This is just a one-shot based on the synopsis for the season 4 finale. I would like to give some credit to a blog I follow on Tumblr, de-monic92, so if you have a Tumblr, go follow this blog!

Enjoy!

Damon's POV

"Alright, Damon. Where is the cure?" Vaughn trails a knife coated in vervain across my bare chest. He has me tied to a tree in the middle of the forest with no way of escape.

"You're going to kill me anyways, so I don't think I'm going to tell you," I spit back.

"Yes, but I might have to kill Stefan or Caroline or Elena." The sound of her name makes my heart stop, but I know that wherever she is, Stefan is near and he won't let anybody hurt her. "Oh wait, since the sire bond is broken, I guess I can't really use her as a threat to you since she's going to go running back to your brother." I ignore his response and he trails more vervain across my abdomen.

"Why do you want the cure anyways?" I groan.

"That isn't a concern of yours. All you need to worry about is getting it to me so nobody else has to die. Now, I'm going to ask you again. Where is the cure?"

He plunges a stake into my side and I yell out in pain.

Elena's POV

I know that Damon is out here somewhere and I have to find him. The forest is endless and the sky is pitch black without a glimmer of moonlight. I suddenly hear his yell pierce the air and stop cold in my tracks. The sound is coming from the North, so I run faster than I've ever run before until I see Vaughn and Damon pinned against a tree. Right as I am about to intervene, two other people show up. I sink to my knees and lean up against the tree, trying to swallow the reality that he may not get out of this alive.

Damon's POV

"I just wanted to kill you first, but Vaughn wanted to wait and see if you knew anything," Connor Jordan appears with another ghost that I hadn't ever seen before.

"Please do. You would be doing me a favor," I moan, realizing how much easier it would be if I could just die.

"Oh really," Connor laughs, "are you having girl troubles."

I glance at the ground, unable to face the humiliation of being in love and being rejected. I had always doubted her love for me ever since I found out about the sire bond along with everybody else. There was no doubt that she would go back to Stefan when everything went back to normal and I don't think I could live with that anymore. And if that makes me weak, then I guess that I am.

"His girlfriend is going to leave him for his brother," Vaughn explains in his annoying accent.

When Connor finally stops laughing at me, he walks a little closer and talks a little more quietly. "As you wish."

With those words, the third ghost/person breaks out into werewolf form and bites me on the shoulder. In that moment, I hear a gasp from behind the tree and immediately recognize her.

Elena's POV

"No!" I whisper, but loud enough for all of them to hear. Connor then drags me out from behind the tree and drops me in front of Damon.

"Would you look at that?" he laughs, "the girl has come to save her damsel in distress."

"It's too late, princess. This man here, referring to the werewolf who reverted back into human form, is part hunter part werewolf. There isn't any hybrid blood that can save him now," Vaughn says.

My heart nearly breaks at that because I feel the memory of almost losing Damon once before come flooding back, but this time I am in love with him.

With one swift motion, I stab the werewolf in the heart just as the hunters shoot me with just enough vervain darts to keep me weak, but still conscious.

"You can both rot in hell," I mutter, but right as I blink, they are gone. I let out a sigh of relief and run up to Damon where I cut the ropes that bound him to the tree. I suppose Bonnie got the veil back up and in just enough time too.

"Damon!" I cry out as he sinks to the ground in front of me.

"You are going to be ok," I reassure, "we will find a solution, I promise. We just have to get you back to the house."

"Elena, why are you here?" I speak softly, "and why are you here alone? You could have been killed."

"Because you're worth it," she says, "now come on so I can help you." Damon doesn't move, he just glances away and I know that this moment would come.

"The sire bond is broken and my humanity is back and you want to know the truth," I take his hands in my hands. He finally looks me in the eyes again. "And the truth is, you are wrong. I love you now and I want to love you forever." Tears start to form in my eyes and fall onto my cheeks. He leans in and kisses me and it is the most real moment that I have ever shared with anybody, but his body goes limp in my arms.

"Damon!" I shout, shaking his shoulders, "Damon! Wake up. You are not dead!"

I hold him in my arms and reach into my pocket to grab my phone, but my fingers close around a small vial that made its way into my possession earlier; the cure. I bite the lid of the vial off and without thinking twice, I pour the cure into Damon's mouth.

I wait and wait and wait, but he doesn't wake up. The one dose of this cure that people have died to get doesn't even work.

With tears stinging my eyes, I gently lay him down and call Stefan. In the next moments of silence I just watch Damon lay there and suddenly realize that it would be impossible for him to be dead because his body hasn't turned stone cold or gray. And then with a gasp of air he opens his eyes and I can just barely hear the gentle beating of his heart; his human heart.

If you liked this one-shot, please check out some of my other fanfics! Reviews are also greatly appreciated!