Highway to the dangerzone: Attracting and Dating an abuse victim

[chilledpenguin]

Ill cut to the chase, this is a dangerous and difficult one:

Girl at work, I knew I wanted her upon first seeing her. Been escalating and I have her number, we talk readily, I hit her with C and F regularly and she has some level of interest. We are currently stood in a stage of playful insults thrown back and fourth. She is someone I genuinely care about and want as girlfriend.

We ended up getting to the dating part, I arranged a date and she cancelled last minute. 2nd date reorganised, she stood me up. 3rd date she cancelled in the morning. 4th was a meal but she quickly rushed away after I bought her lunch from a KFC and met up with her in my car on her lunch break (it was agreed beforehand). By this point I knew something was up so I had gone sick at her for acting this way towards me and threatened to no longer date her.

She eventually admitted a big problem...

The problem: She recently just admitted that she has had a life of physical abuse and was recently sexually assaulted as well. The thing is, after much argument I genuinely believe her now!

This basically means she has stated she feels pressurised, panicked and upset seeing me but she does genuinely like me! She said she just needs time to open up again and needs to be able to trust me.
I like this girl, but she is giving out so many mixed signals! It's so hard to tell where I stand with her!

I'm not "dating" her as such, we are both still single but I need to escalate this further before it sizzles out. I feel I am going to borderline friendzone with her unless I find a way to carry on the vibes.

What can I do and why is that the best course of action?