A/N: I'M BACK! Of sorts anyway. There's a lot happening in my personal life, plus I started a lot of new stories, so it'll be a while till I find a new rhythm. Plus I'm working on an original piece, so...idk. Anyways, here is a new College AU short. I have another one waiting but there'll be some time hopping...whatever I guess...

Oliver liked Bigger Belly's, only partially because they did have the best burgers in town. Ever since a particularly bad hangover episode he had come to enjoy his Friday afternoons there, together with the presence of Felicity Smoak and soda. It had been a good exchange against various alcoholic drinks mixed with dancing all night. He was still doing that on Saturdays, but Fridays belonged to homework and Bigger Belly's.

The whole arrangement had been coincidental, really. Oliver had spent the previous night out and about with Tommy, a decision he was dearly regretting when he stumbled into the place. He had been looking for a quiet place to do his homework that A) didn't require him to walk too far and B) would be somewhere Tommy could not find him. The fast food restaurant had seemed a good idea. Until he had walked in and found that he wasn't the only one who thought so.

The place had been bursting with people and he turned to leave when Felicity spotted him and waved at him to join her. She had been sitting all by her own and told him she wouldn't mind his company. In fact she would prefer if he was to sit with her because, while not minding being alone, she was fairly certain she seemed like a loner. Or so he had understood her babbling. Felicity, as it had turned out, talked a lot. She also was some kind of computer genius.

His hangover had partially impaired Oliver from doing his homework right, although he was also convinced he wouldn't have been able to do it completely sober. His sighing and groaning had caught the blondes attention and an hour later she had not only helped him finish computers but also math.

When they had gotten the papers back on Thursday a capital B marked the corner of his. He had shoved it over to Felicity, together with a sticky note that read Thank you :). During the course of class they made a plan to meet the following day at Bigger Belly's to do homework together. She got the note back with a crude drawing of a thumbs up and kept it.

Their weekly study group, like their seating arrangement, became a thing. He was now over a month into his first college semester and things were going great. His mother had just texted him, telling him she had checked his grades and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of A's and B's. She had also said she was proud of him, words Moira Queen used sparingly, and he couldn't help but feel his chest swell a little. Malcolm Merlyn apparently wasn't that happy with academic performance of his son. For a second Oliver had considered inviting Tommy along to his Friday afternoon study session, then realized it was a bad idea. Tommy and Felicity wouldn't get along at all. For one thing his best friend would insist Oliver had some sort of ulterior designs on Felicity, which he had not. Then Tommy would make dirty jokes and not take the whole thing seriously, annoying everyone and keeping them distracted. His friend would make Felicity uncomfortable and in the end she might stop meeting with Oliver altogether. He knew it was probably a dick move towards Tommy but he decided his friendship with Felicity would be better off if he kept things between the two of them.

So he did, slipping into his spot as usual with a smile, took out his books, and opened them, only to look up and find another figure joining their group.

A broad shouldered black man slid in the booth with Felicity. He had obviously having hurried here because he was winded. Seeing John Diggle's face around here caught Oliver by surprise and he wondered what he had done this time to get Diggle to follow him.

"I got here as fast as I could, what is it?," the other asked Felicity, then turned to acknowledge him with a nod. "Queen."

"You two know each other?", Felicity and him asked in unison.

"How-," Felicity started.

"He's my roommate," Oliver explained. His mother had filled out most of his college papers and thought it in her son's best interest if he didn't share a room with his best friend. At first he had been upset about not rooming with Tommy, although in retrospect she had probably been right. If he had he probably wouldn't be sitting here right now, studying. "How do you know Diggle?"

"John was one of the first people I ever met here," Felicity said, "which is not a lot of people to begin with. But yeah. My roommate sort of threw me out the first night so I had to go someplace to eat and found this place, packed as usual. John saw me and offered me a seat, if only because mooning after the waitress is less suspicious when you have company. Which is why I texted you, by the way." She turned to address Diggle. "You are going to ask Carly out. Right now."

"No."

"Yes," she insisted.

"Felicity, I can't just walk up there and ask. I a-" He grew quiet when their waitress, the ominous Carly, approached.

"The coffee as usual?," she asked Oliver.

Having learned this rather delicate piece of intel about his roommate Oliver decided to act on it. John Diggle didn't seem too fond of people knowing things about him, his secrecy going so far that the only personal information Oliver had gotten in the past weeks being that he didn't tolerate dirty clothes lying around, and Oliver had concluded that his roommate needed a life. A date sure wasn't the optimal first step, but when would he have the opportunity again?

"Depends," he answered. "I was thinking about trying it with sugar. Is it as sweet as you?"

Carly only laughed. "That's not gonna work on me, Queen."

In the corner of his eye he could see Felicity and Diggle's faces fall in surprised horror. Ignoring them he gave Carly a cocky grin. "I guess I'll take it black then."

She left, shaking her head. When Oliver returned his gaze back to his friends Diggle had already composed himself again. Felicity was glowering at him over the table.

"That was bad, even for rich white boy standards," Diggle commented. His voice wavered slightly.

"Really? What would you have done instead?," Oliver said.

His roommate looked thoughtful for a moment. "Asked her if she could recommend anything better and then asked her out for coffee to show me."

Oliver chuckled. "Lame. Trust me, my method works better on chicks."

The other man snorted. "I'm sure it works just fine on chicks." He did a horrible job making the word sound as derogatory as Oliver had.

"You think you can do better than me?," he challenged. "Go ahead. Prove it."

Diggle set his jaw square and got up to talk to the woman behind the bar. Oliver couldn't help but grin.

Felicity hit him. "What the hell is wrong with you? He tells you he is crushing on someone and the first thing you do is make a move on her?"

He laughed and turned to look at his accomplishment. Diggle was standing at the counter, smiling, and talking to Carly who was getting Oliver's drink. She nodded affirmative to something he'd said. Felicity followed Oliver's eyes, then hit him again.

"Alright," he said turning back to the furious blonde across from him. "The first time I understand. What was that for though?"

"You set him up," she said incredulously. Apparently it was hard to come to terms with the fact that sometimes Oliver Queen was downright selfless. "I've been trying to get him to talk to her for the past month or so and then you show up, offer him a little competition and off he goes."

He grinned. "I know. The male ego is incredible, isn't it?"

Felicity shook her head. "You, Mr. Queen, are an idiot."

He curtsied mockingly, as best as he could, sitting at a table. "Believe me or not, Miss Smoak, but you are not the first to tell me so. I've started to think there might be some truth behind it."

Oliver had meant it jokingly, yet it seemed to be very funny indeed. So funny that Felicity completely lost it. Leaning her forehead against the table she was laughing, hard. It was contagious and soon Oliver was chuckling alongside her.

"What's so funny?," Diggle asked when he returned with Carly and the coffee.

"The rich white boy," Felicity gasped. The waitress gave them a funny look while Diggle sat back down. Taking a few deep breaths they both regained their posture.

"How did it go?," the blonde as soon as Carly was out of hearing distance.

"I'm taking her to a coffee shop a few blocks down tomorrow," he answered. His eyes were lost in the distance for a moment, the returned clarity and glared at Oliver. "You planned that."

"It was spontaneous, but yeah. Trust me, usually my pick up lines aren't that bad."

Felicity chuckled while Diggle shook his head. Pretending someone had texted him he checked his phone, then fled the scene, leaving Oliver and Felicity to their routine.

The following Monday at the beginning of class Felicity shoved a note over the table, their preferred method of communicating. Thank you, for Diggle. Any news of him and Carly?

Pretty sure they're a thing now, Oliver replied.

He got the note back with a crude drawing of a thumbs up and kept it.