"Previously on "Finding Carter"" " What are you doing here?" " Living here." "Carter, I know guys like him." "You have no idea what he's into." "I don't need you to take care of me." "Let's get this party started!" "I'm not doing so great." "Back to dredge up the past again?" "Give Ben whatever he needs." "Somebody mentioned there's a server position open?" "Excuse me, sorry." "Damn, she's good with those trays." "She's a pro." "You keep your tray on your hip until your training wheels come off." "A girl can dream." "Nothing dreamy about broken bottles and cleaning up booze." "How long 'til I can try?" " Once you got the flow." " What's the flow?" "Never make a move What's the flowithout an action." "If you're leaving a table, grab an empty glass." "If you're passing the bar..." "Grab a pitcher of water." "That's the easy part." "Now, the hard part is good customer flow." "And when a new table walks in, you gotta get to them in two minutes and make eye contact with the captain." "The captain?" "The alpha." "The guy buying the drinks." "What if it's a girl who's buying the drinks?" "See, look, you're learning already." "I think they got here about a minute ago." "Tick tock." "Okay, so I have an old fashioned for you." "Vodka soda, extra ice." "IPA." "Bourbon, neat." "What can I get you guys?" "Ice water." "I think I'm getting the hang of this." "Where the hell have you been?" "Mom and Dad are flipping out." "I covered for you." "Are you gonna tell me where you were?" "I told you, I went to go see a movie." "Come on, Carter, I know you didn't." "How?" "You don't know everything about me." "Obviously." "Like where you've been every day after school this week and every night." "Unless you don't trust me." "Okay." "Just so you know," "Mom is going to freak if she finds out." "Okay." "Then... we better make sure she doesn't." " Good morning." " Morning." "Morning." "You look exhausted." "This is what I look like before coffee." "That was a long movie last night." "The Rock was saving the world." "It takes time." "The Rock is awesome." "So I'm thinking that The Rock did save the world, am I right?" "Mom." "Spoiler alert." "Not great news." "There's gonna be another book... about us." " Some gossip blogger." " Really?" "Aren't people tired of us yet?" "I don't know." "Sorry." "You should write your book, Dad." "No, I'm serious." "Kill everyone else's stories with the truth." "She may be right." "Yours is the one that people will want to read." "Wouldn't people rather hear gossip and lies?" "Yeah, he has a point." "Whatever sensationalized dirt is put in front of them, that's gonna be what they want to read." "Well, not if we get the real story out first." "You were very much against my writing it." "Yeah, well, a couple of things have changed since then." "And it would definitely help pay for expenses." "Fine, whatever." "I think it's time, Dad." "All right, you'll be my first readers and my harshest critics." "Done." "It's gonna be good to write again." "Oh, we should leave if I'm giving you guys" " a ride to school." " Right." "School." "That's where we're going." "To learn." "All day." "Ease up on the coffee, Tay." "Um, David?" "Not so fast." "I wish you weren't missing school for me, but I guess I can't exactly complain." "No." "It's okay." "My first period's a joke." "I got my assignment." "What?" "When did you find out?" "Right before you got here." "Where are they sending you?" "Fort Hunter Liggett, California." "California's far, Crash." "It's better than Afghanistan." "It's still 3,000 miles away." "We always talked about going." "Yeah, not 'cause you got posted." "We knew it would happen eventually." "Sorry." "Sorry, I'm just tired." "I wasn't expecting this today." "Hey, it's okay." "How are we gonna see each other?" "I'll push for time off over Christmas." "Maybe you'll come visit me over the summer." "Okay." "Okay." "Yeah." "I'm fine." "This doesn't change anything." "Except how many classes I'm missing." "$10,000 is a lot of money." "It's for Ben." "He's my son, I want to help support him." "We want to help support him." "I just don't understand why you had to go behind my back." "Maybe the same reason you went behind mine." "She told me what happened." "I was protecting our family." "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the money." "Carter doesn't want to have anything to do with her." "She can't hurt us anymore." "She already is." "She is going to use that kid just like she tried to use Carter." "Liz, I promise you, I won't let her." "Hey." "I hear you're the guy to talk to about getting some ID." "Uh, let me check you guys later, okay?" "Come