Verse
Porch light fading in the rearview glass
Your screen door slamming, gravel under gas
Two coffee cups still steaming on the rail
One for staying, one for saying farewell
You said "call me when the mile markers turn to home"
I said "I will" with my hand still shaking on the phone
Pre-Chorus
So how do I leave without leaving you behind
How does a heart split down a yellow line
Tell me how the road can pull and still feel right
Chorus
It's every mile back to you
Every exit sign, every song that gets me through
Every mailbox blur, every county line I cross
Just brings me closer to the porch light I once lost
This road was never goodbye, it's just the long way through
It's every mile back to you
Verse
Three hundred miles and the radio's gone thin
Static like a heartbeat underneath my skin
Your last text lighting up the dashboard glow
"Drive safe, come home" — the sweetest word I know
Diner coffee, cold before I take a sip
Counting water towers, counting on this trip
Pre-Chorus
So how do I leave without leaving you behind
How does a heart split down a yellow line
Tell me how the road can pull and still feel right
Chorus
It's every mile back to you
Every exit sign, every song that gets me through
Every mailbox blur, every county line I cross
Just brings me closer to the porch light I once lost
This road was never goodbye, it's just the long way through
It's every mile back to you
Bridge
Maybe leaving was the proof I'd return
Maybe distance is a lesson I had to learn
Every town I pass, I'm learning how to choose
The ones we love are the roads we don't lose
Chorus
It's every mile back to you
Every exit sign, every song that gets me through
Every mailbox blur, every county line I cross
Just brings me closer to the porch light I once lost
This road was never goodbye, it's just the long way through
It's every mile, every mile back to you
