That is just too confusing yeah. I can totally understand you. Well, never forget that girls are difficult to understand mostly
The way you described it, I can see that she really likes you and wants to go out with you but not sure. She is afraid that the distance might spoil this. And the best thing you can do right now is to not talk about "br/gf thing". Just go along with it. She doesn't want to think about "commitment", so don't do it. If she kisses you and is really close to you then she loves you.
And if you havent much hung out recently, then maybe she really is busy or maybe she is taking some kind of break because too much is going on her mind. If you really need this girl, dont over react, just give it time and space. It will work out for you, trust me.
BTW, you are thinking about it a lot and it is definitely NATURAL, nothing wrong there
