Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone



""What does he have to do to make it clear to you lunkheads!? The show's over! They wanna be alone!""

- Iago, The Return of Jafar

When a Will They or Won't They?-type couple is on the verge of upgrading their relationship, their friends will quickly vacate the area to give them some privacy. The less Genre Savvy friends may have to be shooed or pulled away. As may children; adult friends may hurriedly cook up some implausible reason to leave. In some variations, the friends will spy on the couple to see how it goes. In others, the "couple" uses this trope to get others to leave, often by Fake-Out Make-Out.

If the friends are a bunch of Jerkasses they might say this very loudly so that the couple in question can hear. Resulting in much blushing, and possibly a Snap Back, as they Cannot Spit It Out once they know they have an audience. This sort of thing is a typical Moment Killer.

The aggressive behavior is Get a Room.

Anime And Manga

 * In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, after Caro sends a quick telepathic note to Erio, the both of them quickly vacate Subaru's hospital room after Teana arrives. Man, even the kids can detect the lingering Les Yay.
 * does this to Markl in the movie version of Howls Moving Castle. She pulls him away while Howl and Sophie are having their moment.
 * In Genshiken, Sasahara and the other guys excuse themselves from Kousaka's apartment so he would be alone with Kasukabe.
 * The "let's spy on them" variation was a trademark schtick of everybody else in the house when Ranma and Akane had to talk in Ranma 1/2. This of course usually led to the interruption of said moments when someone inevitably either fell through the sliding doors, or got impatient and told them to Get On With It Already. The same thing happens with Ukyo and Shampoo.
 * A variation: In Macross/Robotech, when Hikaru/Rick and Misa/Lisa kiss to try to distract what they thing is a Zentraedi guard, it turns out to be Max's battroid in a Zentradi uniform. He stows his comrades into the coat's pockets, but teases Hikaru/Rick and Misa/Lisa by putting them in the same pocket to give them some "privacy".
 * Played straight multiple times and subverted once in Cardcaptor Sakura. In the manga (and second movie of the anime), Tomoyo (and Meiling) often make excuses to disappear when Syaoran gets close to confessing his love to Sakura. Subverted once with Sakura and Yukito in the Path of Stars; everyone makes sure they enter together alone, Eriol even holds off his mischief for a while, but the talk that ensues is Yukito turning Sakura down and helping her realize that she loves him as family.
 * Near the end of GaoGaiGar, the other GGG members keep Mamoru from going with Gai and Mikoto to her parents' grave, knowing that anything they say there (and afterwards) is likely going to be very private.
 * In Chrono Crusade, when Rosette walks away from her group to find Chrono in a carnival, Azmaria makes up an excuse to Satella for why they shouldn't follow, when her motivation is really so Chrono and Rosette can have a moment alone together.
 * Done in Gundam Wing in episode 46. After Heero learns Relena's on Libra, he goes to get her. Duo wants the Gundam Pilots to go after him, but the others decide not to, with Quatre adding, "Besides, let's leave the two of them alone." Note that Quatre has a smile on his face when he says that. He probably knows something that the rest of the pilots don't know.
 * Chapter 255 of Mahou Sensei Negima has a hugely smiling Konoka speedily vacating the room with Setsuna after Asuna insisted that she be the one to rub the healing salve on Negi's, partly healed, shirtless body.
 * In episode 23 of Shin Mazinger, the Narrator tries to pull this on Kouji and Sayaka as they're doing their usual thing, but they overhear him just before the scene changes.
 * In Vandread one of the characters arranges for the lovebirds to be Locked in a Room together. Although they thoughtfully installed cameras beforehand...
 * ... and broadcast the feed live across the whole ship, to boot.
 * In a more recent chapter of Detective Conan, an injured Takagi is alone in a hospital room with Sato, certain that any moment now, a Moment Killer will walk through the door. Thankfully, unknown to him, the Detective Boys shoo away the visitors under the pretense he needs his rest, and they can't help but to peek in the room when he and Sato share a very Squee-enducing kiss.
 * This was also done by Kazuha Toyama in the Shiragami-sama case. It was bad news for Shinichi though:
 * Hilariously averted in the manga version of Fruits Basket, where Tohru and Kyo are going about their morning doing normal things, but being a little TOO embarrased about brushing hands together when reaching for something and the like. Yuki, upon witnessing the two, suddenly feels the need to get up and leave. Not to give them privacy so much as to just get the hell out of the sugar-laden-atmosphere.
 * It happens at the end of Gundam Seed, when Athrun senses that Kira is going to cry and he drags Cagalli out of the room to leave his friend alone with Lacus. Cagalli protests.
 * Amelia does this with Zelgadis to give Lina and Gourry room after the first part of a fight with the second season's first Big Bad Halcyform.

