Anonymous asked: Klaroline have to survive a fake marriage for a year in order for Klaus to inherit his father's estate. Love me some fake marriage tropes!
Caroline squinted over the will, wishing she understood the legalese and only giving herself a headache. "Walk me through this again, because it can't be real."
Sighing, Klaus pointed to the line in question. "See, this says 'beneficiary and his spouse,' which I'm told opens the will to contention if I were to no longer have a spouse. Ansel apparently changed the terms after the wedding, and his disinherited nephews seem anxious to prove I'm not living up to his expectations, therefore do not deserve his estate."
"So, when you asked me to marry you to make your bio-dad's dying days a little brighter…"
"I had no idea we would be written into the will, let alone come into a lordship and several millions dependent upon said marriage." Eyes wide, he seemed to be pleading with her, which Klaus never did. "Caroline, I never would have led him to believe us a couple if I had known this was what he had in mind for me 'settling down with a nice girl.'"
She squeezed his hand, not wanting to pile guilt on top of his grief. "You just lost your dad, and you tried to give him a little hope in the end, that you wouldn't be alone. That doesn't make you a bad guy, Klaus."
He opened his mouth to argue, but she pressed a finger to his lips. "And you're not alone! Fake fiancée or not, you're still my best friend."
The tension slowly bleeding from his body, Klaus gently turned her hand to kiss the palm. "Thank you, love. I still don't want you to feel compelled to honor this ridiculous will. The lawyers can fight it out, and I don't care much for the money anyway."
"But it's yours, Ansel wanted you to have it." Caroline looked at the paperwork again, biting her lip. "How long will it take for the situation to work itself out?"
"Elijah says it could take about a year to finalize everything. You don't mean-"
"Hey," she laughed with a weak smile, "that's longer than my other marriage. Just don't ditch me on the honeymoon, yeah?"
His smirk hardened into something dangerous, and she loved him a little for how defensive he was over that time of her life. "Stefan was an idiot who didn't deserve you." A sadness fell over him as his eyes fell. "I don't deserve you, sweetheart."
Shrugging, Caroline toyed with the ring he'd made her in a sculpture class, way back for her 21st birthday. It made for a good engagement ring, the true story an added bonus to their otherwise bogus romance - even if it didn't feel all that fake sometimes. "Yeah, well, I'm the best friend you'll ever have, right?"
He reached for her hand again with that serious glint in his expression, the one that made her stomach flip in expectation. "Undoubtedly."