In the ropes

“Was it a date?”
“A. It’s none of your business. B. No, it wasn’t.”

“I just don’t get it.”
“Neither do I.  I won’t let it go any further.”

“I see you. You’re head over heals, how can that be?”
“I know. I’m trying to stop.”

completely overwhelmed
grasping for anything

If she was on fire but decided she wasn’t then she’d sit there and burn to death rather than admit that she was wrong.

“What can one do?”
“Try to help her. I tried, it didn’t do much good.”

-For more in this series and the story behind it, see 13 years