here." "You gotta chill." "You can't just walk up and ask me for stuff" " in front of people." " Sorry." "Are you Carter's friend, the one who had the party?" " Yeah." " 100 bucks." "Bird told me 50." "For Bird, it was 50; for you, it's 100." "Fine." "Actually, you know what?" "I'm a fair guy, let's compromise here." "You give me 75, I take your car for a spin." "75 and I drive." "Hello?" "Hey." "It's just me." "I'm gonna go upstairs and study." "Carter, can we see you, please?" "Oh... hi." "Carter, this is Mr. Smith." "Well, it was really nice to meet you." "I should probably get started on my homework." "Homework?" "For all the classes you haven't been going to?" "Carter, Mr. Smith is a Fairfax County truancy officer." "We hear you've been ditching school." "Carter, I'm not screwing around here." "This isn't some guidance counselor calling you out on the carpet." "There are state laws about being in school." "You could be in serious trouble, and not just from us." " Fine, I get it." " Do you?" ""The officer may file complaints in juvenile court" ""against a parent for failure to send the child" ""to school and/or against the student for failure to attend."" "You could go to juvie." "And we could be held legally responsible." "I hate being there." "I know you do." "I hated it, too, but I went anyway." "You need an education." "Yeah, but school isn't the only place to get an education." "I think I want to drop out." "That's not funny." "I'm not joking, I'll get a job." " Carter." " What?" "Not everyone hates school." "Taylor loves it." "Everything they teach in school is stuff she already wants to learn, but I don't learn like that." "I learn from people and experiences, out in the world." "Mom, do you remember that time you took me to that police training center?" "That was amazing." "And I could never have learned any of that stuff in school." "But you have plenty of time in your life to go to work." "Okay, Dad." "Do you remember that book you got me by Bob Dylan?" "I learned more about music in the '60s from that book than I ever could have learned from some textbook." "No one is stopping you from reading in your spare time, but you only have one more year of school." "A year is an eternity." "I've been home less than a year." "What if someone told you you had to wait another one to find me?" "That's completely different." "We didn't know if you were alive." "I'm not alive when I'm in school." "I don't learn anything there because I don't care about the stuff that they're teaching me." "I'm not Taylor." "We don't want you to be Taylor." "But that doesn't mean you don't need a high school education." "I'm sorry, Carter." "The answer's no." "Hey." "How's the new ride?" "It's fast." "Got up to 90." "He's been living life kinda fast lately." "What are you, his mom now?" "No." "But his dad did die not that long ago." "Did you know that?" "Yeah, I heard something like that." "Okay, well, he hasn't had the easiest time since then." " He told me." " He told you?" "Of course not." "We're dudes." "Okay." "I'm just saying..." "Be careful with him." "He's shaking." "I'm not a baby." "And also..." "I wouldn't want somebody talking about me like that." "I'll see you around." "Yeah, good talk." " Thanks for picking me up." " No problem." "What were you talking to Ben about?" "Gabe, actually." "Yeah, what about him?" "They're hanging out now, I guess." "And I asked Ben to look out for him, which he has no interest in doing." "I get that." " You do?" " Sometimes you need to let people heal on their own." "Yeah." "And sometimes friends need to look out for each other." "That, too." "Hey, you know what tomorrow is?" "No, what?" "It's our six-month anniversary." " Is it?" " Mm-hmm." "We met exactly six months ago." "Wow." "That's so nice that you remembered." "Kind of hard six months to forget." "Mm-hmm." "I thought I would cook you dinner, celebrate." "You're gonna cook for me?" "Well, don't sound so surprised." "I can cook." "Can you make an entire meal out of croutons?" "No, no, I'm kidding." "I would love for you to cook me dinner." "Deal." "I did make... plans with Gabe." "But I can cancel them." "No, if you already had plans." "No." "You only get one chance at a six-month anniversary." "And you come first, Max." "Always." "Six months." "What would that be?" "Gold?" "Silver?" " Plastic?" " Plastic." " I'm going out." " Uh..." "Which part of the word "grounded" is confusing?" "Not out out." "Study group out." "You're attending a study group." "What can I say?" "Misery loves company." "And maybe misery could do better in school if she tries harder." "Whose study group is it?" "Some intermediate