History Main / AbortedDeclarationOfLove

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'':
** Despite being a professional at the art of seduction, Irina fails to fully confess her feelings towards Karasuma. Her students don't take this too well. This ties to Irina's stunted emotional growth due to her DarkAndTroubledPast and the fact that Karasuma is painfully ObliviousToLove.
** [[spoiler:Kayano, after working up the courage to tell Nagisa how she feels on Valentine's Day, decides against it because she sees how focused he is on his future and doesn't want to distract him]].
* Subverted in ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Suzu tries to confess to Matsuri, but gets cold feet worrying he'd only love her like family, and [[LastSecondWordSwap pretends she just wanted to ask for a sweet potato]]. [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike Matsuri then reveals he already bought a sweet potato for her]], something Suzu finds so kind and considerate, it gives her the courage to ''actually'' confess (while stuffing it into her mouth).
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', the dying Judeau can only tell Casca that she cries a lot, and dies regretting that he couldn't confess how he really felt about her.
* In the ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' pilot, Orihime (who [[DeathByFallingOver died from falling down the stairs]]) considers confessing to Ichigo just before leaving for the Soul Society, but the spirit of her father advises against it, as it would only make Ichigo suffer.
* In the DistantFinale of ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai'', Mai plans on confessing her feelings for Marika before she graduates, knowing they're [[IncompatibleOrientation unrequited]]. She instead tearfully congratulates Marika on graduating.
* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': in chapter 205, [[spoiler:This is seemingly what Lenalee is trying to do with Allen now that he´s leaving the order. It´s less of an aborted confession and more that she didn´t get to say it before Allen hugged her, dispelled her doubts and declaring his [[LoveYouAndEverybody love]] for everyone in the order, specifically Lenalee, followed by his departure through the ark.]]
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' At the end of "The Second Raid" Kaname has travelled all the way to Hong Kong to make a LoveConfession to Sousuke ([[{{tsundere}} after first beating him up for all the angst he's put her through]]) but [[CantSpitItOut chickens out at the last second]].
** Sousuke follows it up with his own in the subsequent volume. Finally having achieved a proper LoveEpiphany in the middle of a Christmas seajacking, Sousuke tells Kaname that he has something to tell her once they have a proper moment to talk before rushing off to save his kidnapped commanding officer. When he finally does get the chance to tell her three days later, he finds himself too EmotionallyTongueTied to find the right words. He doesn't bail out entirely and still manages to give her the lapis lazuli he had prepared for the occasion and [[IUhYouToo manages to give Kaname a vague idea of what he feels for her]], but the choice of gift[[note]]Kaname notes earlier in the book that, while Sousuke actually gets her gifts pretty regularly, they're always "practical", thoroughly unromantic items like self-defense tools, even for major occasions like Christmas[[/note]], the way he places it in her hand, and the few comments he does manage to stammer out imply he had intended the gemstone to be more of ''engagement'' present than a belated birthday gift.
* Except that it never seems to be played as anything final, Kaoru of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' does this while he and Yukiji are visiting Italy during Golden Week. He starts confessing and then decides that he just can't do it, so he changes the end of the sentence to be about her little sisters' relationship status. Yukiji seems to realize this but uses her HardDrinkingPartyGirl personality to play with his mind a little and continue the conversation as it was playing out, asking him what he likes about her sister.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': In ''Kakashi Gaiden'', [[spoiler:Obito's]] dying thoughts are that he never told Rin that he loves her, and his reasons for not confessing are never explained. Kakashi reveals this to Rin just after [[spoiler:Obito]] dies. As we find out later, [[spoiler:Obito]] never confessed because Rin loved [[spoiler:Kakashi]].
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': Miku was planning on confessing to Fuutarou after the final exams, confident that she'll get the highest grades and thus will be able to graduate from being his student. However, she's shocked to learn that Ichika beat her by two points, and she backs off at the last second. [[spoiler:Subverted in a later chapter, as she more or less gets the chance to tell Fuutarou about this (by way of IHaveThisFriend) and he gets the message across]].
* In ''Manga/SandsOfDestruction'', Morte very nearly tells Kyrie that she loves him [[spoiler:and just remembered that she's loved him for millennia]], but stops herself because she still thinks she's unworthy of happiness [[spoiler:and it's too late anyway, as she's dying of a sudden case of hole-through-the-chest]].
