William would have felt a lot more relieved (not that he wasn't, immensely) if he hadn't also been distracted by the racket coming from behind him. He pointedly did not look, but he didn't really need to; even without the look on Gabe's face, he would have been able to guess what they were whistling for.
They had just made something of a display of themselves.
William took three steps backward, letting go of Gabe's shirt after the second step only because he finally noticed he was still holding onto it and really had to at that distance, and then took a fourth for good measure. His face and neck had both heated to unacceptable levels considering his current lack of any way to hide the flush. "Good," he said, crossing his arms over his chest tightly to keep himself from reaching out again without thinking, which was what he really actually wanted to do. "Thank you. Is everyone else all right? Is anyone...?"