Ficlet in response to the AU prompt "high school teachers" chosen by a dianabayer and an anon on tumblr as part of the AU meme I'm doing to celebrate hitting the 1K followers mark :) Besides that prompt, inspiration came from a text post from tumblr.

Hope you guys like it!

"So, how's your boy doing?"

Sara asks as she enters the staff room, passing Felicity by the coffee machine.

"That sounds wrong, because of reasons. He's not my boy, just a boy," she points out trying to make the difference known.

"Yeah but you are strangely invested in this kid, hence the title."

"What are you talking about?"

Oliver cuts in, sounding quite puzzled, and dare Sara say, piqued by her choice of words.

"Nothing!"

Felicity blurts out all too quickly, eliciting a chuckle from her best friend and raised eyebrow from her… colleague? friend?

She doesn't know how to label it anymore. Yes, they do work together and that's how they got to know each other; but sharing most of the same friends lately they've spent more time getting to know each other than really talking about work.

"Lissy here is playing fairy god-mother to a fellow geek," the blonde explains before she can make up her mind.

"That's a weird way to phrase that. I'm just giving him a hand coming out of his shell, you know, letting him know it's perfectly ok to know the answers and speaking up."

"And… you're leaving the best part out!"

Her skin turns a pretty shade of red under Oliver's inquisitive gaze, a beat passing by before she complies.

"And I may be nudging him to ask this girl he loves out."

Sara lets out a chuckle as Oliver's lips curl up in an amused smile of his own.

"I know, it's none of my business, Dig already laid it down to me when he saw I changed their seating arrangement; but I can't help myself. I was much like him at that age, and think a little help or boost of confidence can't hurt. Is that so weird?"

"What, shipping your students again?" Laurel voices as she makes a beeline for the coffee pot, "That Allen kid again, I suppose. I think it's cute, paired them together for this project last month and she seemed happy about it too."

"Is everyone in on this?"

Oliver quips as Sara hops onto a counter, nodding as she takes a bite from her croissant.

"Well, some of us; dad of course is out of the loop," she corrects on second thought.

"If the principal gets wind of it, then we've gone too far," Felicity adds halting by the threshold when it occurs to her, "wait, he wouldn't fire me if he found out, would he?"

"Of course not. And if he did then Ollie would be out too," Laurel chimes in picking from her bag of almonds.

His reply comes in the form of a scowl, his complaint dying in parted lips as the younger Lance elaborates.

"You can't deny you've been working Roy harder than anyone else ever since he started seeing Thea."

His teeth grind at the mental image, hands fisting around his water bottle at how dangerously close to being his little sister's boyfriend the kid is getting. Can you blame him for making the kid run a few more rounds when he was being a punk?

"Oh yeah! Harper, he seems to be a nice guy. You know, once you get through the tough shell and grumpy exterior."

Felicity speaks again; her voice never failing to lift his spirit, even if she is ganging up against him.

"Actually he's quite like you in that aspect, Ollie."

This time it's Laurel who voices the sentiment, prompting a satisfied smirk from Sara and a perfect entrance for Tommy.

"What? No way," Oliver's best friend snickers shaking his head as he makes his way to the coffee pot; relief showing in a tilt of his head until, "Oliver was much worse! Harper's been aiming for one girl for months, we know high school Ollie would've already-"

"You- better not finish that thought," he cuts in with a heavy palm to his shoulder. "No more talk on Speedy," he pleads trying to sound assertive, prompting a cheshire-cat-like smirk from Tommy and a hidden "denial only works for so long" from Laurel's lips.

"Agreed."

Oliver turns to face his favorite blonde, flashing a grateful smile and nod, before passing by her and out the door. Yet before he's crossed the threshold, her delicate grasp takes hold of his forearm, halting him on the spot with a silent question to wait.

It is Wednesday. The day they walk together to class (and linger before parting ways because neither wants their moment to end).

With a graceful swirl that makes the end of her pony tail tickle his jaw, Felicity focuses back on the crowd before them.

"No Thea or Barry talk. We'll just… let it be, everything will work itself out."

There are a few nods in agreement Oliver pays little to no attention to as Felicity is back on his side and pulling him forth and out on the hallway in a flash.; just fast enough to miss the knowing glances from their three friends, and a small conversation that goes back to the moment those two had met.

"So… our couple seems to be on track."

Thanks for reading!
As you may have noticed, I've taken some time from writing lately, because of writers block basically, and not feeling very confident on what I've managed to write lately. Sorry for the lack of updates in my WIP mostly, I'm constantly trying to get back on the writing horse (?). Posting this (still rough) story is my first public attempt at doing so.
So especially this time, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated and encouraged :) Just a minute of your time to let me know what you liked, what line stood up, what could be improved, or simply expressing that you enjoyed it (if you did) means the world to me and fuels the desire to keep writing and especially sharing what I do.
More to come soon (hopefully) :)
xo,
Lucy