Comic Books

 * A more mature version occurs in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Chapter 8B: The Prisoner of White Agony Creek: After taking a party to "rescue" Goldie from Scrooge, Judge Roy Bean wisely decides they do not want to interrupt, because "what's going on in that cabin is not a hanging offense in Langtry, Texas, or anywhere else! Thank gosh!"

Fan Fiction

 * In Kyon: Big Damn Hero, Nagato of all people enforces this at one point.
 * In the Galaxy Rangers fanfic Isn't Life Strange, Doc half-jokingly suggests this to Zach when they see Shane and Niko having a happy moment, despite both of them being laid up in Sickbay.
 * Played with in the Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic Flowers of Antimony. The military personnel, all of whom were privy to, attempt to give them some privacy in a compartment on the train back to Central... except for the members of the Mustang unit, who left communications equipment in there with them and are listening intently to the conversation.
 * Death and Ker features several scenes in which Shinjiro, observing the burgeoning romance between Akihiko and Mitsuru, finds a way to slip away unnoticed and leave them alone together. It almost approaches the level of a running gag, as it's inevitably followed by one or the other of them wondering where the hell he went.

Animated Films

 * In WALL-E,
 * In Pocahontas, Grandmother Willow closes her leaves like a curtain while the main couple are about to kiss.
 * Meeko also fulls one off by preventing Flit from getting in the way. This and his resulting expression is one of the few respectable actions Meeko does in this movie.
 * In the Aladdin sequel, The Return of Jafar, Iago shoos Genie, Rajah, and Abu away from Jasmine and Aladdin, loudly and obnoxiously, as he does everything. It's an attempt to make them trust him (maybe).
 * Tangled: When Flynn and Rapunzel seem to be about to kiss near the end of the floating lanterns scene, Pascal turns pink and covers his eyes. Kinda subverted, though, when he immediately peeks between his fingers.
 * Cinderella has this invoked by the King to make sure that the Prince can spend more time with Cinderella without gawkers and to eventually propose to her.
 * At the end of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the villagers crowdsurf Quasimodo away from the cathedral, but Esmeralda and Phoebus stay behind.
 * Inverted at the end of Atlantis the Lost Empire where and  both run off from their subjects and climb up a large rock structure as the stone face representing  flies away into the sky.

Film
"Janice: (grabs the certificate) Thanks, suckah!
 * The Matrix Reloaded: Link, Neo, Trinity and the Kid are all on an elevator together. When the door opens Link says, "Let's go, Kid. These two got things to do." As soon as the door closes again Neo and Trinity start kissing.
 * In Sense and Sensibility, when Eleanor bursts out crying at the news that Edward, her mother and sisters look at each other, gobsmacked for a moment, and then hurriedly vacate the room.
 * In The American President, when President Shephard and Sydney Ellen Wade are about to reconcile, A.J. announces, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Lincoln bedroom, giving oxygen to Lewis."
 * In the film version of Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of Dumbledore's Army pull one of these as Harry confronts Cho at Christmas.
 * Mean Girls invokes this trope hilariously when Damian whispers "Man candy, stage right!" and grabs Janice to run off while Aaron comes over to Cady. They then completely subvert the trope by running back seconds later, kidnapping one of Cady's certificates to a pancake house, and then leave again.