* In ''VisualNovel/UtaNoPrinceSama'', both Otoya and Tokiya try to confess to Haruka, but lose their nerve (as well as the whole "Love is Forbidden" thing) and instead...
-->"I'm in love...with your music!"
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Asuka planned to confess her feelings for Judai after their tag-duel in Season 4; however, she found herself unable to [[CannotSpitItOut spit the words out]] and just said she was glad to have his friendship. It's probably for the best, as he's (unbeknownst to her) already in an OfficialCouple, and would have had a tricky time explaining [[SharingABody the circumstances behind it]].
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', on the other hand, subverts this with regards to its male and female lead, as in the last episode, the night before they all go their separate ways to live out their dreams, Aki visits Yusei in their team garage and very NEARLY blurts out her feelings, but stops herself at the last minute. However, unlike with Judai above, Yusei has always been aware of her feelings, as he then wordlessly shows that he reciprocates. What follows is the two looking at each other's eyes while holding hands, before she pulls away and goes back home. While the two are never implied to have gotten together by the glimpse into the future earlier in the episode, at the very least, both parted with their feelings for each other laid bare.
* In a bonus chapter of the ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' manga, Kurama's classmate Maya confesses to him, and he notes that telling her how he really feels would be too dangerous. When he and Hiei save her from a demon named Eight-Hands, Kurama uses a dream flower on her to erase her memories of the incident and make her forget her feelings for him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In chapter 5 ''Fanfic/SachikoAndYumisAlphabet'', Yumi gets nervous mid-confession and gets off track after seeing an earthworm. Sachiko is the one who successfully confesses to Yumi.
-->'''Yumi''': "Onee-sama, I l-lo...What I want to say is that I...I lo...I mean I'm in l-love with...eh! An earthworm!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has a strange variant (an [[InvertedTrope inversion]], perhaps) as Spike, who's loved Buffy for years, makes his HeroicSacrifice in the [[GrandFinale Series Finale]]:
-->'''Buffy:''' I love you.\\
'''Spike:''' ...No you don't. But thanks for saying it.
* Coulson and May on ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', multiple times. Most notably in Season 1 Episode 17 and Season 5 Episode 19.
* ''Series/DoctorWho''. There is massive disagreement among fans over the nature of the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald's relationship, but just before she is [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal]] in "Face the Raven", Clara spends [[spoiler:her last few minutes]] trying to comfort the Doctor and at one point he begins to say something to her which she interrupts with a hug and "Everything you're about to say, I already know. Don't do it now; we've already had enough bad timing." Rather than saying anything herself along these lines (having made a promise to her now-deceased boyfriend in the previous season never to say "I love you" to anyone else again), she strokes the Doctor's face instead.
** The Tenth Doctor experiences a related trope, the InterruptedDeclarationofLove, In "Doomsday" when he appears to be about to say "I love you" to Rose Tyler before communication breaks down between the separate universes they find themselves in. As with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara, there is disagreement as to whether he was actually going to say it, though WordOfGod is that he was.
* This happens in ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' with Niles and Daphne.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** Chandler got out that he loved Monica but immediately took it back. (Luckily Monica knew he loved her and gave him time to tell it once again.)
--->'''Chandler:''' You're so great I love you!\\
'''Monica:''' What?\\
'''Chandler:''' Nothing! I said you're so great and then I just stopped talking!
** Rachel tried to tell her assistant Tag that she likes him. She didn't but Joey thought she had and saw them hugging, so he excitedly said: "He likes you back!" Rachel tried to bend the meaning that it was about "her back", but it was all too clear.
* Happened three times with Blair and Chuck on ''Series/GossipGirl''. The first time Blair was going to end their "you should say it first" game by telling Chuck she loves him, but [[MomentKiller Dan made her chicken out]]. The second time happened long after she had already told him how she felt, only to be rejected, and she had moved on to date his best friend (her ex). She told Chuck that if he loved her back he needed to tell her, and they could be together, and if he didn't he should stop getting in her way. Chuck told her he had just been playing games with her since he [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy didn't think he could make her happy]]. The third time around Blair was single again; she confessed her love for Chuck once more and knowing that he felt the same way about her begged him to tell her. He didn't.
