I'm confused due to mixed signals. Help?

[roitortue]

Ok, so I've run into a little problem I was hoping y'all could help me with. So I met this girl at a party and didn't think much of it at the time. The next week I find out that she asked one of her friends to ask my friend for my number, which he gave her. She texted me the next day and we really got along, texting constantly over the week. She said she just wanted to be buddies at the start of us talking, since she just got out of a relationship. I said I was fine with that, which I was at the time.

Jump to Friday of that week and she asks if I'm going to another party, which I am. When my friend (and ride) backs out, she keeps texting me that she really wants me at the party and would be really sad if I didn't show. At this point I found her behavior a little odd, between the texts (they hit ~650 in 5 days) and the strongly wanting me to go to the party, she wasn't giving off "lets be buddies" vibes. I get another ride to the party and after a few drinks, we start talking. She says her braid is soft and asks me to feel it, so I do. I wind up holding it for most of the night as the alcohol sets in. Not long after that my arm is around her, and then she meshes her hand with mine. We spend most of the night like this, until she takes a cab home with her friends. Before she goes she hugs me and kisses me on the cheek.

I was quite happy at this point, so I text her saying as much and she responds that I was "really nice and that she likes nice people". I then tell her I like her and she says the same to me. But then she says "don't let it get weird tomorrow" I ask what she means and she says "I just don't want it to get weird cause I like you and if its weird then yeah," Not entirely sure how to handle this, I consult my friend who says to ask her out. So I ask her out two days later and once it becomes clear to her that I was asking her on a date she says "that's sounding a little date-like and i just want you to remember I'm in a complicated situation right now. I like hanging out with you but I don't want to lead you on we can still hang out but I want you to know what this is" She didn't exactly define what "this" is, which didn't help my confusion.

So instead of going out that night, I sat on the couch with her and watched tv for the rest of the night. There was so much tension in the air, we both kept fidgeting and making little nervous gestures but we talked for four hours until 12:30 about random things. The conversation eventually reached a personal topic of hers, which paradoxically makes me think we are closer now than we were before. What happened at the party never came up in conversation, which I thought was a little strange.

Now I am really confused, the optimist in me sees that she said "she was in a complicated situation right now" and remembers the kiss and texting and has hope for the future, but there is no mistaking the rest of her words. There is definitely something between us that is more than just buddies, but is she just not ready for anything more serious than friends? Over the last week I have grown to really like her, to the point where I could actually see us together down the road. Shes the kind of woman I would wait around for, but I don't know if her kissing me and saying she liked me was just the alcohol dulling her inhibitions or if she really feels that way. What would you do in this situation? Just walk away? Or persevere in the hope that she will eventually get "uncomplicated" and be ready to date? I'm at a loss, and my friend who usually always knows what to do in these situations is dumbstruck.

[BackUpOrGetStng]

Keep seeing other girls, while continuing to talk to her. Don't take her seriously or get attached emotionally in any way until she comes out in unequivocal terms and states that's what she wants.