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->''"Love me! Why, it must be requited."''
-->-- '''Benedick''', ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing''

Two characters have had some sort of ShipTease, but there's no sign of it progressing to a RelationshipUpgrade. Likely, one character will have feelings for the other but are resigned to AllLoveIsUnrequited -- until the other character somehow hears (from another person directly or indirectly or from a LoveConfession) they have feelings for them.

They're shocked. All of a sudden, they begin to look at the other character differently, resulting in them beginning to have feelings, too! We all [[IJustWantToBeLoved want to be loved]] after all, and someone loving ''you'' is a very attractive trait.

This trope comes in two flavors:
* Alice already ''had'' feelings for Bob, but it took hearing Bob's feelings for her to realize them.
* Alice begins to develop feelings after she hears that Bob likes her.

This often is a cue for a long-overdue RelationshipUpgrade in a SheIsNotMyGirlfriend or UnresolvedSexualTension situation. A common variation is to have one fall for the other after hearing that they have feelings for them despite there not actually being feelings involved; often this set-up is PlayedForLaughs.

A subtrope of LoveEpiphany. If Alice realizes her feelings for Bob after he confesses to Cheryl instead, that's GreenEyedEpiphany. The inverse of this is EntitledToHaveYou, in which Bob loves Alice and expects Alice to love him back. If the timing isn't right and Alice realizes her feelings after Bob has moved on, it's UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo.
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* This is what happens in ''Manga/AirGear'' between Ikki and Ringo. [[ChildhoodFriendRomance The two had known each other since they were children]], and though they cared about each other, Ikki only really thought of Ringo as a really good friend while she was so blatantly in love with him it was almost painful. It didn't help that Ikki was ObliviousToLove and had two other {{Love Interest}}s that were [[BettyAndVeronica more attractive than Ringo was]]. However, when she finally managed to confess to him, he was completely shocked, and after thinking about it for a while, he realizes that he feels the same way, and a RelationshipUpgrade happens soon afterwards.
* The anime finale of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' revolves around Syaoran finally confessing his love for Sakura, who ultimately requites the feeling and spends most of the closing movie trying to do the same. While established as being ObliviousToLove, Sakura's closeness towards Syaoran had been developed throughout the series and punctuated by being rejected by her own unrecognized crush, Yukito.
* Makoto and Chiaki from ''Anime/TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime'' are of the UnresolvedSexualTension variety. Makoto's denial over the fact that Chiaki asked her out sets off the rest of the story as well as culminates in her ultimately accepting her feelings for him.
* A variation happens to [[DesperatelyCravesAffection Alibaba]] in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'', where Olba tells him that Morgiana is in love with him. This leads Alibaba to go through all the normal steps and eventually confess his own love to her...until he finds out it was a misunderstanding, as [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove romantic love is still a foreign concept to her]] due to spending almost her entire life as a slave. This does, however, lead [[spoiler:Morgiana]] to go through her own LoveEpiphany, [[spoiler:and they eventually get engaged]].
* At the end of the first season of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', when the UN Forces attack Celestial Being, Lichty uses his body to shield Christina from a blast fired at the Ptolemy by a GN-X. Due to the injuries he sustained, Lichty's cybernetic body is badly damaged and torn apart, with the boy on the verge of death. It is through this action that Christina (who previously maintained a professional relationship with Lichty despite knowing of his interest in her) realizes how great a guy Lichty really is and returns his feelings of love. Sadly, both die soon afterward.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** In the {{canon}} movie ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie'', Naruto realizes the true nature of [[spoiler:Hinata's]] feelings for him, and his own for her, after witnessing her feelings for him firsthand when they were trapped in a genjutsu that makes them relive their memories. Considering Kakashi stated in Chapter 314 that Naruto is a kinesthetic learner (I.E., a direct learner, someone who learns with his body or by doing, [[LikeFatherLikeSon just like his father Minato]]), [[FridgeBrilliance this actually makes sense]]--Naruto ''needed'' to physically walk through his and [[spoiler:Hinata's]] merged memories to finally understand both her feelings and his own.
