once i enter, i see amanda sitting down at a table in the corner. i speed walk over and she looks up when i approach the table.

"holy shit, valerie!" amanda says, standing up to hug me. "this is so cool, hi! how are you?"

"i'm doing well, how about you?" i ask very giggly.

"i'm alright, come sit down. no one's come to the table yet." i sit in the chair across from her as she sits back down.

"so what's going on?" amanda asks, her thick scottish accent seeping through. "hanging out in brighton with tommyinnit? how long was that flight?"

"like... thirteen and a half hours i think?" i say as a waitress approaches our table. amanda orders a tea and pancakes and i order a cup of coffee and waffles.

"i see. how was it?"

"cramped. stuffy. jet lag. but i suppose that's as good as a thirteen and a half hour flight can get, huh?" amanda laughs.

"yeah, i'm sure. did you come here with anyone else?"

"yes actually. a bunch of streamers."

"who?"

"dream, georgenotfound, sapnap, karl jacobs, quackity, wilbur soot, nihachu, tubbo, and of course tommyinnit." i squirm at how weird it is to say their online names now that i've grown close to them.

"oh wow! hanging with the big shots!"

"i guess... i don't know. honestly, most of the time i forget they're streamers. i feel like i know them as just... them. rather than their online identities."

"that's cute." the waitress comes back with amanda's tea and my coffee and tells us that our food is almost ready. "have you started streaming?"

"me? oh no. i mean, it would be cool, but i don't know the first thing about streaming." i move a piece of hair out of my face.

"you'd be successful."

"you think so?"

"i know so. you've already got a whole twitter stan cult." i laugh.

"how's your streaming going? you said you're signing with someone?" i say, opening a packet of sweetener for my coffee.

"maybe. we're going to meet later today. crossing my fingers it goes well."

"crossing mine too."

there's casual banter for a while until our food comes, and amanda doesn't hesitate to ask the one question i was nervous about.

"so... i've been dying to ask," she says. "how are you and tommy?" i nearly choke on my waffle.

"how... are we?" i ask, recovering from my choking scare.

"twitter's going crazy, your posts yesterday... there's something going on, isn't there?"

"i mean..." i sigh. "yeah. there is."

"no way! oh my god congrats!"

"thanks." i laugh awkwardly. "but like... we haven't really..." i scoff at my horrible attempt to articulate my words.

"haven't made it public?" amanda guesses, pouring syrup on her pancakes, then passing the syrup to me.

"yeah. that's one thing."

"well... i think twitter already knows. have you seen trending recently?"

"i have. but that's not even half of it." i put my fork down and look out the cafe window, then back at amanda. "we don't have a label."

"a label? so you're not dating?"

"no. we're exclusive, but... not boyfriend and girlfriend. at least not yet." amanda laughs.

"but you're basically boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"i guess, yeah. we've kissed, held hands, all that stuff. but not officially dating."

"why not?"

"we're both worried about what the stans will think..."

"valerie." amanda puts her fork down and i feel her emerald green eyes glaring at me. i look up and look her into her eyes. "are you serious? the stans would be ELATED. they love you two. ever since love or host they've been obsessed with the idea of 'talerie' becoming 'canon.' you've got nothing to lose."

"that's what our friends said too..."

"take it from me. you and tommy remind me a lot of me and my girlfriend. she was so nervous because i had a small fan base. she was like... 'what if they don't like me? they'll hate me!' shit like that. and then we started dating. and my fans LOVED her. it'll be the exact same for you two. maybe you'll have like... two sour grapes in the bunch. but who cares? if they all love you except the vast minority, you should focus on the majority." i smile.

"somehow you knew exactly what to say," i say.

"that's my speciality," amanda leans back in her chair and grins.

"is that part of the reason you hosted tommy?"

"hm?"

"your girlfriend." amanda's mouth forms into an "o" shape and she nods.

"we weren't officially a thing at the time but yes. she's part of the reason."

"cool. very cool."

we finish eating and talk casually. it feels more like talking to an old friend, rather than someone i just met in person today. once we're done, we hug goodbye, i wish her good luck at her interview, and i call tommy and tell him i'm done.

i leave the cafe, and tommy is crossing the street. he waves at me to get my attention, and i wave back. he puts his arm around me when he reaches me.

"did you have fun?" tommy asks.

"yeah. lots of fun. how was your subway?" i tease. he groans.

"i ate two cookies. after thinking about what you said about eating a sandwich at eight in the morning it REALLY lost its appeal."

"do you want something from the cafe?" i point behind us.

"no. i want to hang out with you for a while before we go back." i smile.

"whatever you say." he takes my hand and starts to lead me somewhere.