JJ was standing up in the tub for the first time since Collins had arrived, revealing bruises the size of softballs on his abdomen, all deep dark purples on his skin like the most twisted pools of violet. A hand immediately clamped itself over Collins's mouth to muffle the gasp that escaped from her. 
It appeared that JJ hadn't intentionally hidden them from his friends, he was just so fed up with their criticism that he couldn't sit and listen to it any more. He was more concerned with defending himself than the injuries he'd sustained, which was all his friends could now focus on. "I got a hot tub. For my friends. Actually— screw friends, I got a hot tub for my family." His words had started out so strong, but towards the end they'd began to lose their sturdiness and now he was shaking. "I got this all for you guys- guys, look what I did for you."
Just as she predicted, Collins started to cry. Even when she knew it was coming and had been able to anticipate it, she still felt it hit her like a rock lodged into her heart. She had hoped she wouldn't have seen it, that it hadn't been there. It wasn't just from seeing JJ's injuries that affected her, it was also from seeing that he was finally crashing down from his mania and feeling all these emotions that he'd been suppressing at once. It didn't matter how much alcohol he drank or weed he smoked. Good champagne couldn't fix this kind of problem. 
"JJ, what—"
"No, stop being emotional, it's fine." JJ insisted, cutting her off before she could finish. "The hot tub's cool, right? Just get in."
Collins jumped into the water without another moment's hesitation and pulled JJ into her embrace, hardly able to contain her sobs while hearing and feeling his as he sank into her body in exhaustion. He didn't even try to fight it. He just let her pull his body into hers and rest his head against her chest. 
"I just couldn't do it. I can't take him anymore. I was gonna kill him." He cried. Collins squeezed her eyes shut and just nodded, stroking his head consolingly while he shook in her arms. "I just want to do the right thing."
"I know. You did, JJ. I promise." Collins whispered, squeezing him tightly. Was. That was the key word which she'd clung onto. JJ was going to kill him. That meant that he didn't. And that was all that mattered. She didn't care about the rest, JJ's soul was still intact. It was battered and broken in many ways, but at least he didn't have the guilt of taking a life weighing down upon it. Even though his dad was the filthiest scum of the Earth to ever walk the planet, he couldn't take away any more than what he already had from his son; Collins rejected the idea. 
JJ's blond tufts of hair dripped with water on Collins's clothes and skin, but she paid no mind to it. Her sole concern was the boy himself, absorbing every bit of emotion that he was displaying because he had never shown it before, and she intended on making it known to him that expressing his feelings was okay, in fact, it's encouraged. Keeping his emotions bottled up wasn't good for him, it wasn't good for anyone. Like JJ had said, they were family, and family members weren't supposed to keep things from each other (let's forget the fact that she's been keeping a lot of secrets from Charlie).
Two more sets of arms enveloped them, Kie and Pope each offered their comfort to their friend in need. A weak smile managed to form on Collins's lips at the sentimentality of the whole situation. She hoped JJ could feel the love they had for him in their embrace. She hoped it helped heal the wounds that they couldn't see, the ones that were hidden inside of him and couldn't be mended with bandages and antiseptics. Even if the splotches of purple on his skin still remained, perhaps there could still be some form of alleviation.