(Super sorry for the long story, but I feel like this requires a lot of context. There is a tl;dr at the end!!)

Last year around this time, I almost dated a boy. He had a girlfriend when I met him, and although I fell for him pretty quickly, I never made a move, for obvious reasons. But he He was nice and really attractive and gave great hugs, but I quickly found out our personalities didn’t mesh very well and hanging out with him made me anxious, like, beyond just butterflies in my stomach. It got to a point where I thought all his jokes were dumb and he was too much of an edgelord, so I started distancing myself. I guess he felt it, because he immediately turned around and told this girl (my ex best friend who I had just had a major falling out with and caused me maybe the worst depression and anxiety of my life) that he was in love with her. I was upset, but not that much about losing him; it was mostly that I thought he liked me, and I was mad he had feelings for someone else at the same time. But I thought, oh, well, there are other boys, and I let him go.

He and my ex-best-friend started dating, and they lasted about six months. However, he tried to hook up with another girl and successfully hooked up with a second, and when his girlfriend found out, she promptly dropped him, and all my friends iced him out. I did too, out of solidarity, and partially because he had hurt me too, I guess, and probably would’ve hurt me more if i had given him the chance.

And I’ve heard from all of his exes when they broke up with him, he threatened to kill himself, which is textbook terrible, obviously.

But this year, I’ve stopped icing him out so much. I was committed to ignoring him up until the beginning of the year, when I stull felt drawn to him, so I started being his friend again. We really got close when his girlfriend broke up w him, and I was there for him. Recently he’s been sad about all his past relationships, so I’ve given him hugs and pep talks on how he will find the right person. During one particular one, he has said since that he really wanted to kiss me in that moment. He confronted me the other day saying he has feelings for me, he’s attracted to me, and he appreciates what I’ve done for him (I think in terms of emotional support. When we are speaking, I am always his shoulder to cry on when i notice him sad.), and he kissed me on the forehead and hugged me when I didn’t know how to respond.

I am similarly attracted to him, and he’s getting more and more interesting by the day. He said he isn’t even looking for a relationship, which is good, because even if I were to start something with him, I don’t think it would be all that serious. Right now, I just eant somebody to care for me and to mess around with. Like, he said he wanted to kiss me and I’ve sort of been considering it ever since, and this was about two weeks ago. He still gives me hugs all the time, but I’ve been more reserved around hum because I guess I’m still conflicted. I am about 80% sure this is a terrible idea but the sweet and cool and handsome part of him keeps holding me back.

What do y’all think? Is this a terrible idea? Does he only like me because I am kind and emotionally supportive? Am I dumb for even barely considering this because of his romantic history? Please let me know, I have no idea what to do. Thanks!!!

Tl;dr- This boy who has caused me and all his past girlfriends relationship strife wants to start something with me, and I’m kind of starting to like him back once again. Should I attempt or is this a bad idea?