** In ''Literature/ShikamaruHidenACloudDriftingInSilentDarkness'', Shikamaru realizes that he loves and wants to protect [[spoiler:Temari]], which helps him resist Gengo's charm and find the strength to fight against him.
* This happens to Uta when [[spoiler:Kakeru]] confesses to her in Episode 41 of ''Anime/OnegaiMyMelody ~Kuru Kuru Shuffle!~''.
* Aki from ''Manga/SilverSpoon'' is convinced that Hachiken's just a "friend" and never realizes why she freezes solid at the thought some other girl's confessing to him. Then after he asks to go someplace with her and her friends forcefully spell it all out to her that he's in love with her, she is shocked. As she sleeps and wonders whether she'd been suppressing herself due to personal issues (she's a farmer's daughter and has a lot of "baggage"), she suddenly freaks out at the realization.
* This is a key part of the movie sequel to ''Anime/TamakoMarket'', ''Tamako Love Story''. Heroine Tamako and her ChildhoodFriend Mochizou are your typical pair of ObliviousToLove meets CannotSpitItOut. And since he's always been there, she never really noticed what he really means. When Mochizou finally works up the courage to tell her, she loses it for a while and takes a long time to reevaluate their relationship, culminating in a last-minute decision at the climax when he's about to leave.
* ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'':
** A major plot point that Taiga was confessed to by Kitamura and only started to develop feelings for him after that.
** Likewise, Ryuuji only begins to realize his feelings for Taiga after she accidentally confesses her own feelings for him.
* Fumiya from ''Manga/WanderingSon'' had always shown attraction to Saori but it wasn't until after he begged her to go on a date with him that she agreed to date him. Saori isn't the best of girlfriends but there isn't much to say that she doesn't love him back.
* In the MentalTimeTravel arc of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', it was revealed that [[spoiler:Tenri]] fell in love with Keima because another girl lied to her about Keima having feelings for her. PlayedWith in that despite [[spoiler:Tenri]] later finding out that was a lie, she remains in love with Keima for the following ten years, even though she knows he doesn't feel the same way and he made it clear to her that [[spoiler:they wouldn't end up together]], because...
** Keima himself, in a somewhat important shift from his 2-D centric ideology, [[spoiler:ends up having one]] as early as FLAG 189, where he ends up shedding a SingleTear for breaking Chihiro's heart. Though such fact is still up to debate as his final words from that FLAG has been subject to various interpretations.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''Fanfic/AAMLDiamondAndPearlVersion'', Ash has this regarding his feelings for Misty early on in the story (although Brock has to spell it out for him).
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': {{Subverted|Trope}}. Misato thinks that Shinji and Asuka are oblivious to each other's feelings and in the Prologue, she tries to make Shinji realizing Asuka loves him. {{Iron|y}}ically they had gotten together several weeks ago and had kept their relationship a secret.
* In ''Fanfic/AuburnStrandsAndRedThreads'', inadvertently overhearing {{Manga/Inuyasha}}'s true feelings for her starts [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Orihime]] on a journey of reconciling her own feelings for him.
* In ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'', after [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse the Avengers]] are sent to the ''Franchise/StarWars'' galaxy during the Clone Wars, Peter Parker, Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee form a strong friendship, with Barriss and Ahsoka each realising that they have more-than-friendly feelings for Peter and each other after Peter is nearly beaten to death by [[spoiler:Ultron]]. However, Peter only realises the potential depth of his own feelings for both girls when [[spoiler:Ahsoka is corrupted by the Son while on Mortis and tries to seduce Peter while talking about her and Barriss's own feelings for him, Peter realising that he does care deeply about both of them but refusing to accept Ahsoka's interest when she's clearly not currently in her right mind]].
* ''Fanfic/{{Bound|HowToTrainYourDragon}}'' has a partial example of this; when Hiccup states his belief that Astrid has never wanted to be betrothed to him, Astrid realises that while she's never liked the implications of marriage and isn't ready for it yet, Hiccup is the only person her age in the village she can see herself marrying, as he would never try and make her something she's not and she actually does find him attractive.
