"thank you so much," i say. "oh my god, i can't believe this is real." i look over at tommy who's smiling widely. next, i look at amanda, who's smile is just as big.

"congratulations, val," she says. "you deserve it. i'm very proud of you."

"dude..." i say, trying to keep myself together. i smile widely at her and she seems to understand that i'm trying to thank her without bursting into tears.

"now, did tommy make the right choice?" austin says dramatically. "amanda chose..."

"HOST!" austin announces. "your second place winner chose HOST!"

my eyes widen. i wasn't expecting that. amanda's grinning widely and tommy rolls his eyes.

"at least i kicked you off," he says.

"that's harsh," she replies, laughter evident in her voice.

"tommy, why did you get get rid of amanda?" austin asks.

"yeah, what did i do wrong?" amanda asks sarcastically, fanning herself and wiping fake tears dramatically.

"i know that was a sarcastic question, but i'm going to answer honestly," tommy says, sitting upright in his chair. "it's less what amanda did 'wrong' and more of what valerie did 'right.'"

huh?

"honestly, i've had my eye on valerie since the beginning. i wanted to choose her from the start. i told myself after i first spoke to her that, unless she choked really badly and ended up being an arsehole, i was going to pick her. so i listened to her very carefully the entire time, and she didn't screw up. she's proven she's not a bitch, not that i ever thought she was. so i wanted her to win."

my heart swells. that was so insanely sweet and makes me want to start crying again. my phone starts blowing up, a million messages from people watching the stream spamming "AWWWWW" and a bunch of keyboard smashes.

"that was just about the most sickeningly sweet thing i've ever heard you say," wilbur says.

"agreed," tubbo says. "you know how to win a woman's heart."

"that was very heartfelt," austin agrees.

"thanks, boys," tommy says.

"amanda, why did you choose host?" austin asks, moving on. amanda takes a deep inhale, then starts spewing words faster than eminem in rap god.

"BECAUSE I WANT EVERYONE TO FOLLOW AMANDA.LILIAN ON TWITCH, INSTAGRAM, AND TWITTER, AND EVERYONE SUBSCRIBE TO AMANDA LILIAN ON YOUTUBE, WE'RE SO CLOSE TO 100K SUBS AND I WANTED TO GET ON HERE JUST SO I COULD-"

"get her out get her out get her out," tommy chants. austin laughs and removes her from the call. only tommy and i remain in the room. our icons are a lot larger than they were at the beginning, and they're side by side. kinda cute.

suddenly, i get a discord dm from austin. i raise an eyebrow, confused, but open it. i grin while reading it and type out a quick reply.

"now, time for just about the worst part of the show," austin says. "did our winner, valerie davis, choose love or host?"

"what is everyone's prediction?" doc asks, who's now talking in the call.

"she chose love," wilbur says. "i know it."

"i want to agree with wilbur, but i'm also a little skeptical," tubbo says.

"what about you, austin?" doc asks. "what do you think?"

"dude, come on," austin sighs. "i already know what she chose. i have the paper right here."

"i didn't hear a bunch of paper crinkling this time," i say. tommy laughs.

"come on tommy, don't laugh at everything she says now," wilbur says. "that's cringe."

"that's what you did with pokimane," tommy shoots back.

"and how well did that work out for him?" tubbo asks. tommy lets out a wheeze.

"for christ's sake, tubbo. that was unnecessary," wilbur says.

"it's time to reveal whether valerie chose love or host..." austin says. " but before i do, i can finally do my cashapp plugging without amanda interrupting me," austin says. everyone in the call groans. "CHAT, make sure you have your-"

i tune austin out. i still can't believe i won love or host. tommyinnit's love or host, at that. i can't believe i even got on.

i guess i really did prove anyone from anywhere can do anything.

i smile at myself. i can't believe i just quoted tyler joseph in my head.

"VALERIE CHOSE..." austin pauses for at least 15 seconds. which feels a lot longer than usual when you're anticipating something.

"austin come on..." wilbur says. "the suspense is killing me!"

"SHE CHOSE..."

"COME ON MAN I'M GETTING NERVOUS!" tubbo shouts.

"VALERIE DAVIS, WINNER OF LOVE OR HOST, CHOSE..."

"HOST!"