In Eric's office, Steffy warned that Hope was in for a rude awakening. Brooke said Steffy was talking about Brooke's daughter, and Steffy quipped that Hope was more like Brooke every day. Ridge tried to intervene in the conversation, but Brooke asked if being like her was a bad thing.
Steffy stated that Brooke had at least claimed to be out for love, but Hope didn't even pretend to love Thomas. Brooke replied that Hope did love Thomas. Ridge tried to intervene again, but Steffy didn't let him. She refused to allow Hope to continue the Logan tradition, and she refused to stand by while Hope hurt Thomas.
Brooke warned that she was trying hard not to be offended, but she couldn't take all the Hope bashing. Steffy quipped that it wasn't bashing if it was the truth, and Hope was turning into Brooke by using Thomas. Steffy asked how many times Hope would turn Thomas down while wearing his engagement ring on a chain around her neck. It was totally unacceptable, needed to end, and could be ending at that moment.
Brooke asked why Steffy was so invested. Ridge, Brooke, and Steffy all claimed to want the best for Thomas, and Brooke advised Steffy to stay out of it and let Hope and Thomas figure out their own relationship. Ridge agreed when Steffy said she was defending her brother. He told Brooke that Steffy wasn't going after Hope at all. "Oh, yes, I am. I want Hope out of Thomas' life for good," Steffy interjected. She was done with Hope leading Thomas on and toying with him. Steffy decided that the only brokenhearted person would be Hope, not Thomas.
Brooke asked if Steffy didn't care if Hope got hurt. Steffy said that she'd warned Hope about playing with Thomas' emotions, and all of them knew it was because Thomas was vulnerable to Hope. Steffy yelled that Hope should be all in or out, but Hope didn't care because all Logans cared about were their own needs and wants.
Brooke asked Ridge if he'd let Steffy talk to her like that. Steffy said her dad didn't have to tell her to do anything. Ridge requested that Steffy step back because attacking Brooke wasn't helping. Steffy quipped about Brooke's history, and he asked what Steffy was trying to accomplish. Steffy explained that Hope was causing Thomas the same pain Brooke had caused Ridge, and Steffy wouldn't allow it.
Brooke said Steffy's perception of Thomas and Hope was wrong, and Hope wasn't a tramp who chewed up men like her mother. Steffy asked where the lie was, and Brooke said the issue with Hope marrying Thomas wasn't love. "How about all the things he did to Hope in the past? How about that?" Brooke asked. Ridge quickly inserted that Thomas wasn't that man anymore, and Steffy added that Hope even agreed.
Brooke defended the kind Hope who didn't lie or toy with people's emotions. Steffy quipped that Brooke thought Hope was perfect, but while Brooke thought Hope was too good for Thomas, it was the other way around. Steffy hoped she'd gotten through to him and that he'd end it that day.
In the design office, Hope said everything she and Thomas had overcome to be together had been worth it. He replied that he'd thought so. Asking him not to speak in the past tense, she said he made her feel as she'd never felt before. "But you won't marry me," he replied, shrugging.
Hope whimpered in frustration and yelled that she needed more time. She asked if she really had to explain. She yelled that Thomas knew her history with Liam and about her divorce, and she'd just needed a moment to breathe and discover who she was. "I thought that we were on that same journey together!" Hope exclaimed. She begged Thomas not to let Steffy destroy what they shared, because Hope couldn't lose him.
Hope pleaded with Thomas not to listen to Steffy, who wasn't speaking truthfully about Hope. Hope claimed that refusing the proposal didn't mean she didn't want to be with him. She loved what they had together. "What do we have together, exactly?" Thomas asked. He asked if they were going steady, building a foundation for the future, or if Hope was taking revenge on Steffy, Liam, Brooke, or whomever. Hope gasped in disbelief, and he asked if it was Hope taking a walk on the wild side with the bad boy. She claimed he knew it wasn't true.
