Hints can be risky business, y’all. People have different levels of confidence, strange ideas about communication, or you know, they’re just not paying attention – all of which makes a direct statement almost always better than a subtle hint, when it comes to something you really want.

That said, many people are also terrified of making the first move romantically, so hints might be all they’re able to muster up the courage to do.

Whatever the case here, these 30 people almost missed out on what turned out to be a pretty great thing.

30. That party could have kept going.

Was a groomsmen at my best friends wedding. Just three groomsmen and three lovely bridesmaids. Had a ton of fun during the reception and with the groom, I got everyone out on the dance floor when dancing started. Really extroverted night cause I was just in a great mood.

Later standing around with the bridesmaids and one asked me what I was up to after the wedding. I was thrown off cause it was 9 and I was mentally like, “this is the nights event”. I ended up saying, “I dunno, probably go home.” To which she replied, “Oh, well I have a hotel room, dont mean to brag or anything…” And ‘jokingly’ talked about me being jealous. And then naturally I said, “Whoa, where did all this honey come from?!”

As I just discovered the gift bags with fresh honey. Was about 2 hours later when I was taking off my bowtie that I stood and stared ahead realizing my mistake…..MFW

29. Hahaha yeah good thing.

I was in an editing booth with a girl (who is now a runway model) in college. She suddenly bursts out with “I wish I was a s**t, because it would be so much fun to f**k in this booth.”

I just said “Good thing you are not a s**t then.” and kept working.

28. There was no next time.

Went on a date with the most beautiful girl I ever went on a date with. It went really well. I had delved into her soul, really gotten her to open up, and made her laugh a lot.

I got her to talking about paintings she makes but has never showed anyone, and made her promise to show me some time. I walked her home, and then she was standing on the first step of her stairs, facing me at eye level, smiling. Somehow, suddenly, I felt self-conscious. I got nervous.

So instead of kissing her like she clearly wanted me to, I gave her hug, thanked her for the pleasant evening, and walked away. I felt amazing. The date was over and I hadn’t f**ked it up! A few minutes later, I got a text from her. I should have invited you up… to show you my paintings. And, for the love of f**king god, I don’t know how I managed to send this as my reply: Haha, next time!

There was no next time.

27. I mean she did say she wanted to get out of there.

Let’s see if you can beat this one.

I’m out with three people. My best friend, his girlfriend, and a friends of hers. I’m completely oblivious that I got set up for a double date. The girl is beautiful. We get along. We end up at some party. It’s fun for a while, the girl is chatting me up, then we run out of things to say. Then we realize the couple left. I start to get uncomfortable. I don’t know anyone at this party.

After an awkward silence where we’re both looking around the room, she turns to me, looks me in the eye and says the magic words. “Let’s get out of here”. I happily oblige.

We walk down the stairs and into the street. “Alright, see you later” I say to her, and proceed to get out of there.

26. Finally, a happy ending.

Once upon a time I met a man at a reddit meet-up. I messaged him on Facebook and told him about a new restaurant by where I worked, ‘never heard of it’ they have really good and cheap Bloody Mary’s, ‘I don’t like mixed drinks’ oh, ok, ttyl.

Then I read a post on Reddit that was sooooo amazingly similar to this post and I realized he had no idea I was trying to ask him out for drinks.

So I contacted him again on Facebook, clarified that I was no longer in a relationship, and we set up 2 dates.

Got married in June.

25. That girl probably had a complex for awhile.

showed up at a girls place (she knew i was coming over, didn’t know when) and she answered the door in bra and panties. I got what i needed to get and left.

i am an idiot

edit: no, “got what i needed to get” did not mean sex. I should have noticed that, but I didn’t. =[

edit: she is also a redditor.

24. He was not just being friendly.

I was once blatantly hit on by a gay guy for like 2 hours and when my friend and I left she looked at me and said “you know he was trying to get with you, right?” I had no idea. I thought he was just being friendly.

23. Third time wasn’t the charm.

Camping trip for a geology class.

