A/N: Hello! I had been hoping to post over the weekend, but my weekend ended up being busier than I expected, so I just finished editing the chapter today. This chapter is a fun one, so enjoy it while the happiness lasts hehe!

Chapter 3: The First Two Years

Vlad and Jack soon became very unlikely friends. Perhaps, as the saying goes, opposites really do attract. And those two boys could not have been more opposite.

Vlad was the studious one. Despite his impressive intellect, his business major still required him to put a lot of hours into his school work. On top of that, Vlad began to explore the sciences, something that had always interested him back in boarding school. He began to dabble in electives like chemistry, biology, physiology and genetics, which kept him up late into the night very frequently. But he didn't mind; Vlad always relished a challenged.

However, this confused some of his friends, including his closest one. One day during the first semester of their first year, Jack walked in on Vlad studying for a biology midterm:

"Wait, Vladdie, I thought you were majoring in business — what in the world are you studying biology for?" Jack asked, puzzled.

Vlad looked up from his extensively highlighted notes and answered, "Because I enjoy studying science."

"So then what are you doing in business?"

"My parents believe that business is more practical."

Jack frowned at Vlad's response, but the conversation ended there.

At the end of first year, Vlad declared two minors alongside his business major: biochemistry and genetics. Yet, Jack was fairly certain that if anybody asked Vlad's parents, they thought that Vlad had chosen to minor in economics instead.

Though he could be loud and clumsy, Jack was the most genuine person that Vlad had ever met. He wore his heart on his sleeve, but Vlad considered that to be a good thing. It was a refreshing change to be able to speak openly to somebody and not have to worry about them having any ulterior motives, and what they might do with any information that Vlad would tell them. Jack was like an open book, and all that Vlad ever saw in his eyes was understanding and honesty. Very quickly, this led Vlad to do something that he had not done in a very long time — fully trusting another person.

Once this mutual trust was built, Vlad began to open up, telling Jack things that he had told very few people in his life. Naturally, the subject of Vlad's cold and controlling family did not take long to come up. Yet, no matter how many times it was brought up, it remained a very touchy subject…

"Vlad, you can't let your old man push you around like that! You need to stand up to him!" Jack exclaimed, not for the first time.

"It's not that simple, Jack" Vlad said, irritably.

"And why not, Vlad? You're smart (heck, one of the smartest people I've ever met), you're ambitious, and you're a hard worker. You have friends here that support you. From what you've told me, it's not as if you've ever had your parents' support and approval anyways, so what's stopping you from finally telling them what you really think?"

Vlad's eyes darkened as he snapped, "Leave it be, Jack! You're not in my situation, you don't understand! You have two parents who have never done anything but tell you how proud they are of you and how much they love you! Until you've lived in my shoes, you couldn't possibly begin to comprehend how delicate and complex my situation is!"

Jack was silent. He wanted to argue, to tell Vlad that he was making the situation more complicated than necessary. But Jack really hated arguing with his best friend. Instead, he muttered reluctantly, "Alright Vladdie, I guess you know best."

Since then, a silent agreement was formed between the two boys that when Vlad needed to vent about his family, Jack would simply be there to listen.

In the meantime, while Vlad continued his business and science studies into his second year, Jack was a bit more lax with his own classes. Unsure of what he wanted to major in, he dabbled in a bit of everything. Eventually, he declared himself as a general science major, though it was really only thanks to Vlad's detailed notes and exam reviews that Jack scraped though his classes — studying was never really his forte.

But what Jack lacked in the classroom, he made up for in heart and spirit. He introduced Vlad to every one of his friends and dragged him out to school events and occasional parties. It was thanks to Jack that Vlad began to relax a little and peak out from behind his mask of stiff politeness and rigidity that had been ingrained in him since his childhood.

But this wasn't enough for Jack — he wanted to get Vlad to completely come out of his shell. Jack introduced him to a variety of sports and social clubs (Jack had a long argument with Vlad about how being on the biochemistry student government did not count). The only other one that Vlad really showed a particular interest in was chess, but Jack was quick to drag him away from that. As Jack blathered on about it somehow being social suicide, Vlad just rolled his eyes and told his friend that he was just too dense to understand the finesse behind the game. This led to a brief scuffle between the friends which ended with them both on the floor, laughing.

