Sleep on the floor

You wake up on the floor, groggy and with a crick in your neck. You look up and see Bella still sound asleep in the bed, her blonde hair a tangled mess around her face. You try to stretch your limbs out, but the hard floor has left you stiff and achy. You look around the room, taking in your surroundings.

You sit up and rub the sleep from your eyes, glancing over at Bella again. She looks peaceful, but you know that she's been struggling with addiction for a while now. You wonder how long it's been since she's had a good night's sleep.

As you try to stand up, your leg cramps painfully. You curse under your breath and hobble over to the bed, leaning against it for support. Bella stirs and opens her eyes, looking around blearily.

"Morning," she murmurs, her voice hoarse from sleep.

"Morning," you say back, wincing as you try to stretch out your leg. "How'd you sleep?"

"Better than I have in a while," she admits, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"No problem," you say, shrugging. "We're family, right?"

Bella smiles weakly at that, and you feel a pang of guilt. You know that you haven't been the most welcoming stepbrother, but seeing her in such a **** state has softened your attitude towards her.

The two of you spend the rest of the morning making breakfast and chatting idly. Bella tells you more about her addiction, about how she started using **** as a way to cope with the stress of her mom's divorce and her remarriage. She talks about her struggles with getting clean, about the times she's relapsed and the people she's hurt in the process.

You listen attentively, not interrupting or judging her. You can see the pain etched on her face as she talks, and you feel a fierce protectiveness towards her. She's your stepsister, but you're also starting to see her as a friend.

As you finish up breakfast, Bella stands up and stretches. "I should probably get to work on my homework," she says, looking at the clock on the wall.

You nod, feeling a twinge of disappointment. You're not sure what it is about her, but you're starting to enjoy her company. "Hey, listen," you say, hesitating. "If you ever need to talk or anything, just let me know, okay? You don't have to go through this alone."

Bella looks surprised at first, but then she smiles at you. "Thanks, I appreciate that," she says. "You're not so bad for a stepbrother, you know."

You chuckle at that, feeling a weight lift off your chest. As she heads to her room, you realize that you don't want this newfound connection with her to end.

You hear the sound of your phone buzzing on the counter, and you reach for it and see that it's a message from Charlie.

"Hey, are you free tonight?" the text reads.

You feel a mix of excitement and guilt. On the one hand, you've been wanting to spend more time with Charlie, but on the other hand, you made a promise to Bella to help her out. You glance over at her sleeping form and wonder what you should do.

Do you:

A) Ignore Charlie's text and focus on being there for Bella

B) Reply to Charlie and risk letting Bella down