History Main / AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder

Contrast SecondLove, TheMourningAfter, YouHaveWaitedLongEnough, IWillWaitForYou.

* ''VisualNovel/BeingADIK'': [[spoiler;''Both'' Maya ''and'' Josy]] demonstrate significant desires in starting a relationship with the MC throughout Episodes 1–3, despite both being in committed relationships [[spoiler:with each other]], which he finds out about in the ending of "100%". All parties are, unusually, presented sympathetically to varying degrees: [[spoiler:the two have been separated because of Maya's father's FinancialAbuse of her, and both girls face extremely high-stress situations, with Josy's InLoveWithLove tendencies making her terrified of being alone and Maya's stress regarding being accepted by the [=HOTs=] for a chance at free tuition and freedom from her father. In the end, once the MC reveals all at the end of "When Worlds Collide", the two get back together, potentially adding him into their relationship.]]

* In ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', it's revealed that back in TheEighties, Earl's mother Kay slept with their sensitive next-door neighbor Mr. Clark, while her husband and Mrs. Clark were off at work and self-defense classes, in a drunken moment of weakness. Mr. Clark tried to start a relationship with Kay, but she said no because she felt guilty about cheating on her husband. Because he got turned down, he sold his house and moved to the next town. Earl and Randy assumed it was because they tormented him.

* In ''Literature/MayasNotebook'', the TitleCharacter is hiding out in Chiloé Island (off the coast of Chile) when she meets Daniel Goodrich, a handsome backpacker. Maya falls in love and it appears to be mutual. Eventually he moves back to Seattle. But as time goes by, his responses to her e-mails become shorter and shorter, until she gets a [[DearJohnLetter letter]] saying he will always value their relationship and the time together, etc. Maya is so heartbroken that after a long period of sobriety, she falls OffTheWagon.

* In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2022'', this is revealed to be the cause of Peter and Mary Jane's [[StatusQuoIsGod most recent breakup]]. After Mary Jane was trapped in a YearInsideHourOutside AlternateUniverse, she gave up hope of Peter rescuing her during the few years she was stuck there and ended up getting together with the only other adult stuck with her and the two of them adopted two kids they found there.

** Stephanie "Spoiler" Brown discovered an unpleasant consequence of [[FakingTheDead faking your death]] for a year -- her boyfriend, Robin, has since started dating again. She was gone long enough that Robin's relationship with [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie]] had both come and gone, but at the time of her return Tim was dating Zoanne, a normal girl at his high school, and she took it quite well, acknowledging that it was her fault for disappearing. She and Tim managed to remain friends and crimefighting partners as he stayed with Zoanne. Of course, then a new creative team came on board; Steph was ordered by Batman to betray Tim to a villain to help "make him a better Robin", in the process entirely ruining her friendship with him. Very shortly after Tim then finally hit the end of the TraumaCongaLine that his life had turned into ever since ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' and Steph's faked death, had what can only be described as a complete nervous breakdown, and in the process of cutting himself off from any and all beneficial human contact, Tim broke up disastrously with Zoanne. And so the whole point was rendered spectacularly moot.

* In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2022'', this is revealed to be the cause of Peter and Mary Jane's [[StatusQuoIsGod most recent breakup]]. After Mary Jane was trapped in a YearInsideHourOutside AlternateUniverse, she gave up hope of Peter rescuing her during the few years she was stuck there and ended up marrying one of the residents.

* Prior to dating Tim, Cassandra "ComicBook/WonderGirl" Sandsmark had been with ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}}, who died. Tim and Cassie had a brief relationship (which could be interpreted as SexForSolace without having ever gone as far as sex), then break up. [[DeathIsCheap Then Superboy comes back from the dead]]. The pair are sure that he's going to be angry at them, but he's cool with it--hey, it's not like they knew his death was temporary.

* In ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'', Giselle falls in love with Robert while [[DamselInDistress waiting]] for her fiance [[PrinceCharming Prince Edward]] to reunite with her and bring her back to Andalasia. [[spoiler: Luckily for Edward, he falls in love and ends up living HappilyEverAfter with [[PairTheSpares Robert's former girlfriend]] [[ShoutOut Nancy]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Tremaine]] in Andalasia while Giselle stays in New York with Robert]].