* An ExploitedTrope by Lee Thompkins in the ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' episode "Mandatory Brunch Meeting", when in a riddle contest with (of course) the Riddler. The riddle she sets has the answer "I love you", and Riddler solves it instantly, but owing to Ed Nygma's suppressed feelings for her, he can't bring himself to actually say it.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': In "Drumroll, Please", Robin was going to tell Ted she had feelings for him when he had a call, which helped him find Victoria. [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Thinking Ted should be with Victoria]], Robin told him to go find her.
** Later on, when Robin and Ted were dating, Robin wanted to tell him she loved him but ended up saying [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext "falafel"]] instead.
** Much later in the series, Barney bursts into Ted's apartment, about to tell him that he loves Robin.
-->'''Barney''': Ted, it's true, I'm in love with ''[turns around and sees Robin]'' [[LastSecondWordSwap tacos!]]
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' has Parker trying to admit that she has feelings for Hardison partway through season 3. She gets most of the way through it, too, before blurting she's having these feelings for ''[[LastSecondWordSwap pretzels]]''. Thankfully, Hardison knows how to speak Parker by now, and uses the analogy to explain his stance on waiting for her.
-->'''Hardison:''' Well they're right here. When you want them.
* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'':
** A variation of this happens between Arthur and Guinevere. In a second season episode, Guinevere is kidnapped by a warlord and held for ransom, mistakenly believed to be King Uther's ward. Arthur goes through hell to get to her, only to find that Lancelot got there first. He'd already admitted his feelings for Guinevere to Merlin on the trip there, and it was fairly obvious that he was planning to share them with Guinevere on rescuing her, only to be silenced at the sight of Gwen and Lancelot being rather chummy with each other.
** In the final episode of season three, he tries again and tells Guinevere: "I just want you to know... if I never see you again..." but she cuts him off with her assurances that they ''will'' meet again.
* ''Series/NoahsArc'': In the movie, [[spoiler:Brandon challenges Ricky to confess his love for Noah. Ricky goes up to him, but can't get out the words]].
* In ''Series/RadioFreeRoscoe'', Lily missed her opportunity to date her best friend Ray, who liked her but moved on to be with a different girl when he didn't think Lily would want to be with him. Unfortunately, Lily does want to be with him now and decides to try to win him back. She writes a song about convincing a guy to leave his girlfriend, called "You Belong to Me", but before she goes onstage to play it, she sees that Ray is actually happy with the new girl, and the song actually played is called "You Belong to Someone Else," and is about a girl that likes a guy with a girlfriend, but isn't going to interfere. It doesn't take, and [[spoiler:Lily/Ray ends the series as an Official Couple]].
* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' GrandFinale, as the plane they're in is crashing, Elaine gets as far as "I've always loved" to Jerry before it miraculously stabilizes, awkwardly ignoring him afterward. Then again at the end of the episode, only in something of an {{exaggerated|Trope}} {{inver|tedTrope}}sion, instead of separating, they're about to spend a year together in the same tiny cell (yeah, don't ask):
-->'''Jerry''': So Elaine, what was it you were about to say to me when the plane was going down?\\
'''Elaine''': I've always loved yoooo[[LastSecondWordSwap United Airlines]].\\
'''Jerry''': ...uh-huh.
* Happens in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', when Sherlock and John are on the tarmac and Sherlock has something he wanted to tell him always, but cuts off with a joke in order to preserve John's happiness with Mary.
-->'''Sherlock''': John, there’s something ... I should say; I-I've meant to say always and then never have. Since it's unlikely we'll ever meet again, I might as well say it now. ''(deep breath to steady himself)'' ... Sherlock is actually a girl's name.
* ''Series/{{Soap}}'': Jessica's lawyer E. Robert Mallu falls in love with her during her trial for the murder of Peter Campbell. He says "I love you" just as Benson comes in, so he has to [[LastSecondWordSwap add a word]] in order to cover up, but he doesn't do it very well.
-->'''Mallu:''' Jessica, I love you ''(Benson enters)'' eyes.\\
'''Benson:''' "I love you eyes?" [[DeadpanSnarker I love you suit]].
* ''Series/{{Wizards of Waverly Place}}'': Alex came close to telling Dean she loves him twice. First was when they were working on her father's car ("How do you think of me...in flip-flops? Think about going casual this summer?"). Second when he gave her a wooden card ("I love it! And I love...this card").
[[/folder]]

