Ethan proved he could be Lizzie's saving grace in more ways than one.
There was the first way, the obvious way: they were stranded with no mode of transportation due to Hope so rudely ditching them to pursue some insane plan and Ethan pulled up at the perfect moment in his pickup truck offering to give them a ride home.
The second way is that the moment Lizzie spotted him, her plan was officially in motion. As she had explained to Josie, what better way to cease Hope's erratic behavior than a rebound? And Ethan was a solid enough rebound. He was human, simple, not too much baggage. He had no Malivore DNA and wouldn't turn into a pile of black goo if he and Hope were to hookup. And he was most certainly easy on the eyes.
Being the master planner that she is, she wasting no time, raving about Hope as soon as she got into Ethan's pickup. She continued this on the way to the Salvatore School, finding that she had no shortage of positive things to say about Hope Andrea Mikaelson. Even though she already felt that she was possibly the world's greatest wing woman (which should come with its own award), she had to also admit that Hope didn't exactly make her job difficult. It would just be getting Hope to actually be willing to go out with someone else that would be the difficult part.
"I'm not saying that Hope Mikaelson is my own personal hero, I️ just don't know what any of us at this school would do without her," Lizzie said as she, Ethan, and Josie stood outside of the front door of the Salvatore School.
Ethan nodded, growing somewhat bored of the subject matter.
"So you've been saying the whole ride here," he replied. "Though I'm not exactly sure why."
Lizzie smiled, trying to appear casual and not be too obvious about her plan.
"I️ just wanted you to know how awesome Hope is," she said. "Cause she is."
Josie rolled her eyes, feeling the second hand embarrassment from her twin's overselling.
"Oh, yeah, for sure," he agreed.
He then looked around, trying to find something, anything to change the subject. Upon doing so, he noticed how nice the building in front of them was.
"I️ had no idea this place was so fancy," he remarked before looking at Josie. "I️ get why you wanted to come back here, Jo. Sure beats public school."
Josie nodded awkward.
Lizzie looked at her sister and then back at Ethan before her eyes widened as she had a sudden lightbulb moment.
"Why don't I️ give you a tour?" she blurted.
Her words immediately caused Josie's attention, whose eyes widened in shock at her sister's impulsivity and carelessness.
"And then we can keep talking," Lizzie added.
"That sounds like a really bad idea, Lizzie," Josie cut in cautiously.
Lizzie turned to Josie and glared at her for seemingly trying to ruin her plan.
"We still have to tell dad about Hope's 'surprise field trip," Josie added through gritted teeth.
Lizzie sighed, realizing the apparent glaring flaw in her otherwise spotless plan.
"Ugh, you're right," she whispered thoughtfully. "Which is why you should run along and do that while I️ show Ethan Hope's home away from home."
With that unfortunate blemish in her scheme now cleared up, Lizzie turned back to her target: Ethan.
"Sound good?" she asked.
"Great, I'm in," Ethan said.
He was curious about the place after all and he had nowhere to be at that current moment. Not to mention that his mind lingered on the possibility of running into someone else who attended the school.
Lizzie then guided Ethan into the school.
She showed him the basics as she would when she would give tours to prospective students with her sister, but this time she tried to add in as many fascinating tidbits about Hope as humanly possible.
"Next we'll swing by the studio and I️ can show you some of Hope's amazing art. Somebody actually once offered her ninety-one thousand dollars for one of her sculptures," she explained.
Ethan nodded skeptically.
"Wow, that's a rather large and oddly specific number," he remarked.
Lizzie shrugged.
"Because she's awesome," she said.
"I️'ll tell you what I️ think is awesome: that cannon of yours. You were dropping dimes at last year's flag football game," Ethan said.
Lizzie smiled.
"That's a pretty big compliment coming from you," she replied.
"This school must have a field," Ethan said.
Lizzie nodded in confirmation.
"For wickery. Which is like, um, nerd football. Uh...I️ think the Swedish invented it," she explained.