* In the ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' series, Claire ends up with two husbands in two different time periods, gets pregnant by one husband and raises that baby with the other husband (though the marriage itself sounds like it wasn't terribly happy after her return). Definitely doesn't forget about #2 (who was presumed dead) when she went back to #1, but felt guilty for wanting to be with #2 when #1 still existed in his own timeline alive and well.
** It applies even better to Jamie's activities in the 20 years Claire spent in the 20th century. He has a couple flings, one resulting in a child, and even gets married to a widow who once tried to have Claire killed as a witch.

* In ''Anime/VoicesOfADistantStar: Words of Love/Across the Stars'', [[spoiler:Noboru gets a girlfriend during the one-year silence from Mikako. He rationalises it away as never having formalised a relationship with Mikako. Even after getting the email, they don't break up until the second year of college, and he mentions having had two more in the eight-year gap between that and her final email depicted in the film.]]

* Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series, in which someone is [[MistakenForDying Mistaken For Dead]] - there is a war going on, after all - and his wife ends up getting pregnant by, and married to, another man. This is a particularly painful one because both the husband and the new guy are focus characters, so we get to spend the entire time the husband is making his slow, tortuous journey back home knowing exactly what's waiting for him, and that things will get very bad when he finishes his quest. Turtledove eventually [[MurderTheHypotenuse has him go nuts and get himself killed]] to resolve the LoveTriangle.

* In the Who's rock opera album Music/{{Tommy}} and in the subsequent movie, the title character's father, Captain Walker, goes off to war and is later declared missing in action and presumed dead. Tommy's mother then remarries. This may have seemed like a decent idea until Captain Walker returns home, and going by the album version kills her new husband or in the film is killed by him.

** Note that Mabel was pledging to wait over 60 years.

* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'': The day after Joe leaves for his two-day baker's retreat, his coworker and LoveInterest Amelia worries that he might hook up with someone else, which is partially why she calls Yuka over three hours earlier than the latter's usual wake-up schedule to talk about him.

* In the season four ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "Floyd", Liz Lemon reunites with her former boyfriend, the titular Floyd, when he visits New York from Cleveland, and hopes they can rekindle their romance. Unfortunately, it turns out that Floyd is actually getting married to another woman that he met in Cleveland.

* On ''Series/{{Manifest}}'', adult siblings Ben and Michaela Stone are considered dead along with the rest of the passengers on Flight 828 when the plane goes missing. When the plane miraculously returns after five years, the two find out that their respective partners have moved on to other relationships, with Michaela's fiance having married her best friend to add even more salt to the wound.
* On ''Series/TheMiddle'', this is PlayedForLaughs. Sue's first boyfriend, Matt, moves to another school. They then attempt a long-distance relationship, but Matt keeps talking about this other girl he met that is showing him around the new school and being really nice to him. Sue doesn't get the hint that he's started dating the other girl until Matt outright breaks up with her.
* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', it's revealed that back in TheEighties, Earl's mother Kay slept with their sensitive next-door neighbor Mr. Clark, while her husband and Mrs. Clark were off at work and self-defense classes, in a drunken moment of weakness. Mr. Clark tried to start a relationship with Kay, but she said no because she felt guilty about cheating on her husband. Because he got turned down, he sold his house and moved to the next town. Earl and Randy assumed it was because they tormented him.

* In ''Series/ThePunisher,'' Frank tracks down Micro/David's family and starts spending time with them, at first as an intimidation tactic since he knows Micro is surveilling them, then later to keep an eye on them as a favor to David once they develop a working relationship. Sarah kisses Frank while tipsy and lonely, and it probably would have gone further if Frank hadn't stopped her. Sarah can hardly be blamed; David had faked his death a year ago and she has no idea he's still alive. Suddenly here is a kind, helpful, hunky man who is spending a lot of time with her and her family. While David doesn't blame her, he does drink himself stupid out of despair that she's falling for Frank in his absence.
* On ''Series/QuantumLeap'', Al's first wife, and true love, remarries while he's a POW in Vietnam. This leads him to have a string of failed marriages and relationships. Several episodes involve Sam having a chance to change some aspect of this, either by telling her Al is still alive or rescuing Al in Vietnam. Unfortunately, this is never the reason he's there at the time, and his current mission prevents him from being able to help each time. [[spoiler: In the series finale, Sam expresses that this is his biggest regret, and gets a chance to go back and tell her Al's still alive and coming home, thus changing history so they end with BabiesEverAfter.]]
* On My Name is Earl's sister show ''Series/RaisingHope'', it’s barely averted. Virginia thinks that Burt has been kidnapped, and is a crying mess missing him. A cop who has had an unrequited crush on her for years decides to help her out around the house, and pretty soon warms up to her due to her thinking that he’s seemingly better than Burt. However, just after she decides to move in with him, Burt returns and Virginia calls it off to stay with Burt. It also turns out that the whole situation was a ruse by Virginia’s grandmother Maw-Maw to get first Burt out of the picture by tricking him to run away from home, and then her and her son Jimmy to move out, by feeding tips to the cop on how to get on Virginia’s good side.

