After years of seeming like they should be together, they finally got it together and now it seems they can't be apart. Seems a bit rushed and a plot device for Lola's exit if you ask me. No idea why they weren't put together sooner.
I've wanted Jay/Lola together for a while but it does feel hollow at the moment, considering she's leaving. As the OP says, I don't know why they didn't do this sooner, particularly if they had no other ideas for Lola at the time.
They'd have been better off giving her a convenient lottery-win type exit storyline, such as getting a cushy hairdressing apprenticeship somewhere else in the country.
