To say that William was startled wouldn't have been an understatement, but that didn't keep him from clinging back just as fiercely. "There's nothing to apologise for," he said into Pete's freshly-regrown hair. "You didn't do anything wrong. And no one is going to die horribly, I'll see you soon. We'll have tea, all right?"
He took a deep breath, forced himself to let go of Pete, let it out again and added, before he could think better of it, "Go find Gabe. Merlin knows what sort of trouble he'll get into alone."