I’m cold, can I get in your sleeping bag?
It’ll be warmer if you take off your damp clothes

ok, i took off my clothes, can I get in your sleeping bag now?
No, I mean it will be warmer in your sleeping bag.

oh. screw it. I’m going to sleep

22. Not a match made in heaven.

Once I spent an entire night with a girl that I really liked from school. It was 24th of July, Saint John’s day, which is celebrated with a big party in the streets of Barcelona.

Towards the end of the night we were talking and she said she wasn’t the kind of girl that made the first move, even when she really wanted to, due to her shyness.

My answer? “Yeah I’m also like that”.

It still eats me up a bit, I still really like her, but we went on separate ways…

21. Oblivious is an understatement.

I used to hang out with this really cool chick, she was into PC games and such, and we had similar music tastes. Our personalities are scarily similar, too. We even share the same birthday.

Anyways, I digress.

She was over at my house once, and we were the only ones there, both in my bedroom. She was wearing a short skirt. I was showing her something on the computer, I think, and she laid down on my bed… in a skirt… and implied that I should come sit.

Didn’t even realize she had done it until a couple of years ago when we were having a conversation and she told me that she used to have a major thing for me and cited that situation.

I was rather oblivious back then.

20. THE RULES.

While I was in college, a girl that lived in a dorm 2 buildings down calls me up after just leaving my place and meeting me for the first time and says “So do you want to come see my cat?”

“WHAT?! You’re not allowed to have pets!!”

19. Doesn’t everyone know the code “slip into something more comfortable?”

In high school, a girl asked me for a ride home from a football game one time, to which I agreed. She asked if I wanted to come in and see her room (I forget why this seemed like a normal thing), and that it wouldn’t bother her parents because they weren’t home.

So, I went in and had a tour of her house. We both went to catholic schools, right down the street from each other (mine was all-boys, hers all-girls). Her school had the traditional catholic school uniform; plaid skirt, knee-high socks, and white shirts. So, when we get into the house and are in her living room, and she says something along the lines of “I think I’m going to get out of this uniform…” to which I replied with (roughly) “Oh, ok. I’ll just wait here till you’re finished”. I was pretty pissed off when I figured it out a while later.

18. You had to get up early, really?

Freshman year I was chatting up two girls at a party. During the course of this rather long conversation, one of them started playing a little bit with the other’s (quite large) chest. Not massaging or anything, mind you, just making them bounce and such. I’d met both of these girls before the party and one of them lived in my dorm, so it never occurred to me that they’d actually be flirting with me.

Towards the end of the evening, one of them looks at me and says, “Hey, GreatDayForGuinness, her roommate (gesturing towards the other girl) is gone for the weekend and I’m spending the night in her room. You should come too!”

I politely excused myself, citing the fact that I had to wake up early the next morning.

It took me longer than I care to admit to realize what I may have passed up on. Much regret has been had since.

17. Why couldn’t she just talk?

I was in a club being drunk and happy, when a cute girl comes up to me and hands me a note. She stands there while I try to read it, but can’t, because of my drunken state. I decide to pretend like I read it, and look at her, smile and give her the thumbs up. She looks at me like: “what’s your problem?” and walks away. The next morning I find the note and it reads: “you look cute, take me home”.

I hated myself for being so stupid, but when I was in the club, I just thought it was weird that some chick gave me a piece of paper. Didn’t even cross my mind that it was a proposition.

Btw, not gay

16. I guess that was her answer.

Laying on a bed with a girl I liked and her friend.

Her friend rubs my back and asks if there is anything I wanted to do.

I started playing Sonic 3.

I should have played Sonic 1.

15. Subtlety is lost on many.

As a woman reading this thread, I’m beginning to throw away my confidence in any smooth moves I may have had/used.

I’m feeling like the best thing to say is gonna be “you’re hot, let’s bang.”

14. I mean…are you?

I was in high school, she was a friend of mine. At her suggestion, we watched “Debbie Does Dallas” together — just the two of us. She snuggled up against me on the couch, and I thought about how cool it was that we were mature enough to watch porn and not have it be weird or anything.