one Taylor was too smart for." "I think the girl who's over by Pam's Donuts." "Okay." "Okay." "Really, five more tequila shots?" "The attorneys in the corner won't call it a night." "Are they calling you "honey" yet?" "Honey, sweetie, cutie." "And two taps on the ass." "Just waiting for the bad tip to complete the holy trinity." "Ugh, what's their problem?" "Nice people get nicer when they drink." "Douches just get douchier." "We had to cut one of them off a few weeks ago." "Imagine how drunk you have to be for someone who makes their living off of tips to stop serving you." "I have one Lager," " one Mojito." " Thank you." "And a Pinot Noir." "I'll be right back with your check." "Uh, hey, cutie pie." "These classes, they're not gonna clear themselves." "Imagine that." "Oh, and while you're at it, will you grab your friend?" "We've been waiting on her forever." "Oh, her?" "Her name is Stevie." "She's waiting on six other tables tonight." "It's waitressing." "It's not rocket science." "Well, I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say you're not one of NASA's finest either." "So how about we just give Stevie a break?" "You're quite the ball-buster, you know that?" "Only the ones that need it." "Here you go, guys." "Thank you, Stevie." "And whenever you get a chance," "I think we're ready for our check." "Okay." "Put 'em up, guys." "Those guys left me a 100-buck tip." "This is for making all our lives a little easier tonight." "You're taking off those training wheels." "You okay?" "This neighborhood sucks." "Yeah." " Thank you for coming." " Of course." "You should have called me." " I would have picked you up at the bar." " Well, it was late." "I didn't want to wake you up." "I don't care about that." "You can't keep living like this." "I don't want to go back to base and think about you taking a bus home at 3:00 a.m." "I know, but I don't want to stop working." "You really like it, huh?" "I don't know, it's like... when I'm working there, all of my instincts and skills finally come together." "And it feels really amazing." "Yeah, I get that." "That's how I felt after basic." "All I feel like at school is a failure." "It's just bringing me down." "I know, but, babe, you can't keep this up." "Something's gotta give." "Why the face?" "I got a job at that bar, Magic Hour." "The one we went to with Bird?" "Mm-hmm." "How'd you get the cop to sign off on that?" "She doesn't know." "She thinks I'm going to a study group every night to try and save my failing ass." "Sneaky." " I like it." " See?" "There are ways to stay with a cop and still live your life." "Yeah, nice try, but I'm actually good where I'm at." "That's fine, I'm gonna have to quit the bar anyway." "Why?" "Because I keep having to ditch class to get to my shift and now I've got this truancy officer keeping tabs on me." "Yeah, they're the worst." "I wish I could drop out of school but my parents won't let me." "Yeah, it doesn't really fit with their whole picket-fence vibe." "You do have another option, you know." "I was speaking parentally." "Not in this lifetime." "She said she'd always be there for you." "I was there, I heard her." "Okay, well, I might be miserable, but I'm not deranged." "I'm just trying to help you get what you want." "Hey, you still here?" "Yeah." "Sorry." "My head's all over the place." "Me too." "When do you leave again?" "48 hours." "Well... we still have today." "Don't you have to go back to school?" "No, I'm not going back today." "What's wrong?" "Between my attendance and my lousy GPA, they're making me repeat the year." "Hi." "Ben's not here." "Yeah, I know." "I came to see you." "Um, come in." "You said that you would be here if I ever needed anything." "Well, now I need something." "I want you to sign an authorization form so I can drop out of school." "I assume you've already asked Dave and Elizabeth." "Yes." "I can't say this is a shock." "Which part?" "Well, you've never been a traditional student, even when you were in kindergarten." "I practically taught you math in our kitchen on Bay Street." "The little table with the measuring cups and the sugar?" "Mm-hmm." "Will you sign it?" "I don't know, Carter, I..." "I made a promise to stay away, and I think I know how they would feel about this." "Why do you want this so much?" "I want to be good at something, something that I choose." "I'm so tired of feeling like" "I'm always swimming upstream." "Look, you spent 13 years telling me you would do anything on earth to make me happy." "Now is your chance." "You do realize that 99.9% of parents would never do anything like this, right?" "Yes." "Lucky for you, I'm the 1%." "I