* In ''Fanfic/CalamityJaneMeetsDoctorIsles'', Jane and Maura experience subtle awareness of their attraction to each other at first, 'simply' acknowledging the other as a good friend, but Maura only explicitly tells Jane that she loves her when Jane is preparing to leave Hollow Creek after Hoyt's death, which gives Jane the kick to realise the depth of her own feelings for Maura.
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'':
** In Chapter 2 Hikari tells Shinji Asuka really likes him, but Shinji does not dare to believe her.
** In Chapter 5 Misato yells Asuka Shinji loves her until she gets the message through her head.
* ''Fanfic/CravingTheSky'': Yang doesn't realize that she's in love with Weiss or that Weiss is in love with her until the latter grabs her by the scarf and pulls her into a kiss. Up until that point she'd been mistaking her feelings for [[LoveTriangle jealousy]].
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'':
** Intending to help them to fix their relationship, Daniel talked Asuka about how much she meant to Shinji and how much he had done for her, and he revealed Shinji that Asuka constantly dropped hints that she liked him, but he missed them all.
** In Chapter 27 Asuka asks [[spoiler:Hikari]] if she has already confessed Touji...in front of Touji. Both passed out.
* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': Comically and {{iron|y}}ically, it is Asuka who reveals Kaji that Misato carries a torch for him still:
-->'''Asuka:''' You think this is some harebrained roleplay thing? Fucks sake, Kaji, I walked into your cabin on the boat carrying Unit-02 to Japan wearing nothing but a smile and you still turned me down. You're not over Misato yet, I get it. She's not over you yet either if that makes you feel better.
* ''FanFic/{{Entropy}}'' and its sequel Chaoskampf has Sonic do this twice for two different reasons. One is by Milo Prower (Tails older brother) who gets Sonic to admit his love for Amy several times through repetition to get Sonic to get himself to get the idea he's in love with her. But the topic is not entirely revisited until Chaoskampf where [[spoiler: Amy is purifying him of his corruption]] that he'd been trying to ignore and suppress his feelings but then at that moment, he discovers he can't deny it anymore, not to mention the only good times he's really had by this point (as the fics go into detail about how much crap he's gone through) are with her.
* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': In Chapter 5 Jessika often teases Asuka about her liking Shinji. At the beginning, Asuka denies it vehemently and refuses to admit it to herself, but due to her friend's prolonged teasing, she starts to second-guess herself and realizes she really likes Shinji.
* ''Fanfic/TheFieryBlushOfDawn'': While Yona remains ObliviousToLove after Hak kisses her and confesses his own feelings, it becomes her ''own'' feelings that she's oblivious about, as she wonders how a few words from him were able to leave her feeling so bizarrely happy. Others start noticing how shy and embarrassed she becomes at the prospect of being alone with him... aside from Hak himself.
* In ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'':
** Asuka finally figured out that Shinji liked her when Touji and Hikari explained it to her (slowly and in detail).
** Although Asuka admits that she ''likes'' Shinji, she refuses to acknowledge that their relationship is more than a psychological coping mechanism for a long time after they get together. It's only after their teenage daughter gives her some crap about it when Asuka is in her mid-forties that she finally realizes that she really does love Shinji and they've successfully made a family together.
* In ''Fanfic/GuiltUndone'', Daniel reflects that he at least realised that he had feelings for Sam when he first met her after he returned from his Ascension, while Sam, in a more painful moment, realises how she felt about Daniel a month after his death after dreaming about the life they could have had.
* In the ''Series/HannahMontana'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5572500/1/Higher-Power Higher Power]]'', while Miley and Lilly have known about the other's secret superpowers for over a year (Miley has telekinesis and Lilly can alter her density to either phase through objects or gain superstrength), Miley has been completely unaware that Lilly is in love with her even though Jackson at least suspects it before asking Lilly about her feelings. However, after Miley's powers 'evolve' to include telepathy, she learns about Lilly's deeper feelings and starts to analyse everything Lilly has done for her in the past year in this new context, culminating in a BigDamnKiss that helps Miley acknowledge her own feelings for Lilly in turn.