I went home shortly after the movie ended.

For the rest of high school she was convinced I was gay because there was no way that I wouldn’t have made a move on her otherwise.

After another friend of mine explained what had happened to me, I thought I was gay.

13. I’m unfamiliar with this sort of drunk mind.

Her: “It’s too cold for you to sleep on the couch, come cuddle”

In my drunk mind: “Cheap ass girl, won’t turn the heater on”

12. Come ON, man!

Not me personally, but my housemate accidentally turned down a very, very attractive Russian girl on his birthday, despite being given three chances.

After a night out we left the two of them in the house alone while we went for pizza, both where drunk, him more than her. She asked “How long do you think we have?” He responds “I don’t know”. She says “I think we’ve got a while” He says “I hope not, I’m hungry”.

we get back, eat pizza together, and she asks to see his room, he says no as he wants to stay and play cards. Then when she goes to leave I suggest he walks her home, she agrees but then he says “It’s not that far, she doesn’t need walking” I try to convince him otherwise but he’s not having any of it.

When she’s finally left we’re both sat in the kitchen talking and suddenly he realises what he just did. He just stands up, shouts “For f*ck’s sake!” and storms out of the room. He spent the next two weeks sulking about it. What a birthday…

11. How could you miss that?

Ugghh! I had a similar situation with my friend’s Polish friend at a wedding.

She was crazy attractive and we were in a group talking at the bar. She singles me out to talk for a bit and mentioned she can do a really great Russian accent. After inquiring, she says “I give really great blowjob ya” in a thick accent. Then she gets up, touches my shoulder and says “I’m gonna head back to my room”.

And she leaves while I turned back to my other friends and pounded a few more rounds. Eventually, one of them asks where ‘so and so’ went off to and I told them…to which the bartender bursts out laughing saying I had no clue what I just passed on and she thought I did it on purpose.

My head hit the table and she ended up giving me a drink on the house.

10. That’s not how she normally sleeps.

At the time her abusive ex-bf was banging her roommates. And she could hear them, so I offered to let her sleep at my place whenever he came over.

I lent her my bed and she told me that there was a lot of room and I didn’t have to sleep on the chair. I was kind of tired then, so I just slept on the bed beside her.

She took off her clothes.

I thought that was how she normally slept, so I didn’t say anything, turned my back towards her and went to sleep. She wasn’t there in the morning.

9. I moustache you a question…

Had a tremendous moustache last month.

Girl in my class tells me as we’re leaving, “You know,
I’ve never kissed a guy with a moustache before.”

I say “You know, neither have I.”

AND THEN I WALKED AWAY!!!!

WHAT THE HELL MAN!?

8. You didn’t need to be quite so dedicated.

During my University years one of my classmates asked me if I wanted to study with her, I said “sure” and she told me to come by her place around 5 so we can study, have some dinner and study some more. instead, I told her that it would be much easier to study in the library because we will have access to all the resources we may need.

After graduation she told me she had a huge crush on me and that she spent a lot of time to build up the courage to invite me over

7. Wow, that’s forward. And yet…

When I was 15 a girl decided to grab my iPod and stuff it into her bra, and then told me I wasn’t getting it back until I fished it out myself. As a socially awkward and stupid 15 year old I was mentally fre*king out and told her she could borrow it instead. Man how I’m kicking myself now.

6. But the rules!

A group of guys and girls are horsing around the dorm common area. I’m giving one cute girl a piggyback ride, and she whispers in my ear “Why don’t you give me a ride up to my room?” I answer “Guys aren’t allowed on the girls floor,” and give her another ride around the room.

Working in a camera store when a really attractive women my age, with the sexiest South African accent came in. I spent about 30 minutes trying to sell her a camera, and then she left. One of my coworkers came up to me and asked if I got her number and was meeting her later, and I was like “No, why?” Apparently she was sending out signals like she was a radio antenna. Everyone else in the store noticed, but I missed every single one of them.

