Damon’s greatest desire is to be human again, and throughout the seasons that has only become more evident. But, every time he hears Elena’s laugh, every time he sees her smile, and every time he gets to see into her great doe eyes, he feels it. He feels his humanity coming to the surface, and despite his efforts to suppress it to protect himself from further pain and heartbreak, he feels it. Elena was the one who cared about him when he was at his worst, when he was his darkest and when he refused to care about anyone other than himself and getting Katherine out of the tomb. His humanity, for the most part, turned off; his heart closed off to anyone other than Katherine, his motives unclear to everyone other than himself; and above all his hatred for himself and what he was at an all time high. Elena somehow got through that. She broke through his mile thick walls, and despite every thing they’ve gone through they still are that for each other. Damon started off as this character that was portrayed as the bad guy, the villain. He has grown so much over the seasons and to see him grow and become this because of Elena, its something just magical to watch. Even if it wasn’t the writers intention to create such a magnificent dynamic with these two characters, they have and its one of the best things about the show. Watching character growth is what you look for in a show, a movie, or a book series; you want to see how far a character has come. It shows us that change is good and that through everything, despite the ups and downs, you grow for the better. Elena is everything Damon wants to remember and about being human. She reminds him that yes, deep down inside his guarded and caged heart, he still is human. Despite the fangs, blood and hunger; Damon Salvatore feels most human when he’s around Elena.