married.
85** Anthony Caine and Elizabeth Patterson met in elementary school as well. She moved away and then moved back home. They got married in the finale.
86* ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'': Candide is destined to be the unlucky childhood friend for Leonardo, for a number of reasons, the biggest one being [[spoiler:he's Leonardo da Vinci, and he must go back to the past to fulfill his destiny there, and the history books show he never married.]] She gets a sweet consolation prize though: [[spoiler:it's implied that she's the real Mona Lisa.]]
87[[/folder]]
88
89[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
90* Billy and Emily in ''WesternAnimation/AnnabellesWish'' start off as childhood friends, with her helping to defend him from the local bullies who taunt him for losing his voice. At the end of the movie, after a long TimeSkip, they're shown to be married.
91* WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}} and Faline became friends when they were fawns. After the TimeSkip, they fall in love with each other and the film ends with them having twins.
92* Franchise/{{Barbie}} and Kevin in ''WesternAnimation/TheBarbieDiaries'' are mentioned to have been best friends since they were kids, and at the end Barbie realizes he, not Todd, is the guy for her.
93* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', Manolo and Maria were close friends before she left to study abroad. Both fell in love 10 years later and [[spoiler:become husband and wife by the end.]]
94* Nita and Kenai in ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear2''. The whole plot revolves around them because Nita is in an ArrangedMarriage but she can't marry her betrothed because the spirits already consider her married to Kenai through a little necklace he gave her when they were kids.
95* This trope is heavily implied in ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'' between Queen Tara and Ronin. Queen Tara makes playful digs at his serious nature, flirts with him, and is constantly trying to convince him to smile during the pod ceremony. Meanwhile, Ronin makes it all too obvious that he's crushing on her big time. Of course [[spoiler: she's murdered]] before any of it can come to fruition, and several characters can't help but [[LampshadeHanging mention]] it when they hear the news.
96* ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}'':
97** ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': Averted with Anna and Kristoff, who technically meet once as children, but never see each other afterwards as Kristoff is taken in by the trolls while Anna is shut away in the castle along with her sister.
98** ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'': Played straight with Agnarr and Iduna. They met as children during Arendelle's expedition into the Enchanted Forest. [[spoiler: However, Agnarr wasn't aware that Iduna was the Northuldran girl he met until she revealed it to him in their adulthood.]]
99* Gloria and Mumble in ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet'' are close from childhood; Gloria saw Mumble come out of his egg (even being the one to encourage him to hatch as she tapped on his egg) and defended him when his classmates mocked his inability to sing. Eventually, they mate as adults.
100* In ''WesternAnimation/JackAndTheCuckooClockHeart'', Joe seems to be harboring a crush on Miss Acacia from even before the titular Jack showed up, but it doesn't end favorably for him.
101* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'': Simba and Nala. They grew up playing around and then, after they finished growing up, they became the RulingCouple of the Pride Lands.
102* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'': [[InterspeciesRomance Gloria and Melman]]. Though they're only friends during the first movie, it's shown in [[WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa the sequel]]'s opening sequence that both grew up in the Central Park zoo, and Melman always had a crush on her since that moment. Later in the movie, Gloria would start a relationship with Melman after leaving Moto Moto, which remained in the [[WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted third movie]] onward.
103* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'', it's implicitly stated that Robin and Maid Marion knew each other as children and fell in love as they grew up before Marion left to go to London. Even in spite of not seeing each other for several years, it's shown that they never forgot each other, eventually marrying after King Richard returned and deposed his greedy brother Prince John.
104* Derek and Odette in ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess''. Though it started as an ArrangedMarriage that they both protested, and they [[BelligerentSexualTension didn't really get along]], love came quickly once they were adults.
105* Carl and his deceased wife Ellie in ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}''. Much of the plot revolves around his pain from believing that he failed to fulfill his promise to her.
106[[/folder]]
107
108%%[[folder:Gamebooks]]
109%%* [[SecondPersonNarration You]] to Kim in ''Literature/CanYouSurviveTheZombieApocalypse''
110%%[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Music]]
113* Music/BackstreetBoys song "How Did I Fall In Love With You" is about the realization that the singer's friend is one of these.