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* In ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' (original series), Dani 'Mirage' Moonstar is comforting gal-pal Rahne 'Wolfsbane' Sinclair on a clifftop in Scotland; '--he's an old man, filled up with hate; without you those people would be dead. You're not alone. Moira loves you; and I--' 'I know' says Rahne. '--but that doesn't make me ache any the less.' A follow-up 20 years later is also aborted by a simple interruption.

--> Certainly not "Don't go" or "I think I love you" or even "Don't leave me here to marry the Brindles." With his sisters near at hand, even "I'll miss you" was dangerous. "Come back and visit" was impossible; he'd be married and gone within a few months.
--> Finally, he found something acceptable. "Keep yourself safe."

-->'''Buffy:''' I love you.
-->'''Spike:''' ...No you don't. But thanks for saying it.

--->'''Chandler:''' You're so great I love you!
--->'''Monica:''' What?
--->'''Chandler:''' Nothing! I said you're so great and then I just stopped talking!

--> '''Hardison:''' Well they're right here. When you want them.

-->'''Sherlock''': John, there’s something ... I should say; I-I've meant to say always and then never have. Since it's unlikely we'll ever meet again, I might as well say it now. (deep breath to steady himself) ... Sherlock is actually a girl's name.
* ''Series/{{Wizards of Waverly Place}}'': Alex came close to telling Dean she loves him twice. First was when they were working on her father's car ("How do you think of me...in flip-flops? Think about going casual this summer?"). Second when he gave her a wooden card ("I love it! And I love...this card").

* An ExploitedTrope by Lee Thompkins in the ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' episode "Mandatory Brunch Meeting", when in a riddle contest with (of course) the Riddler. The riddle she sets has the answer "I love you", and Riddler solves it instantly, but owing to Ed Nygma's suppressed feelings for her, he can't bring himself to actually say it.

[very earnestly] "I love... these scones."\\
[mumbling rant about all the types of scones at this coffee shop]

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', during the fifth and final free time event with Nagito, he ends his conversation with Hinata saying "From the bottom of my heart... I am truly in love with the hope that sleeps within you". The original Japanese text makes it even more obvious as his sentence begins with the same phrasing love confessions usually do, and uses the word aishiteru, which is a strong form of expressing love only married couples use.
* In the ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorialGirlsSide'' games, getting far enough along in a romance with any of the guys inevitably leads to a scene in which the guy in question ''almost'' confesses his love for the heroine, only to lose his nerve before he can quite manage to spit it out.
* In the ''Conquest'' path of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', when Oboro is fought for the second and last time, she'll start to confess [[SubordinateExcuse her feelings]] for Takumi. However, she dies before she can finish speaking.

* ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'' has one with [[http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00386.html Quentyn and Kestrel]] after the WhamEpisode.

* In ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'', when [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1505.html Wedge thinks Luke died on the Peace Moon]], he makes an anguished speech about how he never had the chance to tell him how he felt, "just five minutes would have been enough". When he learns Luke survived, he says "Oh. Well done, good buddy!"
* Bitty of ''Webcomic/CheckPlease'' almost confesses to Jack at the latter's graduation, but ends up [[http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/02-17-01 chickening out]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] While Rayla tries to get Callum to stay with her during his dark magic-induced fever, she comes close to telling him something. However, when he finally opens his eyes they both scream and she aborts with whatever she was about to confess.

* Subverted in ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Suzu tries to confess to Matsuri, but gets cold feet worrying he'd only love her like family, and [[LastSecondWordSwap pretends she just wanted to ask for sweet potato]]. [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike Matsuri then reveals he already bought a sweet potato for her]], something Suzu finds so kind and considerate, it gives her the courage to ''actually'' confess (while stuffing it into her mouth).

