Update 26/07/17
Years of messaging funny excuses as to why their replies were so late followed the Tinder match of Michelle and Josh.
The internet fell in love with their long courtship and they gained Twitter infamy.
And before they jetted off for their first date holiday (courtesy of Tinder themself), the pair decided to meet live on air.
This unconventional couple, took the unconventional option of meeting on Good Morning America.
They sat behind a Blind Date-esque partition whilst asked questions on their compatibility by the hosts.
The pair actually look like an amazing fit and we cannot wait to see their holiday snaps pasted across the internet.
Everybody, meet Michelle Arendas and Josh Avsec.
Here's Michelle:
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And here's Arendas:
Both pretty cute right? (Bar that lizard thing).
But they are so amazing as a 'couple' (sort of) that Tinder, and the whole of Twitter think they should be sent on the holiday of their choice so that they can meet for the first time and generally live it up.
Let's take you right back to the beginning of the story....
Over three years ago, Arendas and Avsec were innocently swiping left and right in their various corners of Kent State University, which they both attended back in 2014.
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After the pair made a match on the dating app Tinder, Josh went ahead and messaged Michelle, a simple, 'Hey Michelle'.
This was on 20th September 2014.
Unfortunately, Michelle 'didn't see' the message (classic).
She told Buzzfeed that she's prone, much like the rest of us, to deleting and re-downloading the app, hence why it took her a while to reply.
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Two months and eight days, to be exact.
And because Michelle is clearly a pretty funny gal, she replied, 'Hey sorry my phone died!'
After a brief exchange at the end of November, Avsec then left her hanging, only to continue the gag by refraining from replying until 19th January 2015.
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'Hey, sorry was in the shower'
The pair continue this back and forth until 2017. That's two years.
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Some responses were a month apart, others seven. One message came over a year after the last, saying: 'Michelle, I don't want you to think I'm rude, midterms are coming up and it's just been really hard to keep up with it all'.
The pair told Buzzfeed that neither of them wanted to break the gag, and they were surprised that the other didn't:
'I was not really expecting he would message me back and play along with it,' Arendas said, 'I thought my message to him would be the end of it.'
'I didn't think she was interested,' Avsec said, 'I just took it as a joke, so every couple of months I'd check Tinder and I'd get a message.'
Thankfully, earlier this month Avsec screenshot the hilarious 'conversation' and posted it on Twitter.
Obviously the Tweet got traction (because it is amazing) and Arendas herself got looped into the conversation.
This made Avsec pretty nervous, he told Buzzfeed: 'my heart was beating out of my chest.' He went ahead and DM'ed Michelle to exchange numbers and have a wee giggle about their now viral Tinder joke.
But this isn't the end of the story, oh no.
The pair publicly Tweeted each other a few times, and the world subsequently fell in love with them.
The story grew and grew until Tinder themselves heard about the longest meet in history.
The app decided to take the situation into their own hands and demand the pair meet, saying, 'It's time you got together IRL. You have 24 hrs to decide the city you want to have your first date in and we'll send you there!'
The pair conferred and chose flipping Hawaii and now they are going.
We are not jealous.
Not at all.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
