Over the years, Bold & Beautiful viewers have often wanted to throttle Liam for waffling as he has between sometime stepsisters Steffy and Hope. But now that the character is not only knocking on death’s door, putting a toe over its line, all we want to do is hug the guy. Is the show really about to kill off Scott Clifton’s polarizing character?

The three-time Emmy winner’s guess is as good as ours. “I’m kind of trying to cross each bridge as I come to it and not think too hard about it,” he tells Soap Opera Digest. “To the fans, I would say, ‘Hey, man, we’re on this trip together! I’m right there with you. I don’t know exactly where this is going.’”

If Liam’s brain tumor does turn out to be inoperable — c’mon, Finn, Grace, Bridget, we’re counting on y’all — Clifton wants the audience to know that from the start, the arc was conceived and carried out with the utmost care. “Whatever happens, this story is being told with such thoughtfulness and delicacy and generosity and love, from the top down,” he says. “We all really, really care [doing it justice].”

So far, so poignant. And the best — and hardest — may be yet to come.

In an interview with Soaps.com to celebrate his most recent Liam-versary, the veteran of General Hospital (as Dillon) and One Life to Live (as Schuyler) admitted that he understood entirely why viewers might roll their eyes at his Bold & Beautiful alter ego. “Hell, he ticks me off sometimes. But here’s the thing: I’m kind of a hired gun. My philosophy is that my job is to make it work, no matter what the storyline is.

“So,” he continued, “if you have Liam go to a club the night before his wedding and show up the next day with blue hair and fake tattoos doing a whole Romeo & Juliet scene in his underwear, I’m going to find a way to make it work.” That he has — always.

Check out our new photo gallery of soap characters we couldn’t believe their shows killed off, even as we worry that Liam will be the next entry that has to be added.