Search Results: bringing up the past

Over the past few months, my colleagues have been ruthlessly teasing me about another colleague (we'll call him John). John and I are both in administrator roles, the colleagues who are teasing us are teachers. If we all go out for drinks, they tell me not to worry about getting drunk because John will drive me home. If I request that someone assist me with something and John volunteers first, I'll tell other colleagues who later volunteer to never mind because John is already on it and they tease me because I don't need them since John (emphasis) responded. They glance at each other and smirk when John and I are together and one even obviously lingered to eavesdrop during our conversation. They also bring him up in conversation a lot and one of them (his closest friend) was watching like a hawk when John and I were speaking in the hallway (though she was too far away to hear our conversation I think). None of the teasing or eavesdropping seems malicious. Most of them are very good friends with John and have worked with him for a few years.

I'm not sure how it all started. I suspect that a couple of the paraprofessionals (who aren't a fan of me or John) started a rumor and it eventually reached the teachers. Either that or the teachers are just trying to play matchmaker. The thing is though, John has been extremely supportive of me in some of the challenges I've faced this year, and in the last month, he's grown on me in a way that's surprised me. I'm seeking employment elsewhere, and wondering if, when I leave, I should ask John on a date. I'm not sure if he feels the same way though. I would say that maybe my colleagues picked up on me developing feelings for John over the last month, but the teasing has been going on for months, and when I first started, my colleagues told me they were intimidated because I was difficult to read (RBF), but once they got to know me, they liked me a lot. Do you think their teasing me is a hint that he has feelings for me too?