This is a little BG on Damon. No spoilers, just some rambling.
& I promise I'll make a good storyline and that this won't just be Damon talking about how fantastic Elena is.
It had been more than 140 years ago since Damon had felt alive. He thought he felt alive when he saw Katherine, but he didn't. He thought he felt alive when he sucked the blood out of every girl in his way, but he didn't. He didn't really remember how it felt to feel alive. He had shut it out, it was painful. And Damon didn't like pain. Hell, he didn't like any emotion except for revenge maybe. But even that didn't feel as good as it had felt a century ago.
Damon never dreamed about feeling human anymore. It had taken him enough time to realize that he wasn't, so why would he pretend?
He knew the answer when he met Elena for the first time. She was like Katherine in every way. Or at least, that was what he thought at first.
It only took him five minutes to realize that Elena was nothing like her, except for her looks, obviously.
In the first minute, Elena walked through the door with an insecure look on her face. He had never seen Katherine look insecure.
The second minute she stuttered "sorry" when she bumped in to him. Katherine didn't stutter, she didn't say sorry, ever, and she certainly didn't bump into anything.
The third minute she blushed when he talked to her. Katherine didn't blush.
The fourth minute she looked at him, really looked when he kissed her hand. But Katherine had never looked at him like that.
And by the fifth minute, he had realized, that this girl made him do everything he didn't want to. First of all he felt alive, almost human. Second, he cared, and not just about himself anymore, but about Elena. And third, he felt like he wanted to spent every minute of the day with her.
And the last thing he'd want is to get attached, again. To his brothers girl, again.
It was history repeating.