* In ''ComicBook/BlackWidow 008'', Natasha meets up with [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes the Winter Solder]], [[spoiler:whom she doesn't remember her relationship with]]. Just before she leaves, he calls her back and is clearly about to tell her that he loves her, but tells her to stay warm and be careful instead. [[spoiler:This is presumably right before he leaves earth for good to become 'the Man on the Wall', in part because he's been a bit of a loose cannon without her.]]

* In the English version of ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Puyo Tetris]]'', after beating her friend Sig in a Puyo battle, Amitie wants to tell him something, and her wording makes it sound an awful lot like it's going to be a love confession. The only thing stopping her is that [[spoiler:Sig reminds her he's just her memory of him, and she should be saying this to the real Sig. Amitie thanks her illusion of Sig for reminding her and leaves the room]].

-->'''Isabella:''' Well that's not the Phineas Flynn that I fell... [[LastSecondWordSwap into this situation with]].

* The entire premise of Music/HoneyWorks "[[Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommitteeLoveSeries Confession Rehearsal]]", in which the protagonist Natsuki confessed to her crush Yuu, then gets cold feet and immediately told him that that the "confession" was simply a rehearsal for someone else. Every adaptation afterwards turns this UpToEleven, having her put off the confession for what amounts to a few days to (in the present canon) ''up to a full year''.

--> "I don't know what to tell you if I try to confess my love for... SCONES!"
--> [very earnestly] "I love... these scones."
--> [mumbling rant about all the types of scones at this coffee shop]

-->It shall not dim Life’s joy for him: My tears he shall not see:
-->While he is by, I’ll come not nigh My weeping Willow-Tree.
-->But when I die, oh, let me lie Beneath thy loving shade,
-->That he may loiter careless by, Where I am lowly laid.
-->And let the white white marble tell, If he should stoop to see,
-->"Here lies a maid that loved thee well, Beneath the Willow-Tree."

-->'''Isabella:''' Well that's not the Phineas Flynn that I fell...into this situation with.

* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' GrandFinale, as the plane they're in is crashing, Elaine gets as far as "I've always loved" to Jerry before it miraculously stabilizes, awkwardly ignoring him afterward. Then again at the end of the episode, only in something of an {{exaggerated}} {{inversion}}, instead of separating, they're about to spend a year together in the same tiny cell (yeah, don't ask):

-->'''Sherlock''': John, there’s something ... I should say; I-I’ve meant to say always and then never have. Since it’s unlikely we’ll ever meet again, I might as well say it now. (deep breath to steady himself) ... Sherlock is actually a girl's name.

-->'''Mallu:''' Jessica, I love you ''(Benson enters)'' eyes.
-->'''Benson:''' "I love you eyes?" [[DeadpanSnarker I love you suit]].

** In "Doomsday", the Tenth Doctor appears to be about to say "I love you" to Rose Tyler before communication breaks down between the separate universes they find themselves in. As with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara, there is disagreement as to whether he was actually going to say it, though WordOfGod is that he was.

* TheQuintessentialQuintuplets: Miku was planning on confessing to Fuutarou after the final exams, confident that she'll get the highest grades and thus will be able to graduate from being his student. However, she's shocked to learn that Ichika beat her by two points, and she backs off at the last second. [[spoiler:Subverted in a later chapter, as she more or less gets the chance to tell Fuutarou about this (by way of IHaveThisFriend) and he gets the message across]].

* In the English version of ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Puyo Tetris]]'', after beating her friend Sig in a Puyo battle, Amitie wants to tell him something, and her wording makes it sound an awful lot like it's going to be a love confession. The only stopping her is that [[spoiler:Sig reminds her he's just her memory of him, and she should be saying this to the real Sig. Amitie thanks her illusion of Sig for reminding her and leaves the room]].

** Despite being a professional at the art of seduction, Irina fails to fully confess her feelings towards Karasuma. Her students don't take this too well.

Subtrope of UnConfession. Compare NotSoFinalConfession.

