You know it. Deep inside your soul. Where you tell yourself the truth. In fact, everyone knows it. Your friends. Your family. Your kids. The country. The President. Outer space. We. All. Know. It.

We know the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce romance is fake.

Don’t hate me for telling the truth that you already intuitively feel. You have told yourself this inevitable truth over and over as this story has washed over the nation. Your significant other even asked you recently: “Do you think it’s real?” And you replied: “Of course it is.” You knew this was a a lie and it landed you in therapy but you want to believe.

This is the fakest moment in American history. Not since the moon landing has anything been so fake.

But you know what?

It’s OK. This moment is actually interesting and fun. A certain sort of goofy obsession has seeped in. No, it’s not real, but who cares? We all love this phony love affair. We will continue to love it. We will keep loving it until this spectacularly fake relationship dies and Kelce becomes a cautionary lyric on one of Swift’s future albums.

For now, however, despite knowing this relationship isn’t real, and likely some type of marketing ploy, we’re all going to treat this like it’s a true love story. The question is why do we like something that we know isn’t real? The reasons, I believe, go beyond some of the obvious and superficial ones. It’s not just our societal obsession with stars. It goes deeper than that.

Kelce and Swift represent a fleeting moment where we can all be a little nerdy and little obsessed and maybe even laugh at ourselves a little bit. I’m not talking about Swifties or Kansas City fans. Both of those groups are already hardcore and infatuated. This is about the rest of us. The people who don’t have time to get obsessed about anything. The people who normally don’t care about football, or how many stadiums Swift has sold out, can feel like they’re part of something everyone else gets.

There’s a more cynical view that says we’re infatuated because our own lives are so boring. It’s less that and more that our lives are so full. We don’t just have our jobs and loved ones but the world seems chaotic and dangerous. There are threats to democracy, financial stress, a rise in white nationalism and extremism, and a general sense that things could go awry at any moment.

It’s not simply that Swift and Kelce are a distraction. It’s that sometimes we desperately need one.

This story is also about something else. The ability for all of us to laugh at ourselves. It’s likely Swift and Kelce are laughing about this, too. So is Kelce’s mom, Donna Kelce. Remember that scene in Kansas City when Travis scored a touchdown and Swift wildly celebrated but Donna, well, was just chill? That wasn’t because she’s seen her son score dozens of touchdowns. It was because she just didn’t want to play along. Donna Kelce doesn’t play that.

Yes, this is a conspiracy theory, but it’s one of the few accurate ones.

I also believe we like the idea of Kelce and Swift as a couple because, at least as far as we know, they both seem like good human beings. We never truly know the people we follow as celebrities and while I don’t know much about the singer, I do know the football player. He’s known on the team as a diligent and decent person. He’s been described to me by a former coach of his as “laid back” away from football.

Swift herself continues to do things away from her day job that have a considerable and positive societal impact. In a recent Instagram post, Swift pushed her 272 million followers to register to vote. The group Vote.org says it recorded more than 35,000 registrations.

“I’ve been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my U.S. shows recently. I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are,” she wrote on Instagram. “Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year!”

This, along with other things related to Swift and Kelce, caused the heads of right-wingers to explode. One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Taylor Swift hates America. Taylor Swift hates President Trump. Taylor Swift loves communism. Maybe Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift would be good together.”

Their anger was another reason to love this relationship.

The last time the public had such an infatuation with a couple was Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. There was a belief that relationship, like this one, wasn’t real either. That one felt weird to watch.

This one feels great to watch.

For the people who hate this story, don’t worry, you’re not alone. “I’m already over it,” Chargers running back Austin Ekeler told the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “I’m over the Taylor Swift stuff. Can we move on please?”

No, we cannot. We will not. How dare you even ask?

And for those of you who say you don’t care about any of this, well, you’ve read this far. You obviously do. Just like the rest of us.

Even if it is totally, without question, completely fake.