Still, if anything, Jack was not a person to give up easily, so one fall day during their second year:

"Hey Vladdie-my-man, guess what!?"

Vlad rolled his eyes as Jack barged into his dorm room, interrupting his studying. "What, you forgot how to knock?"

"You would've let me in, anyways!"

"…Touché. What is it?"

Jack pulled out two green and gold tickets from behind his back. "My buddy scored me two tickets to the Packers home game tomorrow! The thing is, he has the flu and says he won't be able to make it… so guess who I'm inviting instead?" Jack was quite literally bouncing up and down by this point.

Vlad eyed the tickets distastefully. "Football? Really, Jack? What on Earth gave you the idea that I would be interested in going to see sweaty grown men tackling each other over a ball for three hours?"

Jack wrapped his arm around Vlad's shoulders and held the tickets out in front of them at eye level. "Trust me Vladdie," Jack stated, "you'll love it."

The next day, after piling into a van with a bunch of their friends from school and driving down to Green Bay, Vlad somehow found himself standing in the Packers stadium, waiting for the game to start.

"I'm still not loving it, Jack," Vlad said sullenly for the fifth time that day, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Come on Vladdie, lighten up and enjoy the moment!" Jack exclaimed, patting Vlad on the back.

"Hey Jack, come here for a sec!"

Jack turned around and noticed some of their friends struggling down the stairs to their seats, laden with drinks. He turned to Vlad. "One moment, I'll be right back!"

Vlad grumbled as Jack left to go help their friends. "What exactly am I supposed to enjoy? The yelling? The screaming? The heat? The fact that people above me keep dropping popcorn kernels on my head?" Vlad muttered irritably under his breath, flinching as another piece of said popcorn bounced off his hair.

Just then, Jack came back holding two extra-tall cans of beer in his hands and something green and gold thrown over one arm. He thrust one of the cans towards Vlad, who just shook his head.

"No thank you," Vlad said, primly.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, don't be a such a goodie two-shoes, Vladdie. It's just one beer, relax."

"One beer always leads to more beers, and I would rather not present myself as completely inebriated and sloppy in public, thank you Jack."

Jack suppressed another eye roll at Vlad's uptight response. "Alright, well at least put this on. You look completely out of place without a jersey."

Jack tossed the Packer's jersey that he had brought over and Vlad caught it and eyed it in slight distaste. But Jack did have a fair point; in a sea of green-and-gold clad fans, Vlad stuck out like a sore thumb in his khaki trousers and light blue shirt. He grudgingly pulled it on as everybody stood for the national anthem.

Soon after, the game started with its coin toss; having won the toss, the Packers chose to receive, and with the kickoff, the game started.

During the first few minutes, Vlad just stood there, watching in silence. However, his mask of feigned disinterest slowly began to crumble, and he began to ask Jack questions about the game play.

"Jack, why do they keep stopping every few seconds? And wait, what's this? Why did the Packers suddenly lose possession of the ball? And why did the referee blow the whistle earlier? Did somebody get a penalty? Why?"

Jack looked at Vlad in bewilderment. "Wait, don't you know the rules of football?" Jack was surprised; in their group of friends, Vlad was the know-it-all who had an answer to every question and a comment on every subject. When Jack had invited Vlad to the game, he had simply assumed that Vlad knew the rules of football, but just didn't enjoy the game.

Vlad flushed a deep red and mumbled something about having 'better things to do than to look up the rules to such a silly game'.

Jack 'ah-ha!'d loudly. "So, the truth comes out! It's not that you don't like football, you were just too embarrassed to admit that you knew nothing about it!"

Vlad shot his friend a dirty look. "Just explain the rules to me!"

"First admit it— your pride is going to be your downfall!"

"I refuse."

"Alright Vladdie, enjoy watching the game in confusion!"

Vlad's eye twitched in irritation. "Fine, I let my pride get the best of me. Now, please, explain how this game works!"

