Perfect setup. Let’s make it Dex and Brody—because there’s something powerful in gentleness coming from the gentle. Dex isn’t the loudest. He’s not the oldest. But he’s steady, and he sees Brody not just as a teammate, but as a person trying to become someone he can live with.

Scene: “The Talk”

INT. PLATEAUS LOCKER ROOM – POST-PRACTICE – DUSK

Most of the team has cleared out. You can still hear cleats echoing faintly down the hall. Brody’s sitting on the bench, fiddling with the tape on his wrists. His pads are on the floor. Sweat still clings to him.

Dex walks by, towel slung over his shoulder, pauses—then sits.

DEX

Hey. You okay?

BRODY

(quiet)

Yeah. Just… thinking. Something Sean said got in my head. And—some of the older guys, they were talking in the weight room earlier. Joking, kind of, but not really. About girls. About what they’d do.

DEX

(leans forward, elbows on knees)

And you didn’t like it?

BRODY

Not really. Felt… off. Like they were talking about a thing, not a person. And it got me wondering, like, am I supposed to think like that? Is that just what guys do?

DEX

Nah. That’s what insecure guys say. So nobody sees how confused or scared they really are. You’re not broken for not being like them.

(Brody looks at him. Dex continues.)

DEX (cont’d)

Can I tell you what I think? About desire? About… all that?