* Scott of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' considers having the heroes relay a message to Hilda about how he feels, but orders them not to, saying that she would be pained to hear him confess his love while dying.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Tifa tries this whilst riding the gondola with Cloud, but chickens out before she can finish. Cloud, being [[ObliviousToLove Cloud]], doesn't get the hint.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', [[spoiler:when Midna goes back to the Twilight Realm, she says, "Link, I...See you later."]] Granted, she [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation may not have been about to do a love declaration]], but it's implied. Apparently it is not implied at all in the Japanese version. According to Zelda Wiki, [[spoiler:her last words in Japanese translates to "Link...s...see you."]] Which, as you can see, only includes the IronicEcho.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', when Princess Zelda [[spoiler:leaves the Master Sword with The Great Deku Tree before going to face Ganon alone, it's implied that she was going to ask The Great Deku Tree to pass on her LoveConfession to Link once he returned for the sword.]] It's also possible that she wasn't, given that The Great Deku Tree cuts her off before she says it, but the lead of up of "Tell him I--" sure seems to point in that direction.
** ''Breath of the Wild'' also has the Zora Princess Mipha. After Zelda suffers several failures to summon her power, Mipha steps up to try and offer the Hylian Princess some pointers. Given the lead-up, it's heavily implied that [[spoiler:Mipha was going to admit that she used her feelings for Link as an emotional anchor to help summon her healing powers and that Zelda should try the same.]] However, she was cut off before she could finish speaking.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', on the other hand, subverts this with regards to its male and female lead, as in the last episode, the night before they all go their separate ways to live out their dreams, Aki visits Yusei in their team garage and very NEARLY blurts out her feelings, but stops herself at the last minute. However, unlike with Judai above, Yusei has always been aware of her feelings, as he then wordlessly shows that he reciprocates. What follows is the two looking at each other's eyes while holding hands, then what fans debate is a KissingDiscretionShot before she pulls away and goes back home. While the two are never implied to have gotten together by the glimpse into the future earlier in the episode, at the very least, both parted with their feelings for each other laid bare.

[[quoteright:215: [[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AbortedDeclarationOfLove_3images_4287.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:215: Cure Critical Wounds... Well, that changed everything.]]

* In ComicBook/BlackWidow 008, Natasha meets up with [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes the Winter Solder]], [[spoiler:whom she doesn't remember her relationship with]]. Just before she leaves, he calls her back and is clearly about to tell her that he loves her, but tells her to stay warm and be careful instead. [[spoiler:This is presumably right before he leaves earth for good to become 'the Man on the Wall', in part because he's been a bit of a loose cannon without her.]]

* [[spoiler:Toy]] in ComicBook/TheBalladOfHaloJones. When she tries to perform a DyingDeclarationOfLove Halo fails to take the hint and thinks they're talking about their friendship. [[spoiler:Toy]] decides not to clarify and dies soon after.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'''s Haley has one in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0184.html this comic]], where she is about to make a DyingDeclarationOfLove but having her injuries heal by cleric Durkon made her cut herself off.

Subtrope of NotSoFinalConfession.

Alice is about to be separated from her beloved Bob forever, and has [[DyingDeclarationOfLove one last chance to say how she truly feels]].

* Except that it never seems to be played as anything final, Kaoru of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' does this while he and Yukiji are visiting Italy during Golden Week. He starts confessing, and then decides that he just can't do it, so he changes the end of the sentence to be about her little sisters' relationship status. Yukiji seems to realize this, but uses her HardDrinkingPartyGirl personality to play with his mind a little and continue the conversation as it was playing out, asking him what he likes about her sister.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', on the other hand, subverts this with regards to its male and female lead, as in the last episode, the night before they all go their separate ways to live out their dreams, Aki visits Yusei in their team garage and very NEARLY blurts out her feelings, but stops herself at the last minute. However, unlike with Judai above, Yusei has always been aware of her feelings, as he then wordlessly shows that he reciprocates. What follows is the two looking at each other's eyes while holding hands, then what fans debate is a KissingDiscretionShot, before she pulls away and goes back home. While the two are never implied to have gotten together by the glimpse into the future earlier in the episode, at the very least, both parted with their feelings for each other laid bare.