* Another example of a male not waiting. ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode "The Intruder." During flashbacks of the team's time on Earth after a year without contact, it's shown the Dr. Weir's boyfriend, first seen in the pilot watching a video explaining what she was doing, had met someone else during that time. Turned down a chance to get to Atlantis to stay with the new woman.
* Teal'c's wife in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "Family." She knew he wasn't dead. His betrayal, however, has put his wife and son into the "untouchables" category. Marrying the other guy was the only way to rid themselves of the shame. Luckily, the other guy finds out she still loves Teal'c and goes to betray him, forcing O'Neill to MurderTheHypotenuse.

* In ''Series/ThePunisher,'' Frank tracks down Micro/David's family and starts spending time with them, at first as an intimidation tactic since he knows Micro is surveilling them, then later to keep an eye on them as a favor to David once they develop a working relationship. Sarah kisses Frank while tipsy and lonely, and it probably would have gone further if Frank hadn't stopped her. Sarah can hardly be blamed; David had faked his death a year ago and she has no idea he's still alive. Suddenly here is a kind, helpful, hunky man who is suddenly spending a lot of time with her and her family. While David doesn't blame her, he does drink himself stupid out of despair that she's falling for Frank in his absence.

* [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Lina]] was pretty much resigned [[YouCantGoHomeAgain to being stuck]] [[TrappedInAnotherWorld on Earth]] in ''Fanfic/BloodThatFlows''. She also ended up falling in love with Shiro who found her unconscious when she first arrived, got married, and had Nanoha. Thus when she learned the TSAB located her home universe, she knew her return was going to be hard for her old friends, especially Gourry, since it was her attempt to save him that started all this. She figured that there was a chance that Gourry and Syphiel got together. However, it gets more awkward when she returns home, as it turns out it's only been a month since that battle with Hellmaster.

* In ''Series/ThePunisher,'' Frank tracks down Micro/David's family and starts spending time with them, at first as an intimidation tactic since he knows Micro is surveilling them, then later to keep an eye on them as a favor to David once they develop a working relationship. Sarah kisses Frank while tipsy and lonely, and it probably would have gone further if Frank hadn't stopped her. Sarah can hardly be blamed; David had faked his death a year ago and she has no idea he's still alive. Suddenly here is a kind, helpful, hunky man who is suddenly spending a lot of time with her and her family. While David doesn't blame her, he does drink himself stupid out of despair that she's falling for Frank in his absence.

* In ''Literature/MayasNotebook'', the TitleCharacter is hiding out in Chiloé Island (off the coast of Chile) when she meets Daniel Goodrich, a handsome backpacker. Maya falls in love and it appears to be mutual. Eventually he moves back to Seattle. But as time goes by, his responses to her e-mails become shorter and shorter, until she gets a [[DearJohn letter]] saying he will always value their relationship and the time together, etc. Maya is so heartbroken that after a long period of sobriety, she falls OffTheWagon.

* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' has Leia and who breaks up with Danny in the hope that he'll want her more. He's relieved for it to be over though. Anya expects that if she's happy without Sav then he'll want her back but he realizes that he really doesn't want a manipulator.

* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfJudges, Samson posed a riddle to the Philistines during a week-long marriage celebration to his Philistine bride that, if they solved it, he would give them thirty linen sheets and thirty changes of clothes, but if they fail, they would give him the same. The riddle, however, was so tough for the Philistines to discern the answer to that they resorted to emotional blackmail by threatening his bride-to-be, and thus they got their answer through her. Upset that the Philistines resorted to cheating, Samson nonetheless fulfilled his end of the bargain, but while he was out doing that, Samson's bride-to-be ended up marrying someone else, and by the time Samson fulfilled his end of the bargain, the bride's father ended up offering his other daughter to Samson instead. Samson was furious and ended up vandalizing the Philistines' fields, which resulted in starting a CycleOfRevenge that didn't end until Samson's death years later.

