Note:

First of all, this chapter is pretty short, because it's pretty much an introduction.

This work will contain a number of triggers (Bullying, Homophobia, Sexuality Crisis, Bad Parenting (Moira Queen), Underage in some countries - Oliver is 17, Barry is 16)

Also, I checked Underage to be on the safe side, however I feel the need to point out that in this story, Barry is 16 years old and Oliver is 17. I'm British, so while the age of consent is over 18 in some places, ours is 16+. However, while it doesn't count as underage in my country, I understand that it is different in other places, so I decided to tag accordingly.

(To be honest, I'm not planning on going into too much detail with the sexytimes - if you're looking for smut, feel free to browse my collection because I have written a few and will probably continue to do so, but due to the ages of Oliver and Barry here, I'd feel a little weird going into my usual amount of detail).

And just as a side note, I picked Psychology as the topic because I study Psychology and Sociology in University, and Psychology is the most sciencey of the two (or scientific, if you want to use actual real people words) - so since I have a lot of love for sciencedork!Barry, it was pretty much a no brainer.

(Consequently, the title of the story and chapter titles will be related to attraction theories etc. For example, the Propinquity Effect is the theory in which we form friendships/partnerships based on frequent exposure - ie, the more we see someone, the more likely we are to become their friends or lovers. The Mere Exposure Effect, the first chapter title, is similar to this - the frequency in which we are exposed to someone/something impacts the way we feel about it - so, the more we see a person or object, the more we come to like it. I'll explain the chapter titles as we go along. You guys feel free to ignore my brief Psychology lessons though - they're not needed for the story, I just like to babble.)

Last but not least, I hope you guys enjoy. I'd love to hear your thoughts, particularly on this first chapter, so that I know it's something that people will be interested in, because I've got the entire story planned out and it's looking to be quite a long multi-chapter.

"Hey, Allen, did your dad kill your mom because she gave birth to a cocksucker?"

Oliver sighed, glancing over at the source of the disturbance – Leonard Snart and his cronies. He knew that it had been going on since their first year in Starling High, but it seemed to have gotten worse since they'd returned from summer break.

It probably had something to do with the fact that Iris and Eddie had left for college.

Iris and Eddie hung around with the popular crowds, and they seemed to serve as some sort of a buffer for Barry, who had been adopted by Iris' father after the tragic mysterious death of his mother when he was eleven years old.

And, okay, Oliver wasn't a stalker – everyone knew. It was public knowledge. For a while, it had been all Starling City's residents talked about. Extremely high profile.

He just also happened to pay attention to the other boy.

A lot of attention.

They were in the middle of Psych, and their teacher had decided that he would go on a wander – something that Wells was prone to do often, with a tendency to make a joke about stretching his legs before wheeling himself out the door. It had been pretty damn hilarious the first time, but it was starting to get really tiring, and what the hell was the guy doing, anyway?

Any normal high school student would obviously kill to have a teacher like Wells, to be fair. Laid back, lax, uncaring – hey, less work for them. But the thing was, every time Barry was left without any authority figures surrounding him, someone would usually take the opportunity to torment him.

And this... this always caused a twist in Oliver's gut, as he watched from the sidelines, trying to find a way to distract them without being too outright.

"Leave him alone, Snart." Barry's friend butted in. Felicity... something. Oliver was pretty sure. She was a pretty blonde girl, long hair, glasses – conventionally attractive, with the added bonus of being super smart. All of the guys on the team were crushing on her, and Oliver really couldn't blame them. She was pretty damn radiant, and adorably awkward at times.

Except...

Barry turned away from Snart, gripping his pencil tight, apparently trying not to provoke the other guy.

"It's a shame you like dick, Barry. I'm sure Felicity would at least throw you a pity fuck." One of Snart's gang piped up. Oliver didn't recognise this one.

Barry winced, and Felicity scowled, turning to the other guy, ready to give him a dressing down. Oliver admired her courage, but he was sick of watching Felicity and Barry suffer the brunt of hostile teenage hormonal assholes, so he decided it was time to step in.

"Alright, that's it- come on, guys. Enough." Oliver spoke, raising his voice, making his way over to the crowd.

Snart turned, sneered. "Who's side are you on here, Queen?"
As much as it killed him, Oliver couldn't just shoot the guy with an arrow like he wanted to. No, he had to be smart about this.

Plastering on the most charming smile he could muster given the circumstances, Oliver clapped Snart on the shoulder, mentally noting to scrub his hand vigorously when he got the chance. "Come on. Wells will be back any minute now. You don't want to get us all into trouble by causing a fuss, do you?"

