love, sex, and lies. (sans sex)

So I know this boy. We'll call him Ren, for anonymity's sake. I've always been attracted to him, ever since the first day I saw him. We became good friends. A few months ago I started to really get a crush on him. Recently I've been feeling something a lot stronger than a crush. Not quite love, but a step towards it. I've been trying to convince myself out of it, since, well, I'm a boy and he doesn't like boys. I'm almost finished convincing myself that I'm going to just be good friends with him and that's it. ... Today I'm talking to his best friend. In the course of talking about him behind his back, I casually mention that I'm trying to get over a huge crush on him. She tells me: "Well you know he's liked a few boys before but none of them ever liked him back. [...] But you certainly fit what his type is."

What the fuck?

I'm just about over him - inches away from just having a solid friendship with the dude - and I find out that there's a chance, however miniscule, that he might like me too? How am I supposed to deal with that? I'm right back where I was, not knowing whether he likes me or not but thinking that there's a possibility. I sat on the subway train riding back to my house tonight and I just started crying. I can't handle all those emotions being brought out again when I had just about locked them away. The worst part is that although he has liked boys like me in the past, that doesn't mean he likes me. There's also the possibility that he likes me just as much as I do him, and here we are just hiding it from each other. No, I'm the one hiding it. I should say something. Even if it jeopardizes the friendship I value more. I can't let this just sit inside me and burn. If I just let him know how I feel, I'll find out the answer to my question.

This is just hard.