Note: This story can be read as a standalone, or as the first episode in the mini-series I'm writing called 'Luck and Lies'. This is the first episode, 'Bitter Truth'.

Bitter Truth
Part 1 of 6: Setting the scene

"Alya, can you believe it? A René Lalique exhibit! His work with jewelry is exquisite!" Marinette beamed with excitement as their class entered the museum for their field trip.
"Whoah, girl, calm down. Don't forget we have to write a paper on this; can't have you off in the clouds when there are notes to take." Marinette's voice of reason, also known as Alya, chided.
"Ugh, I just can't help it! This is the first exhibit to be dedicated entirely to his work and we're one of the first ones to see it!"
"I know, I know. Tenth anniversary, right?"
"Yup! Tragically, René Lalique died suddenly in a fateful car accident about ten years ago. I feel so bad for his daughter… She was only seventeen at the time, but she continued her father's work and she's even going to be here today explaining the pieces! Such strength! Such heart! She's one of my heroes…" Marinette sighed, her admiration apparent.
"Wow, Marinette, you almost sound like me when I post on my Ladyblog!"
"Hee hee", Marinette laughed sheepishly, "Oh look! The tour's about to start!" With an excited squeal, Marinette dashed over to where the rest of the class was waiting, giving Alya the perfect opportunity.

"Now for phase one of my plan…" she whispered triumphantly, locating her point of contact and covertly making her way over to him. "Psst, Nino!"
With a slight jolt of surprise, Nino whirled around, eyebrows drawn into a questioning stare.
"Time for Operation: Adrinette." Alya explained with a wink. Nino gave a firm nod, indicating he understood, then tapped Adrien, who was standing next to him, on the shoulder.
"Hey, man, just remembered I brought some snacks, but I left them in the bus. Wanna come with me to grab them real quick?" Adrien nodded and the two departed, not even noticing a self-assured Alya smiling brazenly at their backs. "Phase one is a go."

"So… Adrien… that school dance is coming up; have you thought about who you're gonna take?" Nino prodded once the pair were out of earshot from the rest of their class.
"Huh?"
"Dude, did you forget already?"
"Er… I mean, I just doubt I'll even be able to GO to the dance; you know how busy my father keeps my schedule."

Nino seemed to contemplate this awhile, for he was told that he was not, under any circumstances, to botch up his mission. "Well okay, let's assume you DO get to go… who do you wanna take?"
"Come on, Nino, even if by some miracle I didn't have anything on my schedule and my overbearing dad miraculously let me go, why would I need to go with anyone? Couldn't I just show up, have a good time with my friends, and go?"
"Dude, I knew you were sheltered, but this tops the cake. A dance isn't something you can just GO to, bro… if you don't gotta date, you don't dare show your face. Though knowing you, there won't be any shortage of girls who'd wanna go with you."
"Nino, come on, that isn't true…"
"Dude, you're a flipping model."

Adrien chuckled and patted his friend on the back. "Oh is THAT what this is about? You want me to set you up with one of the girls who comes to ask me to the dance?"
"No offense dude, but I can fend for myself. I'm gonna ask Alya." Nino defended, crossing his arms in defiance.
"Oh really?" Adrien smirked and quirked his eyebrows, "So things are going well with her?"
"Nice try, man, but I'm not gonna let you make this about me. I'll just cut to the point… What do you think about taking Marinette?"
"…Marinette?" Adrien asked, stopping in his tracks briefly in shock.
"Yeah, dude. Why not? It could be a double date with me and Alya. And she's probably the girl you're closest to out of the whole class. I mean, unless you count Chloe…"
"Well I can assure you, I will NOT be going to the dance with Chloe." Adrien said with a chuckle.

The two continued in contemplative silence for a ways, reaching the bus and grabbing a few snacks. Braving the awkward silence, Nino said, "You know, you still haven't answered my question."
"What question?"
"What do you think of Marinette and possibly taking her to the dance?"
"Oh, uh…" Adrien felt his cheeks flush a little. He'd never really given it too much serious thought before and was nervous suddenly being placed on the spot.

"I mean… I think she's really cool, and nice… she cares a lot about others and is really creative".
"So you do like her!" Nino cried in triumph.
"Nah..." Adrien refuted, though he scratched the back of his head nonchalantly as he was in the habit of doing when he just wanted to move on to a different topic, "She's just a friend, you know?"
"Sure, right NOW she is… but did you ever stop to think you could be more? I thought she'd be totally your type!" Nino exclaimed, feeling confident and proud of himself for finally accomplishing the mission set forth by Alya. No doubt she'd love the results.

"What? No… you've got it all wrong! Yeah, she's cool and all, but my type is more… kind… selfless…" Adrien rambled, closing his eyes as the image of a certain Ladybug filled his mind's eye. "…and super awesome, doing anything it takes to keep the ones she cares about safe… and looks great in red!" It was then he noticed that he'd stopped walking and still had eyes closed. He opened them and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head again as he met Nino's knowing smirk.

