On May 23, 2018, Emily and Brandon met on VRChat, an online chatroom in which users masquerade as various "anime" characters. The two of them just so happened to join the same chatroom at the same time, and Brandon's avatar was one of Emily's favorite video game characters. This encouraged her to approach Brandon and strike up a conversation. The two of them ended up talking all night and adding one another on social media, but things were just on a friendship level.

Fast forward to Spring 2019. At this point, Emily and Brandon were close friends who had spent hours playing video games together with their friend group and chatting over voice call on Discord. They had also video called a few times, which led both to the secret realization that they found one another really attractive! But as life often goes, the two of them had been dating other people and hadn't had the chance to think about how they felt about one another. Until, that is, reality hit Emily in the face - Brandon was the exact person she needed all along; she had just been too blind to see it right away. With a little encouragement from their friend Matt, she mustered up the courage to tell Brandon how she really felt. And guess what? Not only did Brandon feel the exact same way about her - he had also harbored feelings for her for much longer! On May 11, 2019, the two of them decided to make their relationship official.

Brandon and Emily spent the next several months playing video games together, video chatting, and talking over Discord. But the desire to meet one another in-person was always at the forefront, so Emily scheduled a flight to visit Brandon in Florida. They met in-person for the first time in October 2019, and the two of them immediately hit it off! Their first official date was at Clearwater Beach, a memory both of them cherish to this day. It was Emily's first time seeing - and swimming in - the ocean, too. During Emily's visit, the couple also went kayaking and visited what quickly became their favorite nightclub, The Castle.

From that point on, the couple made sure to visit one another twice a year. While waiting to see one another again was certainly difficult, they kept in contact with each other every day in-between visits, strengthening their bond even further. This pattern of traveling to visit one another continued on for another five years.

Finally, in January 2024, Brandon moved up to Ohio. He started out living with Emily and her parents until the couple got an apartment of their own in May. And that is where they are today - grateful to be able to spend every single day together! Brandon proposed to Emily on September 7, and the best is yet to come!