Is there a chance she is still interested?

This will be a long post so I apologize in advance.

So ive known this woman since high school. Lets call her Maria. We never hung out until recently, but we have always admired each other from afar. We are both now in our early 30s. We are both divorced, and so about a month ago she reached out to me and said that she wanted to start seeing where things can go between us (after it was established that we both had a crush on each other after talking and getting to know each other more)

We are long distance, she lives in a small town almost 3 hours away from me but comes to my city often because her ex has her kids and she used to live in my city and that is where we are from.

So one night she messages me and asks me if I want to video chat. I agree and we talked for about an hour the first time. We had a great time so we start video chatting almost everyday for 5 days straight. Then we met up about a week later and had our first date, she had her 2 kids with her but we had a great time. We even kissed at the end, practically made out if im being honest.

So fast forward to the next week, it was Valentines day, and again everything is going smoothly and we start talking more and more on the phone and video chatting. On Valentines weekend I get us a hotel room for Maria her kids and I. We had a great time again we went swimming (indoor pool) and spent the night together, where things got physical and hot and heavy between us. We even exchanged valentines gifts with one another.

So after Valentines day she ended up getting fired from her job a week later. She was already depressed before that due to some other things going on in her life as well. During this time I ended up going to her town to be with her for a few days, we spent 3 nights together and everything was great, she kept telling me she loved me and then taking it back saying that she didn’t mean to say that, but she is so used to telling people she loves them, that it comes natural but she said “its too early for that” I agreed. I told her I started to develop feeling for her but I didn’t love her yet.
This is the part that gets interesting (I know im going to get slammed for this but I felt bad for her) I ended up paying her phone bill, bought her groceries, and paid her Car note that she was behind on. She asked me not to but I insisted. I only did this because I have been in her shoes before and I had a friend who helped me and I greatly appreciated it. I wanted to return the favor so to speak.

Once I got back from her town, a week later after I paid her car note, she started getting really distant, to the point she was starting to ignore my calls, come to find out she had been drinking heavily with some friends and I noticed this is a pattern for her. She is a bit of a drinker, but I noticed she started doing this on a weekly basis.
So this past Wednesday, she didn’t text me good morning or call me as she usually did, I didn’t think anything of it, then I didn’t hear from her all day long either. Then I try to call her and she sends me a text saying she is out with friends, sorry. I tell her “so I cant talk to you when your with your friends?’ She calls me about an hour later and I can tell she is super drunk ,and she said its not like that, she just has a lot going on. I tell her no worries and to have a good time and to text me when she gets home. She did. The next morning no good morning text from her either, at this point im doing all the initiating I notice.

Lets fast forward to this past Saturday, again she doesn’t text me all day. I work from home so I always have my phone with me. At about 4:30 I try to call her, no answer. She then calls me when I get off work, she says she is in the car going to her sisters house. Where she lives cell service is really spotty and the connection kept going in and out. We had talked for maybe 5 minutes and I told her to call me once she gets back home from her sisters. Maria said ok and hung up
So that was about 9:30. I try calling her at 12:30PM she doesn’t answer. I then text her good night. She saw my message but never replied. The next morning I wake up and still no reply to my goodnight text or a text saying she made it home. It is almost noon at this time and I call her and no answer. I text her why is she ignoring me. She said she will call me soon. She called me and said she is depressed and going through some things. I tell her that I felt like she was ignoring me, I told her communication is key if long distance is going to work, she said she just gets in her moods sometimes and doesn’t feel like talking to anyone I asked her if she wanted some space, she said no but that she is not doing anything. She tells me to call her after my shift is up. I say ok.

I try to facetime her and she answers but then automatically hangs up the call. I heard a mans voice in the background, it honestly sounded like she was at a party but it could have been the TV in the background. I then message her, why did she hang up? She said she was asleep, but earlier in the day she said she was asleep all day because of her depression. I told her I was scheduled for OT the next day and I was really looking forward to talking to her tonight. She said she would call me tomorrow morning, I made a joke about her saying she was asleep all day and she replied back and said “im f ing depressed Ariyah….good night.

This morning, she does not call me at the time she said she would, I get no text from her either, so I tried calling her around 3:00 PM today. She doesn’t answer. I texted and told her that I wanted to make sure she was ok and to see how her day was, she told me to call her tonight around 7:00 PM on my last break. I called her and she said she was laying in bed, sounded like she just woke up. I ask her again if she needs space and she said no, she just gets in these moods to where she doesn’t feel like talking. I told her that I understand she is going through a lot, she just lost her job and its now been 2 weeks and she still doesn’t have another one. We ended up talking for 30 minutes tonight. I still left the conversation wondering if she was just being nice, I still don’t have a clear picture of what she wants though, as we were hanging up she said to keep in touch with her like she doesn’t want me to go anywhere, but she is being super distant. I don’t understand what she wants, she said she wants to still see me, but that she cant really bring anything to the table right now, and I have to keep reassuring her that its ok. Things happen in relationships and I am here to support her

So I haven’t told her but after tonight I am not going to call her anymore until she calls me. I will still send texts during the day but I don’t want her to feel pressure to talk to me. I know you all are going to be like why do you want to keep seeing her? Its because we have great chemistry and we have some other things that connect us too.

I really like her and I know she likes me too, I just don’t know how to proceed. Should I still continue to call her? should I text her and not call her like I am planning on doing? Should I drop her completely? Im at a lost. I just know I need communication in a relationship and her lack there of is really turning me off. I am really surprised she is acting this way after all that I’ve helped her with. Help! I feel a little bit better after tonight’s conversation but still feel something is not adding up her