Noellemin... but fake dating au...
idk if they would do it as a dare, to piss off their parents, or blackmail reasons, but oh boy! they are NOT happy with their situation.
they have to be insanely affectionate, otherwise no one would believe them
even though they'd usually be at each other's throats when they aren't pretending to be a couple, all the energy they have to put into their act uses up any energy they'd put into hating each other
honestly, i'd imagine them just sitting around bickering about what shitty reality tv show they're gonna watch as they order a pizza after a long day of posing as partners
noelle: "we are NOT watching toddlers and tiaras, the whole show is exploitative of those poor girls. not to mention how predatory the whole pageant circuit is."
min, who enjoys dunking on kids: "okay, yeah. but on the other hand-"
they're both so damn competitive. their whole fake relationship is them trying to one up the other on romance. it's very funny to watch.
noelle surprises min with flowers and a song she wrote during lunch at school. it's wonderful. however min fucking hates it because she was gonna do something similar and now she has to come up with something else.
they're so annoyed with each other, too. every term of endearment, compliment, declaration of love, it all comes out so strained. most people don't really notice it, but diya and akarsha find it to be absolutely hilarious and purposefully try to make them sweet talk and flirt with each other.
in fact, akarsha has jokingly hit on min just to get noelle to feign jealousy. noelle was quite the knight in shining armor.
they genuinely get along when they have a mutual enemy, confusion (let us all remember the buffet scene), or whenever one of them opens up about something serious (it's usually about familial matters and the pressures of school) and they're often very soft and sweet moments.
they don't seem annoyed with one another during these times, and both diya and akarsha end up really confused because min and noelle will actually seem like a genuine couple.
(akarsha thinks the whole "hating each other" thing is an act in the first place, and that they just needed to kiss and make up. while diya also thinks that, she knows that they're both too stubborn to actually admit that they even like one another as a person.)
with all the pda that comes with their facade, min and noelle both develop a habit of casual touches and just general clinginess.
it's not something they really notice until the whole d.a.m.n crew is hanging out at (probably) akarsha's house. min is leaning on noelle with an arm around her waist, and akarsha reminds them that everyone in the room knows they aren't ACTUALLY dating, so they don't need to act like they are. it's a very eye opening moment for min and noelle.
(akarsha is very proud of herself and brags to diya later.)
noelle tries to end their fake relationship because she doesn't want to come to terms with her own feelings. drama! min gets pissed off, and they both end up sulking about it and avoiding each other.
(akarsha still brags, mostly because she knows her tropes. diya and her still have to intervene, though.)
so diya and akarsha successfully parent trap the pair. they have their moment. the whole baseball team is in on it. not gonna go into too much detail because i want to write a whole fic now.
and so they actually get together. and they're annoying. and they were so caught up in their whole thing from the start that they're caught off guard when diya and akarsha announce that the two of them had been dating the whole fucking time. longer, in fact.
akarsha: "okay, now that you guys figured your shit out, we've got something to say. uhhhh, take it away diya!"
diya, as someone who has very bad social anxiety: "no...?"
min and noelle are a bit ticked off that they didn't know, but hey, they made their cake and now they must lie in it.
EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS!