114* A common theme in country music:
115** George Strait's "Check Yes or No", which starts out "It started way back in third grade/I used to sit beside Emmy Lou Hayes..." and winds up twenty years later with the two married.
116** Music/ClayWalker's "One, Two, I Love You"
117** Bryan White's "Rebecca Lynn"
118** Trisha Yearwood's "She's in Love with the Boy" is about a girl planning to marry one of her friends: "even if she's gotta run away, she's gonna marry that boy someday."
119** Tim [=McGraw=]'s "Don't Take the Girl"
120** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNNwG05x2WM Jody And The Kid]] by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson Kris Kristofferson]] tells the story of a boy who is admired and constantly followed around by a younger girl. Flash to decades later when the now grown man and woman are walking down the same paths hand in hand, under the same nickname, "Jody and the Kid" given to them by the town elders.
121** Music/ThomasRhett's "Marry Me" and "Life Changes" which are both semi-autobiographical, though the latter explicitly mentions his real-life wife, Lauren:
122-->I bought a ring and she said "I do"\
123But everybody else said, "man, you're twenty-two\
124"Whatcha trying to prove?"\
125"Hey why don't you wait?"\
126'Cause I've been waiting on her since the second grade, yeah
127* "The Search Is Over" by Survivor. The singer is [[LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces searching for "the one"]] and finally realizes that it's his lady friend who's been there for him the whole time. A TruthInTelevision, since writer Jim Peterik based it on a friend of his.
128* {{Music/Pulp}}'s single "Disco 2000" is sung from the perspective of a man with unrequited feelings for his childhood best friend. The song lyrics start by stating the guy and the girl were born the same day, they were raised together by their moms (who even said they could've been sister and brother) but she ends up marrying someone else.
129* The song "Todo ha cambiado" ("Everything has changed") by Chilean music group [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aObSHgSubP8 Canal Magdalena]] deals with a male friend who tries to change his situation, yet fails.
130* The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4A468sNTU "Doushite Kimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimattandarou"]] ("Why Did I End Up Falling For You") by [[Music/DongBangShinKi DBSK]] is from the point of view of a childhood friend watching his love get married to another man.
131* The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrflTnVxbPE Empty Rooms]] by Gary Moore depicts the unlucky variation.
132* Music/{{Adele}}'s very bittersweet "Someone Like You" is all about this, from the point of view of the UnluckyChildhoodFriend.
133* Music/FlightOfTheConchords' "Bus Driver's Song" is narrated by the bus driver, who keeps derailing his tour of the town to talk about Paula, a woman who used to live next door to the driver when they were little. The driver used to think they'd get married one day, but she married someone else.
134* "She Hasn't Always Been This Way" by Doc Walker has a guy coming to terms with a sudden crush on his best friend's little sister (also a friend of his) who [[SheIsAllGrownUp is now very hot]]. They're not friends any more, and she won't even talk to him.
135* "May" by Music/JamesDurbin is the story of a very tragic version of this. The two kids grow up and get married, but the title character dies in childbirth and from that point on, the protagonist can't help but see her every time he looks at his daughter.
136* The video for Music/KellyClarkson's song "My Life Would Suck Without You" shows Kelly's dysfunctional relationship with her boyfriend starting when they both were children.
137* Butch Walker has a [[StalkerWithACrush somewhat creepy]] take on the UnluckyChildhoodFriend in the video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNXvl0O-Hxo "Mixtape"]].
138* The song ''[[http://suisei.kokidokom.net/2012/02/01/claris-naisho-no-hanashi-lyrics-translation/ Naisho no Hanashi]][[note]]Secret Story[[/note]], with lyrics by Music/{{supercell}} has the singer lamenting that her school crush, might have their eyes on someone else, and hopes they will one day realize her feelings for them.
139* Music/NeilSedaka's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h2zp96Hzhg&feature=kp Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen]] has a young man marvel at his [[ShesAllGrownUp now beautiful 16 year]] old child-hood friend, and how she used to be like a little sister to him.
