How do you react when someone close to you comes out of the closet?

Recently, a very good friend of mine told me he was gay. I was a little surprised because he and I had been sexually intimate in the past a couple times but, otherwise, it made sense. However, he scared the hell out of me before he actually told me. He’s in Boston and I’m CT so he couldn’t tell me in person. One night, we were talking online and the conversation went something like this:

Him: I have something to tell you.
Me: Okay, lay it on me.
Him: It’s really really big.
Me: Okay…
Him: I want to do it in person, but that’s kind of hard right now.
Me: ...(Thinking he’s going to tell me he’s in love with me.)
Him: I’m gay
Me: (Breathes sigh of relief.)

When I spoke to my mother, she said that she had been similarly relieved to know that that was it. “Oh, okay, you’re gay. I thought you were dying!” For me, the buildup is just so intense that when someone says, “I’m gay,” I’m just so relieved that I have no other reaction to the news.

So, Jellies, how do you react when someone comes out to you?