"Dude, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a crush on The Ladybug".
"Er…" Adrien stammered, blushing. He felt like he'd been caught red-handed. His mouth and body language had betrayed him and he saw no way out of this one.
"Dude! No way!" Nino exclaimed, half laughing, half snorting.
"Aw, come on… is it THAT ridiculous?" he pouted, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"No offense, but I think you'd be better off giving up now, before you get your heart broken."
"Hey! You just said that there'd be no shortage of girls who'd want to go out with me; why is Ladybug any different?" Adrien defended, feeling his face go hot. He wasn't entirely sure why, but Nino was really getting under his skin today, threatening to pop his fragile bubble of hope where Ladybug was concerned. "Maybe she likes models…" He added hopefully, letting his mind toy with the idea for awhile – he'd have to bring up that topic on his next mission with The 'Bug.

Finally reigning in his laughter, Nino put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder and told him, "In all seriousness, even if she DID like you, you could never be together."
Adrien instinctively took a step back, not wanting to accept the dagger of truth his friend just drove through him.
"It's a universal truth of ALL superheroes. Here, I'll show you!" and rummaging through his backpack, Nino whipped out the latest issue of a Spider-Man comic. "See here, he pushes away his true love so he can protect her from his enemies and focus on the greater good – saving the multitudes in the city."

Adrien read over the panels his friend was showing him, eyes growing wide as their logic hit him like a ton of bricks. He stood there, shell-shocked as he processed the knowledge Nino was sharing with him before he was finally able to mumble a sad, "Yeah… guess you're right."
"Dude, you okay? Man, guess you must've had it pretty bad for The Ladybug."
"Nah, I'm fine." a crestfallen Adrien lied, though Nino seemed to see right through it.
"Uhhh cheer up, dude… There's still plenty of awesome and caring girls that don't have superhero obligations… why don't you get out of your comfort zone and ask one of them out?" Nino suggested, trying to be helpful.
"Sorry, Nino… I just don't think I'm ready for that right now."
"Nah I'm the one who's sorry, man, I shouldn't have burst your bubble like that."
"No, I'm glad you cared enough to be honest." Adrien said with a small but genuine smile. "Hey, uh, I just realized I'm really thirsty… I'm gonna grab a drink real quick; I'll catch up later!" Forcing another smile, he turned and jogged off to the rest rooms so he could gather his thoughts.

Happy to find solitude in the bathroom, Adrien braced himself by the sink, steadying himself as his mind reeled with the new perspective Nino had shown him.
"Hey, why so down in the dumps?" Plagg prodded, giving Adrien a slight start – he hadn't realized that Plagg had left his hiding spot in the pocket of his shirt.

The troubled teen didn't answer for a while, his mind and heart battling for dominance over the other.
"Ugh, it's no use, Plagg… I know Nino's right… but how can you just tell your heart to stop loving someone? No, that's not even the half of it… To be a real hero, shouldn't I show the same selflessness as Ladybug and love the people of Paris more than I love one person? This whole time I've been preoccupied with my love for her… Which makes me unfit to be her partner in justice. No wonder she's never returned my affection… I've been so selfish."

"Aw, cheer up, Adrien! No one's perfect! Besides, you totally care about other people! You give me Camembert even though it makes you stinky!" Plagg exclaimed with a grin and upbeat tone, "And you've helped your classmates out a lot too!"
"But I do all that as Adrien Agreste. I'm not really contributing anything as Cat Noir." He argued, hanging his blond-topped head in defeat.
"Hey, even if you're preoccupied with Ladybug, you still ultimately benefit the whole of Paris as Cat Noir anyway!" Plagg's words had little effect on Adrien, but after a few more silent moments, the green-eyed pair exchanged a smile of mutual understanding and the two wordlessly prepared to leave the bathroom and return to the school tour. On the way, Adrien whispered a "Thanks, Plagg… I'll be fine… eventually" in reassurance.

"…and over here you'll see a collection of amber-based crafting my father worked on and considered his pride and joy. Every year, he'd give his favorite piece to me for my birthday and remind me that it was his favorite crafting material even though it's difficult to work with because I was named 'Amber' by my late mother."

"Oh, that's SO sweet!" Rose exclaimed, enraptured by their tour guide's story.

"Miss Amber, can you tell us which one is your favorite piece in this collection?" Marinette asked eagerly.

