Happy Saturday! I can’t believe this is the last Rainbow Snippet of the year. It’s also nearing the end of my vacation. It’s been nice to have the time off.
I meant to get to everyone’s snippets last weekend, but it ended up being a whirlwind of cleaning and wrapping and family in and out. Hopefully I’ll be able to do better this week.
This is my last holiday-themed snippet. It’s from another story in Leaps of Faith, “Hope of All the Earth,” once again in Zayne’s POV. The story is a crossover of several of my novels and was my Christmas story last year. It takes place roughly ten years after the one I posted last week. Here, it’s Christmas Eve, and Cooper (now in his early twenties) has broken up with his long-term boyfriend.
Cooper flopped on the bed with one arm flung over his eyes. Zayne wished there were something she could do to ease the pain. She would never tell Cooper, but she’d sensed before that he’d felt obligated in some way to Terry and like it would make him a terrible person for initiating a break-up. The two of them had shared a lot of firsts and a lot of secrets together. Cooper may not have wanted to be the one to end things, but he hadn’t necessarily been an enthusiastic participant, either. There were little things he’d said over the last year and the slow, steady decline in their affection for each other. It wasn’t like the comfort of a long-term relationship, more like the symptoms of impending illness.
Rainbow Snippets is a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in!
Kathy Griffith
Oh, how sad 🙁 I loved that last line—
AM Leibowitz
It is sad, but fortunately, Cooper’s about to have his spirits lifted.
Addison Albright
Aw, that’s sad. It’s difficult to end a relationship when there’s no one thing to point to for the blame.
AM Leibowitz
Yes. I think sometimes inertia makes people stay long past the expiration date, which is what happened here.
Jana Denardo
Tough thing to go through but that last line is just perfect.
AM Leibowitz
Yep, it is. And thank you.
K.S. Trenten
Aww, so painful, yet beautifully expressed with a truth I can identify with only too keenly at times.
AM Leibowitz
Yes, I think that truth can be present in all kinds of relationships, not just romantic ones. But it is indeed painful.
Charli
Perfect description of a failing relationship. Love that last line too.
AM Leibowitz
Thank you!
Louise Lyons
I was sad for Cooper when I read this – right up until he got a very nice Christmas present *wink wink* Go Coop!
AM Leibowitz
Ha! Yep. Cooper will be A-ok.
Antonia Aquilante
So sad, but just the perfect description.