Dance With Somebody - Silver Linings

Title: Silver Linings: Credit and Clarity
Scene: A quiet moment between Pat Solitano and Tiffany Maxwell, on a bench outside the Eagles stadium parking lot after a long walk. The city hums behind them, but they’re in their own bubble now—raw, honest, and a little bruised from life.

Pat:
(fidgeting with his hands, breath visible in the cold)
"You know, everyone keeps saying I'm the one with the problem. That I’m the crazy one because I had a breakdown, or because I lost it over Nikki, or... whatever. But you know what nobody talks about?"

Tiffany:
(tilts her head)
"What?"

Pat:
"My dad. My dad is the one who gambles away mortgage payments like they’re pennies. He literally thinks the Eagles winning a game is a sign from the universe that his parlay will hit. He doesn’t even hide it anymore."

Tiffany:
"He did seem a little... obsessive. With the remote, and the lucky handkerchief and—what was it—the green pillow?"

Pat:
"Yeah. That’s not just quirky superstition. That’s an addiction wrapped in tradition. And the crazy part? Everyone treats it like it’s normal. They call me unstable while he's gambling with a twenty-thousand-dollar credit line like it's Monopoly money."

Tiffany:
(softly, amused)
"You serious? Twenty grand?"

Pat:
"My credit card has a limit of a thousand bucks. One. Thousand. You know why? Because I don’t want to live like that. I want boundaries. I want to know that if I screw up, it won’t bankrupt me or my future wife, or family, or whatever future I’m trying to rebuild."

Tiffany:
(nods, quiet for a moment)
"That’s... kind of amazing, actually. Everyone’s so busy looking at your file, your hospital stay, your 'episodes'... they don’t even see how grounded you’re trying to be."

Pat:
"Exactly. I know I messed up. I know I needed help. But at least I’m aware of it. I’m not lying to myself with lucky ties and betting slips. I’m trying, Tiff. Like, really trying to be better than the chaos I come from."

Tiffany:
(gently, reaching for his hand)
"I see that. I do. And I think it’s brave. It’s easier to go along with the crazy than to call it what it is."

Pat:
"Yeah. But I’m tired of being the scapegoat for the dysfunction in my family. I may be the only one trying to break the cycle."

Tiffany:
(smiling)
"Then maybe you're not crazy, Pat. Maybe you're just... sane in a world that doesn’t want to be."

They sit together, hand in hand, breathing in the cold air, two survivors of stormy families trying to find a little calm, a little light, a little silver lining.