When Josh Avsec got pied by one of his Tinder matches, he responded with humour.

The 22-year-old sent Michelle Arendas, 21, a message on September 20 2014 and received one back just over two months later with a highly improbable excuse attached – something Michelle put down to her “goofing around”.

Men can be terrible at accepting rejection on dating websites and apps, but rather than subjecting Michelle to abuse, Josh decided to get his own back a different way.

A Tinder conversation (Josh Avsec)

The Ohio resident waited almost another two months before responding with a terrible excuse of his own, and Michelle waited just under a month before she hit him back.

This pattern would continue over the next three years.

A Tinder conversation (Josh Avsac)

Explaining why he chose to delay that first response for so long, Josh said: “More or less it was my way of handling a girl blowing me off.

“What I wasn’t expecting is her to respond once I responded a few months later. I figured it would just fade away.”

But that was not what was written in the stars. No.

The conversation that started all the way back in September 2014 was still going in July 2017 – despite just 11 messages being exchanged between Josh and Michelle – was posted to Twitter by Josh.

And thanks to how popular the tweet became, Michelle saw it, responded, and now they’ve exchanged numbers.

Josh said: “So many people were telling us that we were relationship goals or that it was so cute, it really stacked the pressure to get to know her.

“So while this tweet was going viral, I sent her a couple direct messages, making jokes about all of these hilarious comments.”

He reckons that there’s a chance of a date and, if the “stars align”, he’ll definitely be tweeting about that too.

And judging by the response to the tweet, there are a lot of people out there rooting for Josh and Michelle.

Michelle confirmed that the pair have been talking and the signs are positive.

Asked whether she can see them meeting up, Michelle said: “I’m sure our new fans would definitely be happy if we did. Hopefully he just won’t take months to ask!”

That’s your cue Josh.

Strap in – the greatest love story of our times is potentially still on the cards.