* ''Fanfic/InLanternsDayInCanarysNight'': Laurel admitting she still loves Oliver is what prompts Oliver to realize that he still loves her, and always has. The decaying state of his relationship with Felicity while Laurel is gone for training at Oa only enforces it.
* ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfMiraculous'': When Link finally confesses his feelings to Zelda, she realises she feels the same, subverting the [[TwoPersonLoveTriangle Love Square]] that had been building up to that point.
* The ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13716489/1/LOST LOST]]'' doesn't show the exact moment when Webby realised how she felt about Dewey, but after they shared a passionate kiss under the mistletoe and Dewey never came home after Christmas, over the next three years with Dewey living away from the rest, Webby not only realises that Dewey was in love with her, but also realises that she's missing him so much because she loved him too.
* In ''Fanfic/LostInCamelot'', this occurs for Bo, Merlin and Morgana at various points in the story, although for Bo and Morgana in particular;
** Bo had a brief crush on Morgana upon arrival, but only realises that she has deeper-than-physical feelings for Morgana despite beginning a relationship with Merlin when Kenzi confronts her about her physically affectionate relationship with the other woman, while proposing that Bo and Morgana [[TakeAThirdOption deal with their mutual feelings for Merlin]] by [[OneTrueThreesome sharing him]].
** Technically Morgana has a similar epiphany after Bo kisses her for the first time, but she takes a day or so to process the idea of two women loving each other in that sense, and even after that, standards of the time prompt her to be reticent about expressing her feelings at first [[spoiler:until Heingist's attempt to capture her and Bo's subsequent HeroicSacrifice help Morgana make up her mind]].
* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' fic ''[[http://www.ralst.com/MinisterofLies1.HTM Minister of Lies]]'' opens when a talk with Odo leads to Kira learning that Odo was once in love but the woman broke his heart. When she tries to talk with Quark about it, Quark's comments lead to Kira realising that Odo is in love with ''her'', which prompts her to take a fresh look at her relationship with Odo despite her current romantic relationship with Shakaar, [[spoiler:culminating in her realising that Odo is the one she truly loves]].
* ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'': In the first chapter, while removing some blood dripping from Naruto's mouth, Hinata takes this opportunity to do their FirstKiss, resulting in the Uzumaki realizing that she's in love with him. Afterwards, he becomes so nervous in her presence that he needs some advice from Iruka. The latter, after suggesting to ask her out, then mentally notes that Naruto must really like Hinata a lot given that he's never been a shy guy before, not even with Sakura.
* In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'', when her female classmates start teasing her about Shinji, Asuka can't delude herself for longer, and she realizes at last she likes him.
* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': In Chapter 1 Rei gave Shinji chocolates. In reaction, Asuka got beyond mad, yelled him and slapped him. Then she cried and ran out of the class. And Shinji had absolutely no idea of why. Later Hikari yelled him he was a blind, thick-headed idiot and told him that Asuka loved him. Shinji was shocked because he liked Asuka but he could not believe she was interested in him.
* In ''Fanfic/TheOneWithTheAngelicFace'', after spending months uncertain how to react to the idea that Angela was born a man and has been in love with her basically since they met, Buffy finally realises that she returns Angela’s love just after Angela has sacrificed herself to stop the world being sucked into Hell.
* In Chapter 36 of ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Ash has a chat with Pikachu, who proceeds to reveal that his female companions have been attracted to him for quite a while.
* ''Fanfic/ThePowerOfSeven'' depicts the moments when Luna, Hermione, Susan and Demelza in particular realise their feelings for Harry to varying extents (Ginny was obviously already dating him, Katie was already aware of an existing attraction that she hasn't defined as 'love' even before the idea was presented to her, and the exact moment when Fleur defines her feelings for Harry hasn't been presented);
** Luna realises that she's been attracted to Harry since she met him as Ginny helps teach her how to masturbate after they explain the situation to her.
** Initially just volunteering herself as part of the ritual because she can't imagine life without Harry, Hermione becomes aware that she's subconsciously thought of Harry as attractive for years before they finally admit that they love each other in Chapter 14.