140* Music/{{Vocaloid}} Len Kagamine's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myEsj-qf73A "Fire Flower"]], in which he sings to his childhood sweetheart that his love for her is as intense as a firework.
141* A homosexual variant seems to occur in the music video for Creator/{{Joey Graceffa}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcwo_mhyqTw "Don't Wait"]]; the story begins with one of the two boys saving the other from bullies. After a timeskip, a grown up version of the boy who was rescued saves a man wearing the same necklace as the boy who rescued him, implying that this man and the boy were one and the same. Afterward, [[RescueRomance they kiss]].
142* Website/YouTube singer Jayn has a song called "Smoke and Mirrors", which implies that the narrator and her crush were this. [[spoiler:Then her crush fell in love with another girl. The narrator proceeds to turn into a {{Yandere}}, tries to get her crush to marry her instead, and when he refuses, she [[MurderTheHypotenuse kills the other girl]] (who's implied to already be married to the narrator's crush).]]
143* The Lumineers' song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90sV4_wBv14 "Flowers in Your Hair"]] tells a brief story of how the narrator and a girl grew up together, first as innocent kids and later as self-assured teenagers. Apparently, the girl developed feelings for him, and he tells her that he finally loves her back.
144* "Where Did You Go To My Lovely?" and "Last of the Breed" by Music/{{Peter Sarstedt}} is this story Marie-Claire left her lover for money and power.
145* Ian and Ellen of Music/ThePlasticEGulls
146-->''Right away I knew\
147We were meant to be together\
148Since Elementary School, Grade One''
149* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0SnQXsVgVA Sandpit Girl]]" by Sammy J is a DeconstructiveParody, sung from the point of view of someone convinced that this is the case with his former childhood friend based on their ChildhoodMarriagePromise... and consequently feels justified in showing up to and objecting to her marriage to someone else, complete with calling her a "whore" to her face. [[spoiler:Except that he actually turned up at the wrong wedding.]]
150-->[[UnfortunateImplications She'll always be a six-year-old to me]]... [[ThatCameOutWrong Not like that!]]
151* Music/TaylorSwift ''loves'' this trope.
152** "Mary's Song (Oh, My My My)" begins with the couple meeting at the ages of seven and nine, and ends with them being a HappilyMarried couple eighty years later.
153--->''Take me back when our world was one block wide.''\
154''I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried.''\
155''Just two kids, you and I...''
156** "You Belong With Me" implies it in the song, and confirms it in the music video, with the leads living next door to each other and being best friends.
157--->''Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?''\
158''Been here all along, so why can't you see,''\
159''you belong with me?''
160** "[[Music/{{Lover}} It's Nice to Have a Friend]]" shows two friends eventually falling in love and getting married.
161--->''Something gave you the nerve''\
162''to touch my hand.''\
163''It's nice to have a friend.''
164* bulow's "Two Punks In Love" describes a pair of friends who, having seen each other through difficult childhoods and having a lot of history, end up in love.
165--> ''Even though the years go by/seasons change and flowers die''
166--> ''We're still walking side by side/I'm still yours and you're still mine''
167* Diana Ross' "I'm Still Waiting".
168-->I remember when\
169I was five and you were ten, boy\
170You knew that I was shy\
171So you teased and made me cry\
172But I loved you
173* Deconstructed by ''Music/SonataArctica'' with "Shamandalie." The narrator's obsession with his childhood friend leads her to spurn him and ruin the friendship as well, and now he cannot even speak to her as a friend.
174* A slightly odd variant in Music/{{Smokie}} with their "Living Next Door To Alice", where the protagonist has been mooning over his ChildhoodFriend Alice for 25 years (which probably makes the protagonist in his early thirties), but it's only when she moves away, that he realises that it's his ''other'' female ChildhoodFriend that he should have been interested in.
175* The video to "[[https://youtu.be/w2seANf7hwA See It In Your Eyes]]" by UsefulNotes/{{synthwave}} artists Roxi Drive and Sellorekt/LA Dreams depicts a budding romance between preteen likenesses of the artists in UsefulNotes/TheEighties, with the [[SheIsAllGrownUp present-day]] Roxi appearing on a VHS tape that the boy gives the girl as a memento.
