These stories about dating European men are equal parts romance and tragedy

To Americans, Europe seems impossibly romantic. Who hasn’t dreamt of a whirlwind romance with a passionate French lover under the lights of Paris? But one TikToker’s stories about his time abroad just might give you pause.

Brendan Brooks is a photographer and TikToker based in America’s most romantic city: Detroit, Michigan. But he previously lived in Europe by himself for three months, and in that time he racked up enough tragic romances to rival The Notebook.

First, Brooks posted a video of himself in slow motion collapsing to the ground with a caption explaining his “one that got away.”

“When the boy you met in the French countryside texts you out of the blue ‘I still keep mint leaves in my pockets’ because the day you met him his hands smelled like mint because he was in his garden all day and I said it was my favorite so he started keeping mint leaves in his pockets every day,” the video reads.

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Now that is the stuff of rom-coms — maybe without the “com” part. “This is so Call Me By Your Name coded,” one commenter wrote.

The rest of Brooks’ comments were full of people encouraging him to run back to France and find his minty lover: “I think you’re obligated to move to wherever he is now,” reads one. “Pack your bags????” insists another.

In response, Brooks simply posted another video showing why he’s not eager to run back across the pond.

“Y’all thought the other one was bad,” he began — an ominous start. “I had a boy in Europe kiss me in the rain, hold my hand in public, and parade me around his city then tell me, ‘It was fun pretending to be boyfriends but you must go now,’ walked me to the train station and never spoke to me again.”

Ouch. This time, the comments were less wistful and more vengeful.

“Personally this would start my villain arc,” wrote one user. 

“This would turn me evil,” commented another.

Other queer folks used Brooks’ comment sections as a chance to share their own missed connections.

“One time while I was staying in Munich Germany I met a boy who took me to Nymphenburg Palace,” wrote one commenter. “While we were in the gardens it started to rain so we danced and ran thru the palace gardens then he stopped and kissed me on my forehead. We haven’t talked since that day and I think about him 24/7.”

“I still wear a friendship bracelet that this girl gave to me at a summer camp,” shared another. “It’s the only thing I wear everyday. I think I’ll die with this bracelet on my wrist.”

Clearly, everyone who can relate should get into screenwriting. More heart-wrenching gay romances, stat!

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