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Zane Helberg.
One of Dennys coworkers, (and friends, of course. He wouldn't leave him out like that.) overall, there was nothing bad to say about him.
And that's what he hated.
Everyone wasn't perfect, even him! So how come Zane out of all people stuck out to him? He was a pretty basic guy to say the least. He probably couldn't differentiate him from some other white, Jewish man.
(That's a lie. He knew that, they were all special in their own way. That's how God made them.)
He didn't know what to do about these feelings.
They started a couple weeks ago, or at least that's when he first noticed them arising. Every time he talked to Zane, even gazing at him made him feel something. It wasn't a bad thing per se, it just felt odd— he felt it before, though.
He knew of it.
He acted differently too. He would jump at the opportunity to interact with him, and the rest of the panel seemed to notice.
Herm was the first, of course he was. He was arguably the closest with Herm, it only made sense.
It was clear that he was worried about him, every time he brought it up he always brushed him off. It was nothing anyone had to worry about, he can do it himself.
He persisted for a bit, before letting go. Telling him he would always be there for him. He knew he was, but it was hard.
Next was Aaron, pretty much directly after Herm. He didn't pry too hard, just enough for Denny to admit he is going through something, but he doesn't want to speak about it now.
Aaron's reaction was similar to Herms, he supposed that was because they were good friends. Nothing else.
He doesn't insist as much as Herm does. He likes that. It maked him feel less stressed about all this.
Eventually Kevin mentioned it aswell, sometimes towards the group, mostly towards him.
He does tell Kevin, unfortunately. He talks about it with him. How Zane makes him feel all warm inside.
He compares it with how he felt when he liked women, it was the only thing that truly felt the same.
Kevin said he might like Zane, (romantically. Of course he liked Zane in the basic sense of it. They were friends for a reason.) he opposed the idea. It felt weird for it to be true. Kevin didn't mention it anymore, saying he should "figure it out yourself."
He didn't like the idea of wanting to be with Zane. He wasn't supposed to feel that way about Zane. They were supposed to only be friends. He doesn't want to fuck up the friend group because he happens to enjoy the company of one of them a bit too much.
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He distanced himself from Zane at first, which only made it worse for him. Why did he have to care? He'd often come up to him, just talking or asking if he was okay. He couldn't tell him off then. That'd be rude.
He kept it to himself for a while, and that's all he ever did.
Occasionally he'd flirt with Zane on KL2, (never on the main channel, he wasn't even on screen most of the time, it made him feel relief.) and people seemed to have mixed reactions about it.
It didn't bother him though, so did it really matter? (No.)
He eventually gained the courage to put him on the panel for a video. (Which one? He does not know of.) He just wanted to sit next to him. It wasn't a hard ask.
Zane took a seat next to him, turning to face towards him. Denny was grinning, not particularly because of Zane. It was just a bit he did at the start of every KLS video.
Zane started speaking, asking why's he been acting different, is there something wrong? He stops grinning and shakes his head. Nothing "wrong" was happening. He was just adjusting to a insignificant event.
Once he insured Zane that everything was fine, and he didn't need to worry— he stopped. It lifted a weight off his shoulders, and right before recording too. He put back on the grin and stared at the camera as they started.
He was fine keeping it concealed if it means staying friends like this for a little longer.
He'd be fine with that.