* In Creator/BernardCornwell's ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'s Tiger'', Mary, as soon as she finds herself in a native household, finds it very home-like and starts to forget Sharpe. The mistress of the house matches her up with a cousin of her husband, suffering under his father's disgrace, and by the time they meet up again, Mary is insistent that Sharpe is her half-brother. Sharpe lets it go, [[AngstWhatAngst without any heartbreak.]]

* In the ''Literature/Timeline1911'' series, Jefferson Pinkard is drafted to go fight in WWI. When he finally gets leave, he finds his wife in bed with his old steel-mill buddy, who came home from the trenches short an arm. He forgives her, largely due to his own transgressions at whorehouses near the front. After the war, the sorry state of the Confederacy drives him to the Freedom Party. His absence leads his wife back to the steel-mill buddy. These betrayals are a big part of what turns him on to the path that ends in his [[spoiler: execution for crimes against humanity during the "population reduction."]]

* ''Manga/XxxHolic'':
** [[spoiler:Watanuki]] becomes unable to leave [[spoiler:Yuuko's shop]] and [[spoiler:Himawari]] can only visit him for his birthday once a year, which pretty much eliminates any chance of normal romance for them. Years pass and [[spoiler:Himawari]] marries someone else. However, [[spoiler:Watanuki]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy knows and fully supports her decision]].
** Completely subverted in regards to Watanuki's feelings for [[spoiler: Yuuko]]. As afore mentioned, ''a lot'' of time has passed since she left him and as of the last chapter, he appears just as devoted to waiting for her as he was from the get go.

* In ''Though None Go with Me'', young Elizabeth Bishop falls in love with the town's priest, but he has to go to the Korean war. She gets the news that he becomes a martyr, and she marries her boss. She leads a happy marriage, till she hears that the priest actually did not die. Her husband lets her go if she wants to. She stays till his death only to [[spoiler:reunite with the priest at the end of the movie as an old lady, thanks to her granddaughter]].

* In "Literature/EnochArden" by Creator/AlfredLordTennyson, Enoch is shipwrecked for several years and declared dead. When he comes back, he finds that his wife is happily married to another man, and he decides not to reveal himself.

* At the end of Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars The Chessmen of Mars]]'', Djor Kantos reveals that, believing her dead, he had married another. She's delighted. By CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds that way, he had freed her from ThePromise, and she can marry the hero.

* In ''Literature/TheScarletLetter'', Hester's husband has been separated from her, and she (erroneously, it turns out) believes he's dead, and falls into the arms (and bed) of Reverend Dimmsdale. She becomes pregnant, thus bringing the affair into the open, and setting the story into motion.

* Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series, in which someone is [[MistakenForDying Mistaken For Dead]] - there is a war going on, after all - and his wife ends up getting pregnant by, and married to, another man. This is a particularly painful one because both the husband and the new guy are focus characters, so we get to spend the entire time the husband is making his slow, tortuous journey back home knowing exactly what's waiting for him, and that things will get very bad when he finishes his quest. Turtledove eventually [[MurderTheHypotenuse has him go nuts and get himself killed]] to resolve the LoveTriangle.
** In another Turtledove example, in the timeline-191 series, Jefferson Pinkard is drafted to go fight in WWI. When he finally gets leave, he finds his wife in bed with his old steel-mill buddy, who came home from the trenches short an arm. He forgives her, largely due to his own transgressions at whorehouses near the front. After the war, the sorry state of the Confederacy drives him to the Freedom Party. His absence leads his wife back to the steel-mill buddy. These betrayals are a big part of what turns him on to the path that ends in his [[spoiler: execution for crimes against humanity during the "population reduction."]]

** Averted with Sam's wife, who stays true, as she knows exactly what's happening to him. Also, he doesn't remember her (she and MissionControl tell Al not to spill the beans, so that he can still get with the odd GirlOfTheWeek when the mission calls for it). And [[spoiler:he never comes back to her]].
* On My Name is Earl’s sister show '' Series/RaisingHope'', it’s barely averted. Virginia thinks that Burt has been kidnapped, and is a crying mess missing him. A cop who has had an unrequited crush on her for years decides to help her out around the house, and pretty soon warms up to her due to her thinking that he’s seemingly better than Burt. However, just after she decides to move in with him, Burt returns and Virginia calls it off to stay with Burt. It also turns out that the whole situation was a ruse by Virginia’s grandmother Maw-Maw to get first Burt out of the picture by tricking him to run away from home, and then her and her son Jimmy to move out, by feeding tips to the cop on how to get on Virginia’s good side.