can't believe you did it." "I had no choice." "Mom and Dad are gonna lose it." "I know." "What did she say when she signed?" "She reminded me that most parents wouldn't do it." "Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess." "Hey, come in here." " Hey." " Hey." "How is it?" "It's good." "Uh, no typos." "That's a rave." "Which part are you on?" "The part where we finally get you back and all you want to do is leave." "Ah, that." ""We'd lie in bed the night" ""trying to imagine what she was going through." ""The trauma of the transition was enormous." ""She was determined to keep us at arm's length," ""but one thing was clear" ""from the very first moment we met her again." "She was an extraordinary person."" "Wow." "I was such a bitch." "You were a... a challenge." "Which means mega." "I guess I never really thought about what it was like for them." "It's not that big a town." "We're gonna run into each other." "Well, call me an optimist, but I keep hoping you'll move." "Not a chance." "Especially now." "Didn't Carter tell you she came to see me?" "We had a little chat about school." "You didn't." "I did." "See, one of the lessons of motherhood I did learn is the importance of truly seeing your child for who they are." "Carter's never been an academic, she's never going to be." "So why not end the charade and just let her start living the life she's so capable of." "You had no right." "In the eyes of the state, and more importantly, our daughter," "I do." "Might want to keep that in mind." "Do you have any idea what you've done?" "I'm sorry, but I..." "You rolled out the welcome mat and you invited her into our lives." "Did you even give it a second thought, what you were doing?" "Let's all try to stay calm." "Is this what's gonna happen now that she's living here?" "You're gonna pit us against each other until you get the answer that you want?" "No, that's not what I was doing." "Well, that's what you did, Carter." "You set up this dynamic and now she thinks we're all playing this sick game." "That was a real bad choice, Carter." "We need to be able to trust you." "You can trust me." "How?" "You crossed a major line." "I never wanted to go to her, okay?" "I only went because I knew you guys wouldn't sign it." "That doesn't justify what you did, not for a second." "I'm not trying to justify it." "I knew it was wrong as soon as I did it, which is why I tore up the form." "What?" "I tore it up." "I want this... more than I have wanted anything ever, but I am still your daughter and I don't want to do it without your blessing." "We're fighting a losing battle." "You know that, right?" "In six months, she's gonna be 18." "She can drop out on her own." "What, we just give in?" "What kind of parenting manual did you get that from?" "The same one that says it's better to surrender one battle than lose the war." "Hey." "Hey." "So." "You can have to get a job and your GED." "And help out around the house." "And no sleeping in 'til noon every day." "You need to be a responsible member of society." "Which includes picking up Grant and dropping him off wherever he wants to go." "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" "We're gonna let you drop out of school." "Thank you!" "Thank you, you are not gonna regret this, I promise." "There's no way that you got your mom to sign off on you dropping out." "Yep." "Elizabeth?" "Yeah." "Elizabeth Wilson?" "Yeah, I know, it's insane." "Good thing she doesn't know I'm working in a bar." "I think that might have set me back." "You know there's no one else on the planet who could have made that happen, right?" "Oh, thanks." "I think my dad might have had something to do with it." "No, it's you and your powers of persuasion." " I'm proud of you." " What?" "For dropping out of school?" "No, for knowing that it wasn't your thing." "For making your case and sticking to your guns." "Thanks." "Okay, I gotta go." "All right, so as of right now, we are 86'ing Corona off the menu." "The shipment has not come in yet." "Carter, you're late." "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, I was..." "And, guys, I'm getting sick and tired of seeing empty salt and pepper shakers." "Someone take the initiative and refill them without me having to ask." "Let's go to work, make some money." "Jared." "Jared, I'm sorry I was late." "I'm dealing with some major life stuff." "Yeah, well, we're all dealing with major life stuff, Carter, and none of us were 40 minutes late." "I know." "Scotty, we're about to open, where the hell is my Corona shipment?" "Are you kidding me?" "It's good." "Your voice just went up really high." "Did it?" "Coq