[Tony427]

So last night was a very interesting night. A young girl 15 yo who I consider to be almost like a sis to me ran away from home. Obviously her family and I were out the entire night looking for her.

So around 3:30 am I finally find her in the hallway of an apartment complex alone. She is crying and I try to talk to her but she doesn't really say much. Now I'm not sure if it is just hormones or if she may be having actual family problems. I don't want to force her to talk about it if she doesn't want but I also want to be there for her if she is having problems.

My biggest problem is that I think she has a crush on me but I don't want to lead her on being that I am 23 it would not be right but I want to help her if she is having trouble. What I need help with is how can I be there for her without leading her on or having her family think that I am acting inappropriately with her. I mean it could be just that she is 15 and acting 15 but I would hate to find out that there were actual family problems and I failed to help her but I also don't want to accuse her family of anything if there is really nothing wrong.

I know I probably shouldn't get involved in other families problems but I hate standing back and seeing someone hurting and not do anything about it.

[Merin]

How well do you know her family?

If you know them fairly well is this something you could discuss with them?
Did she ever give you reason(s) as to why she left the family home or did her parents give you any indication of what had happened prior to thier Daughter running away?

While it's all okay and good to go that you want to help this girl out, you do need to make it clear to her that you think of her as a little sister and understand that it's difficult being a teenager...
Speak with her parents.

[Tony427]

I do know her parents fairly well but I'm not sure if I would feel very comfortable talking to them about this. I'm not sure how I could without coming across as nosey or pushy. She has a step mom and I know often times that can cause family problems just in itself.

I will try to make it clear to her that I think of her as a sister. i was thinking the next time I see her that I could tell her something along the lines of 'I can be the big brother you don't have, and I'm here to talk to if you need it.'

She did give me a little reason why she ran away but it wasn't much, just that she didn't want to live with her dad and step mom. She wanted to go live with her real mom but she doesn't even really know her very well and I have not heard good things about her but I'm not sure if they're all true or not. Sorry I'm being so vague but I'd feel a little bad about posting other peoples problems on the internet so I'm trying not to give out too much info.