Ethan nodded.
"Right," he said. "Do you wanna go toss the ball around?"
Lizzie opened her mouth to refuse, not wanting to veer too far from her plot, but Ethan cut her off before she could.
"You can tell me even more about Hope while we do," he said.
That was enough incentive to get Lizzie on board, so she agreed.
"Deal," she said with a nod as she began to walk him to the field.
When the two got to the field, they had a surprisingly good time doing what Ethan had suggested.
"Damn, take it easy on me," Ethan teased at one point.
"Why? You didn't take it easy on us at last year's game," she remarked.
At this comment, silence befell Ethan, the slightest hint of sadness and longing in his eyes.
The injury. The one her sister caused. How could she have possibly forgotten about that?
"Sorry," she apologized, catching her own carelessness with her words. "Your arm. That was a really stupid thing for me to say."
Ethan made a dismissive hand gesture.
"Ah. Maybe things happen for a reason. Besides, it's not like you broke it," he said, walking toward her.
No, but her sister did, and she still found herself feeling like crap about it anyway.
Lizzie remained silent as Ethan continued to come closer to her.
"Hey, it's all good," he added, gently tossing the football back to her.
Lizzie smiled a gentle, sad smile in response.
"You okay?" Ethan asked.
Lizzie looked down at her feet before meeting Ethan's gaze again and remembering the plan. She needed to stick to the plan instead of beginning to think that her sister may have been right about it being a terrible idea.
"We're supposed to be talking about Hope," she said. "I know we've covered a lot of ground, but do you have any questions?"
She then tossed the ball back to Ethan.
"Now that you mention it, do you always spend this much time worrying about other people's romantic lives?" he asked.
Lizzie smiled and chuckled softly. While she knew she could be an excellent matchmaker and felt that she should have started this way sooner, she hadn't.
"Not until very recently," she answered. "But it beats talking about my own."
Ethan shrugged.
"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad. Try me," he said, tossing the ball back to Lizzie.
She shook her head softly, thinking about all of the drama in her love life before she spoke.
"Uh...I️ was seeing this guy named Sebastian not too long ago. But he had to relocate. Like, permanently," she said, a pensive expression growing on her face as she reflected on Sebastian.
"He had a bit of a drinking problem," she added. "And then there's this guy at school and we've had this whole 'will they/won't they' thing forever. Just when I️ thought we might it didn't quite work out. And then don't even get me started on..." she began before trailing off. No. Absolutely not. There was no way she was going to go there. That's part of why she was setting Hope up with Ethan in the first place: to avoid going to that place. "Long story, short, still single," she then concluded.
"Well, I'm sure someone will come along," Ethan replied, tossing the ball back to Lizzie.
"You're sweet, but I️ don't need your sympathy," she said.
She could learn to be okay with being single. She could learn to accept that certain places that her mind wandered every now and then weren't actual possibilities. Some fantasies were just that, after all: fantasies. Not every dream was meant to be a reality.
Ethan shrugged.
"Hope does, though. She's fiery, you know? You'd totally balance her out. So, if you're free on Friday, I️ might be able to set something up for you," Lizzie said, finally ready to seal the deal.
Ethan looked around uncomfortably, his lips drawn together in a thin line.
"It's getting pretty late," he said. "We should probably head back before you fumble again."
He then ran up to her, playfully stealing the ball when she wasn't expecting it. He then began to run with it, causing Lizzie to chase after him.
She eventually caught up, though, and was able to get the ball back from him. At this point, they were back near where they started close to where Ethan's pickup truck was parked.
"You still got it," Ethan said.
"Thanks," Lizzie replied. "But you should get to thinking about how you intend to ask out Hope."
"Well, last I️ heard she has a boyfriend," Ethan said in an attempt to get out of Lizzie's weird plan.
"Who's out of the picture now," Lizzie corrected. "And in the spirit of keeping it that way, what about that date?"
Ethan sighed. He looked down at his feet before looking back up at Lizzie.