au vin is not an easy dish to make, Max, for anybody." "I followed the directions like the recipe." "Yeah, but sometimes you can put all the right ingredients together and it still doesn't quite fit." "Do you want to order pizza?" "On our six-month anniversary?" "Not a chance." "Okay." "I can work with this." "What, you're gonna take the ingredients from the dinner that I made you and use them to make dinner for me?" "For us." "Yeah." "It's very "Top Chef."" "I'm gonna sit back here and admire the quick fire." "Ah, he knows the lingo." "Nice." "Can I have two beers?" "Something wrong with the Pinot Noir?" "No." "Except the whole table ordered Pinot Grigio." "Okay." "It's loud, I misheard them." "You cost us 30 bucks." "What, we can't just re-serve it?" "Sure, if you want to get fined by the health department." "Fourth table, your section." "Seems like they've been waiting a while." "What's it take to get some drinks around here?" "They're a little rowdy." "Can you handle it?" "Uh, yeah, no problem." "Thanks." "Can I get two dark and stormies?" "Dark and stormy!" "My favorite." "You're too good to me." "I don't deserve it." "How long have you guys been partying?" "Many several hours." "I was supposed to see a movie with your sister... but she bailed." "Whatevs." "This is funner." "Okay, you're drunk." "Am not." "I really shouldn't be serving you guys." "Gabe!" "God, stop it." "Gabe!" " Too late." " Stop!" "We're gonna need some more drinks around here, man." "Yeah, I really don't think so." "Oh, wait!" "What the hell?" "!" "I'm sorry." "Take it down a notch, man." "I can't believe she thinks that I'm drunk." "Could a drunk person do this even?" "Oh..." "All right, I'm gonna need you to step outside." "Let's go, playtime's over." "Let's go, come on." "Get your hands off me." "I said get your hands off me!" "Two seconds." "Are you really answering your phone right now?" "It's Gabe... weird." "I..." "I should just make sure he's okay." "Hey, Gabe." "Ben?" "Oh." "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." "No, I guess I can come." "Uh, Gabe is a little out of control." "No kidding." "I should go help them." "Do you want me to come with you?" "No, it's fine." "Ben's there." "I'm sure we can handle it." "I'm really sorry." "I'll be back in a flash." "Okay." "Whoa." "Oh..." "Easy." "Dude, are you trying to steal my shoes?" "Taylor, Ben's trying to steal my shoes." "No, Gabe, we're trying to put you to bed." "Taylor, I've fantasized about this." "You, me, my bed..." "Shut up, you have not." "Shh, I have, too." "Except Ben was definitely not here." "That's good to know." "Hey, um..." "I'm sorry." "It's not your fault." "Yeah, actually it is." "You sent up a flare and I blew you off." "It's not just his dad, you know that, right?" "What do you mean?" "I mean he's got it bad for you." "He told you that?" "No, he didn't have to." "Hey." "You wanted to see me?" "Yeah, come in." "Shut the door." "So what happened out there tonight?" "Why'd you serve that guy?" "I'm so sorry." "I had no idea he was so wasted." "How could you not know?" "I saw you bring him a drink." "Couldn't you tell when he ordered it?" "Well, I brought him the drink before I went over there." "Why would you do that?" "'Cause he's a friend." "A friend." "How am I supposed to trust your judgment when you bring around a friend like that?" "Someone who gets into fights and breaks bottles and could get us shut down?" "He's not a bad guy, he's just going through a rough time." "His judgment's a little impaired." "I don't care about his judgment." "I care about yours." "Which in this case was nonexistent." "I know, look, I..." "No, you clearly don't." "I can't afford to have servers that I can't trust, so I'm sorry, Carter..." "I'm gonna have to let you go." "What?" "You're fired." "Come in tomorrow to pick up your last check." "What a crappy day." "You're leaving." "I got fired." "I'm sorry you got fired." "But... it gave me an idea." "What?" "Look, I love you, Carter." "My life is so much better with you in it." "And now that you're dropping out and the job's not holding you here... there's nothing in our way." "What are you saying?" "Come to California with me." "Seriously?" "I've never been more serious about anything in my whole life." "You remember what we used to talk about?" "A shack on the beach, driving on the coast." "Camping out." "We can actually do all of those things now." "You could get a job out there." "We could be together." "There's nothing holding us back." "It's the perfect time." " Wow." " Don't say anything." "Tell me you'll think about it." "I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to