Snart scowled, but complied anyway, returning to his seat. Felicity sent Oliver a grateful smile, and Barry squinted at him as though he were a complicated math puzzle that he was struggling to work out.

He couldn't really blame Barry for his confusion. It's not like Oliver made a habit of stepping in on his behalf. Mostly, he kept to himself.

The thing was, Oliver was pretty high up in the high school hierarchy, to his mother's delight, who had decided to pick the worst year ever to run for governor.

They were only three weeks into the school year, and the school bullies seemed to be intent on making Barry's life hell, to Oliver's chagrin. Any other time, Oliver was sure he'd have attempted to befriend the boy, social consequences be damned. But, no, he had to stay in the good graces of the influential people for the sake of his mother's campaign – which included Leonard Snart, who's father was the CEO of Cold Inc, a company dedicated to selling kitchen white goods (mostly fridge/freezers).

The thing was, it wasn't like he and Barry were friends or anything. No, Oliver just... admired the boy from afar.

Not that he could ever admit that out loud. To anyone.

It started in their first year in high school, really. Now, Oliver was still attracted to women – of that he had absolutely no doubt. But he was kind of maybe attracted to guys, too. Sure, there had been less guys that caught his interest than girls, but it was still enough to make him question his sexuality.

So he had long past established that he was bisexual. It was just a fact that he could live quietly knowing, and then proceed to ignore.

Until Barry.

Like everyone else, Oliver hadn't really noticed Barry at first. He was just the quiet, awkward nerd who sat in the front corner of the classroom, furiously scribbling while everyone else procrastinated their work.

It took Oliver some time to realise that he had been staring at the boy, to be honest. They shared two classes together – History and Psychology, and Oliver constantly found his gaze wandering towards Barry.

The guy was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, light brown hair, emerald green eyes, and the most charming smile Oliver had ever seen. High cheekbones, freckles – he had the genetic material that Oliver was sure would be envied by the gods.

It really was a shame that no one else seemed to appreciate him.

It wasn't just the way that Barry looked, though. Oliver noticed the strangest things once he'd really started paying attention.

Like, the way that Barry always chewed his bottom lip, eyebrows drawn, when he was struggling with an answer, and the satisfied smirk he wore after he'd worked it out, jotting it down.

The way he absently tapped his fingers on the wooden desk as the teacher droned on, especially when it was a subject that Barry already knew. Oliver could tell this because he seemed to finish his work well ahead of the class.

Best of all was the way that Barry doodled in the back of his notebook while waiting for everyone to catch up. Oliver managed to get a decent glimpse of his work one or two times – and he was pretty damn good. It looked like something that belonged in a graphic novel, really, and it was a shame that they didn't have Art together, because Oliver would have loved to watch him draw. That was when he looked most at peace – his far off, dreamy expression was Oliver's favourite thing - troubles of the world seeming to disappear just for that short period of time.

So, yeah. Oliver was pretty fucked.

When Wells eventually returned to the classroom, he announced that he would be putting everyone into pairs to work together on a project. From the corner of his eye, he saw Felicity clutch onto Barry's arm, and Barry's soft smile towards his friend, and his heart plummeted.

Were they together?

Sure, Barry always got teased about his sexuality, but he had never explicitly said that he was gay. Everyone just seemed to assume, or at least delighted in throwing accusations his way. So it was just Oliver's luck if the guy he'd had a pretty big crush on for the past two years turned out to be straight.

Not that it mattered, because it's not like he was going to do anything about it, anyway.

"No, no. Let me clarify, Miss Smoak. I will be assigning the pairs," Wells corrected, glancing over in Felicity and Barry's direction. "You don't get to choose. I'm afraid you'll have to mingle with people other than Mr Allen, there."

Barry winced, worried eyes darting to Snart, who fixed him with a malicious grin and a small, sarcastic wave.

Fuck. Oliver hoped for Barry's sake that he was put with someone that wasn't part of Snart's gang – maybe Sara, who might tease him a little, but in a friendly way. Sara was pretty cool. Oliver had a thing with her the previous year, deeply attracted to the tough biker chick vibe she gave off, but it was never anything serious, and they'd broken it off on friendly terms. Fuck, Sara even had a girlfriend, so it's not like she would hurl homophobic slurs at Barry like everyone else did.

Or maybe Helena – who was a little bit crazy, Oliver could admit, but she was certainly the lesser of two evils.

Of course, he wasn't expecting Wells to pair Barry with Oliver, so when their names were called together, Oliver sucked in a breath, glancing over at Barry, who was staring back at him, apprehensive.

Shit.

Shit.