Hugs to Elise for the beta!

Hugs to Christie cause she helped me turn a really cruddy part into something worth reading.

The Orange Soda Will Get You Every Time Part 5

Rory walked into the diner the next morning to find Dan helping Luke take orders. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a plain t-shirt and one of Luke's old baseball caps, which he wore backwards.

He rushed over, holding an order pad and a pencil. "Rory!"

She smiled and knelt down in front of him. "Hi, Dan. Are you pretending to be Luke today?"

Dan nodded. "Can I take your order?"

Rory snickered. "Luke is much more grumpy when he says it."

"Oh," Dan said. He masked his face with a scowl, which made him look more like Jess than Luke. "Can I take your order?"

That was when Lorelai walked in. She gasped. "I'm have a serious case of déjà vu, here."

"Dan's mocking Luke," Rory said proudly.

Lorelai smiled. "He is truly Jess's."

"Stop encouraging him," Luke growled.

"Can you growl like Uncle Luke, Dan?" Lorelai asked.

The little boy shook his head sadly. "Dad says my voice is too high."

"Aw, you'll master it eventually," Rory reassured him.

"Are you and Dad going on another date?" Dan changed the subject.

Rory blushed and caught a glimpse of Jess coming out of the kitchen. "Maybe... wanna take my order?"

Dan nodded, readying his pencil.

"A cup of coffee," Rory began.

"Two," Lorelai chimed in.

"A plate of chocolate chip pancakes..."

"Three," Lorelai corrected.

Rory smirked. "And two plates of eggs."

"Four," Lorelai whispered.

Dan scribbled more and then nodded and rushed over to Luke, handing him the pad.

Luke blinked. "What is this?"

"Rory and Lorelai's order," Dan proclaimed proudly.

Luke squinted. "Jess!"

Jess walked over. "What?"

Luke handed his nephew the pad. "I can't read this."

"You're not supposed to," Jess replied. "They're pictures." He smirked. "Two coffee cups, three pancakes and...your eggs look like clouds, Dan."

The five-year-old blushed. "Sorry."

"I'll write this out," Jess told them. He tore off Dan's order. "Dan, go give this to Caesar. I wanna see how loud he can yell."

Dan took it with a smile and ran off.

Luke shook his head. "That's just evil."

Jess smirked, and was about to reply, when he saw Rory sitting with her mother. His smirk melted as she met his eyes, and they both smiled a little at each other.

"JESS!"

He jumped a little and turned. "What Caesar?"

"THIS GOD-DAMNED ORDER IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!"

Jess smirked again and bounded over to the kitchen.

Rory watched him with a smile, and Lorelai snickered. Rory glared a little, until Jess walked over with their food.

"Two cups of coffee, three plates of pancakes, and four orders of eggs," Jess recited, setting down the food. He set down the only plate of pancakes with whipped cream in front of Rory.

"Hey!" Lorelai whined. "No fair! You can't play favorites."

Jess merely smirked again and walked off.

Rory watched him and nearly fell out of her chair.

"Whoa there, Smitten Kitten," Lorelai warned, grabbing Rory's arm. "He's not worth the bruising."

Rory merely smiled and sipped her coffee, just as Dan walked over.

"Look what Caesar gave me!" Dan exclaimed, holding up a can of whipped cream. He lifted the can to his mouth and squirted some in.

Jess blinked at his son, and then glared back at the kitchen. "You suck, Caesar!"

"Do we have to go home?" Dan asked as he followed his father down Main Street toward the bookstore.

Jess nodded. "I have work in the morning."

"Is Rory leaving, too?"

Jess nodded again. "She is."

"Where does she live?"

Jess sighed, and thought about the number on the business card in his pocket. He kicked himself for memorizing it so quickly. "She lives in Scarsdale."

"Really?!" Dan cried excitedly. "That's so close to us! We could see her!"

"We'll see," Jess replied, walking into the bookstore. He nodded to Andrew and headed for the literature section.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?" Jess asked, looking down at Dan.

Dan blushed. "I need the potty."

"Go ask Andrew."

Dan nodded and rushed off.

Jess made it to the literature section to find it already occupied. He smirked and placed himself next to her.

Rory smiled. "Shopping for anything in particular this morning?" she asked.

"Dan spilled orange soda on my copy of Don Quixote," Jess replied, running a finger along the titles in front of him.

"Ah," Rory snickered. "Then you're on the wrong side of the section... Cervantes is on the other side... this is D."

"Huh. Hadn't noticed," he replied, giving her a glance.

She smiled at him and moved in boldly to kiss him. He met her halfway and placed his hands on her hips gently.

Jess deepened the kiss just as Dan walked over. His jaw dropped open in shock.

"Dad?!"

Jess jumped away from Rory and straightened up a little. "Dan."

"Why were you trying to eat Rory?" Dan asked, obviously a little upset.

"Well, there are a number of reasons," Jess began.

Rory blushed. "Dan, your dad and I were just..."

Dan waited expectantly.

"Kissing," Rory sighed out.