176* In {{Music/Cher}}'s "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", when the narrator is young, she becomes friends with a boy, and when they play-fight he always wins. When they grow up, they get married, but soon after, he abandons her for reasons unknown.
177[[/folder]]
178
179[[folder:Theatre]]
180* In the Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein musical ''Theatre/{{Allegro}}'', Jenny is Joe Taylor's girl from childhood, and she keeps writing to him while he is away at medical school. When they meet again, Joe decides to marry her even before finishing his education, though Jenny would prefer it if he were wealthier. In the second act, they move to the city at her insistence so he can earn more money at a big city practice. When Joe hears that his wife is having an affair with a soap tycoon, he feels he doesn't care anymore about the girl he's known since he was eight years old.
181* ''Theatre/CinderellaLloydWebber'': Cinderella is childhood friends with Prince Sebastian, having bonded over being misfits in Belleville. They start the show hiding their mutual feelings for each other and end it by running away together.
182* Stuart Patterson's play ''Theatre/{{Cinderella|Patterson}}'', which is based on the panto but is not itself a panto, calls the Buttons character (see above) Callum, and he and Cinderella end up together once she realises the Prince is a PrinceCharmless. Callum then [[SuddenlySuitableSuitor turns out]] to be LostOrphanedRoyalty of a neighbouring kingdom.
183* The traditional {{Pantomime}} version of ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'' [[CanonForeigner adds]] the character of Buttons, who's been a servant to the family since both he and Cinders were children, and is in love with her. She is destined to marry [[PrinceCharming the Prince]]. Depending on the production, she either never notices how Buttons feels or lets him down gently.
184* The title character of Edmond Rostand's ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'' is in love with his [[KissingCousins cousin]] Roxane whom he used to play with as a kid. At Act II Scene VI, Cyrano and Roxane tenderly remember when they were children and played each spring at Cyrano's house at Bergerac.
185-->'''Roxane:''' Confession next!... But, ere I make my shrift,\
186You must be once again that brother-friend.\
187With whom I used to play by the lake-side!...\
188'''Cyrano:''' Ay, you would come each spring to Bergerac!\
189'''Roxane:''' Mind you the reeds you cut to make your swords?...\
190'''Cyrano:''' While you wove corn-straw plaits for your dolls' hair!\
191'''Roxane:''' Those were the days of games!...\
192'''Cyrano:''' And blackberries!...\
193'''Roxane:''' In those days you did everything I bid!...\
194'''Cyrano:''' Roxane, in her short frock, was Madeleine...\
195'''Roxane:''' Was I fair then?\
196'''Cyrano:''' You were not ill to see!
197* In Creator/DorothyLSayers' ''Theatre/TheEmperorConstantine'', Maximian jovially talks of how Fausta and Constantine were sweethearts as children. He's about to propose a political marriage -- one that requires Constantine to divorce his wife and his son's mother.
198* Motel and Tzeitel in ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof''. Initially it seemed to be a dead end because the local matchmaker set Tzeitel up to marry the town's wealthiest citizen, but the pair eventually convince Tzeitel's father, Tevye, to let her marry Motel instead.
199* Éponine Thénardier could be seen to be this in the musical of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''. However, in the book, [[spoiler:Marius]] doesn't meet her until adulthood and barely knows her.
200* Patience and Archibald in Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'' were friends as small children, but then lost contact with each other for a while before falling in love during the play.
201%%* Christine and Raoul in ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.
202* ''Theatre/SpringAwakening'' has Ilse as the most unlucky childhood friend ''ever'' to Moritz, who (among other things) is [[ParalyzingFearOfSexuality so terrified/confused about his own sexuality]] [[DrivenToSuicide that he'd rather die than keep going on]]. That doesn't do wonders for romance.
203** Melchior and Wendla as well. However given the DownerEnding the show has, it fits UnluckyChildhoodFriend more.
