Young Marcello is very much in love and very worried. His girlfriend Julia sounds scared and lonely on the phone in Ludwigshafen - but Marcello is in Italy. The family vehemently rejects the German friend, so Marcello simply leaves to help Julia. A cheap ride comes with his new friend Mario Kopper, who was a guest at a wedding in Italy with his colleague Lena Odenthal. Julia is relieved and happy when she sees Marcello again. Even before she can tell him what is tormenting her, her brother Robbi interrupts the joy of seeing them again. Robbi, unemployed, xenophobic and violent, doesn't begrudge his sister her love for the young Italian. He lies in wait for the two, attacks Marcello and pulls out his knife. Marcello defends himself and fatally injures Robbi.
Frightened, Julia and the injured Marcello flee and hide in a demolished building. Lena and Kopper have no idea that their new case could have something to do with the likeable young Italian whom they met in Italy. At the scene of the crime, they learn that Robbi belonged to a clique of neo-Nazis. When they interrogate Robbi's mother, something else becomes clear to them: Robbi made his mother a victim of his violence and alsobeaten his sister Julia. Julia, says her mother, is on vacation with friends. Lena, however, recognizes the girl she has just seen in the neighborhood from a family photo. Apparently Julia is hiding from the police. The girl becomes the prime suspect. While Lena and Kopper collect clues, Marcello and Julia think of a way out in their refuge.
They are depressed, but determined not to separate again, and that also means not turning themselves in to the police. Marcello has the saving idea: They will flee to Italy and start a life together there. Kopper's buddy Roberto will take her with him. Lovers don't have much time left. Lena finds more and more evidence that Julia has a boyfriend who is involved in the case. When Kopper sees Marcello again, he begins to suspect that this friend is the young Italian. He tries to protect Marcello. At first he is quite successful, but then Lena realizes that Kopper is hiding something from her. She forces him to tell her his suspicions. Lena is deeply disappointed by Kopper's cover-up tactics. Kopper is disappointed because Lena has no understanding for love.
Internally divided, the two drive behind Marcello and Julia.