What is the hurt / comfort trope?

Hurt/comfort comes from fan fiction and is about tenderness under pressure. Tending a wound or sitting with someone through a nightmare creates intimacy that would be impossible otherwise, and lets guarded characters show care without saying the word love.

Common variations

  • Nursing an injury
  • Comfort after trauma
  • Caring through illness or a curse

What to watch out for

  • Pain used only as decoration

Classic examples

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë — free to read