John Paul Mc Queen and Craig Dean - Storyline

Storyline

John Paul arrives in town in 2006; he meets Craig while saving him from a beating by bully Sonny Valentine. The two become close friends. With some pressure from Craig, John Paul begins to date schoolmate Hannah Ashworth. John Paul is reluctant to be with Hannah; he knows that he "should" fancy her, but also knows that he does not. Despite this, he ends up having sex with Hannah, both losing their virginity to each other. However, they split up when John Paul reveals that he is harbouring affections for someone else, which is mistakenly believed to be Craig's girlfriend, Sarah Barnes. This sends Hannah on a downward spiral and puts a strain on John Paul and Craig's friendship, but due to the chaos John Paul's revelation causes, he begins to date Hannah again. Soon after, on Hannah's 18th birthday, John Paul breaks up a fight between Craig and Rhys Ashworth when Craig sees Sarah kissing Rhys. John Paul shouts that she is not good enough for Craig, he runs outside in tears and is confronted by Craig. John Paul confesses to Craig that he is in love with him. The following day, Craig is distant towards John Paul, but allows John Paul to explain his feelings. Craig says that he still wants John Paul as a friend, but only as a friend; John Paul says that he will continue to date Hannah and keep up the charade that he is heterosexual. He eventually reveals to everyone else that he is gay. At one point, Craig bullies him. Despite apologizing to John Paul for this, John Paul states that their friendship is over.

In early 2007, John Paul embarks on a relationship with Spike, a DJ whom he met during his sister Jacqui's wedding reception. John Paul and Spike's relationship is the source of much jealousy from Craig, who immediately takes a disliking to Spike and grows furious when John Paul tries to speak about his fears about having sex with Spike. During his exams in May 2007, Craig has trouble concentrating, as all he can think about is John Paul and Spike. He has been struggling to understand his romantic feelings for John Paul while maintaining a romantic relationship with girlfriend Sarah. Storming out of the exam, he goes to John Paul's house. After talking with each other, Craig frustrated and in tears, both reveal their true feelings and sleep together. Afterwards, however, Craig gets out of the bed and shouts homophobic obscenities before storming out. Subsequently, Craig's relationship with Sarah begins to deteriorate, as Craig struggles with his apparent homosexual tendencies. Unwilling to "come out", Craig concludes that he is not gay, stating instead that he only has romantic feelings for John Paul rather than actually being gay or bisexual. Craig negotiates an uneasy few months with Sarah, a situation further exacerbated by Sarah's modelling career, a source of even more jealousy from Craig.

Craig meets up with John Paul under a tree; he insists that he has sorted everything out in his head, he is not gay, and never will be, but this does not mean that he and John Paul cannot have sex from time to time; they can still continue to see each other, and no one will get hurt. John Paul reminds Craig of his love for him, and tells him that he is sick of being used. An unfazed Craig tells John Paul whether he likes it or not, they both know how it is going to end up: he'll knock at John Paul's door, and John Paul will open it.

A few weeks later, two of Sarah's friends from the modelling industry meet with her and Craig for a friendly get-together. Craig acts cold to the friends, particularly the male. The four dine at Il Gnosh and bump into John Paul who stays to chat for a short while before leaving, followed by Craig. Back at John Paul's house, Craig tells John Paul that he cannot stop thinking about him, and although he loves Sarah, he loves John Paul too. Craig then leads John Paul upstairs where they once again sleep together. Later, as Craig lies with John Paul in bed, his mobile phone rings, the caller ID showing that Sarah is calling him. However, Craig ignores it and goes back to sleep in John Paul's arms, leaving John Paul with a smile on his face.

John Paul eventually tells Craig to leave Sarah, and in turn he promises to leave Spike. Whilst John Paul and Spike break up, Craig and Sarah do not, leaving John Paul furious and frustrated. Craig then arranges a last minute get-away for Sarah, without telling John Paul. Angry and upset, John Paul writes a letter to Frankie Osborne saying that he has been sleeping with her son and that he is sorry that she had to hear about it from him. Later, once he has calmed down and realises his mistake, he manages to retrieve it with Spike's help. Despite no longer being a couple, Spike still offers John Paul something more causal, but he quickly realises he no longer has romantic feelings for Spike (despite Craig's betrayal) and tells him it is over for good. When Craig returns from his holiday, and tells John Paul that he still has feelings for him, John Paul snaps back that he has had enough and intends to end it with Craig for good. Despite this, they soon get back together again and the relationship continues in secret.