"Certainly. The Butterfly Brooch for Sarah Bernhardt is my personal favorite, though it was a commission for one of his clients and not one of my personal pieces. Madam Bernhardt has graciously lent us the piece for the exhibit. Notice the way the delicate fabric of the wings tapers off-"

"So… how'd it go?" Alya hissed in Nino's ear while Marinette was distracted.
"Not good; Adrien's totally go the hots for Ladybug and isn't gonna give up on her anytime soon… Think we should tell Marinette?"
Pausing to contemplate, Alya shook her head stating, "No… I don't think so. The girl's got enough confidence issues already. Comparing herself to an unattainable standard like Ladybug could crush her. Let me handle this; I'll have her over for a sleepover and some girl talk!"

"Alya! Nino! You're gonna miss the glass-blowing show!" Marinette called, waving at her distracted companions, who grinned guiltily and in their efforts to look natural, swaggered over with jerky movements to follow Marinette.

Taking their seats, Marinette carefully made sure they moved in one additional seat before turning to Alya and exhaling deeply. "Alright, I can do this; just like we discussed!"
"Whuh?" Alya asked, confused.
"Don't flake on me now! I need your encouragement to get the courage to ask Adrien to sit with us; like we discussed earlier!"
"Oh, right… that… Listen, I don't – "
"Ohmygosh! Here he comes! Wish me luck!" Marinette rushed, before she could have second thoughts, towards the back of the auditorium where Adrien was entering.

"Adrien!" She called, mentally patting herself on the back for being able to get his name out correctly and audibly, though her resolution faltered as he waved and flashed that signature winning smile. "Uhhhhhhh Over seat! I mean, Here, we seat a saved! I mean…" She fumbled about for words, going pink in the face as she tried, in vain, to recover.

"Oh, Adrikins!" Chloe interjected, and with her criminally precise timing, grabbed Adrien by the arm and led him to a spare seat she had prepared with herself and Sabrina just as Amber spoke up from the pit, testing her mic and beginning the show. Adrien glanced over his shoulder and flashed an apologetic smile at the stunned Marinette, who at least managed a goofy grin and hand wave in response.

Thus forced to give up, Marinette returned to her seat where Alya and Nino were waiting and settled in to enjoy the show.
"Why can't I ever just talk normally to him!?" the flustered girl whined, leaning on Alya's shoulder for support.
Patting her head reassuringly, Alya comforted her friend, "Cheer up, girl… Tell you what: why don't you come over to my house tonight to work on our field trip report? Mom wants some feedback on some new recipes she's trying out, so you could stay for dinner and sleep over!"
"Thanks, Alya! You're the best! Thanks for always supporting me!"
Looking away guiltily, Alya muttered, "Right… support…"
"What was that?" Marinette asked innocently, beaming at her friend.
"Er, I said we should pay attention! Big report to write!"
"Right!"

The show was the last thing on Marinette's mind, however, as she kept sneaking glances over at Adrien, who was valiantly trying to fend off Chloe's advances and pay attention to the speaker. That Chloe, always ruining things for everyone… Surely Adrian wanted to pay attention so he could do well on the report, and Marinette had been looking forward to this exhibit for weeks, and now the most she was getting out of it was an occasional sentence: "The working temperature for glass blowing needs to be between 16,000 and 19,000 degrees Farenheit.", "A strong set of lungs is required to force air through the pipe…", "You'll have a chance to try your hand at some glass blowing later on.", "And lastly, I'm about to demonstrate one of the most mysterious phenomenons of glass known as Prince Rupert's Drop".

It's amazing how time flies when you're preoccupied, and before Marinette knew it, their field trip had come to an end and Marinette found herself packing for her sleepover at Alya's.

Closing Remarks

René Lalique was an actual French artist, known for his work with glass, jewelry, and hood ornaments. But beyond these connections, he has nothing in common with the character in this story. His daughter Amber is completely made up, as his is annual gift of amber jewelry to her. The Butterfly Brooch for Sarah Bernhardt, however, is an actual piece by him, though it was a stomacher and is only amber in color and not actually made with amber or resin.

Spider-Man is a Marvel character that I own no rights to, and neither does Zag Heroez for that matter, but I felt that with how strongly Ladybug's character echoes Spider-Man's (her fighting and swinging around with her Yo-yo animation style heavily mirrors Spider-Man's, and she's also got the split personality of clumsy, awkward 'Peter Parker', and confident, joke-cracking 'Spider-Man'), I wanted to use him as Nino's superhero reference. Interesting tidbit: Alya's "Majestia" comic in Origins (Part 1) is an obvious hats off to Wonder Woman and Super Girl.

The glass show was inspired by a trip I took to the Corning Museum of Glass in NY. It's literally in the middle of nowhere, but it's a fascinating place, and the glass shows are a must see. They really do have blow-your-own glass work shops and it really is super difficult to do. I had in mind a longer scene for this where we got to see Chloe brag about being able to blow glass no problem and then get totally shown up by Marinette, but it just made the chapter a lot longer and it was unnecessary so I cut it.