Damian: PEACE! (they run off)"

"Arthur: Quick, give me a kiss.
 * Arthur tries to invoke this with Ariadne in Inception when . It doesn't work, but it's very smooth on Arthur's part.

[She kisses him and then looks around]

Ariadne: They're still looking at us.

Arthur: Yeah, it was worth a shot."


 * In Fireproof, Kirk Cameron's character's best friend shoos the other firemen away from the door in order to let the protagonist and his wife enjoy their reconciliation in peace.

Literature

 * Mrs Bennet does this in Pride and Prejudice in a painfully obvious fashion, in hopes that Mr Bingley will finally get over himself and propose to Jane. The Crowning Moment of Funny comes Mrs. Bennet attempts to make "subtle" let's-get-out-of-here motions to her daughter Kitty... who doesn't understand what her mother's up to and naively (and loudly) asks her mother why she's winking at her in such a strange fashion.
 * And in the movie, where they leave the room... and promptly gather around the keyhole to listen in to all the proceedings.
 * Not long thereafter, Mr. Bingley cheerfully asks Mrs. Bennet to suggest a nice long walk for Darcy and Elizabeth to go on, and then immediately suggests that Kitty would not want to go with them, in a manner that can only be considered subtle when compared to Mrs. Bennet.
 * In John C. Wright's The Golden Transcedence, when Phaethon reunites with Daphne, Helion and Atkins turn away on their own, but must make Diomedes leave them all; Diomedes, coming from the asexual Neputanians, finds it very interesting to watch.
 * Hermione does this in Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix - leaving, and dragging the less perceptive Ron away with her - to give Harry time alone with Cho.
 * She does it again in Deathly Hallows to allow Ginny to give Harry his birthday present. Unfortunately, this time Ron got away from her.
 * In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Thorne uses this as an excuse to get everyone except Sarah and Ian out of the trailers, not long before the parent T-rexes appear and push the trailers over a cliff.
 * In L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, Marilla does this at one point to leave Gilbert and Anne alone together. Anne sees right through it and is furious with her, because of course, she and Gilbert are Just Friends.
 * Novelization of Dead Poets Society does it. Actually, Nuwanda asks them to show the garden to the second girl. The ones who understand quickly push the others outside.

Live Action TV

 * In Dollhouse, Echo starts helping Bennet with the reconstruction of Caroline's wedge, but quickly makes an excuse to leave the room once Topher joins them.
 * There is a small moment in NCIS S7 Premiere, when Ziva returns and she and Tony stand in the bullpen gazing at each other for a few moments before McGee makes some half-hearted excuse and leaves the room.
 * Leverage: When Parker is jealous of Hardison's attraction to one of their clients, Sophie tells Parker she should confess her feelings and leaves them alone together. Parker Cannot Spit It Out, but Hardison understands and basically lets her know that he's willing to wait.
 * In the Firefly episode "Jaynestown," Simon and Kaylee are getting drunk in the bar and basically having a Moment. Mal comes up to them and almost ruins the mood by telling them it’s time to leave and come up with a plan. When Kaylee meaningfully tells him that "things are going well," he tells them to stay in the bar together to keep an eye on Jayne. Of course, Mal does ruin the mood the next morning by kicking them awake from their Sleep Cute position.

Theater
"Colline: Schaunard, each in a different way, let us put together two acts of kindness. I, this; and you--leave them alone together!"
 * In The Pirates of Penzance, the sisters want to give Frederic and Mabel privacy but don't want to leave them unchaperoned. So they decide to "shut their eyes and Talk About the Weather" in the form of a very silly patter song. (While peeking.)
 * Tragic variant in La Boheme: Rodolfo is tending to the dying Mimi, and Colline goes out to sell his coat for medicine. As he leaves, he asks Schaunard to come along:

"Cyrano (filling her arms with the bags): Pleasure me then; go eat them all in the street.
 * Doc makes this speech in the third act of The Most Happy Fella, which leads into "Song of a Summer Night." After the song Tony and Rosabella are indeed left alone, but a very unhappy revelation ensues.
 * Cyrano De Bergerac: Cyrano invokes this trope at Act II Scene V when Roxane and his Duenna met him at the bakery of the poets (Roxane’s Duenna is supposed to be her chaperone). Cyrano bribes the Duenna with pies and ask her to eat them in the street, so he can have some privacy with Roxane.

