Wesley wanted to see if Fred was there, but he knew that letting himself get distracted was dangerous in the midst of the spell they were about to perform. So he forced himself to concentrate solely on what he was doing with Rupert's help. As they chanted the words together, he took the ingredients as Rupert handed them to him, placing them in the burner and watching as the smoke wafted up into the air, turning into a cloud of what seemed to be electricity. Wesley felt goose pimples erupting on his skin as they finished the chant.
The cloud moved to surround Spike, brightening for a moment and then fading away. He was almost afraid that they had done something wrong, but the next thing he knew, Spike was running out of the room, cheering that it had work.
Well, thank God for that, he thought, looking over at Rupert.
Once they had got everything cleaned up, Rupert left before he could say anything to him. Fred them came into the room, shutting the door before she embraced him as she apologized. Letting out a weary sigh, Wesley pulled her closer, burying his face against her neck.
"I'm sorry too," he said. "It's just...Spike and Angel about drove me mad last night, so I had to tell them in order to get them to at least play nice for one more night, knowing they wouldn't have to put up with each other anymore. Then when you said we were in trouble for not telling you..." He shook his head. "We still don't know what all of this was about, and you know how I get when that happens. I guess I just wasn't in the best frame of mind about it, especially when Regan said they were bugging you again. I didn't mean to upset you, love."