* [[spoiler:Toy]] in ComicBook/TheBalladOfHaloJones. When she tries to perfor a DyingDeclarationOfLove Halo fails to take the hint and thinks they're talking about their friendship. [[spoiler:Toy]] decides not to clarify and dies soon after.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** Rachel tried to tell her assistant Tag that she likes him. She didn't but Joey thought she had and saw them hugging, so he exitedly said: "He likes you back!" Rachel tried to bend the meaning that it was about "her back", but it was all too clear.
* Happened three times with Blair and Chuck on ''Series/GossipGirl''. The first time Blair was going to end their "you should say it first" game by telling Chuck she loves him, but [[MomentKiller Dan made her chicken out]]. The second time happened long after she had already told him how she felt, only to be rejected, and she had moved on to date his best friend (her ex). She told Chuck that if he loved her back he needed to tell her, and they could be together, and if he didn't he should stop getting in her way. Chuck told her he had just been playing games with her, since he [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy didn't think he could make her happy]]. The third time around Blair was single again; she confessed her love for Chuck once more and knowing that he felt the same way about her begged him to tell her. He didn't.

** In the final episode of season three he tries again, and tells Guinevere: "I just want you to know... if I never see you again..." but she cuts him off with her assurances that they ''will'' meet again.

* In ''Series/RadioFreeRoscoe'', Lily missed her opportunity to date her best friend Ray, who liked her but moved on to be with a different girl when he didn't think Lily would want to be with him. Unfortunately, Lily does want to be with him now, and decides to try to win him back. She writes a song about convincing a guy to leave his girlfriend, called "You Belong to Me", but before she goes onstage to play it, she sees that Ray is actually happy with the new girl, and the song actually played is called "You Belong to Someone Else," and is about a girl that likes a guy with a girlfriend, but isn't going to interfere. It doesn't take, and [[spoiler:Lily/Ray ends the series as an Official Couple]].

* In one route of ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion'', Jenon attempts to confess his feelings for Siskier, but stops himself at the last minute when he finally realizes that she's in love with Garlot.

** ''Breath of the Wild'' also has the Zora Princess Mipha. After Zelda suffers several failures to summon her power, Mipha steps up to try and offer the Hylian Princess some pointers. Given the lead-up, it's heavily implied that [[spoiler:Mipha was going to admit that she used her feelings for Link as an emotional anchor to help summon her healing powers, and that Zelda should try the same.]] However, she was cut-off before she could finish speaking.

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', during the fifth and final free time event with Nagito, he ends his conversation with Hinata saying "From the bottom of my heart... I am truly in love with the hope that sleeps within you". The original Japanese text makes it even more obvious as his sentence begins with the same phrasing love confessions usually do, an uses the word aishiteru, which is a strong form of expressing love only married couples use.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'', Spud attempted to confess to Trixie during "Homecoming". Earlier in the episode, he and Trixie accidentally kissed, thinking they were kissing their crushes. Afterwards, they engage in some awkward dialogue related to their kiss. In the third act of the episode, when Spud thinks they're going to die, he tries to confess to her. However, he steps back when Trixie asked if they wereJustFriends and nothing more.

* Except that it never seems to be played as anything final, Kaoru of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' does this while he and Yukiji are visiting Italy during Golden Week. He starts confessing, and then decides that he just can't do it, so he changes the end of the sentance to be about her little sisters' relationship status. Yukiji seems to realize this, but uses her HardDrinkingPartyGirl personality to play with his mind a little and continue the conversation as it was playing out, asking him what he likes about her sister.

* In ''Manga/SandsOfDestruction'', Morte very nearly tells Kyrie that she loves him [[spoiler:and just remembered that she's loved him for millenia]], but stops herself because she still thinks she's unworthy of happiness [[spoiler:and it's too late anyway, as she's dying of a sudden case of hole-through-the-chest]].

* The entire premise of ''[[Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommitteeLoveSeries Confession Rehearsal]]'', in which Natsuki confessed to her crush Yuu, then getting cold feet and immediately told him that she was just joking, and that the "confession" was simply a rehearsal for someone else.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Super Dangan Ronpa 2}}'', during the fifth and final free time event with Nagito, he ends his conversation with Hinata saying "From the bottom of my heart... I am truly in love with the hope that sleeps within you". The original Japanese text makes it even more obvious as his sentence begins with the same phrasing love confessions usually do, an uses the word aishiteru, which is a strong form of expressing love only married couples use.