think of anything else." "That looks awesome." "Yeah." "Like paradise." "I'm sorry about your job." "I know you loved it." "Maybe it's for the best." "I told him I'd give him an answer today." "So you're going." "I'm seriously thinking about it." "Do you want to make a pros and cons list?" "That always helps me if I'm having trouble making a decision." "Yeah, okay." "Pros." "California." "It's beautiful and fun." "And I'd get to travel, which is something" "I've always wanted to do." "And I'd be with Crash." "Cons?" "I'd miss you and..." "Grant and..." "Mom and Dad and..." "I don't know, getting to know Ben." "Plus, if I left now, I'd..." "I think I'd feel like I didn't really give my life here a real shot." "But then I guess people make sacrifices for the people they love, and I could find a really great life of my own out there." "You're starting to sound like me." "Driving yourself crazy, overanalyzing." "Well, it's a big decision." "It is." "But that's the difference between us." "You know, I'll spend hours going back and forth, playing the pros and cons game." "But you figure out what you want and you go for it." "And you never let anything stand in your way." "If you go..." "I'll miss the hell out of you." "But do what's right for you." "It's really pretty." "Hey, it's me." "I'm here." "See you in a minute." "Whoa." "What do you think you're doing?" "Wiping down these grimy tables so we don't get hit with a health code violation." "Oh, and I refilled all the salt and pepper shakers." "Just putting the "I" in initiative." "Sorry, that was too much." "Do you not understand the meaning of the word "fired"?" "I'm a slow learner." "Okay, well... those candles aren't gonna light themselves." "I'm sorry I bailed last night." "It got late." "That's okay, I get it." "How is Gabe?" "Uh, not great." "I think he's lucky... to have a friend like you looking out for him." "I just hope he's not taking advantage of it." " What do you mean?" " He's going through a lot and it seems like he's wanting to... lean on someone." "You, mostly." "Well, we've been friends since we were kids." "I think he just needs the continuity." "Maybe he needs more." "Do you think that he might have feelings for you?" "No." "No, definitely not." "Yeah, I pretty much convinced myself that he did." "Well, I'm just gonna have to unconvince you." "Thanks for meeting me." "Yeah, no problem." "I'm sorry I kept you waiting earlier." "It's a crazy idea, me thinking that you wanted to go." "No, Crash, it wasn't crazy." "I love that you asked me." "But... you're on your own path." "And I still have to figure out what mine is." " I'm sorry." " It's okay." "I always knew you were a free spirit," "I just didn't really think about it." "So, look... we'll talk, okay?" "And you can ask your guy when you can have leave." "Figure it out." "We'll see." "What do you mean, we'll see?" "I mean, the whole reason you're staying is so that you can find your life, figure out what you want, right?" "Yeah." "You've spent all this time... helping me, keeping me on the straight and narrow." "You've changed my life." "Now it's your turn." "I think what you really need is to do this on your own, with nothing holding you back." "You're not holding me back." "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but you've done things for me, and so now it's my turn." "Okay, so what are you saying?" "I love you, Carter." "I'm saying, we shouldn't call, we shouldn't Skype... or make plans." "You should live your life and I'll live mine." "And if there's any justice in the world, then we'll cross paths again." "Okay?" "Damn, you killed it in tips tonight." "I know." "Pretty awesome." "You mind taking the trash out?" "Sure thing." "Boss." "It's good to have you back." "Thanks." "It's good to be back." "We need to talk." "I kind of have this brother. "Finding Carter"..." "And he's up to something." "Five laps or you get your ass out of here." "I guess my ass is out of here." "What if you went out with him?" "What's your angle?" "You're lucky you got Taylor." "Shoot, she's not like anyone." "I've been thinking about Ben." "He'd be better off living with us." "How could you sit there and eat dinner with them and then steal from my dad?" "Screw you." "Marnie?" "I know we agreed to take some time off." "And I think that was a great idea." "My God." "It gave us both a chance to experiment, if you will, and meet all sorts of new and interesting, different people." "You did quite a bit more experimenting than I did." "A lot more experimenting." "You are like a scientist!" "With beakers and..." "But, obviously, I'm cool with that." "Like..."