The "first time" stories that will make you laugh, cry and cringe.

I was 17. He was a new boyfriend. And we were on one of our first dates.

After he finished the meal I couldn’t get through, I looked over at him and blurted out suddenly “I love you”.

More than anything else I remember that feeling of excitement, adventure and mystery.

This was a big first, and I felt both exceptionally brave for my bravado and incredibly vulnerable for going out on this previously uncharted limb.

My first love story, although familiar to many, is completely unique. And after talking to the women in my life about their first loves, I learned that everyone has a different story to tell.

These are a just a few of the millions of first love stories out there, and I’m confident they’ll leave you feeling as sentimental about your own first loves as I am.

Just as an FYI, this post is sponsored by Toyota RAV4 But all opinions expressed by the author are 100 per cent authentic and written in their own words

The love that came from a meltdown.

“I knew I was in love when I had a full-on meltdown at Optus because I thought he wasn’t replying to my messages – but it was actually Optus screwing my phone up, and he had texted me a million times. Basically I knew because I went crazy.” – Lauren

 The love that happened on a plane.

“We were sitting on a plane going to Japan and he said ‘I love you’. Then the lady next to me turned around and said ‘that’s exciting!’”. – Hijiri

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The love that cares about your opinion.

“I knew I was in love with my husband when I was talking to him about something and telling him everyone else’s opinions – and he said he didn’t care about other people’s opinions, just mine. (You can go vomit now).” – Avi

The love that just gets each other’s humour.

“I knew I was in love with my husband when we went to see the movie Cocktail together and we were the only people in the cinema who burst out laughing at it.” – Helen

The love that was spawned from crime.

“I was a victim of a robbery. Having a knife held to my throat lead me to the love of my life. I never was one to lead a boring life. #truestory.” – Lisa

The love that comes with retrospect.

“I only know that my first love was love in retrospect. I was 15-17 and while we used to say we loved each other, I was always a bit like “but what is that, anyway?” I had way more shit to worry about when I was 16…like doing well in my HSC and getting a job at Mamamia.” – Rebecca

RELATED: A marriage proposal rounds out one of the loveliest stories of the week.

The love that’s realised with distance.

“I knew I was in love with my husband after he moved overseas – and came back after three weeks.” – Jacqui

The love that feels like a cosmic connection.

“The first time I saw him, something clicked and I knew there was a sort of cosmic connection (it sounds lame, but it really did feel like that). I knew he was special and someone I wanted to be with. We spent the next year being friends then we finally started dating.” – Bell

The love that started on MSN Messenger.

“I was at school in Year 10 and I had had a crush on this guy for two years. After a courtship on MSN Messenger we started going out. To start with I was having feelings I didn’t understand and then I realised it must be love. He will always be my first love and I feel he will always have a piece of my heart.” – Chloe

Here are some ’90s rom-coms to get you reminiscing about you first love. 

Over to you. When was the first time you fell in love?

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