So as the game progressed, Jack explained the basics of football to Vlad — the offensive, the defensive, scrimmages, how the scoring worked, basic penalties, and so on. Vlad, who had a knack for strategizing, quickly became intrigued and continued pestering Jack with questions about different plays and codes. By the start of the second quarter, Vlad had grasped enough of the game that he was able to get into it.

A little bit too into it, perhaps.

At first, Vlad just started by joining in with the cheers every time the Packers made a good play or gained yards.

Soon after, Vlad also began to join in with the boos every time the opposing team gained possession of the ball or delivered a particularly brutal tackle to one of the Packers' players.

Then, to Jack's surprise, Vlad grabbed for the extra can of beer at the end of the second quarter. "I'm thirsty," was his only explanation.

"I can get you water, ya know," Jack chuckled in amusement.

Vlad waved him off as he took a gulp and turned to the person next to him and started discussing the last few plays.

During the third quarter, Vlad accepted a second (and then later, a third) beer from Jack, who had restocked during half-time.

As Vlad continued to drink more, he began to shout at the players as the game progressed:

"Are you kidding me?! You only had one yard to go! How could you not manage a single yard?!"

"Penalty! What in the… Are you blind, referee? He was holding!"

"Run, keep running with the ball! No, don't pass it you dense — no no no — butternuts!"

By the end of the game, Vlad had shouted himself hoarse, but still joined in the raucous cheering of the stadium as the Packers scored the winning touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter. The whistle blew to signal the end of the game, and after the Packers celebrated their win, both teams shook hands and left the field. The stadium, buzzing with excitement, slowly began to empty as the fans milled out.

Vlad and Jack's friends gathered their belongings and made their way out towards the exit, giving each other excited high fives and slaps on the back as they too celebrated the win. One of their friends turned back when the company noticed that they were two short.

"Hey Vlad, Jack — you guys coming or what?"

Jack shot them a thumbs up and shouted, "Go ahead, we'll catch up!" He then turned to Vlad, who was caught up in a fevered discussion about the game with the person sitting below them.

"Hey Vladdie, time to go!"

Vlad barely glanced at his friend as he said, "One second, Jack" before turning back to his discussion.

"Vlad, everybody else is already gone!"

Vlad jumped in his seat to look around and noticed that their friends had indeed already left. He apologized to the person he was talking to and said good-bye.

Once the person had left, Jack turned to Vlad with a grin plastered on his face. "Sooooo, it looks like you had quite a bit of fun!"

"It was a good game," Vlad tried to sound nonchalant, but he stumbled as he got out of his seat, falling into Jack.

Jack grabbed Vlad's arm to steady him and laughed. "Vladdie, I think you may have had a bit too much to drink!"

Vlad snorted. "Don't be an idiot Jack, do I look drunk to you?" To prove his point, Vlad shook Jack's hand off his arm and took a few exaggerated steps towards the steps leading to the exit. "See, I am perfectly fi—"

Vlad suddenly tripped as he completely missed a stair and fell flat on his face.

"Not a word, Jack," came Vlad's muffled voice as Jack snorted.

Fifteen minutes later, Jack and Vlad made it to the parking lot, Jack supporting Vlad as he stumbled here and there.

"Woo Vladdie, had a few too many there?" one of their friends, George, laughed as the two drew near.

Vlad glared at him and pushed himself off of Jack, dusting off his jersey. "I am perfectly fine, just watch—"

But Jack cut him off before he could try to demonstrate just how 'fine' he was again. "Ahhhhh that's not necessary, Vladdie! I think it's time we went back to school, we've had enough fun for one day!"

Vlad shot him an incredulous look. "Wait, back to school? Come on Jack, the fun just started!" He turned to his friends. "Somebody must be throwing some sort of afterparty, right?"

Their friends stared at each other in shock — this was definitely not a side of Vlad that they had seen before — but then they burst out laughing and cheering, clapping Vlad on the back.

"Alright, lightweight, once we get back to Madison, we'll find you a party!" George said, still laughing as everybody piled into the van.