** Susan Bones has a few of these; initially, after Harry explains the situation to her, she admits that she's been attracted to Harry for a while and Harry apologises for not realising this by explaining that he's hopeless with girls. Chapter 27 reveals that Susan realised her own feelings for Harry when he was correcting her posture during a DA lesson the previous year, and Harry responds to her declaration of love with his own when he actually takes her virginity.
** There is no clear such moment for Demelza, but Harry explicitly tells her that he loves her in Chapter 37 after a particularly intense session following Harry's efforts to assure Demelza of her value to him, and Demelza eagerly reciprocates.
* In the ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5098298/1/Secrets-Revealed Secrets Revealed]]'', after a personal project to find out her family's secrets prompts Alex to cast a truth spell on Harper to find out the subject of her current crush, Alex is shocked to learn that Harper's alleged crush on Justin was actually a cover for Harper's ''real'' crush on Alex herself. When Theresa talks with Alex about why she was so determined to find out the identity of Harper's current crush, she helps Alex realise that she wanted to be sure Harper had found someone who would be good for her because she has similar feelings for Harper herself.
* ''FanFic/{{Shatterheart}}'': While [[spoiler:R!]]Syaoran and Kurogane have a close [[FriendsWithBenefits relat]][[LivingEmotionalCrutch ionship]], Kurogane remained indecisive on what his feelings for him were. It isn't until Syaoran [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove confesses his love, thinking they were going to die]] that Kurogane realizes he loves Syaoran.
* In the post-series ''Series/HannahMontana'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6827895/1/Stars-Don-t-Stand-Still-in-the-Sky Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky]]'', Miley and Lilly attempted to start separate lives after they graduated college, Miley going on tour and Lilly taking a teaching job in Sacramento. However, they end up missing each other so much that they try to visit the other at the same time, and by the time they coordinate for a meeting, the moment they're face-to-face their initial embrace turns into a passionate kiss that leads to them both having sex; Lily in particular reflects that she isn't sure who kissed who first, but realises that what she feels for Miley is what you feel for the one person you need to have in your life all the time. With their reunion established, Lily takes a job as Miley's manager to justify them staying together.
* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': Shinji realized Touji and Hikari had a crush on each other but were completely oblivious to each other's feelings. He took great pains to make amazingly dense Touji noticing Hikari's feelings.
* In the ''Series/TwoBrokeGirls'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10080793/1/Unexpected Unexpected]]", while Max spent some time berating herself for being "an idiot who hadn't been able to not fall in love with Caroline's perfect everything", even after Max is the only person to offer Caroline a place to live after her father loses his money, Caroline only realised that she might be in love with Max when she saw Max's fellow cookery student Deek "giving [Max] heart eyes" and realised that she wanted to slam his head in the oven door because only Caroline gets to look at Max like she's amazing.
* In ''Fanfic/TheVow'', Lianne comes to regard Shen as a very good friend, but she realizes that she loves him when he finally confesses his feelings for her after [[spoiler:her mother's death]].
* The ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13686887/1/What-Happens-In-Vegas What Happens in Vegas]]'' sees Jane and Maura get married while attending a medical conference in Vegas after getting extremely drunk. While Jane is initially in favour of getting the marriage annulled as quickly as possible, when both of them take time to question their relationship, they ultimately realises that they genuinely love the other as more than just a friend or family member, and are willing to explore the dynamic further.
* In ''Fanfic/WhatYouAlreadyKnow'', while Sam began to acknowledge that she had feelings for Daniel after he confessed his own feelings for her, Sam's self-denial due to her [[CartwrightCurse ‘black widow’ status when it comes to relationships]] means that she only consciously realises that she’s in love with Daniel after he’s downloaded the contents of the Ancient repository into his brain and may die in the next few days.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
* This happens in ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' when Olaf reunites with Anna after she realizes her love for Hans wasn't true love. When she says she doesn't know what love is, Olaf says Kristoff loves her, which makes Anna realize her feelings for him.