* ''Literature/TheLostWorld1912'' by Creator/ArthurConanDoyle: The narrator joined Professor Challenger's expedition because his young lady said she could only marry a heroic man of action. When he eventually returns he finds she's married to a solicitor's clerk.
* ''Literature/TheWitchesOfKarres'' by Creator/JamesHSchmitz: At the start of the book, Pausert is engaged. When his ship returns after his first encounter with the people of Karres, he finds that not only is he in trouble with the law through no fault of his own, his fiancee married someone else almost as soon as he left. It's even implied that his departure on a freelance SpaceTrucker mission in a ship on loan from said fiancee's father was [[UriahGambit a plot to get rid of him, which she was in on.]] He takes it relatively calmly, under the circumstances, as she's the only person involved in his extremely cold welcome home who he ''doesn't'' throw off the ship at gunpoint.
* ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'' by Creator/NeilGaiman. Which is a subversion within a subversion. [[spoiler: Tristran, the adventurer, fell in love with Yvaine during his journey and was no longer in love with Victoria, the object of his affections, when he came back to see her. Depending on whether you've seen TheMovie or not, how Victoria reacts is both similar and different.]]
* [[Music/FlandersAndSwann Donald Swann]] performed a song called ''The Youth Of The Heart'' on this theme: the singer's girlfriend wants to marry him, but he [[UnableToSupportAWife wants to be financially secure first]] and travels to America to seek his fortune. He returns, having saved enough money, to find that she married someone else a few hours before.
* The song "The Errant Apprentice" by Bill Watkins and Andy M. Stewart is a comical AntiLoveSong, in which the girl tells the singer she'll love him if he becomes a soldier, and then gets married while he's fighting in the Boer War.

* Suggested to have happened with Samson with his Philistine bride-to-be in the ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits''' interpretation of the story of Literature/SamsonAndDelilah, when Samson goes to slay a bunch of people to fulfill a promise he made to the Philistines during the week-long wedding feast, only to find that his bride-to-be has been married off to another person in the interim.

* In the backstory of ''VisualNovel/InYourArmsTonight'', the protagonist and Genji Higayashima were HighSchoolSweethearts until Genji left Japan to pursue his soccer career by training in Italy and stayed gone for twelve years. He'd promised to come back to the protagonist when he left but never contacted her while he was gone, and by the time he comes back at the start of the VN, she has quite reasonably long since gotten over him and has been married for three months.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Referenced. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', when Harry is going to leave on his quest, Ginny jokes that he might "run into some [[{{Succubus}} Veela]]" and forget about her, so decides to give him something to remember her by. They're in the middle of an intense snogging session (which was implied [[TheirFirstTime to be going a bit farther]]) when [[MomentKiller Ron bursts into the room]]. It should be noted that Harry broke up with Ginny in the previous book [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies to keep her safe]]; this book makes it clear that she's ignoring that, and as far as she's concerned they're still a couple.

* What happened with [[spoiler: Himawari]] in ''Manga/XxxHolic'' if the fact [[spoiler: she has a husband]] is any indication. However, [[spoiler: Watanuki knows and fully supports her decision]]. Also, [[spoiler: the fact that Doumeki's great-grandson was interacting with Watanuki indicates that Doumeki eventually did marry someone]].
** The [=xxxHOLiC=]: Rou OVA explains that [[spoiler: Doumeki and Kohane got married, but heavily implies that they both loved Watanuki (in fact, Doumeki outright admits that Watanuki is the one Kohane cherishes the most in her heart) and were marrying each other primarily out of convenience]]. It's actually far more heartwarming than it sounds, as given how things ultimately turned out, the most probable reason for why they did so was to [[spoiler: ensure that even if they passed away, they'd have descendants to make sure that Watanuki's never alone]].

