The Bold and the Beautiful fans draw battle lines as Hope tells Thomas ''No''

Thomas proposed to Hope once again on The Bold and the Beautiful, but her answer is not what anyone expected.

Ever since The Bold and the Beautiful's Hope threw caution to the wind last June and pulled Thomas in for a passionate kiss in front of the Colosseum, they've been one of the most controversial soap couples around.

After all, 2019 was not a good year for Thomas. That was the year he returned from New York as a single dad after Caroline died. He was clearly not in his right mind when he emotionally manipulated young Douglas and chose to keep the truth about Beth being alive from Hope for those few fraught weeks he was determined to make her his wife.

A little over a year later, Thomas imagined a Forrester Creations mannequin that looked just like Hope had come to life, and he dated this mannequin in his apartment. It turned out that the incident was the result of a brain injury. After Thomas healed, he remained pretty harmless and quiet for a while until the show threw the character under the bus once again nearly three years later and made him responsible for that fake CPS call Brooke allegedly made.

Then, Thomas went to therapy and emerged a new man. This new man was one Hope could fall in love with, and that's exactly what she did. Some fans had wanted this for years, going back to when the characters dated more than a decade ago.

Others saw the chemistry between Annika Noelle and Matthew Atkinson in 2019 and hoped Hope and B&B would one day go there, while still others recoiled at Hope falling for a man who kept her child from her.

That didn't stop the show from proceeding with the Thope love story, and it didn't break Thomas of his habit of proposing to Hope. She'd been wearing his engagement ring on a chain around her neck since January, and Thomas thought she was finally ready to say yes, so he proposed once again -- despite the fact that Hope still hadn't told him that she loved him.

At least this time, things went a little differently. Hope finally said those three little words Thope fans had been clamoring for, but she still wasn't ready to accept his proposal.

Hope's decision to still be indecisive sent shockwaves through the B&B fandom on March 18, with everyone having a different take on what just went down.

Some saw Hope's declaration of love as the right step and can understand that she just wasn't ready for marriage.

"Hope and Thomas are seeing things differently," @TealRealFeel wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "For her, no is because she needs more time, but for him, no is her telling him he's not yet worthy of her love."

Others expect to see the roles reversed now that Hope realizes she is in love but just doesn't want to marry, and Thomas seems to be backing away.

"This was good enough for me," tweeted @dowhatilike97. "She admitted she loves him. Now I feel like when she's ready for marriage, she'll be the one making a big declaration about committing to him for the rest of her life."

Even more Thope fans are excited that they've entered their "angst era."

"This whole part, the tears in her eyes, the way she said she loves him and wanted to make him understand, the way he pulled away from her," wrote @tiffyt83. "Annika and Matt serving angst and heartbreak and I AM SEATED for what's next."

When non-Thope fans expressed sympathy for the Thope fandom, they were told it was all good.

"We are good over here with our angst we have been waiting for!" said @iheartjaxtara. "Hope loves her man, we got fed good regardless, they aren't over by a long shot, thanks for the unneeded concern though but we don't need any thoughts from ya'll."

Some B&B fans who have not enjoyed Thope's love story over the last year believe this is par for the course for Hope and agree with Steffy that Hope has only been leading Thomas on and want to see more for him.

"I hope they bring in someone new for Thomas. I hope this is a wake-up call for him," wrote @nicol34x. "Hope is an immature 30 year old something messing with his emotions. And people wanna say Thope is romantic and sincere. LMAO. Hope loves Thomas but she's not in love with him."

Finally, some fans still refuse to believe Thomas has changed and expect Hope's rejection to cause him to spiral and lose it again, although he hasn't really lost it since the Mannequingate nearly four years ago.

"Hmmm, interesting. The exact opposite of my prediction," tweeted @Vonne_girl.

"I thought she'd accept the proposal but still refuse to say "I love you.' And Thomas looks pissed. Is crazy Tom coming back?"

@SusanDaw one wondered the same, tweeting: "Okay. I'm back in. Thomas is going to have a meltdown because of Hope and I'm here for it! Bring it on! Will he have to drag the mannequin out of storage?"

What do you think? Will Hope one day agree to marry Thomas? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.