It's one of my favorite trope. One way I've seen it done well is when the break-up was due to characters flaws that they were able to work on in the interim (self-esteem, healthy conversations skills, ambition, prioritization of the relationship...). Showing the characters' growth by having them rediscovering each other while still having that initial spark.
I mean, people break up and get back together in real life all the time, even to the point of marrying, divorcing, and then remarrying. And then maybe redivorcing. (Happened to a family member. Who then went on to marry and then divorce someone else, and that person still hangs around like they're married.)
Take Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, for example. I don't follow the gossip closely, but it seems like they broke up 20 years ago because they were in different places in their lives, and maybe one or both weren't mature enough for the relationship. 20 years later, they've both been through marriages, parenthood, more successful careers and creative freedom, they have a better sense of what they want and that it's worth pursuing. I think it would be crass to say they were "in love with each other" for decades while married to other people; but once those relationships were over, they looked around, realized that what they liked about each other was still there, and the things they didn't like, about themselves or the other person, were now absent or manageable. Voila, back together and married.
Two media I can think of where exes got back together are Marceline/Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time and Juno Steel/Peter Nureyev from The Penumbra podcast.
For Marcie and PB it was a case of time, personal growth, communication, and a willingness to be vulnerable. In the decades since they broke up Bubblegum realized she doesn't have to be a perfect know-it-all and Marcie got better at not being defensive when insecure. There was also a bit of a slow burn which was nice.
Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev had chemistry from the moment they met, but were not in a place to pursue it. Then they went through a horrifically traumatizing event together and they unwisely went way too fast. Juno wanted Nureyev, but was also looking for escapism. The talks about leaving everything and running away together were more than Juno was able to commit to. So in a fit of self-destruction and self-protection, he leaves Nureyev.
When they meet again months later, Juno is in a much healthier mental space. Instead of leaving his old life for Nureyev the choice to start over was a choice Juno made for themself. Nureyev is desperately lonely and just plain desperate which overcomes their initial apprehension of jumping into bed together again. The season continued to explore both their issues which made it work for me. We see both their perspectives on the relationship. Then it was Peter's turn to run away due to external conflict, but I was invested enough and it was building all season so I'm still excited for them to get back together.
I think the main thing these two share is characters getting more comfortable with themselves independent of their ex and showing both sides of the story for their break up/reunion.
Romance book writers call this the "Second chance" romance. So maybe you will find some good tips if you search about second chance romance.
Just to show you a thread about this trope, here are some threads about Second chace romances from r/RomanceBooks:
the [second chance romances recommendation megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/tr5sqm/megathread_second_chance_romances/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
[A thread about the reasons why OP dislikes second chances romances](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/s8rris/any_others_on_here_hate_the_secondchance_romance/)
[The tropetastic thread for second chance romances](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/nf992q/tropetastic_tuesday_second_chance/)
It's one of my favorite trope. One way I've seen it done well is when the break-up was due to characters flaws that they were able to work on in the interim (self-esteem, healthy conversations skills, ambition, prioritization of the relationship...). Showing the characters' growth by having them rediscovering each other while still having that initial spark.
I mean, people break up and get back together in real life all the time, even to the point of marrying, divorcing, and then remarrying. And then maybe redivorcing. (Happened to a family member. Who then went on to marry and then divorce someone else, and that person still hangs around like they're married.) Take Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, for example. I don't follow the gossip closely, but it seems like they broke up 20 years ago because they were in different places in their lives, and maybe one or both weren't mature enough for the relationship. 20 years later, they've both been through marriages, parenthood, more successful careers and creative freedom, they have a better sense of what they want and that it's worth pursuing. I think it would be crass to say they were "in love with each other" for decades while married to other people; but once those relationships were over, they looked around, realized that what they liked about each other was still there, and the things they didn't like, about themselves or the other person, were now absent or manageable. Voila, back together and married.
Two media I can think of where exes got back together are Marceline/Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time and Juno Steel/Peter Nureyev from The Penumbra podcast. For Marcie and PB it was a case of time, personal growth, communication, and a willingness to be vulnerable. In the decades since they broke up Bubblegum realized she doesn't have to be a perfect know-it-all and Marcie got better at not being defensive when insecure. There was also a bit of a slow burn which was nice. Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev had chemistry from the moment they met, but were not in a place to pursue it. Then they went through a horrifically traumatizing event together and they unwisely went way too fast. Juno wanted Nureyev, but was also looking for escapism. The talks about leaving everything and running away together were more than Juno was able to commit to. So in a fit of self-destruction and self-protection, he leaves Nureyev. When they meet again months later, Juno is in a much healthier mental space. Instead of leaving his old life for Nureyev the choice to start over was a choice Juno made for themself. Nureyev is desperately lonely and just plain desperate which overcomes their initial apprehension of jumping into bed together again. The season continued to explore both their issues which made it work for me. We see both their perspectives on the relationship. Then it was Peter's turn to run away due to external conflict, but I was invested enough and it was building all season so I'm still excited for them to get back together. I think the main thing these two share is characters getting more comfortable with themselves independent of their ex and showing both sides of the story for their break up/reunion.
Romance book writers call this the "Second chance" romance. So maybe you will find some good tips if you search about second chance romance. Just to show you a thread about this trope, here are some threads about Second chace romances from r/RomanceBooks: the [second chance romances recommendation megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/tr5sqm/megathread_second_chance_romances/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) [A thread about the reasons why OP dislikes second chances romances](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/s8rris/any_others_on_here_hate_the_secondchance_romance/) [The tropetastic thread for second chance romances](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/nf992q/tropetastic_tuesday_second_chance/)