21 Sweetest Shipper Moments of 2014

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) season 6 kiss in the rain was the epitome of a fan-inspired moment. Months before the episode aired, fans started trending #DelenaRainKiss on Twitter, essentially out of nowhere. But when the writers wanted to create a memorable moment for the couple in season 6, they figured, why not give the fans exactly what they’d been asking for? After a season of complications—namely Elena erasing her love of Damon from her memory—the rain kiss was a much-needed moment to keep the Delena ship afloat. —Samantha Highfill

When your options are POTUS Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) and superspy Jake (Scott Foley), why choose at all? Shonda Rhimes’ Beltway drama established from the beginning of season 4 that it would not skimp on the sex, but this alternating seduction between fixer Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and her fellas was a major highlight—and, unlike Olivia’s ”I choose me” speech, didn’t end in abduction. Three really is a charm. —Lanford Beard

After one painful false start, Danny (Chris Messina) knew he had to make the kind of grand gesture you only see in those Meg Ryan romcoms Mindy (Mindy Kaling) loves. So he tricked her into meeting a stranger—who turned out to be Danny himself—at the top of the Empire State Building in the season 2 finale. Only, he didn’t show. When the truth came out, Danny asked her to meet him there again. ”I have plans?to not be the stupidest person in the world,” she said. But she went, and Danny found her lying on the ground of the observation deck because she’d had to climb 104 flights of stairs. The moral? All you really need for romance is Messina grabbing your butt in public. (Though the strip tease he’d do in season 3 wouldn’t hurt either.) —Mandi Bierly

Though it was achieved through manipulation (scientifically informed manipulation, of course), the first real kiss between Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) was unexpectedly hot. What started as a tantrum on Sheldon’s part soon became a full-fledged, swoon-worthy smooch, and no one was complaining: not Amy, not viewers, and—most surprising of all—certainly not Sheldon. —Lanford Beard

When Brigette (Ashley Hinshaw) asked Jason (Ryan Kwanten) to tell her the story of Hoyt (Jim Parrack) and Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll), Jason managed to do it in a way that not only made Brigette—Hoyt’s recently-jilted ex-fiancée—feel better, but also made the sex Hoyt and Jessica were having at that moment feel epic: ”Before Hoyt moved to Alaska, he asked Jessica to erase his memory. He said he didn’t want to remember her or me. That’s how she remembered him, but he don’t remember her. Nobody lied to you, and you didn’t pick the wrong guy. You just happened to pick a guy who’d already met the girl he was supposed to be with. He just don’t remember her. But they do, Brigette. Hoyt and Jessica belong together.” —Mandi Bierly

First, the season 2 finale gave Olicity fans the ”I love you” they’d been waiting for, only to rip it away as part of Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) plan to defeat Slade (Manu Bennett). But then, the season 3 premiere quickly got things back on track. Not only did Oliver finally ask Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) out on a date, but the pair also shared their first kiss. Yes, Oliver technically said they still couldn’t be together, but at least he followed it with, ”Don’t ask me to say that I don’t love you.” Of course, all of that led to Oliver’s big confession in season 3’s mid-season finale. Before leaving to fight Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable) to the death, he told Felicity that there were only two things he knew about himself: First, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect his sister. And the second thing? ”I love you.” —Samantha Highfill

After seven seasons away from the show, Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) returned to Grey’s to offer Cristina (Sandra Oh) a job. When she refused to work for him again, he informed her that the offer wasn’t to work for him but to replace him. Because working with Cristina would surely ruin his marriage. And with one sentence—”The way I loved you was consuming”—fans were reminded of the chemistry these two once shared. —Samantha Highfill

Will Joel (Sam Jaeger) and Julia (Erika Christensen) sign the divorce papers? That was the question fans were asking themselves when Julia showed up to Joel’s apartment after a long, drawn-out separation. But when Julia told Joel she’d signed, the look on her face was all the doubt Joel needed to see. Instead of signing, the two shared a passionate kiss for the first time in, well, way too long. —Samantha Highfill

After 12 episodes of separation due to a prophecy by Nostradamus (Rossif Sutherland), Mary (Adelaide Kane) was finally forced to take only her feelings into account when choosing between Bash (Torrance Coombs) and Francis (Toby Regbo). Going to Bash, she confessed her love for him, before saying the four words Frary shippers won’t soon forget: ”I love Francis more.” She then ran to Francis to tell him that it was always him. Moments later, they were married in a ceremony fit for a soon-to-be king and queen. —Samantha Highfill

Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Caroline (Candice Accola) were an unlikely pairing that fans quickly gravitated toward. However, fans almost gave up hope of a romance when Klaus got his own spin-off in New Orleans. Thankfully, they had his season 4 confession to hold onto if need be—”He’s your first love. I intend to be your last, however long it takes.” But in the end, Klaus returned to Mystic Falls in season 5 to gloat over Katherine’s dying body when instead, he decided to focus on Caroline. In exchange for a confession of her feelings for him, Klaus promised he would walk out of her life for good. The result? They had scandalous sex in the woods. —Samantha Highfill

*Half credit to The Originals for this crossover sexiness.

