Romance never goes smoothly in Hollyoaks, and for Frankie Osborne (Isabelle Smith) and Caleb Keane (Lewis Walton), it has been particularly difficult. The pair met in the wake of a catastrophic car accident that led to their families being at war with one another.
As viewers know, Charlie Dean (Charlie Behan) was driving his sister Frankie to the train station earlier this year, ahead of her fresh start in London, when things took a devastating turn. Having forgotten her dance shoes, Frankie urged Charlie to turn around and overtake the removal van in front of him, which belonged to Beth and Jonah Keane (Rebecca Ryan and Matthew Wolfenden), who were travelling to Hollyoaks with their son Caleb.
Despite his doubts, Charlie did as Frankie requested, overtaking the vehicle, which led to devastation as a crash ensued, with Caleb being thrown through the windscreen of the van. Frankie, who could not go to dance school afterward due to an injury, urged Charlie to lie to the police about who was responsible, pinning the blame on Jonah until Charlie eventually came clean.
Frankie, meanwhile, struck up a bond with Caleb, who suffered a spinal injury in the crash, though she initially withheld her identity from him. When Caleb later found out she was an Osborne, he was devastated due to her connection to Charlie, whom he holds responsible for the accident. Beth, meanwhile, made it her mission to find out if the Osbornes were harbouring Charlie after he skipped his day in court, leading to further conflict between the two clans.
Next week, Frankie uses a secret about Beth to her advantage as she goes over to Weirside View to see Caleb. It finally seems like the two characters' relationship is going somewhere, until Caleb unexpectedly hits the pause button. Frankie is taken aback and, fearing that Beth is to blame, she confronts her in Price Slice in subsequent scenes.
Her theory, however, is not actually correct. Caleb later opens up to Jonah about his reasons for pulling away from Frankie, revealing that he fears he cannot give her what she wants physically at the moment. Jonah encourages him to be honest with Frankie. Will Caleb take his dad's advice?
Hollyoaks streams Mondays to Wednesdays from 6am on Channel 4's streaming platform, or catch episodes on TV at 7pm on E4.