The beautiful woman who had recently moved in next door knocked on my door and asked for a cup of sugar. I gave her a cup of sugar and sent her on her way.

Fortunately the woman from number 3 was more persistent, and we’ve been happily married for 20 years. She says I still get women hitting on me, and I never notice. She likes that about me.

5. This is equal parts hilarious and sad.

Incoming text. Approx. 1am.

From: Vanessa. “I’m home alone. Come play video games?”. I cab down to her place and proceed to destroy her at mario kart. She’s not even trying to win!

I thought she wanted to play video games?!

Eventually, she even admitted it: “Richard_yeltser, I don’t really want to play video games anymore”.

Oh okay, she must be tired. Time to go home!

4. You wouldn’t want to get chilly.

Walked out of a club with a girl I’d been dancing with all night. She kissed me on the cheek and mentions that we should split a cab back to hers and save some money. “Nah, it’s too cold and it’s like a 20 minute walk from yours to mine. I’ll see you tomorrow though!”

I woke up the next morning with no hangover and the majority of the map on Civ 4.

3. This is honestly so sweet and pure.

A few years ago I was working at my elementary school’s annual spring fling.

That day I volunteered to be the school mascot(a big-ass bear costume) for the morning shift. It was a boring job of feeling like a pedophile the whole time because little kids would hug you constantly and be all over you.

They were at just the perfect height for every kid’s face to be just in your crotch.

It was nearing noon and my shift was soon to be over when a girl my age, 17, stole the bear head right from my own head and ran away with it. I wasn’t gonna pay for a damn bear head if she didn’t return it, so I ran after her and followed her into an empty classroom with the lights off and the shudders shut tightly. She said something like “oh looky here, mr papa bear, I’m holding your head, I’m a bad girl”

I was pissed she took it and wasn’t thinking so I, being oblivious to her remark, took the head yelled “THE CHILDREN NEED ME” and stormed out.

TL;DR chick took my head off, I was pissed and worried for the children

2. Oh, goodnight!

Back in college, i met a girl when she burst through my dorm door at the sound of my massive belch and screamed “oh my god, that was awesome!”

She was absolutely beautiful and turned out to be incredibly intelligent and fun. We hung out all year, helped her with her physics, gave massages, listened to her about her bf issues, the works.

I never made a move and it never crossed my mind to because I’m not the home wrecking type. Some time in the year they broke up. Here’s the kicker: on more than a couple nights after that, she would show up at my dorm door in nothing but her towel “just to say good night.” And that’s exactly what I’d say, “oh, good night!” As she’d leave I’d always think to myself and say “god damn I wish I could have that!” It took me a couple years to think back and realize how absolutely retarded I was not to see what she was doing.

I haven’t seen her since that year, but we’re friends on fb. Every time I see her on there I kick myself just a little bit, not just for missing a booty call, but for letting someone amazing like her slip out of my life.

1. I think I feel more sorry for the girl.

Back in college, there was this girl who started as a friend, but over time, wanted to be more than a friend. Sadly, I was far too naive and insecure to pick up on her multiple hints. Here’s one of the worst:

We had been hanging out at a party at a friend’s house for a couple of hours. The Leonid meteor shower was supposed to be pretty active that night, so she suggested that we drive out in the country and watch it together. I said “Okay, sounds cool,” so we packed up and headed out.

As we were driving, she said “You know, some of your friends are starting to ask if I’m your girlfriend.”
Me: “Oh really? That’s interesting.”

We drove out to a dirt road in the middle of the nowhere, spread a sleeping bag out in the back of my truck, laid back…and watched the meteor shower.

Edit: To the multiple people who have asked, I do not have Asperger’s Syndrome. I was just painfully insecure, in the “She can’t possibly be interested in me that way” sort of way. My game has gotten moderately better since then.

Pay attention to the people around you, y’all. You never know when you’re going to need to pick up on something that might change your life!

Has this ever happened to you? Tell us about your almost-missed signal experience in the comments!