One fateful evening, as they were walking along the beach, Jack turned to Emily and asked her to stop. He looked at her with an intensity she had never seen before, and her heart skipped a beat. "I have to tell you something," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I've been wanting to tell you for a long time."

This is the first law of deep romantic storylines:

"I met someone," she said.

Characters are forced to spend time together, building intimacy while facing external or internal obstacles.