* On ''Series/TheMiddle'' this is PlayedForLaughs. Sue's first boyfriend, Matt, moves to another school. They then attempt a long-distance relationship, but Matt keeps talking about this other girl he met that is showing him around the new school and being really nice to him. Sue doesn't get the hint that he's started dating the other girl until Matt outright breaks up with her.

* In ''Series/{{Rome}}'' Niobe is told that her husband, Vorenus, has been killed in battle, and ends up getting pregnant from a one-night stand. When her husband unexpectedly shows up alive, she panics and tells him that the baby is their teenage daughter's. Given how he reacts when the truth comes out, you can't really blame her for lying.

* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead2010'' Shane tells Lori that her husband Rick has died (which was ''very likely'' true as far as he knew, and the only way to convince her and her son to leave for somewhere safer), and ''they'' end up hooking up. That is, until Rick meets up with the group outside of Atlanta. Unfortunately, Shane has fallen in love with Lori in the meantime, ending up bitter and resentful when she goes back to Rick and tries to act like nothing happened between them.

* The video for Music/EltonJohn’s "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" follows a 1950s-era British Army recruit and his girl back home as he misses her during boot camp and she fights temptation from other guys. [[spoiler:The trope is ultimately subverted.]]

* Something similar (although in this case it's coma related) is what kicks off the plot of ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts''.
* ''Manga/SevenSeeds'' seems to be playing with the idea of subverting this, but also playing it straight on the emotional side. Hana and Arashi are a couple and have been placed in separate Teams for the project and, upon learning that the other is alive and part of the project, finding each other is their personal goal. While Arashi seems resolutely having his heart set on Hana, [[ObliviousToLove despite Natsu being obviously in love with him but him not noticing]], Hana seems to be more inclined to liking Aramaki. Nothing has happened yet and Hana ''is'' still very devoted to Arashi, but she does seem to care more and more for Aramaki. [[ShipperOnDeck Her two friends don't seem to help]].

* What happened with [[spoiler: Himawari]] in ''Manga/{{xxxHOLiC}}'' if the fact [[spoiler: she has a husband]] is any indication. However, [[spoiler: Watanuki knows and fully supports her decision]]. Also, [[spoiler: the fact that Doumeki's great-grandson was interacting with Watanuki indicates that Doumeki eventually did marry someone]].

* [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Lina]] was pretty much resigned [[YouCantGoHomeAgain to being stuck]] [[TrappedInAnotherWorld on Earth]] in ''Fanfic/BloodThatFlows''. She also ended up falling in love with Shiro who found her unconscious when she first arrived, got married, and had Nanoha. Thus when she learned the TSAB located her home universe, she knew her return was going to be hard for her old friends, especially Gourry, since it was her attempt to save him that started all this. She figured that there was a chance that Gourry and Syphiel got together. However, it gets more awkward when she returns home, as it turns out it's only been a month since that battle with Hellmaster.

* ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'' plays with the trope. Takaki and Akari find new romantic partners while they are apart, but Takaki wants to practice IWillWaitForYou, which alienates him from others; it is only by the end of the film that he manages to move on and embrace this.

* In Though None Go with Me, young Elizabeth Bishop falls in love with the town's priest, but he has to go to the Korean war. She gets the news that he becomes a martyr, and she marries her boss. She leads a happy marriage, till she hears that the priest actually did not die. Her husband lets her go if she wants to. She stays till his death only to [[spoiler:reunite with the priest at the end of the movie as an old lady, thanks to her granddaughter]].

* In ''Anime/VoicesOfADistantStar: Words of Love/Across the Stars'' [[spoiler:Noboru gets a girlfriend during the one-year silence from Mikako. He rationalises it away as never having formalised a relationship with Mikako. Even after getting the email, they don't break up until the second year of college, and he mentions having had two more in the eight-year gap between that and her final email depicted in the film.]]

* Parodied in ''Series/Roseanne'' Darlene tells Dan that "Things have changed since you've been in the big house. Mommy says we have a new daddy now.". Which is unlikely given he's been in police custody for hours at most.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', where everyone believes that Odysseus is dead EXCEPT his wife Penelope. Despite the hundreds of suitors that pester her and believe that Odysseus is never coming back, Penelope remains completely faithful and confident in her husband. Meanwhile, Odysseus was dealing with goddesses who ''don't'' handle rejection well, and only did what he had to do to get home to his wife and not be transformed into a pig for the rest of his life. And even when offered a goddess, he still just wanted Penelope.