"Listen, Lizzie, I️-I️ think you're an amazing wingwoman, but...if I'm being honest, I'm kinda into someone else," he confessed.
Lizzie looked at Ethan, astonished. Did she seriously spend all of that time hyping up Hope only for Ethan to have been interested in some other girl all along?
"Why didn't you mention that before now?" she asked, frustrated.
Ethan shrugged.
"Because I️ didn't know how. Besides, it's sort of...complicated," he admitted.
Lizzie rolled her eyes. She wasted her entire night and now would have to find a new rebound for Hope and the sooner the better.
"Whatever," she said. "You know what? Whoever she is, she does not hold a candle to Hope Mikaelson. C'mon. Tell me her name, and I'll prove it."
Ethan paused, blushing slightly. He looked away from Lizzie, out into the night before sighing and bringing himself to meet her gaze again.
"Well, I️ happen to think he's pretty amazing," he said.
Lizzie's eyes widened and she blinked rapidly in surprise.
"Oh. Oh, wow. That...that is not the direction I️ thought this would go in," she said.
Ethan laughed, finding her shock somewhat amusing.
"You could've said something. I️ mean it would've saved a lot of time," Lizzie added.
Ethan nodded.
"Yeah, I️ guess it would have. I️ just...the guy I️ like, like I️ said, it's complicated. And sort of...forbidden?" he explained.
Lizzie raised an eyebrow and clicked her tongue.
"Forbidden? Okay, now I'm officially intrigued," she said.
Ethan sighed, scratching the back of his neck.
"It's uh...it's MG. And he tried to push me away and said it was for my own good. I️ did some reckless stuff and I️ feel like I️ fucked everything up, but I'm not better off without him," he admitted.
Lizzie's face tuned white as a ghost as her eyes widened and mouth dropped into a frown.
"You're not compelled, are you?" she asked nervously.
Ethan slowly shook his head.
"I️ was on vervain. I️ just pretended because my memories are all I️ have left of him. I️ can't let him take that away from me," he explained.
Lizzie nodded pensively as she assessed the situation.
"You need to tell him how you feel," she advised.
Maybe it was the starlight or the failed attempt at matchmaking, but somewhere, even though everything was telling her not to, she found it within herself to believe in love. Maybe there was hope for those two crazy kids.
Ethan shook his head.
"I️ told you, I️ can't. He wants nothing to do with me-" he began.
"No. He wants to protect you. Because he cares. He was trying to be selfless. You need to tell him the truth. Speak from your heart," Lizzie interrupted.
Ethan shrugged. He found himself growing somewhat frustrated. She just didn't get it.
"Maybe I️ don't want to take romantic advice from you after you spent all night trying to get me to go on a date with a girl you're obviously in love with!" he countered.
Lizzie fell silent, clearly taken aback. All of her muscles tensed as her face began to feel as if someone had set it on fire.
"What makes you think I'm in love with Hope Mikaelson?" she asked tightly, her tone defensive despite an attempt to sound nonchalant.
Ethan sighed, his expression softening.
"Because, I've been where you are. I know what it's like to not want to admit what you really want. Besides, I've heard the way you talk about her and seen that look you get when you do. It's okay to admit how you feel," he said softly, his tone understanding this time.
Lizzie shook her head rapidly and swallowed the lump in her throat.
"No, it's not okay. Because if I️ admit it then suddenly it's real and then I️ want to do something about it and what if all falls apart okay I️ can't..." she began rambling before trailing off, her throat feeling tight. For some reason, she felt like she could cry and she wasn't quite sure why.
"Then maybe...maybe it's time we both faced our fears," Ethan replied.
Lizzie looked at the human boy, puzzled.
"How do you mean?" she asked.
Ethan shrugged.
"I️ mean, you tell Hope how you feel and I️ tell MG how I️ feel," he said.
Lizzie just looked at him, unsure.
He then extended his arm to shake her hand.
"Do we have a deal?"