"Great gal. She's got spunk."—The first thing Damon ever said about Elena after they met in episode two
Damon and Elena's relationship progressed from hatred to friendship and eventually they fell in love. It wasn't forced, rushed or fake.
"No one tells me how I live my life, no one tells me who I love. Especially not some vindictive prehistoric witch and definitely not the universe. And I'm not going to let someone else's idea of destiny stop me from loving you or being with you or building a future with you…because…you ARE my life."
We once dumped a guy for wearing jean short shorts. So color us amazed that Elena's forgiveness of Damon has been astounding from early on. Let's see, Damon killed Jeremy without any guarantee Jeremy would come back. He fed her vampire blood to make sure she would become a vampire and not die. He made her life a living hell on more than one occasion. And she always let him back in.
Let's face it, without Damon, Elena would be a bit boring....Don't you think?
That first kiss when Katherine was pretending to be Elena? Hot. Damon and Elena's first hookup when she was actually sired to him? Hot. Doesn't matter who or where or when or why. Their loves scenes can be pretty dang epic.
Let's face it. Elena has had a rough go of it in her teen years. (And you thought your poodle perm was bad.) But, as she puts it: "Being with Damon makes me happy. When I'm with him... it feels unpredictable, like... like I'm free."
"You're the liar, Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it. And you're lying to me. And you're lying to Stefan. And most of all you're lying to yourself."—Damon
No, that's not four words. But we have a hard time breathing when talking about it.
"I would have saved you in a heartbeat; no question. You would have gotten to grow up and had the life that you wanted, the life that you deserved. I wanted that for you, Elena, and I would have gladly given it to you and let Matt die because I AM that selfish."—Damon, after Stefan rescued Matt and Elena died and became a vampire
"I wanna throw you back in my bed and never let you leave."—Damon to Elena
Stop stealing all the good genes, you guys! Save some for the rest of the world population. Ugh.
"I'm not the good guy, I'm the selfish one. I don't do the right thing. But I have to do the right thing by you."—Damon to Elena