Lightning's heels clicked against every step that led to Hope Estheim's lavish apartment. She never expected to be standing at the door of a scientist who was quickly rising to fame, and hesitated to knock.

Him calling in her in the first place was unusual, and she wondered what kind of business he would have with her, as they were merely acquaintances. When she met him at Serah's wedding, she did say she was a journalist… could he be asking for an interview?

The door opened in front of her, revealing the handsome young man she'd met before. "Oh, hey, Lightning!" he said casually, despite the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

She jumped, wondering if it was the right choice to come by or not. She barely even knew the guy, and here he was, shirtless and surprisingly toned.

He pushed the door wide open, walking back into his apartment. "I was just about to do something, but since you're here, I have a few things we need to discuss…"

"Yeah, about that…" Lightning said, trying not to stare at him too much. What was he about to do with no shirt on…? "Why did you call me up here?"

"Take a look," he said, walking into the kitchen and tossing a sheet of paper of the counter. She followed him inside, picking it up and scanning the contents.

"An application?"

"An accepted application."

She set the paper down. "Sorry, but if you were looking for congratulations, I'm not the right person to go to."

He chuckled, grabbing a shirt from the couch and pulling it on. "No, you're exactly the right person. Check that paper again."

Confused, she began to read it in detail, not sure what was supposed to stand out to her. Then she saw it, clear as day; Spouse- Claire Farron.

"What the hell is this?!" she yelled, slamming the paper down. "Spouse? I hardly even know you! And how did you get my real name?"

The phone started ringing. "You gonna answer that?" she said, hostility giving an edge to her voice.

"No, our current conversation is more important."

The ringing faded and a message was left on the answering machine.

"Uh, hey!" It was Snow. "I was wondering if the plan worked! You know, the one where you're shirtless. I'm pretty sure she'd definitely say yes 'cause… I'm the hero! A hero needs to be..."

Lightning ignored Snow's voice after hearing the key point. His face was bright red after being found out. Snow had convinced him that this was only way for Lightning to accept the proposal, and he was dumb enough to do it.

"So, Snow told you. Did he also tell you to put my name in that application?"

"O-Of course not, I was just not in the right mind at the time. But... what can I say, your name looks good on paper." He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"ALSO PLEASE DON'T TELL SIS THAT I TOLD YOU TO PUT HER NAME ON THE PAPER!"

Hope groaned. "Seriously, Snow..."

"Things aren't looking good for you Mr. Hope Estheim." She stared him down with an accusing glare.

"I can explain!"

"Oh, really? You've already told me two lies, how do I know that this will be the truth?" Lightning scoffed, crossing her arms.

"I promise that I'll tell you the entire story, honestly." He sighed, taking a deep breath. "They wouldn't take me seriously if I wasn't married, so I asked Snow for advice-"

"He's the person you go to for advice?"

"Uh, yeah. Big mistake, but I wrote your name on the application, just to see what would happen… and now my boss has already requested to meet the both of us."

"Snow had to drag me into this situation. Seriously..." she griped, preparing to walk out the door but he grabbed her wrist and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Please, will you pretend to be my wife? Nothing more, nothing less."

"And why would I do that?" She pulled her wrist out of his grasp.

"I'll let you be the very first person to interview me."

She sighed. He makes a good point. If I could get an interview with Hope Estheim, the popular researcher… it would do wonders for my career.

"Fine, I'll go meet your boss. But that's it."

"Well, actually…. I understand that you're struggling, trying to become a journalist, so... I believe that it'd be beneficial for both of us if you'd come live with me."

Lightning clicked her tongue. "What kind of bullshit is that?"

He was startled by the journalist's choice of words. As Lightning made her way out the door, Hope cleared his throat to catch her attention.

"The interview."

She paused at the entrance of the apartment. Damn, I forgot about that… Looks like I might be saying yes after all. Hope stood up, properly escorting Lightning out the door.

"I guess you don't need to interview me, so I'll see you-"

"Wait! ...I'll do it."

Hope smirked. The fake marriage was set.

"Oh, and by the way…"

He tossed a small box into the air, Lightning catching it swiftly. She hesitantly opened it, wondering what other crazy ideas he had. She nearly fainted.

"A ring?"

And not just any ring; it was encrusted with diamonds. Real diamonds. What she held in this small box was probably worth more than her yearly salary.

"To make this marriage more believable, I'm gonna need you to wear that."

Tch. He knew I was going to say yes from the beginning… the bastard…

"It'll be a pleasure working with you, miss Farron. Or shall I say, Mrs. Estheim. Claire Estheim... it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Don't call me that."

"Why not? It's what I wrote down. You're going to have to use that name a lot more from now on."

Lightning sped to the door, with plans on leaving.

"Where are you going?" He asked, surprised.

"You expect me to live here without any of my stuff? I'll be back tomorrow." She immediately took off without giving Hope the chance to say goodbye. As soon as Lightning left the apartment building, she kicked the nearest garbage can fifty feet into the air.

GODDAMMIT SNOW I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!