"I don't know anything, Hope. That's why I'm asking the question...How long do I have to wait? Will you ever love me the way I love you?" Thomas questioned. He'd been asking himself ever since she'd turned him down if she'd ever love him the way he loved her, with no conditions or reservations. She asked him not to start doubting her feelings. She loved the man he'd become, and she didn't have the words to describe how she felt and how he made her feel. She claimed she'd never experienced it before, and it was exhilarating. She didn't want it to change.
Thomas replied that the problem was that everything changed and progressed. Hope reasoned that there wasn't a set timeline they had to follow. He asked her if she preferred to be breezy and just live in the moment. Hope yelled that he was making it sound casual; however, there was no one else for her, and she adored him. She just wasn't ready to be married.
Thomas asked when Hope would be ready. He wondered if it would be months or years. He asked if she'd ever be ready or if she ever believed she'd be ready at any point. That was why he was leaving. Hope looked surprised. He explained that it was too painful for him, and Steffy might be right. He said it hadn't been Hope's fault, but seeing the ring around her neck had become too hard. It hurt too much, and he loved her too much to put himself through it.
Hope claimed that she hadn't worn it to be cruel, and cruelty would have been to accept it, knowing she wasn't ready for marriage. Thomas noted that she'd taken it and worn it on her neck. She said it had been a nice gesture to have it close to her heart as she'd been deciding. He noted that she'd never had an intention of marrying him from the start, but when he'd given it to her, he'd seen hope for the future. Hope replied that he'd been the one to put it there.
Thomas replied that it had been because he'd expected Hope to one day wear it, but he'd realized that if she'd wanted it from the start, she would have accepted it when he'd given it to her. To Hope, he sounded like Steffy, and he replied that Steffy might be right. Hope told him to stop. Hope restated that she loved him. "Just not enough to marry me," he replied.
Thomas told Hope that he couldn't keep doing it. It hurt too much, and at some point, he needed to take care of himself. Hope replied that he didn't need to protect himself from her, and she hadn't gotten into it to hurt him or whatever other lies Steffy had told. Hope believed she'd been thinking about them, the kids, and the future. She recognized that she hadn't always done that in the past, and she wasn't trying to make that same mistake.
Thomas lamented that he'd loved Hope and wanted her. He would have done it for the rest of his life, but it was too painful. The back-and-forth was too painful. He loved her very much, but he couldn't do it anymore. That was why he was leaving that day.
Hope said Thomas couldn't go. She asked about Douglas and said they were a family. Thomas acknowledged that they'd led their son down a path, and Douglas was happy and desired his parents to get married. Thomas felt he needed to find some way to break the boy's fall. She uttered that they could work through it together. She asked about HFTF.
Thomas decided that he couldn't work with Hope any longer. He informed her that he'd go to Paris. Hope guessed he could take a break at International and email her sketches, but he couldn't just walk away from the line he loved. He asserted that it wasn't how it worked, and he couldn't be around her any longer. He couldn't work for her or be near her because it hurt too much. He had to leave. He hoped that there might be someone out there who could love him as much as he loved her.
Hope scoffed, asking if he heard himself. It didn't sound like him to her. "Someone else? You just proposed to me!" she seethed. He yelled that she'd turned him down -- twice. She yelled back that she still needed time. "You're out of time, Hope," he stated.
Hope growled, angry that Thomas couldn't see that Steffy was behind it. Thomas said Steffy wasn't a puppet master controlling him. Steffy had pointed out something true. Thomas said he needed to be a man with dignity for his son and not be humiliated all the time. He didn't think Hope was doing it on purpose, but it was how it happened. He wondered if it was a losing battle with too much to overcome. He didn't know, but he had to go. He wanted Douglas with him.
"No," Hope sobbed. She stated that she loved Thomas, and he couldn't leave like that. "You know, the most painful part of this whole thing has been...I love you. And I knew that you loved me the whole time, but you wouldn't say it. And the first time that you actually told me you loved me was when you were rejecting me. Goodbye, Hope," Thomas concluded.
Hope implored Thomas not to do it. He told her that he'd always love her, and he left.
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