For most of season 1, Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) was engaged, so his flirtation—and one kiss—with Burgess (Marina Squerciati) couldn’t exactly go anywhere. But in the season finale, the newly single man showed up at Burgess’s apartment, and the couple finally sealed the deal. —Samantha Highfill

”I said I was a virgin, not a monk. If I need guidance, I’ll ask.” Truth be told, Jamie (Sam Heughan) had a lot to learn about sex. But much to the delight of fans—and Claire (Caitriona Balfe)—the show’s producers and network censors gave him multiple opportunities to get it right on his wedding night. We still haven’t stopped rewinding. —Mandi Bierly

Though new fans were flamed between Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Beth (Emily Kinney) during Dead‘s group-splitting, eight-episode conclusion to season 4, long-time show lovers were overjoyed and relieved at the reunion of stoic Daryl and formerly exiled Carol (Melissa McBride). Over the seasons, they’d developed a bond that somehow transcended friendship and bordered on familial—which isn’t to say reams of fanfic probably weren’t written when the tearful reunion played out. —Lanford Beard

It’d be dangerous for Alicia (Julianna Margulies), who’s running for State’s Attorney, to take advantage of her open marriage with the Governor (Chris Noth) and sleep with Finn (Matthew Goode). That’s why her sitting on Finn’s couch and admitting she wasn’t there to talk made us gasp. It turns out the show, and TV’s best sexual tension, can live on without Will Gardner. —Mandi Bierly

It took only six episodes for Jane (Golden Globe nominee Gina Rodriguez) to make the right decision. Do we sound biased? Well, how can you not roof for reformed playboy Rafael (Justin Baldoni), by whose sperm Jane was accidentally artificially inseminated in the series premiere? After Jane broke up with her fiancé, Michael (Brett Dier), Rafael took her in his arms for a kiss that lasted a week. (”Chapter 7” picked up where ”Chapter 6” left off…but you know what we mean.) —Mandi Bierly

This soapy drama needs to let someone be happy, and it better be Avery (Jonathan Jackson) and Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) after their sweet midseason finale reunion. Juliette thinks he’s telling her that they can’t be friends and jointly raise their baby, which was conceived before she cheated on him. But what’s not working for him is just being friends. ”I want you to marry me,” he explains. ”What?” ”Just say yes.” And she does. It’s nice to see a character who’s undergone such growth, figuratively and literally, get rewarded for it. —Mandi Bierly

What separates Elementary from other Sherlock Holmes riffs is that Watson is a woman (and beautiful woman at that, ahem Lucy Liu). So when tension arises—sexual or otherwise—between Jonny Lee Miller’s Holmes and Liu’s Watson, there’s another layer of electricity in the air. The series addressed their chemistry directly in the season 2 finale, as Joan told her mentor, ”You have this pull [on me], like gravity. I’m so lucky that I fell into your orbit. ” And yet, even as she acknowledged the relationship’s unique, she explicitly resisted it, adding, ”But if we live together, that’s how it will always be—me orbiting you.” Beautiful and bittersweet, it was the kind of exchange shipper culture thrives on. —Lanford Beard

Most of the time, Detectives Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) bicker like brother and sister. Even so, there’s an undeniable attraction between them. During the season 1 finale, Peralta went all in, only to find that his sometime partner had just committed to a relationship. Months later, when she ended that relationship and was forced to admit she’d started to think of Peralta as more than a colleague, he was consciously coupled. Enjoy these pre-Moonlighting curse days while you can, kids! —Lanford Beard

At first, Connor (Jack Falahee) wasn’t portrayed as a relationship kind of guy. Rather, he was the character who slept with someone new every episode, most of the time to get information about a case. Yet when Connor and nerdy-sexy IT pro Oliver (Conrad Ricamora)—who originally was a one-night stand—woke up after another presumed roll in the hay and chatted about something as mundane as breakfast food, fans finally realized that these two were serious. —Samantha Highfill

In a series known for its adrenalized drama and ballets of death, this conversation between transgender escort Venus (Walton Goggins) and SAMCRO member Tig (Kim Coates) turned their love story into the final season’s most uplifting plot point. After taking their flirtation and genuine friendship to a romantic level, Tig balked. But, by being vulnerable enough with each other to admit their fears and feelings, they realized the way they understood each other is true love—and should feel normal. ”I want to feel what it’s like?for you to be mine. I want to be able to go anywhere, any place with you being mine,” he told her. ”Come on, baby. Why don’t you just go get yourself cleaned up. Put on a pretty dress. Put those flowers back in your hair. Because I want to hear your lilt when you say my name. ‘Cause you are my sweet, my beautiful Venus.” —Mandi Bierly

There were hints that Stuart (Stephen Merchant) might want to be more than Jessica’s (Christine Woods) landlord during the season 1 finale, but their hilariously awkward hook-up during the TV-movie special resulted in her gut-wrenching rejection of social-climbing Stuart. Hewing more closely to real life than a lot of shows, their eventual decision to be together followed a period of separation and mutual growth. They each had time to really take stock of how much they valued being with each other: Stuart estimated he was genuinely happy 82 percent of the time with Jessica; she played it safer, claiming Stuart made her happy 79 percent of the time. Odds are it will long be TV’s most romantic use of statistics ever. —Lanford Beard