-->'''Olaf:''' Love is putting someone else's needs before yours like, y'know, how Kristoff brought you back here to Hans and left you forever.\\
'''Anna:''' Kristoff...loves me?\\
{{Beat}}\\
'''Olaf:''' Oh wait, he's coming back. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint I guess he didn't love you enough to leave you forever after all]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'': When Gloria discovers the true depths of Melman's feelings for her (as he tells her current suitor Moto about how lucky he is to have her, complete with LovingDetails), she soon realizes she feels the same way.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'': After Helga gives Arnold a second LoveConfession (her first attempt in [[WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheMovie the previous film]] failed), Arnold has a private talk with her about her flaws and noble qualities, as well as how the latter led to him [[spoiler:finding his parents]]. All culminating in their first romantic, mutual kiss. If we can pinpoint it to a precise ''moment'', it's when they're [[https://i.imgur.com/FtBZf5v.jpg hanging from the cliff and they look over at each other]] - and it's obvious Arnold is finally really ''looking'' at her for the first time. (They exchange the exact same gaze - and we ''know'' Helga loves Arnold.)
* ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'': After Angie admits she did love Oscar before he let his success go to his head, Oscar spends the rest of the night depressed. When Lola mockingly asks Oscar if he even has feelings for Angie, Oscar realizes that he does indeed love Angie and he dumps Lola. Unfortunately for him however, Lola did [[NotGoodWithRejection NOT take it well at all]]. Let's just say poor Oscar [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown got the worst, most humiliating beating of his life.]]...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/{{Carefree}}'' (1938), [[Creator/GingerRogers Amanda]] is engaged to Stephen but falls for her psychiatrist, [[Creator/FredAstaire Tony]]. When she [[LoveConfession tells Tony about her feelings]], he is convinced that she's confusing respect with love, and he offers to hypnotize her into getting over him. During the hypnosis scene, he plants the following suggestions in her mind: 1) she loves Stephen. 2) Tony is a horrible monster. 3) Tony does not love her. Her reaction to the last statement is so strong that Tony has to leave the room to think things over. After a [[TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack short conversation with himself]], he realizes that not only does she really love him, but he loves her too.
* ''Film/FreeGuy'': Millie spends the film oblivious to Keys' feelings for her until she [[spoiler:finds a video of Keys confessing his love for her at the end, and realizes that she reciprocates his feelings]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'', Gilbert Blythe confesses his love to Anne Shirley in the book ''Anne of the Island'', hoping she will return his love when he finally speaks to her about it. Anne's still ObliviousToLove (in this case, her [[ThinksLikeARomanceNovel own love for Gil]]) and so she refuses his declaration of love/marriage proposal. They end up together anyway.
* Mentioned in ''Literature/HighFidelity'', when Rob thinks about how he tends to look at someone differently after finding out they're interested in him.
* In ''Literature/TheHistoryOfMiddleEarth'', this is how Tolkien describes Finwe falling in love with Indis, who has loved him for a long time, after the death of his first wife Miriel.
--> ''...and when Indis saw Finwe climbing the paths of the mountain (and the light of Laurelin was behind him as a glory) without forethought she sang suddenly in a great joy... And when Finwe heard that song falling from above he looked up and saw Indis in the golden light, and he knew at that moment that she loved him and had long done so. Then his heart turned at last to her, and he believed that this chance, as it seemed, had been granted for the comfort of them both. 'Behold!' he said. 'There is indeed healing of grief in Aman!'''
* In ''[[Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms The Sleeping Beauty]]'', Godmother Lily doesn't realize she's developed feelings for Jimson until Jimson accidentally calls her "my love".
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Fireheart starts falling for Sandstorm after Cinderpaw tells him everybody can see that Sandstorm is very much into him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': Peralta confesses to Santiago at the end of the first season that he wishes something could have happened between them "romantic stylez" before he goes undercover in the mafia. When he comes back from the undercover assignment she's still with her boyfriend, Teddy; it's later revealed that after Peralta confessed his feelings, she would think about it often, get confused, and realized that she liked him back, which ultimately put more strain on her relationship with Teddy. Eventually, she and Teddy break up and Peralta and Santiago become an OfficialCouple.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has had a few of these moments:
** Due to TheILoveYouStigma being in place (the Doctor never actually says it to anyone), the Doctor tends to use euphemisms instead such as "I had a duty of care" in "Hell Bent", which has been interpreted as being this moment for Clara Oswald, although there are plenty of signs in preceding episodes that she shared the Doctor's feelings.