204[[/folder]]
205
206[[folder:Web Animation]]
207* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'':
208** Blitzo and Stolas are a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] and a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]]. The two meet as a kids during a circus performance and Stolas [[LoveAtFirstSight is instantly attracted to Blitzo]]. Despite the fun the two have, Blitzo merely used Stolas to rob the Goetia palace of its royalties as commanded by the former's greedy, abusive dad. They also just spend a day together as kids, thus they couldn't really be considered "friends" despite the fun time they had.
209** Stolas deludes himself into thinking this trope is in effect once they reunite several decades later, but Blitzo knows that they really weren't and even plans to confess the truth to Stolas. That is until Blitzo realizes he can play along with Stolas' delusion to steal the Grimoire.
210* Subverted with Jerry and Jackie from the [[Creator/MaxGilardi HotDiggedyDemon]] series ''WebAnimation/{{Jerry}}''. They first met when they were young, hit off immediately, and it's implied that Jackie seems to harbor some feelings for him as an adult...but she never commits, opting instead to take his money and sneak away after every one-night stand.
211* ''WebAnimation/MangaRoom'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohYAtgL-Wes Ren Matsushita and Sakura Hanomoto]] were childhood friends and dating each other. Unfortunately, their relationship was cut short due to Sakura's death and it took Ren a long time to recover.
212* ''WebAnimation/TheMusicFreaks'': Zander and Luke were good friends as children and secretly had crushes on each other, later on in "[[Recap/TheMusicFreaksS1E5ADrummersConfession A Drummer's Confession]]", they officially became an item.
213* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Ren and Nora have been together since they were both orphaned as young children, and other characters initially think they are an item until corrected. Nora has been in love with Ren for years, but only starts becoming open about her feelings from the end of Volume 4. [[spoiler:Although they have the BigDamnKiss in Volume 7, they don't discuss where their relationship is going until Volume 8, when Ren is finally ready to admit he's in love with her. However, Nora is struggling to figure out who she is as a person, so asks Ren to wait for her; he agrees without hesitation.]]
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216[[folder:Web Original]]
217* Parodied in WebVideo/{{Doppelganger}} with [[spoiler:Lisa]]
218-->[[spoiler: Victor: You know, maybe what I always really wanted was right here... *leans into kiss Lisa*]]
219--> [[spoiler: Lisa:[[RecordNeedleScratch *stops him*]] [[JustFriends -Maybe not! Ew, that's not true at all!]]]]
220%%* Roleplay/EquestriaChronicles has Nocturne for Scribble Quill.
221* Love Gives Me Hope:
222** [[http://love.givesmehope.com/view/True+love/9042348 Jake asked me to marry him when I was 5.]]
223** [[http://love.givesmehope.com/view/Love/21825 When we were 5, I dared my best friend Craige to kiss me.]]
224* Dan Roth from WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick is the ultra-unlucky version, as he dated the titular Chick back in high school, but is now her roommate who is constantly either abused or forgotten.
225* Edmund and Elanore meet [[http://talesofthebigbadwolf.com/red-riding-hood-arc/rrh3b/ again after a long absence]] and eventually the Count's appearance forces a LoveTriangle.
226* Storm Blackfire (a character in the ''Jade Regent'' Actual Play podcast series from ''Podcast/RPGMP3'') is a half-elf [[BarbarianHero barbarian]] and combat expert. She's on very good terms with her childhood friend, Sandru. At one point, she [[PowerUp acquired]] a magical [[EmbarrassingTattoo glow-in-the-dark butterfly tattoo on a certain part of her body]], which is difficult for her to conceal under her... [[ChainmailBikini usual attire]]. Luckily, her magical sword [[ExposedToTheElements imbues her with cold-resistance]].
227* Serinepth Sinderman and Phillip Maisel of ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'' have been close friends since they were young children, and develop romantic feelings for one another. [[spoiler:Things get complicated, however, when Serinepth's parents [[ArrangedMarriage arrange her betrothal]] to [[PrinceCharmless Prince Frederick]], the heir to the Ashuan throne.]]
228* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' qualifies. Jadis' bestest bud from elementary school, who she hasn't seen in years, is now at [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] with her, but already has found a girlfriend. Only Jadis is the daughter of the internationally feared supervillain Dr. Diabolik, so things could change in a lot of ways...
229[[/folder]]
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