The Duenna: But...

Cyrano (pushing her out): And come not back till the very last crumb be eaten!

(He shuts the door, comes down toward Roxane, and, uncovering, stands at a respectful distance from her.)"


 * Used hilariously by Ben Franklin in 1776 when Martha Jefferson arrives to "cheer up" her husband.

Video Games
"Unknown (Ranulf): Oooh, what a romantic setting. Makes it hard to make an appearance! I guess I could just leave you two..."
 * In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Gor Coron and the Ordon kids leave the room when . Talo needs to be yanked away from the window.
 * At a big celebration party in Okami, the player can sneak into Sakuya's tree and discover Kushi and Susano (the brewer and the lush, how fitting!) enjoying the scenery. However, there's no one to stop you from interrupting, save a few pointed remarks from the couple - in the end, Issun has to do the job himself and scold Ammy into leaving.
 * In Tales of the Abyss,
 * In a chapter of FireEmblem: Rekka no Ken), the party decides to split up to avoid attracting attention, leaving Eliwood and Ninian alone. Even though it was Eliwood who called for everyone to separate, Lyn was going for this trope and dragging along an oblivious Hector. It could even work as a twofer use of this trope, depending who you ship.
 * In Path of Radiance, Ranulf teasingly considers enacting this trope, though he is already interrupting Ike and Elincia's moment alone.


 * In the Mass Effect 2 DLC module "Lair of the Shadow Broker," after the Shadow Broker's dealt with and Shepard and Liara start talking about their relationship again, Feron and Shepard's other companion beat a hasty retreat to leave them alone.
 * Sengoku Basara likes playing this one for laughs with resident Sickeningly Sweethearts Toshiie Maeda and his wife Matsu. When one rescues the other from Yukimura at one point, they get so romantic he becomes embarrassed and wonders if he should leave them alone and come back later.
 * In a separate incident in Samurai Heroes, after fighting the player army to a standstill for a time by constantly healing each other with food, the couple exchange compliments and retreat, prompting an allied general to muse "I wonder where they're going?" followed by a cutscene of the camera panning over secluded storehouses, flirty laughter in the background...
 * Happens twice in Solatorobo. Once, Elh scolds Red for having no sense when and drags him out of the room. The lovebirds in question don't seem to notice. The second time, Chocolat refuses to allow  to open the door,  after winning the Prairie Kingdom Cup. Unfortunately, this time the door is rather thin and Chocolat is being a little loud, so the two overhear her just fine and are a little embarrassed.

Web Comics
"Ally: Was 'at too subtle?
 * In Gunnerkrigg Court, Annie skillfully extracts herself from Kat and Alistair's presence.
 * Later on, Kat skillfully extracts Annie and herself from Andrew and Parley's presence.
 * In this strip from El Goonish Shive, Grace removes herself (and Tedd) from the balcony as  are about to upgrade.
 * Emotionally discreet as Vaarsuvius is, s/he still is the one to have everyone vacate the room where Elan and Haley are about to share their first kiss in Order of the Stick.
 * An unusual case: in Fans, the first night that Rumy stayed with Rikk and Ally after the three of them decided to apply a Tenchi Solution to their love triangle, Ally loudly announced that she would be studying for her nursing exams with death metal playing on her iPod, while Rikk and Rumy were together in the bedroom.

Rikk: It erred on the side of clarity.

Ally: Then one more thing, 'cause I know you. Do not check up on me if y' think she's asleep. You need to make her your world tonight. You both need to trust I'm as cool with this as I say I am. I know that's tough for you, but happy endings ain't for wimps."


 * In Girl Genius, it's not because the others are nice, but because they are scared to stay.

Web Original

 * Dept Heaven Apocrypha subverts this; Fia would really, really, really like to leave to themselves, but since, she can't. Hilarity Ensues.

Western Animation

 * Chowder did this with a casserole and a stink cloud.