** According to actress Creator/JennaColeman, for example, speaking at fan conventions, Clara realized she was in love with the Doctor at the end of "The Time of the Doctor."
** The Doctor has this when listening to River Song talking about how much she loves him in "The Husbands of River Song" (the twist being that, thanks to [[TheNthDoctor regeneration]], she doesn't realize she's saying these things in front of the Doctor.) Zigzagged a bit due to the fact the Doctor was actually married to her at the time but wasn't aware of the full depth of her feelings.
** In "Let's Kill Hitler", we learn that when they were teens, Amy Pond regarded Rory as a close friend but nothing more. She told Mel, "He's gorgeous, he's my favorite guy, but he's, y'know, [[MistakenForGay gay]]." When Rory protested that he was not in fact gay, Amy insisted he is because they've been friends for ten years and he never once showed interest in a girl. She then realized that he did have feelings for [[SingleTargetSexuality one girl, namely Amy]]. The realization led Amy to run after Rory, beginning one of the most enduring and endearing love stories in all of ''Doctor Who''.
* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Daphne starts to develop feelings for Niles once she finds out that he has long harbored feelings for her.
* Done secondhand in ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Rachel develops feelings for Ross after Chandler [[LoveInformant accidentally spills the beans]] about Ross's love of Rachel while Ross is in China. She decides she loves him too and goes to meet him at the airport when he comes back, [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo only to discover he's got a new girlfriend]].
* On ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', Lane doesn't realize she has feelings for Zach until one of his groupies apologizes to her. Zach, in turn, needs some time to process his own feelings for her after she comes clean.
* In one episode of ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'', an elderly widow confesses to Reverend Alden that he's the only man besides her late husband that she's ever loved. His reaction makes it clear that this completely takes him by surprise, but after thinking about it a little, he realizes that he likes the idea and is very open to the prospect. They have a relatively short DecemberDecemberRomance and then marry at the end of the episode.
* ''Series/MadMen'' does this, with Peggy realizing she's in love with [[spoiler:Stan]] after he confesses his love to her.
* ''Series/MimpiMetropolitan'': Melani only starts developing feelings for Bambang after rejecting his love confession. It takes several episodes before Melani realizes it, precisely when Bambang tells her that he still wants to make Melani happy after all his angst, and makes her own confession.
* An episode of ''Series/TheMindyProject'' featured Danny "accepting" his feelings for Mindy after inferring (incorrectly) that she was romantically interested in him.
* PlayedForLaughs on ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' when Kelly temporarily thinks she likes Andy after he gives her a more romantic Valentine’s Day card than he intended to.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Odo was friend-zoned by Kira until in "Children of Time" when a parallel version of Odo tells her he loves her. From that point on, Kira begins to develop feelings for him over several more episodes.
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[[folder:Music]]
* Music/BonnieRaitt's "Something to Talk About," in which she hears speculation around town that they're too close to be JustFriends, then notices his feelings for her, then realizes she has feelings for him, too.
-->''I feel so foolish, I never noticed\\
You'd act so nervous\\
Could you be falling for me?\\
It took a rumor to make me wonder\\
Now I'm convinced I'm going under''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'': For the first three seasons, the Flying Squirrel has a very obvious interest in her boss, masked vigilante the Red Panda. For his part, the Red Panda tends to be flustered and demands the Squirrel behave herself when she gets ''too'' flirtatious, but otherwise appears ObliviousToLove. That changes in "The Field Trip", in which the Flying Squirrel is nearly killed and, in response to nearly losing her, the Red Panda kisses her and lets the fact that he reciprocates her feelings comes spilling out. He had hesitated to make a move for fear it would ruin the ''nearly'' perfect relationship they had going, though this incident prompted him to finally speak up. The next season follows their engagement and ends on their wedding, and the two superheroes remain HappilyMarried from then on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into falling in love because they hear their friends respectively [[StagingTheEavesdrop "talking"]] about how the other has been secretly pining for them but has hidden their feelings because they fear they will be mocked for them. It's implied that they actually ''have'' been genuinely pining after each other for a while, but refused to realize it until they "heard" that their feelings were requited.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In the second game of the ''VisualNovel/OneNightHotSprings'' series, Erika realizes that she has a crush on her friend Haru and confesses to her. Haru initially turns her down because she's still carrying a torch for her childhood friend Manami, but the third game reveals that she agreed to give dating Erika a try after she had more time to think over Erika's confession and realize that it made her feel butterflies in her stomach for the first in a long time.
* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', Lili [[VisualPun goes weak in the knees]] [[LoveAtFirstSight the moment Razputin introduces himself]]. Razputin, on the other hand, takes a FirstKiss and an additional game and a half to fully process his feelings. His own knees [[CallBack finally give out]] when Lili comes to his aid in the climax of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts 2}}'' announcing herself as his girlfriend.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'', Gale's romance path is unlocked by the player choosing to capitalize on their momentary mental connection through [[BackgroundMagicField the Weave]] to send him the idea of the two of them as a couple (depending on how bold the player is feeling, either holding hands on a romantic walk or kissing). TheNarrator describes his feelings returned through the psychic connection as being first startled and confused, but finally settling on ''elation''. Notably, while his approval gets a reasonable boost either way, the boost for imagining kissing him is double that for holding his hand; elation indeed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Kat has been [[ComingOutStory questioning her sexuality]] for some time. However, she doesn't have feelings for her classmate Paz specifically until Paz sends her a LoveLetter, then confesses in person and suggests they go on a date sometime.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Jake was initially shocked when he realized that his friend Dirk had feelings for him, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that the idea of them dating wasn't nearly so ridiculous as it had seemed at first, and he eventually asked him out. It's {{Subverted|Trope}}, though. While Jake does seem to be bi, it soon became very obvious that [[spoiler:he never had any true feelings for Dirk, and only forced himself to try it out because he was sure Dirk would push for them to date either way]].
* In ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'', Aggie becomes attracted to Penny when Penny reveals her own interest in her during a [[ParlorGames parlor game]]. As becomes clear from subsequent, similar moments early in their relationship, the reason Aggie only now has romantic feelings for her is that Penny, in confessing her interest, is also showing Aggie her [[DefrostingIceQueen vulnerable]] side for the first time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'' episode "Puppy Love", when [[spoiler:Craig]] sees [[spoiler:Wildernessa's]] text about wanting to meet him alone, he realizes that they haven't really spoken since the Capture the Flag game, which then makes him recall the [[DyingDeclarationOfLove last thing she said]] after [[TakingTheBullet stopping him from getting tagged out]]. Despite her getting [[InterruptedDeclarationOfLove interrupted]] by [[HarmlessFreezing becoming frozen]], he still realizes how that sentence was likely going to end and immediately becomes nervous about what'll happen once they meet up.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In "Arnold & Lila", Lila starts to like Arnold only because Helga wrote "Arnold Loves Lila" on the wall and Lila assumed it had to be true. Arnold tells her he doesn't "like-like her" and Lila becomes very disappointed, but realizes she only came to "like-like" Arnold because she thought he felt that way about her. So when Arnold realizes he does "like-like her", Lila isn't interested in him anymore.
** Arnold himself probably never would have started liking her had she not liked him first so they traded off on the same trope.
* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama''. When Kim starts despairing as Drakken [[NearVillainVictory gets close to his goal of]] [[TakeOverTheWorld world conquest]], Ron confesses (in his own roundabout way) that he has feelings for her, and Kim realizes that she feels the same way about him:
-->'''Kim:''' You really think there's a guy out there for me?\\
'''Ron:''' Out there... ''in here''...\\
'''Kim:''' ''(realization kicks in)'' O-Oh...really?
* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Act Your Age", an older Phineas learns Isabella has had a crush on him for a long time. He's genuinely shocked and sad about it since he's leaving for college soon, meaning he doesn't have much of a chance to express his newfound reciprocated love to Isabella following the revelation.
[[/folder]]
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