As Vlad was led into the car, protesting vehemently ("What are you talking about? I'm not a lightweight! You know, I take offence to that!"), Jack followed them. He wondered if this was really the best idea. Maybe they should just go straight back to res once they got back into town. Vlad was already tipsy enough and bringing him out to a party with even more alcohol probably wasn't the smartest idea…

Then Jack shook his head, clearing his mind of any doubt as he grinned — now that he had finally come out of his shell, Vlad deserved to have a little bit more fun, right? It wouldn't hurt anybody to find a party.

And find a party they did! After many hours and many more drinks, Jack, along with some of their friends, watched from the sidelines as Vlad continued to party at the centre of the dance floor. Every few minutes he would shout something out to the crowd, and the crowd would in turn respond with a cheer.

Jack shook his head in wonder.

"You know, Jack, if anybody told me before today that Vlad would one day be the life of a party, I would've told them that they'd been hit too many times in the head," another one of their friends, Tony, said in amusement. Jack laughed and nodded in agreement.

On the dance floor, Vlad suddenly whipped off his jersey and started whirling it above his head. Jack choked on his drink so hard that Tony had to whack him a few times on the back, while the others clutched their sides as they laughed at Vlad's drunken antics until tears sprang to their eyes.

"If he takes his pants off next, I swear I'm going to piss my pants," George roared with laughter.

Fortunately for George's pants, they were spared from further disrobing on Vlad's part, and not a minute later Vlad stumbled through the crowd and made his way over to his friends.

"Heeeey guys, come join the party on the dance floor!" Vlad exclaimed, grinning madly, the remainder of a beer sloshing around in the can he was holding.

Jack carefully took the drink from Vlad and set it on the table beside them. "Oh no, Vladdie, that's alright, we're all a bit tired. We'll just keep watching from here."

"My, my, this is ironic. Who's the spoilsport now?"

Just then, a very pretty girl with curly brown hair broke free from the massive group on the dance floor and ran over to Vlad, grabbing onto his arm. "Vlaaad what are you doing, come back and dance with me!"

Vlad took the hand of the girl and kissed it. "Give me a moment, beautiful, I'll be right over!" Vlad said with a drunkenly exaggerated bow. Blushing madly (from the kiss or from too much alcohol, Jack had no idea), the girl giggled, then gave Vlad a quick kiss before she ran back to the dance floor.

Jack looked at Vlad, who was staring after the girl. "Wait, what the heck was that…?"

"Why Jack, you know the ladies can't resist my incredible charm and smooth moves," Vlad grinned, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

And that confirmed to Jack that Vlad was incredibly drunk.

"Okay ladies man, I think it's time to go — it's 2am and we have classes tomorrow morning," Jack said, suppressing a snort as he tried to gently push Vlad towards the exit. But Vlad wasn't ready to leave just yet.

"Wait, wait, one more drink, then we'll go!"

"Ok, fine," Jack agreed, while making a mental note to give Vlad a glass of non-spiked punch as they made their way to the drinks table.

As they stood drinking their punch (Vlad not even noticing that his did not contain any alcohol), Vlad suddenly turned to his best friend. "So, when's the next game?"

"You mean football game?"

"No Jack, I meant the next cricket game."

Jack chose to ignore his friend's sarcasm. "Well, there's another home game next weekend, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get us tickets again that soon. They're pretty expensive, ya know, and I'm not made of money."

Vlad looked at Jack with a wicked gleam in his eye. "You forget how rich my family is, Jack — I can score us tickets anytime we want."

Then, after putting down his drink, a still-shirtless Vlad took off back into the crowd, pumping two fists in the air, yelling "Yaaaaaa goooooo Packers!"

Jack stared at Vlad's retreating back in wonder, and then laughed. Had he known that all it took for Vlad to come out of his shell like this was a bit (okay a lot) of beer and and two football tickets, he would have tried this a long time ago…

The following morning, Jack knocked on Vlad's door on his way out to class. He was met with the muffled sounds of very colourful swearing, and a few seconds later, a large crash. Worried, Jack barged into the room and saw a large pile of bed sheets on the floor next to a bare bed.