Dan gave this some thought and then smiled a little. "You were having smoochies!" He giggled a little. "I have to go tell Lindsay!"

Jess caught the boy before he could run off. "Why are you going to tell Lindsay?"

"Because she said... she said if you have smoochies I should tell her," Dan replied.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Don't tell anybody, okay? It's a secret."

"Gramma Liz says I shouldn't keep secrets," Dan replied, looking pained. "She says they hurt people."

"This won't hurt people," Rory smiled. "It's a fun secret."

"Really?"

They both nodded.

Dan smiled. "Okay."

"So? We like Jess? Again?"

Rory smiled at Lane. "We like Jess again."

They were on a bench near the Gazebo that afternoon. It was chilly out, but sunny; nice enough to sit outside.

Lane laughed. "That's insane!"

"I know," Rory nodded. "I just... I saw him in the bookstore... and we kissed... and then the coffee shop... kissing there, too... Doose's...wow the one in Doose's..."

"You realize he only gave you a 'wow' kiss in the event that Taylor caught you, don't you?" Lane asked with a smirk.

Rory nodded. "Yeah, but... still..." She sighed and smiled.

"Uh-oh," Lane said in a sing-song voice. "Somebody's got a crush..."

Rory paid no mind. "It's like... It's like when we first started dating back in high school... we couldn't keep our hands off each other." She blushed. "I feel eighteen all over again."

Lane smiled. "What do you think of Dan?"

"He's so cute," Rory replied. "And he's nice, and he likes me... my own little sister doesn't like me as much as Dan does."

"You never see Gigi," Lane pointed out.

"Not the point," Rory argued. She sighed again. "I wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow."

"Chances are so does he," Lane nodded. She thought for a moment. "So do I..."

"You work in a recording studio!" Rory cried. "You hang out with musicians and you eat Chinese food all day!"

"I do work!"

"You make out with Dave!"

"That's hard work!"

Rory rolled her eyes.

Dan held his father's hand as they walked up to the Gilmore's front porch.

"Oh! Jess!"

Jess turned to see Sookie and Jackson, along with their eight-year- old son, Davie, walking up behind them. "Hey."

"Hi, Davie," Dan said shyly.

"Hi, Dan," Davie replied with a smile.

"It's so great that you guys made it for the weekend," Sookie smiled. She pulled a jar of jam out from the plastic bag she carried. "Here. It's orange. Dan can snack on it on the ride home."

Jess smirked. "Thanks."

"Be careful," Sookie warned. "It still has some orange peel in it for flavor... and I squeezed in a little lemon and some peach juice to make it more fun."

Dan smiled and took the jar.

"What do you say?" Jess asked.

"Thank you," Dan said quietly.

"You're welcome," Jackson smiled. He turned to Jess. "So... you and Rory again, huh?"

Jess rolled his eyes and knocked on the door.

"Hey! You left without us!" Liz complained as she rushed away from TJ and Luke.

Jess shrugged. "Dan was getting antsy."

Liz smiled down at her grandson. "Hi, Angel. Did you have fun with Dad today?"

Dan nodded. "Dad and Rory had smo-"He was cut off when the door opened and Rory appeared. "Rory!"

Jess sighed and smirked. "Hey."

"Hey, guys," Rory smiled. "Come on in."

All but Jess trooped in. He merely pulled Rory out onto the porch and started kissing her.

She pulled away a little. "Jess..."

"It's been one date, and... I think I'm addicted," he told her. "They don't make a twelve-step program for you, y'know... you're hard to get over."

Rory smiled a little. "So are you."

Jess took a step back and gave her a curious look. "Am I?"

"Yes," she told him. "Yes, you are."

"Huh."

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Just thinking."

"Of what?"

He sighed. "I was just thinking... you never seemed to mind getting over me."

"Jess?"

"What?"

"I never really did."

He stared at her for a moment before kissing her again.

And then the door opened.

"LINDSAY! LINDSAY! DAD AND RORY ARE HAVING SMOOCHIES!"

"You know," Jess said, pulling from Rory. "Some animals eat their young."

She smacked him playfully on the arm as they walked inside.

"Bye, sweetie," Liz said, hugging Jess. "Drive safe." She turned and hugged Dan tightly. "Bye, Angel. Be good."

"Bye, Gramma," Dan replied, hugging back.

Lorelai hugged Rory tightly. "Bye, Sweets. Have a good drive."

"Bye, Mom," Rory replied.

Luke and Jess hugged briefly, giving each other masculine thumps on the back.

"Call," Luke ordered.

Jess nodded. "Yeah." He turned to Rory and smirked.

She smiled. "So..."

"You wanna have dinner tomorrow night?" Jess asked.

Rory smiled widely. "I would love to."

Jess nodded and took out a piece of paper and scribbled an address on it. He handed it to her. "That's my apartment."

Rory nodded back. "I figured."

Dan ran over and hugged Rory's legs. "Bye, Rory!"

Rory smiled and lifted him up. "Bye, Dan."

Jess smirked at them.