When Spike finds out about John Paul and Craig's secret relationship, he teases and mocks Craig about it. When Craig confronts him, Sarah overhears and thinks that he is having an affair. In an attempt to convince her that he loves her, Craig proposes marriage to Sarah, asking her to keep their engagement a secret. Throughout their engagement, Craig continues to see John Paul (who knows nothing of the engagement) and gives him a watch that once belonged to his grandfather. Once John Paul learns of Craig and Sarah's engagement, he becomes convinced that Craig will never leave Sarah for him. At an impromptu engagement party thrown by Frankie, John Paul and Craig hide upstairs and begin to be intimate. Secretly, John Paul texts Sarah on Craig's phone and tells her to come upstairs. She leaves the party and walks in on the two of them kissing. Completely in shock, Sarah runs downstairs and outs Craig to the party-goers, leaving John Paul to face the wrath of the Dean family and Mike Barnes. He later tries to apologise to Sarah, who demands to know the details of the affair. After telling her, Sarah says that she can never forgive him. John Paul calls Craig a coward for not accepting his sexuality.

Frankie and Sarah make attempts to reconcile the relationship, but it is no use, as Craig finally announces to his family that he is in love with John Paul. Craig's announcement leads to a show-down style confrontation between the McQueen family and the Dean family (where John Paul's sister says the famed words 'My brother is gayer then yours!), from which John Paul and Craig run away and discuss their feelings for each other. Craig tells John Paul he loves him, but denies being gay with the words "it's not about being gay, its about who you fall in love with"; this takes place before asking John Paul to come with him to Dublin, an offer which John Paul accepts. As they prepare to leave together, Craig tells his brother Jake that he is not gay, and he only cares for John Paul. John Paul overhears this and expresses concern at Craig's reluctance to come out; this is further exacerbated by Craig not being able to bring himself to kiss or hold John Paul at the airport as they wait for the plane to Dublin. Although John Paul loves Craig, he realizes that he needs more than to be with a man who cannot not display affection towards him in public. Heartbroken, John Paul returns home, leaving Craig to go to Dublin alone. On Christmas day 2007, John Paul gets a text message from Craig, wishing him a Merry Christmas, asking him to visit Dublin sometime and that he misses him. It is not shown if he texts back.

John Paul moves on with Kieron Hobbs. However, on September 2, 2008, Craig returns. John Paul's romance with Kieron is threatened when Kieron confronts John Paul about any lingering romantic feelings he may have for Craig.

On 5 September, Craig and John Paul end up in bed again and John Paul decides to tell Kieron he is still in love with Craig, but when he finds Kieron, he is dead. John Paul mistakenly believes that Kieron has taken his own life. Consumed with guilt, John Paul rejects Craig. However, they later agree to stay friends. Craig later slips a one way ticket to Dublin into John Paul's pocket.

On 19 September 2008, John Paul realises that he cannot be without Craig. He rushes to the train station, arriving in time to see a train leaving. He is devastated, until he looks over onto the other platform, where Craig is standing. John Paul runs around it, to him, and rants at Craig. However, after he says that he loves Craig, Craig kisses him in front of everyone on the platform, proving that he does not care what people think. They are later seen on the train, where Craig tells him that when they get to Dublin, he is to tell everyone that he is Craig's cousin Steve. John Paul looks shocked, and Craig jokes that he was only kidding. They are last seen cuddling on the train.

When Craig returns in Hollyoaks Later, he reveals that John Paul has been on a couple of drinking benders as he struggles to cope with the after effects of Niall's actions. He gives a little insight into their life in Dublin - laughing with his sister about their sex life and how John Paul is a superstar DJ. On November 28, 2008, Craig's last appearance on Hollyoaks (Hollyoaks Later), after fighting with Niall for the last time, Craig returns to Dublin and to his boyfriend, John Paul.

John Paul and Craig were last spoken of on 2 November 2010. John Paul's sister Carmel McQueen, talking to their cousin Bart McQueen, said: "Look at our John Paul and his Craig. You know, they went through hell, but they got there eventually. Love always finds a way," confirming that the couple are still happy and together. They were mentioned again in July 2011, showing once again that they are still together and going strong. John Paul returned in December 2012, where he was seen chasing after a bus Craig was on. He later confirms that he and Craig have split up.