"Vladdie, are you okay?"

A head slowly peaked out from under the sheets, bloodshot eyes glaring at Jack.

Jack struggled to contain a laugh. "Wow V-man, you don't look too good."

Vlad pulled the covers back over his head. "Go away," came a muffled groan.

"You do realize we have class in half an hour, right?"

Another loud groan. "Then get me about twenty painkillers and a glass of water, and I'll consider not killing you for allowing me to drink so much last night."

Jack chuckled. "Sorry Vladdie, but there was just no stopping you! You were on a roll!"

Jack turned around to go get his friend his painkillers, but stopped once he reached the doorway. "By the way, George found your jersey last night after we left the party. He said he'd drop by later and give it back to you."

Vlad's head popped out again, his eyes squinting. "Wait, why would I have left my jersey at the party?" Vlad pulled the covers back and noticed that he was still wearing the same khaki pants from the day before, but he was, in fact, very much topless. "Jack, why am I not wearing a shirt?" He wracked his aching brain, but drew a complete blank. He looked up at Jack in a slight panic. "Jack, exactly what did I do last night?"

Jack just burst out laughing as he walked away from the room.

Vlad stood up quickly and made to follow Jack, but stumbled and fell back onto his bed with a moan. Never again, he promised himself.

And although Vlad was very careful about how much he drank from then on, he willingly allowed Jack to take him out to parties more often. And of course, they continued going to see as many football games as possible.

After that day, Vlad gradually became to change. He retained his studious nature (and position at the top of his class), gentlemanly manners (when appropriate) and "rich-person talk" (as Jack had so eloquently put it), but it was visible to his friends and everybody around him that he had become more… at ease. Less stiff, less uptight.

Slowly, dress shirts became replaced by polo shirts, which became replaced by more casual t-shirts and jerseys on most regular school days. Vlad's once neatly-trimmed, slicked-back black hair became spiked in the front and grew longer in the back. Frowns and annoyed grimaces were no longer the most common expression on his face — smiles and laughter graced his features more frequently than they had ever before. Jack liked to joke around that in two years, his best friend had evolved from stiff, humourless Vlad 1.0 into a new-and-improved Vlad 2.0. And although Vlad was not incredibly amused by this statement, it held much truth.

As their second year came to a close and it was time to renew their leases on their dorm rooms, both boys decided to opt out and instead get an apartment for themselves. Thanks to Vlad's considerable wealth, they were able to snag a nice, spacious apartment close to the university campus — they would move in in the fall.

Except around exam season when Vlad would retreat into the library and Jack would… well retreat to anywhere but the library until the night before to cram, the two were inseparable. It was an unlikely friendship, but it was strong. At first, although Vlad only admitted this to his friend years later, his friendship with Jack was based on an act of rebellion against his stiff and uptight parents. However, Jack's honest and kind nature had grown on Vlad. Vlad knew Jack had his back, and he had Jack's.

And after two years of friendship, despite the fact that neither boy looked nor spoke like the other, people often mistook them for brothers.

A/N: When I first started brainstorming for this story, I remembered Vlad's Packers obsession, and figured it might be funny to write a scene on how that came about. It ended up fitting well in this chapter, so... here you go! Plus Drunk!Vlad is always fun to write, hehe.

I also wanted to say that, just like Vlad at the start of this chapter, I know virtually nothing about football. I did some readings on the basics of the sport when I wrote this chapter, but there are probably still some technicalities that I got wrong... So if any of you are football fans and you catch a mistake, definitely let me know!

Also - I recognize that Vlad and Jack are still underage at this point in the story. The drinking age is lower in my country than in the States, and I actually forgot about that when I started writing the chapter. So how did they get the beer at the football game? I'd like to think that their friends that got the drinks were older and of legal drinking age. Or they had fake IDs. Something like that haha.

Some of you may be wondering - where's Maddie in all of this? Well, stick around for the next chapter and you might just find out.

Or maybe not.

Maybe I'm just tricking you all hehe.

Only way to find out is to stick around for the next update!

Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed! Feel free to leave a review!