How do you handle heartbreak?

So I have a guy friend. Let's call him... Jack. Jack and I haven't been friends long but I consider him one of my closest. Our friendship is free of judging and we can actually talk to each other.


Jack has been with Kristine for at least the last six months. Until about a week ago when she basically ripped his heart out, tore it into tiny little pieces, and stomped on them. And I don't think I'm exaggerating.


I've never been as close with Kristine as I was with Jack. And honestly, even though he doesn't hate her (even though he wants to), I kind of do right now.


A little backstory... Jack was in a long term relationship with another girl until about a year ago. They lived together and had serious talks about the future. Had been together about four years I think... When one day she woke up, said she was no longer in love with him, and ended it. That kind of thing can do some damage to a guy, right?


So he moved back home and began to put back the pieces of his life and his heart. A few months later, he re-met Kristine, who was also coming out of a long term relationship... Things happened fast and before you knew it, they were best friends. Sharing everything. And one thing led to another... they were no longer Jack and Kristine but JackAndKristine. Rarely did you see one without the other. People had them pegged for marriage and settling down in no time. And somewhere along the line, they both kind of fell into the talk.


A couple weeks ago, a group of us went out. Things seemed uneasy between the two but who was I to comment? Turns out, that night Kristine began the break up process. Put Jack through a week of hell. Telling him she wanted it to work but they needed to slow down. Of course Jack was willing to do that. Gave her all the space she needed. But continued to wait for her calls, texts, etc. Which would sometimes come days apart. She even called him one night to go pick her up from the bar because she was drunk and didn't have a ride home. And of course he went and got her. Because he loves her. They went to lunch, dinner, hung out, stayed over a few times during the course of this week and a half... But it turns out Kristine was giving Jack false hope. Finally she came clean. Yes, she had loved him all the times she'd said it except for the past month she'd been faking. Trying to make it work even though her feelings had changed. And I think this, more than anything, is what broke Jack's heart. Here he is, only a year later, and going through all the same things he went through last year.

Meanwhile, she's going out and having a good time. While he sits at home and hopes she calls because he doesn't want to let go. Every time she does call or text or anything, he gets a little bit of hope. And it pisses me off. I want him to see that he deserves better. He said he wants to hate her because it would be so much easier but he can't. He truly feels love for her.

We talked for a long time yesterday. I let him just talk. Just to get it off his chest. I didn't really have any advice for him, but that's okay because he wasn't looking for advice. I just sat and lent a sympathetic ear. He talked about not being able to find the silver lining or figuring out why this has happened to him... again. Especially since he wants to believe that everything happens for a a reason.


This was the first time that I have seen a grown man cry and I hate that it was one of my closest friends and I can't do anything for him.