There’s been an irresistible attraction between Abi Webster (Sally Carman) and Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) ever since the latter arrived in Coronation Street. A small car accident in Freshco’s car park saw sparks flying between the two as they flirted furiously, although Abi did point out at the outset that she was married.

To her horror, the man she’d been flirting with turned up in the Street not long after, and she discovered that he was, in fact, Kevin (Michael Le Vell)’s brother who’d been living in Germany.

Since then the two have tried to keep a lid on their feelings for each other, with Abi adamant that she won’t do anything to hurt Kevin, who’s going through cancer treatment. Carl hasn’t given up, though, and seems to think it’s only a matter of time before he and Abi are together.

As Sally Carman told us: ’I’m reading [the scripts] thinking poor Kevin, but I’m also thinking poor Abi because she’s really fighting it, telling him to go away and leave her alone but he’s just pursuing her relentlessly.’

There have been plenty of charged moments between the two, and any time they’re in the same room together it’s obvious to viewers that there are sparks between them. So far, however, they’ve managed to avoid these moments being noticed by anyone else.

Until now. In upcoming episodes we’ll see their guard slip and their behaviour around each other is noticed by the two people who are closest to them – Debbie (Sue Devaney), and Kevin himself. Oh ’eck.

Poor Kevin is about to go for another chemo session and he’s understandably feeling a bit fragile. He thanks Abi and Carl for their support, saying he couldn’t cope as well as he is doing without them being in his corner. Abi and Carl exchange another awkward look – and this time Kevin notices.

He doesn’t say anything, but he’s obviously a bit thrown by what he’s just witnessed and he tries to make sense of it.

The following day, Carl and Abi have one of their hushed conversations where Carl tries to persuade Abi that they’re meant to be together and she shouldn’t hesitate because of Kevin.

This time the person who notices what’s going on is Debbie. To make things even more awkward, Carl and Abi realise that Debbie has seen them having this conversation and they know she’s sharp enough to put two and two together and she won’t stand back and see Kevin get hurt.